THE

NEW CHURCH REPOSITORY,

AKD

MONTHLY REVIEW.

DEVOTED TO THE EXPOSITION

PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY

TAUGHT IN TUB wamK8I OP

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.

OOKDUCTBD BY

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VOL. D. .: ..:: "', : ..

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NEW-YORK:

PUBLISHED BY LEWIS C. BUSH, 16 HOWARD STREET.

LOBJ)OI(: I • •• BOD8OIf AlfD w•• "'.'1'.
1849.
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J. r. Ps....... PriM"',' 8prue BINet, N. Y.

 INDBX.
ORIGINAL PAPERS. &0.

bDUSS TO SuBecmm1lU, • • • •
'A'"I
Arcan,,'MiacorreetioD oC. 8UPpoeecl" UlOneoU. TraDal.dOD iD, .1
Atonement, OD the, • • • • CWSI
Biblical Expoeitionl, ".' 18,18'1.301
Bushnell, Rev. Dr., and Mr. Lord, • 141

-
4.
Clowes, Rev. J., two Letters Crom, • • US
CoDgeDtion, General, proposed Constitution in the,
Dictionary or Correspondenoe, Interpolation in the, 18
Earth. Creation and Duration oIthe, •
!slay on the Human Form) 81
Cl 'OrpnizatiOD, • 1a
Forces and Tendencies of Nature, ,. 1t
Griefs, Oratimde Cor, • • • 301
Heaven, EtymolOlY of the term,. • US.
How Societies in the New Church should be form,eel. 111
Human Form, an ESI8Y OD the, 111
Instructors oCtbe New Jerasalem, • ". • . 38
Jewish Tabernacle, viewed in ita Spiritual Import, 119. t63, 311, 36'1,412, 4M, 611
Letter, the, aod the Spirit, •
Lord. Mt., and Rev. Dr. BllshDeU,.
Medicine, Spiritual,. •
•
•
147,29~,343.391. 439,48',631
M.,
U.IOC
Nature. Forces and Tendencies of, • 1t
New Christian Dispensation,. • iOI
New Church, General Constitution oCthe, 4'71
OrganizatioD, an Essay OD,
Priesthood Dot UniYereal, • • • O:~
Plfchological Phenomena, • • •
Queries, three, relative to certain Doctrines oC Swedenboll.
Salvation, • • • •
Second Advent, the Lord's, the preeeDt the Epooh of,
·
"'
III
401
114, 1e., 191
Sleep. Swedenborg O D . . • • se
Soul-Experience, singular ph. . of.
Spinoza and Swedenborg. • .
4'.
4_
481
Spirit aDd Matter,

" extract Crom,

••
Spiritual Diary, remark. OD a p....e in,
• •
U,
MI
Swedeoborg, Ariatode and the Antipodee, • 11'1
It his Interco11l'88 iD the Spiritual World, 11
It on Sleep, .1
"
c.
..
and Spinoza, • • •
three Qoeries relative to certain Doctrine. of, •
vindication oC. from the Misrepreeencation. oC Wel1eyJ
•
11'
121
• le
•• was his Mislion fOQDded 011 'he moral DeceI8itiee oC dle Church and
World? • . 'It
Water as an Elementary Correspondence oC Truth, 111
U as a Correspondence of Trllth, 361
POETRY.
Lines addreued to Rev. Dr. Been, 110
Ken and Flowen,
Prayer from the Inner Life,
To my Gaardiua Spirit,
••13'
81
BOO][S NOTICED.
Ban OIl the Mlni.try, • 88
BIllhDe11's Oocl iD Chrilt, . N
 iT lfUlez.
PAa••
C111101d'. B.epJy to Remarks on Noble's Appeal, 194- •
Crowe'a (Mrs.), Night Si l,) 01 Nature, • 235
Haddock'! P8ych~j5lU alld SomnoUlm, • 336
Harden's Cbaracter ud Works o(Cbrl.-,
HOIl,h's Judttment Day, • t '
.- 6'13
32
Holland's Review. aod E"lsay8,. • • 568
Joumeyman" (a), Benefic·roDce oCDesign in the CreadoD. • 196
Kidder's PI1cholOlical Sy-tem Dl MediciDe, • • 433
Madeler's &ience of Corr~~pODdence.elucidated, • 35
;)torell's PhilOlOphy of Religion,. • • • • 87
'~evln'i Antichrist,. • • • • • • 233
1~')I·thts Lectures on Connection between BIblical and Physical History of 'Man. 380
Jtepon of Northe.rn ~diana A.sM)CiatioD, • . 81
:~Ch'a ~Ire of 8wedeD~Orr. • :581

8&1JiCTIONS.
Mdr8lf of the Pre8byterian Synod of New-York to dae Israelites within their DlItriot, 521
JlIuahnell, Dr., arraigned and acquitted, • • • • 626
lo~w•• Rev. John, Letter from,
1$.10 1 '74-
~ Guys, Letters on Swedenbol"l. 2~
~oerpta Miscellanea. No. 1. • 475
rEJtraets from Night side of Natare, • 2&0
~utler QC Rev. John Clowu,. • •• 114
raeUt8S, Addre.. of the Preabyterian S)'Jlod of Now-York co, • 521

j etheri.an Gema.
'~les~ •
•
eo:r.el, WolfpD., aDdSwedeDborg,.
•
,Night side qC Nature, Extracts.Crom.
•
•
•
••
.••
••
. 98, 140, 113
141
430
2&0
JProgreal oC Religious Sentiment in HoDand. 115
cMwedenborgt nea Guars' Lettets OD, 223
~. Wolfpng Menzel on, .• 141
~ \~.tta OD Formation of Chriatian Churches, 428

MISCELLANY.
iADimal Kingdom, Supplemeat to ·SwedeDbol'l'8, • 43
b"rrett, Rev. B. F., visit to Loaiaville, Ky., • • 185
lOorafta\ioD, General, Abstract oftho'Prooeedinp .rthe thirty-first, • • 320
('Correspondence, • • • 36, 94, 142, 119. 231. 994, 373. 4'16
(,DBa Guayl, Le BoY' and Dr. Tafe}, . . . ' . "1
I JloctrinaJ Contrast. • • .-8
t1P.ield, Rev. Geo., Letter from, . • •• 22-4:
\sIDdiana ASlOCiation,.Proceediap oC the 8even&h Annual meetiDg or, 144, 189
I.L8tter from Dr. Tarel, . • • _ • t29, 4~
,"New Church Societiel, how they should be formed, 31e
:" II It Reports of, • • • • • 316
tProceedings oC tile Seventh Anoual Meeting er the Northern Indiana AlIOOiatioD, 144, 189
P.ychologioal facti iUustratilll Swedenbors's DootdDe of the Soul.. • 44
iBepona oC New.Church Socieuee, • •• 3?tJ
8001etlel in the New Chult'.h, how theylb01lld be formed, • 316
Soul, . .,.halotrical faotsUlllmating8wedeobor(a dooUine of. 44-
, 8wedenborg, Supplement to hi. Animal Kingdom,. 43
"'el, Dr., aod Le Boy. Des Guars, _ 41
U . Letter from, • 129, 43~

100, 148, 19'7, 244. ~9, 385, 434, 482. 530, 58'

OBITUARIBS.
Beardaley, Kr.. Elizabeth, 390
Been, Rev. Lewia, 464
PaDer, Mr. Borace, • 390
~Gamble, ltIn. Eliaabeth, • 160
 THE

NEW CHURCH REPOSITORY

ABD

MON1'HLY R.EVIEW.

'.1. D. J!lU1BI, 18jt. I •• I •.

ADDRESS TO SUBSCRIBERS.

APTEJl a delay which we have in vain strove to make shorter, the

first No. of the second year's issue of the N. C. Repository makes its
appearance. The causes to which the delay has been owing, and
which threatened at one time to prevent the continuance of the work
altogether, have been happily removed, and the way is now clear for
the resumption of our enterprise under new and as we trust hope-
ful auspices. The suspense in which our subscribers have been left
for many weeks demands perhaps an apology; but as it was owing
to causes which we could not control, we trust our friends "rill be
better pleased with an expose bearing on the future than on the
past.
It is our earnest wish to be enabled to continue the Repository, at
least long enough to realise somewhat more fully our idea of what
such a work might be made as an auxiliary to the cause of the New
Church.. The general principles on which it was proposed, at the
outset, to conduct it, ,,"ill be still adhered to. We see DO occasion to
depart from our progrttmme. It is still our design to make the N. C. R.
t.he organ of free, independent, liberal discussion, in which Truth
~hall be the polar star-that Truth, however, which reognises vital
alliance with Good. But while we propose to follow out our original
plan in its leading features, ,ve shall not deem ourselves precluded
from acting upon' such hints, as to the improvement of the work, as
experience or friendly criticism has suggested durin&, its progress
thus far. The principal ground of complaint, we believe, hu been a
Yo~ u. 1
8 Addre•• to 8u1m:riber,. [Jan.
certain AeatJinea. in our pages from a disproportionate number of
long articles, and those, too, frequently of an abstruse and consequent-
ly dry character. We are not sure that this objection is not well found-
ed, although it is proper to remark that thorough-going and elabo-
rate treatment of topics was from the first a decided feature of our un-
dertaking ; and, moreover, that as the Edit()r could not furnish all the
matter, he was obliged to make use of such as was offered him. Still
I

we" are satisfied that an important change for the better may be ef-
fected in this particular, and we have therefore resolved to study
such improvements in the choice and disposition of our matter as
shall at least relieve the work from the charge of tedium. We would
not be understood, however, as promising to insert no extended or
serial discussions, or to make our pages equally attractive to all classes
of readers; this we cannot hope to accomplish; but .we shall still
hope to introduce such a grateful variety into our matter, original
and selected, that a wide range of readers shall find their tastes con-
sulted. To tgive a more distinct intimation on this head, we submit
the following as an outline of the intended features which the Repos-
itory is to wear in its future issues.
1. A thorough' and searching analysis of the various doctrinal
tenets of the Old Church, with an attempted exposure of their falla-
cies as contrasted with the eminently scriptural and rational charac-
ter of those of the New.
2. A larger admixture of scientific and iniscellaneous intelligence,
designed to show how far the progress of discovery and the assertion
of principles is <:ontributing illustration and confirmation to the veri-
ties, philosophic, scientific, and psychological, of the New Church.
3. A more extensive correspondence, both forei~ and domestic,
than we have yet been able to command, abounding with news-
items of interest relative to the propagation of the heavenly doctrines
at home and abroad.
4. More copious notices of new publications, especially such as
reflect, in any degree, the principles and tenden<ies of the New Dis-
pensation, and display novel and interesting aspects of the general
mind of the age.
In addition to the above, we are happy to be authorized to an-
nounce a series of articles from the pen of Pro£ Taylor Lewis, of the
N. Y. University, in reply to the" Letters to a Trinitarian," in which
he proposes to controvert the positions oC the N. C. in regard to the
doctrine of the Trinity, and to show bow much less accordant they are
 Addrea, '0 8u1J1criber•• 7

wit~ the genuine sense of Scripture than those of the Calvinistic or

Westminister schools of Theology. Prof. Lewis has beeD aware
from the outset that Ile was the gentleman to whom the "Letters
to a Trinitarian" were inflominally addressed, and has read them
attentively as they have appeared. From his known ability as a
writer on moral and biblical subjects, we may doubtless anticipate
as strong a defence of the established dogma as it is susceptible of;
and from his general character and his fl'iendly mlations with the
Editor, we may safely count upon a candid and comteous mode of
conducting the argument. His reply ,,"ill be commenced in t11e se-
cond or third number, subject, however, to our own remarks when
completed. "
We have yet another Dew feature to propose. or the sixty-four
pages of which each No. will consist, it is our purpose to appropri-
ate the last sixteen, or one whole form, exclusively to translations
from such of Swedenborg's Latin works as have not yet been render-
ed into English. This portion of the No. will be paged separately .
from the rest, with a view to its being eventually collected together
and bound by itsel£ The advantage of this plan is, that it secures
the publication of valuable portions of Swedenborg'8 writings which
would otherwise have no prospect" of being made accessible to the
mere English reader. This is peculiarly the case in regard to the
"Spiritual Diary," of which about one third of a volume was publish.
ed in the Swedenborg Library, while the remainder has b~en suspend-
ed for want of means to complete it, as no publisher in the New
Church is in a condition to incur the least risk on this score.
We design therefore to begin this department of our plan with the
translation of the Diary, from the point where it was suspended in
the fonner issue (No. 3963). In order, however, to avoid burdening
subscribers with a broken volame, and to hold out some additional in-
ducement to subscription, we proffer to every subscriber who is in-
clined to favor this plan, to furnish him gratia with all the previous
part of the volume '8lready printed, consisting of nine Nos. of 16
pages each, or 145 pages in all. These Nos. will be at once forward-
ed by mail to every one who becomes responsible for a copy with
this appendage added. The London New Chttrch Quarterly has
adopted this plan in issuing with every No. a portion of the" Adver.
saria" of Swedenborg, and thus gives itself a very attractive featore.
As we are aware, however, that many New Churchmen have
doubm as to the expediency of printing and circulating the Diary, we
8 lJan.
have bethooght ourselves of a method of still accomplishing an object
80 near our heart as we confess the publication of the Diary to be.
This is. to leave it optional to subscribers whether to take the Diary
or not. In case of their declining, we will send forty-eight pages of
matter instead of sixty.four, and charge two dollars subscription in-
stead of three. They will in that case have precisely the same
amount of magazine matter as other subscribers, but will lack the ap-
pended translation. While those who subscribe for the whole will
have virtually purchased for a dollar what iD. any other form would
probably cost them from two to three.
This arrangement will make it necessary that each subscriber
should distinctly state whether he desires the Repository with or
without the Diary appended. It Win make some cODliderable differ-
ence to us in the expense of printing, whether one orders the two IJr
three dollar copy, and as the annexed translation will be very valua-
ble to New Churchmen, ,\ve could fain hope that they would all pre-
fer the latter. Still we shall aim to accommodate all parties.
We have now laid open our plan to our readers. We are satisfied
that materials exist for a New Church Journal of rich and varied in-
terest, and of permanent value; and we believe too a demand is now
being made for the wufruct of these materials which has never occur-
red before. We are also firm in the purpose of dedicating to it the best
energies that we can command. The Editor has declined other fields
of labor with a ,riew to devote himself mainly to this, and thus to
render it leSs dependent upon foreign contribution, though still
anxious to receive, as before, the aid of co-Iaborers in the field.
But we are compelled to declare ourselves wholly unable to pro-
ce~d with the work without the support of at least our former list of
subscribers.. From the difficulty of making a satisfactory publishing
arrangement, we are compelled to assume the entire pes:uniary re-
sponsibility of the enterprise. This we may perhaps the more safely
do as the considerable item of salary is of course subducted from our
expenses. Relinquishing all hope on this head, and devoting our time
and labor without the least prospect of remuneration, we enter upon
the ,,"ork as a 'Work of use to the Church, in which we will gladly
spend and be spent if our friends ·and brethren will but see us safe
from actual loss. Our present subscription list, if the names can all
be retained and payment promptly made in advance, will carry us
safely through the year, though without the promise of a single dol-
lar over the actual expeDBe&
1849.] .Addre" to S"blCtwr,. 8

May we Dot then hope for the requisite measure of support , Doel
not such 8 proffer of gratuitous service constitute some claim npon
the sympathy and co-operation of those to whom the welfare of our
cause ought to be as dear as to ourselves 1 We venture to say then
to our subscribers, "Give us trial for one year more. Hold on as sub-
scribers; make prompt remittances; and if we do not give satisfaction
in that time \ve ,viII wave all future claims." Our strong hope, how-
ever, is that in that time we shall succeed in giving the Repository
such a hold on the favor of its patrons that they will not need urging ,
t-o keep it in existence.
In consequence of the unavoidable delay above adverted to, we shall
be obliged to date backwards for two or three months, which we do
in order to preserve the continuity of the work unbroken. The
causes of this and all similar delays being now removed, our printers
will redouble their-efforts to expedite the publication of the Nos. now
due, and to come abreast of the months. EverY exertion will be made
to have the issues regular and prompt on the first day, or at the lar-
thest the first week, of each month. .
'\Ve have only to say in conclusion, that as we are utterly destitute
of any other resources with which to carry on the work, than such
as the work itself shall yield, and as our heaviest expenditures
require payment in hand, we are under the necessity of a.sking imme-
diate remittance on the part of subscribers, which may be addressed
for the present, to Lewis C. Bush, publisher, 136 Nassau Street, or
to the Editor, at the same place.
G. BUSH.
P. S.-Mr. Wm. B. Hayden, whose various essays have enriched
our Nos. hitherto, has kindly proffered to associate his labors with
ours in contributing to the interest of the Repository. We tender, at
the same time, an earnest request for the contributions of our friends
at large, both those who have already done so much to give char-
acter to our work and those who may be equally able to do it, but
who hitherto have not.
 10 The Force, tmd TeIUlmcie. of Nature. lJan.

A.R.TICLE 11.

THE FORCES AND TENDENCIES OF NATURE.

. F.OM the pages of History we learn that Religion after Religion

has sunk into oblivion, as the advancement of knowledge prohibited
a longer imposition upon the credulity of mankind. A cOlI\parison of
theoretic principles with the positive phenomena of nature must be
the touchstone of the truth of every system. Even the great Church
wwch rescued Europe from the hand of the barbarian, and which has
tom down some altar of idolatry in almost every nation, exhibits
manifest symptoms of approaching decay. Her advocates shrink with
distrust from the advancing strides ofGeology, Chemistry, Physiology,
and Magnetism. Every new discovery lends its aid to refute some
cherished theory or to call in question the rationality of some favorite
doctrine. •
In every age there have been deep and bold thinkers, who, ac-
knowledging only the supremacy of reasoD, have plunged into the
abyss of Atheism rather than wear the.shackles of inexplicable dogmas.
To such minds we earnestly appeal and declare that the marriage
between Philosophy and Religion has at length been consummated.
Systems of Religion have been founded upon the hopes, the fears, the
passions, and the ambition of man. Some have allured by the grant
of sensual gratifications; others have attracted by the displays of
pompous ceremony. One has bewitched with venerable traditions,
instinct with the poetry of romance; another has beguiled with the
radiant charm of Idealism. But the massive pillars of natural sci-
ence support the beautiful temple of the New Church Theology.
Let gigantic mind, penetrate yet more deeply into the abstruse ques-
tions of Mathematics. and Astronomy; let the Chel'Iililt experiment,
the Anatomist dissect, the Physiologist investigate; let the Geologist
rend the mountains and disembowel the earth in search of the gran-
ite records of the world's history; every earnest and successful in-
vestigator of nature is a chosen workman, unconsciously strengthen-
ing the deep and broad foundations of the New Jerusalem.
We propose to consider the system of Swedenborg as an hypothesis
for the explanation of all phenomena, spiritual and natural; and to
see what support is afforded it by the more recent scientific discov-
eries. .
The Swedish philosopher lays down the following axioms as part
of the fundamental principles of his system.
1. The Infinite Divine Love, which is spontaneously outtlowing or
selt-communicative, is the end of creation, while the Infinite Divine
Wisdom is its CQuae.
~. The object which the end contemplates, and in which it rests, is
the production of a being formed to reflect the image of his Creator,
and to reciprocate the Love from which 'he originates.

a
 1MB.] ne Fore,. and ~mdmcie, of Nature. 11

3. A spiritual SOD, representative of the Lord, is the proximate

CtIUe, MlJdiu1II, or agency by which the creation is effected.
I 4. This SUD, by successive outftowings of its own substance, created
spiritual atmospheres, spiritual earths, spiritual forms, all having re-

I ference to a perfect spiritual form, recipient of life from the Lord,

and which, thus animated, constitutes the human soul.
5. The ultimate effect of creative power is to produce inert matter
to serve as a perpetual basis to the spiritual superstructure.
I
6. This inert matter is moulded into natural forms by spiritual
I
forces and thns everything n~tur81 corresponds to something spiritual.
We thus tUftl11le an organiza.tion of the spiritual world, and contend
that the organization of the natural ,vorld is similar and cbrrespond-
ent. We go further: we believe that the true path to scientific dis-
covery lies in the study of the spiritnallaws of the Universe. We
accordingly lay down the following propositions in natural science
as corollaries to the above spiritual propositions, and we deem them
as necessarily susceptible of proof:
1. The ultimate plane of nature or primordial substance of the
world is perfectly homogeneous, and nothing can be predicated of it
bat inertia.
2. The so-called forces, Light, Heat, Electricity, Magnetism, &c.,
are not natural entities, but only different vibratile conditions of the
same primordial substance, so that all forces or causes are necessarily
spiritual.
3. All of these vibrations or undulations, being the material cOlTes-
pondents of spiritual force, must emanate flOrn the natural sun as a
centre. -
4. As the forces of Deity returning to himself produce the spiritual
human fonn, the central object of creation, so it must be the corres-
pondent tendency of matter to produce the natural human form.
5. As a particular expression of this tendency, all organizable
matter passing into the organized state must exhibit the formative
activity impr~ssed upon it, by developing from the circumference
towards the centre.
1st Prop. All philosophers agree in ascribing to matter inertia, that
is, DO tendency to move except on impulsion, and no disposition to
stop when impelled. The first clause of this definition expresses the
entire want of vitality in matter per se, and the second shows that all
forces are inherently infinite, because representative of the will of
God. Chemists have reduced the materials of the \vorld to fifty-four
elementary substances. But each of these substances is an aggre-
gate of a number of ultimate atoms. Upon this atomic constitution
of nature we wish to impress the character of homogeneity. Now it
is the tendency of modern Chemistry to sho,v that the so-called proper-
ties of bodies result not from the different nature, but from the differ-
ent arrangement of their atoms. This inference ha.., been deduced
from such facts as the following. Whatever 'variations the specific
heat of substances present, that of their ultimate atoms appears to be
uniform. Diamond, charcoal, and cotton are almost entirely com-
posed ofpure eal'hon. 80 that the same atom may make very different
12 ne. Forcu and TlfldMciu of Nature. [Jan.
impressions upon our senses. Berzelius declares that most of the
elements may be made to assume conditions in which their proper-
ties are entirely altered. All chemists agree that two or more sub-
stances consisting of the same elements in the same ratio, may ex-
hibit chemical properties entirely distinct. Draper has made chlorine
pass from a state of high activity into one of complete torpor where-
in all its properties were lost. Gay Lussac and others caused chlo-
rine to displace hydrogen, atom for atom, in an organic compound,
the former gas taking on the functions of the latter, although its hab-
its and general properties are so very dissimilar. Dumas concludes
that these facts indicate that all chemical phenomena originate from
the same cause and in due time may be generalized under one com-
mon expression. For many similar facts confirmatory of our position,
see an interesting article on the Present State of Chemical PhilosD-
ophy, in the British and Foreign Medico-Chirurgical Review, for
April, 1848. \
Therefore a difference of properties is due to a difference of atomic
arrangement. But all arrangement involves the idea of an arranging
force. Inertia prohibits the supposition that such force is intrinsic.
It is therefore extrinsic. Consequently nothing but inertia, the syno-
nym of death, ca.n be predicated of mattpr. Natural substance was
produced from spiritual substance not by continuity, but by a discrete
degree. We will illustrate the mode of its creation as distinctly 88
possible by a quotation from the New Church Quarterly Review, No.
3, 1847. " The spiritual atmospheres are discrete substances or most
minute forces, radiating from the spirito.al sun. If now we suppose
the act of creation k> be impossible in any lower degree, without the
production of a minimal substance deprived of life, there is no diffi-
culty in conceiving any given point of the supposed ray to have its
interior activity withdrawn: in this case there could be a pla.y of
life around it only, and its superficies being compressed and fixed, its
motion could describe natural spaces or times; that is to say, it
would become the first finited em of the natural world." A number
of such finites constitutes the primordial substance. We conceive
the result of this withdrawal of interior activity to be analogically
represented by the condensation of an aeriform substance to the liqnia
and solid or less active conditions by the abstraction of its heat, as
the Chemist would say.
Before the spiritual activities acted upon this primordial substance
the earth was truly" without form and void." A particular arrange-
ment of atoms was the material result of these spiritual activities.
Different activities produced different arrangements, and consequently
different substances and different forms. The primordial substance
does not come within the cognizance of our senses: spiritual forces
have modified it before it enten the range of our perceptive faculties.
But this does not controvert the ultimate fact, that the globe, the
earth, the crystal of a' salt, the leaf of a plant, the brain of an ani-
mal, are different atomic arrangements of one substance, and as far
as their own inherent properties are concerned, equally dead and
inert. The human form itself is only recipient of life.
1Nl.] n. Force, ad T~·ofNalMre. 18

Id Prop. Philoeophers speak of Heat, Light, Electricity, Magnet-

ism, &c. as the ca. . . of the visible phenomena around us. The pro-
visional 88S1Jmption of the material or corpuscular theories, for facil-
ity of illustration, has fostered this misapprehension. From the high
vantage-ground of our spiritual hypothesis we are prepared to aas81t,
that the imponderable agents of modern philosophy have positively
no individuality: that they are me,e names given to motions in cllifer-
ent media, to the causes of which motions natural science can never
penetrate, because they lie beyond the sensual ken in the spiritual
world. All things originate in motion, &rid manifest themselves by
motion. The primary motion we may suppose to be an arrangement
or relative disposition of atoms. According to the degree of conden-
sation which the arrangement evolves, we have di1Fer8llt auras _
media. We readily understand the meaning of the tenns, solid medi-
um, liquid medium, guoous medium, etherial medium. Now to the
motions of the atoms occurring in these media philosophers haYe
given names, which many minds are content to receive as the eau. .
of observed phenomena. We are not without the sanction of distin-
guished authorities for our position. Any recent and full work on Phy-
aim will show that the vibratory is fast superseding the old molecular
theories. Arnott says, " Many philosophers hold that Heat is merely
an affection or state of an ethereal fiuid, which occupies all space, as
sound is an affection or motion of air, and that the sun may produce
the phenomena of light and heat without waste ef its temperature or
substance, as a bell may, without ·waste, continue to produce IOuneL"
Light is an analogous undulation in a medium, the length of the wave
determining the color, and its velocity determining the brilliancy of
objects. Professor Draper, of whom America is so justly proud, re-
marks: " The cause of Light is an undulatory motion taking place in
an etherial medium. That such a medium exists throughout all space,
aeems to be proved by a number of astronomical facts. In this e1u-
tic medium undulatory movements are propagated in the same maB-
ner as waves of sound in the air. It is to be clearly understood that
the ether and light are distinct things: the la.tter is merely the effect
of movements in the former." Again, in speaking of the chemical
power of the solar ray, he says," Everything seems to indicate that
lOOIler or later all these priDciples will be reduced to one of a more
general nature, or that they are all modifications of movements taking
place in the ether." The electric" fiuid" would appear to be most
refractory to our annihilating process. But a distinguished votary of
Icience, Dr. Hare, of Philadelphia, says, "I find, it necessary to aban-
don the idea that there ill any transfer of imponderable matter during
electrical discharges." He attributes the phenome-na to a successive
change in the state of polarization of the atoms which make up the
CODducting matter. In his article on galvanic ignition, we fiDd the
following sentence; "The phenomena under consideration, though
irreconcilable either with the theory of one or that of two fluids,
agrees with the idea of waves of polarization moving from the centre
of the generating battery to the extremities." We dismiss the lOb.
ject of magnetism with the statement that the solution oC the electrio
and magnetic problems is analogous.
14 [JaD.
ThUll, by the process of exclusion, we have logically limited the
materialist to an indefinite mass of inert matter, and to a series of
vibrations perceptible, but to him inexplicable. He must deny the
connection between cause and effect-yea, the very existence of a
causative principle, or he must admit a formative foree, prior, supe-
rior, and beyond the natural world. To the New Churchman these
undolatory motions are possessed of beautiful significancy. They
are the material correspondences of spiritual forces, flowing through
the spiritual sun, from the Divine Being. Theyare ever present mir-
rors which reflect to his eye the Love, the Wisdom, the Unity, the In-
finity of his Creator. Spiritual forces produce spiritual media, spirit-
.ual vibrations, spiritual forms, and by influx into inert matter, COfTe,-
purulent natural media, natural vibrations, natural forms. The sci-
ence of Correspondences flows as an obvious deduction from this fllD-
damental truth. We perceive how allusions to natural objects in the
Holy Word. have internal and 8piri~al meanings. We see that the
material universe is the basis or continent of the spiritual universe,
.perpetual in duratioD, ever changing in form. We get a clearer in-
sight into the union of the soul and body, and into the holy mystery
of the Incarnation. We become" convinced that the particles of our
material body, having fulfilled the purpose of their aggregation, can
never be translated from this natural sphere but must enter 8llcces-
aive1y into new combinations, mineral, vegetable, or animal, for ever
and ever. We are immutably grounded in a belief in the Immor-
tality of the Human Soul. .
ad Prop. Swedenborg says that the sun is the seat of pure fire.
By this we understand him to mean that there the action of spiritual
forces upon inert matter began, and is perpetually at its point of
greatest intensity. Accordingly from the suo, as a centre, radiate undu-
lations which modify the primordial matt~r. Sir John Herschel in his
Astronomy, page 201, refers to the sun's ray as the ultimate source of
heat, light, electricity, terremial magnetism, chemical composi-
tiODS and decompositioDS, vegetable vivification, geological changes,
and even volcanic activity. But it may possibly be objected, are there
Dot terrestrial sources of each of these phenomena 1
The German language has appropriately given the feminine gen-
der to the word, sun; for truly it is the mother of all things, having
created them of her substance, borne tht'm in her bosom, and invPM-
eel &hem with her properties. The nebular hypothesis, ascribed to
La Place, but really due to Swedenborg. irresistibly maintains that
each planet was stricken off from the sun by a centrifugal force at a
period when &he solar mass extended to the present orbit of that planet.
Our globe is a miniature sun, as a seed is a miniature plant, and a
f<Btu a miniature man. Not that our earth will grow or develop
into a BUD, but it retains the potentialities which existed in the cireum-
ference of the sun's disk, when that circumference was ruptured, con-
glomerated into a minor s~here, and commenced an independent mo-
aon. Accordingly it has thrown off its own satellite, and & minia-
ture earth revolves around it, and illumines its night. Accordingly
iD cenval heat is 80 great that our metals are liquid at the depth of
1848.] 16

Jive miles, ODly l-8QOth of the distance to its ·centre. By virtue of

these SWl-brought potentialities we are enabled to develop what we
call artificial Heat, Light, &c., but the 8un immediately or mediately
is the origin of all. But how insignificant are these to the stupen-
dous direct in1Iuences of the great luminary! Even when they are
produced, they are always propagated from a centre, thus betraying
their origin by imitation or repetition of their archetype. The centri-
fugal tendency of natural vibrations harmonizes accordingly with. the
centrifugal outflow of the Operative Energy of the Divine Nature.
4th Prop. Geological researches have scouted from the domain of
reason the puerile idea that the solar system was created in six days.
Of the period of time which separated the appearance of the first
primordial atom from the birth of our planet at the circumference of
the nebular mu, the mind possessed of no data can form no concep-
tion. It is equall)· bewildered in its attempt to grasp the course of
centuries which elapsed during the condensation of the globe, and ita
elaboration into a habitable form. The mineral kingdom existed in
its manifold complications for ages before the production of the
first vegetable germ. It bean on its imperishable front the daper-
reotype impressions of plants, the mastodons of Botany, which flour-
ished in their mephitic atmosphere and died long before the evolution
oC the first animal form. Subsequently, gigantic reptiles and more
gigantic. quadrupeds, the common-place beings of pre.Adamite eras,
prepared the way for animal races more subservient to the necessi-
ties of man. Age after age, in beautifll1 succession, these animated
forms arose, each more perfect than its predecessor, because more
nearly approximated to the archetype form of- the Universe. At
length the central object of all the multiplied cares of nature appears
upon the stage so admirably fitted for his reception. ThoUBands of
years have passed away, and hundreds of millions of his progeny-
cover the face of the globe. We are struck with the wonderful order
iD which this extended development proceeded. The amorphous
material of the mineral kingdom gradually divided into the three
palpable forms of nature, solid, liquid, and gaseous, bearing in its
bosom the constituent particles of every form which has ever ~
peared. Three of its elements, oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen seem
possessed of a range of affinities almost infinite. These, by their di-
versified combinations, constitute the vegetable kingdom, which was
the intermediate agent to break down and decompose the inorganic
masses, and to elaborate the materials requisite for the construction
of animal tissue. Vegetables metamorphose the mineral elements
presented to them into albumen and fibrin, ready by their combina-
tioDS to compose an animal body. Philosophers have been greatly
bewildered in searching for the starting point and moving principle of
organization. Considered simply as a question for solution, the ar-
rangement of a crystal is as wonderful 88 the petals of a fiower, or the
mechanism of an ey'!.. We do not believe that lower forms develop
continuously into higher. Still less do we believe that the h~,
griDniDg, speeohless ape, living on fruits, and fleeing in terror from
&he beasts of the forest, was ever transmuted into erect, rational. de-
If} [Jan.
vout, progressive, creative Man-who has laden the ocean with his
vessels, and dotted the continents with his cities. But to refute this
theory we are bound to account for the remarkable anatomical re-
semblance of the inferior animals to the Human Form.
. The spiritual world is a world of uses; spiritual forces therefore
which produce natural forms, produce them as forms of uses. We
maintain that when a spiritual force acts upon matter, it eliminates
from that matter a form of being or use, such as its state of prepara-
tion (dependent upon many collateral circumstances, all however re- '
gnIsted by spiritual laws) enables it to assume. Now all spiritual .
forms have a reference to the highest spiritual fonn, viz.: the spirit-
ual body of man. All material forms must evince a corresponding
tendency to present the human form. At any given era of the world,
the causative principle will develop a form more or less approximat-
ing to the human form according to the degree of capacity in the
material for taking on the human form. Thus at one time an oyster,
at another & fish, at a third a quadruped was produced I The ap-
pearance of the ourang.outang~only indicated that the time for the
creation of man was drawing near. No being can possibly be creat-
ed until all the collateral forms of uses necessary to the full perform-
ance of its own use, have been created before it. Man crowns the
pyramid of animated, nature\; for his use, therefore, direct or indirect,
all things were created. The three kingdoms contribute to the form-
ation of his body; the auras of the world vibrate for the instruction
of his mind. He rends the bosom of the mountains and marches on
the snrface of the sea. He gathers around him the animals he
chooses, in mute dependence, to lighten his labors or enhance his
pleasures. He ,brings down the chamois from the cli~ and the eagle
from his e)Tie. He hunts the wild beast for his sport, and pursues
the huge whale for his profit. He measnres the courses of the comet,
and marks the path for the obedient electricity. Yea, the very poi-
sons which might destroy him immediately, are made to assuage his
pains and to cure his diseases.
These views are strikingly supported by a study of the growth of
the human embryo. It passes through many transition..stages, each
of which Natural History can recognise 88 a permanent one in some
order of inferior animals. So that the animal kingdom from lowest
to highest is a living tableau of the different transient stages of hu-
man development. Truly when the ancients declared that man
was a microcosm, or miniature of the universe, they gave us a bro-
ken ray of that sun-like philosophy which illuminated. the pure ages
of the world.
The mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, therefore, may be
represented by three circles, one within another, all of whose rftdii
converge to a common centre,.which is occupied by the natural hu-
man fonn.
6th Prop. To understand correctly our fifth proposition, a distinc-
tion mnst be drawn between growth and development. Inanimate
objects grow by accretion, but can present no traces of development
-that is, of a definite arrangement of organs, subservient to eenain
 1848.] ne Forou and Tendenciu of Nature. 17

purposes. The development and growth of living beings are thiDgs

entirely different. Development is the appearance of an organ iD
an amorphous material, susceptible of organization. Growth is the
increase in volume and weight of an organ already developed. De-
velopment is the punctum saliens, the starting-point of natural form.
Growth is a mere provision for the extension of that form. The for-
mer is evidently a much more wonderful phenomenon than the latter.
Recent physiological researches have shown that every organized
" being is developed from a primary cell, ovule, or vesicle. St. Hilaire
and Serres,ttwo of the greatest names in medical literature, promul-
gated the law of centripetal formation, viz.: that the exterior orgaDII
are formed first, and the most intemallast. We translate verbatim a
brief summary of their extended la~ors from MarCM88Q,U' (hnertJl
.Jaatmny, a French work of standard value: "At this stage of de-
velopment we notice a fact which confirms with irresistible power
the doctrine of the centripetal succession of organs. Every germinat-
iDg vesicle consists of three concentric layers or 1amiDm, differing iD
nature. Of these the extemal or serous always begins to organiz~
first, and from it arise successively the spinal cord, brain, vertebne
cranium, the organs of sense and their dependences. When the ex-
ternal lamina has thus sketched ont the forms of the organs of ani-
mal life, the middle or vascular lamina commences in its turn, and in
a similar manner marks the outlines of the peripheral vessels, velllS,
cavm, aorta, and heart. Up to this period the internal or mucus
lamiDa has been inactive, but now its movements begin, and we see it
successively delineate the alimentary canal, the lungs, the glandular
system, liver, spleen, pancreas, &c. This order is invariable: Dot
only upon one occasion but universally does nature proceed in this
manner." Professor Jackson, of Philatlelphia, thinks that this view
is confirmed by an appearance in some malforlnations of the nervous
system. Although the central portions may be imperfect or even
abeent, the peripheral expansions are normally developed, show-
ing that after the periphery was formed, an arrest of development
took place.
We might here point out the centripetal formation of the planets
of our solar system, from Le Verrier or Neptune, to Mercury, as
plausibly maintained by the nebular hypothesis. We might show
that the geological strata of the earth were successively formed at its
surface, were ruptured and deposited according to their specific grav-
ities. We might prove that the human or vegetable mould we tread
OD has been concentrated from the atmosphere above us. We might
refer to the progress of crystallization from the surface towards the
centre of mineral solution. But we forbear a minute consideration
of these subjects from a fear that more cautious and philosophic
minds might regard the analogies as remote, unwarranted, or fanci-
ful. But \vhetner the theories merely ,suggested be tenable or not,
the general truth of the centripetal developnJent of organize~ beings
enunciated in this proposition is incontrovertihle.
Collecting under one expression, the attraction of gravitation, at-
traction of cohesion, chemical affinity, conatus of crystallization, veg-
 18 [Jan.
et&:tive MICe, vital principle, &~., and denominating them the tenden-
cie, of nature, and giving to undulatory motions the provisional tenn
of far.ce, of nature, we may boldly lay down the principle-that the
forces of nature are centrifugal, and the tendencies of na.ture centri-
. petal. A beautiful equilibrium between these powers reta~s perpet-
ually the earth in its orbit, the sun in its station, and the whole Uni-
verse in a chain of sublime connection. From the Divine Being all
things proceed: to the Divine Being all things tend: God is All in
All.
By a survey of such striking analogies, the New Churchman is
enabled to render a reason of the faith which is within him. Or if
he prefer to avoid disputation, and to concentrate his attention on
the sublime articles of his creed, his mind will subside into that calm
. aDd dignified philosophy, whose enchantment no scoffer can break,
indisposed to assail the opinions of others, but immutable in its own.
Many generous and gifted spirits during the middle ages spent their
lives in the chemical laboratory in quest of a fabulous stone which
could transmute the baser Inetals into coveted gold. Bat the receiver
ofNew Church Theology is possessed of a talisman. far more potent,
far more wonderful, which the more he nses the more powerful it be-
comes; a talisman which can convert the commonest objects of life-
the pebble at his feet, the snail in his path, the dew-drop on the
flower; into spiritual truths, which will nourish his spiritual body,
enlighten his understanding, and pnrify his heart.
Modi,on, Ind. W. R. H.

A.RTlCLE DI.
i"or the N. c .• epolltor,..
lNTRRPOLATION IN THE DICTIONARY OF CORRESPONDENCES.

• R. BDITOIl,
Under the article" Eighth Day," in the IC Dictionary of Correspond-
ences" (Bost. Ed. 1841), ,,~e read as follows: '
1& EIGHTH DAY (the), denotes every beginniDg, consequently continuation.

This is one reason why the liabbath was changed from the seventh day to
the first, that is, by war of continuation, the eighth day, which denotes the
beginning of a new Chnstian Church, at the end of the Jewish Chorch."-A. C.
S63S.
. Having some curiosity to learn what Swedenborg really taught on
this subject, and not recollecting to have met with &D)" such passage
as the above in my reading of the Arcana, I turned with special in-
terest to the number referred to, and to my surprise found only the
following ;-
l& A son of eight days." That it signifies beginning and continuation appears
from the signification of the eighth day, on which they were circumcised,
... denoting every beginning, thus continuation, concerning which, n. i044.
 1841.] I"terpolation ita • DietioratJ,., Dj C~,. 1_
Here evidently is nothing touchiDg the change or the Sabbath day
from the seventh to the first. Nor is there anything more explicit in
the number here referred to,2044. He says indeed that" as the eighth
day is the first day of the week following, it signifies every begin-
ning ;" but this carries with it no intimation that the Sabbath is this
first or eighth day of the week. In fact, though I have 8canned the
writings of Swedenborg very carefully to see if any hint could be
met with which seemed to recognise the change of day which ha
• obtained in the Christian world, the search has thus far been fruitlesa.
On the contrary, it would seem from the language of Swedenborg
in the following extracts that it was not the time, bot simply the
cliafYlder, of the day that was changed.
U The Sabbath, among the SODS of Israel, was the 8ancti~ of sanctities be-
caDJJe it represented the Lord; the six days, hislabors and combats with the.
hells; and the seventh, his victory over them, and thU8 rest; and because that
day was the representative of the close of the whole redemption of the Lord
therefore it was holiness itself. But v/un tJ&. Lord mm, into tJ&. vorld, aftCIl
rAft« ~ r'P"amtation, of Him CIGIld, tl&at day beeam, a day 01 imtrudion in di-
.nu tliftBJ,. atad tAu al. a da¥ of rat from labor'J and 01 meilitatioo Oft IUth t/aiftg•
.. are of ltJ.tioft OM demallifl; GI also a d~ of low totlHJrdl tAl naghbor. That
it became a day of instruction iD divine things, is manifest from this, that the
Lord on that day taught in the tem:ple and synagogues, (Mark vi. 2i Luke iv.
~6t 31, 32; xiii. 10;) and that he slUd to the man who was healed, loa up
'*' aftll tDiJll; and to the Pharisees, That it tDa$ lawful for tlu disciplu Oft tJie
tA,
Sa6INIIA . " to gat!wr tlu «IT' of corn and to ,at, (Matt. xii. 1 to 9· MarJi H. 23 to
the end; Luke vi. 1 to 6; John v. 9 to 19;) by which particulars, in the spire
itual sense, is signified, to be instructed in doctrinals. That that day became
also a da! of love towards the neighbor, is evident from th08e things which
the Lord did and taught on the day of the Sabbath, (Matt. xii. 10 to 14; Mark
w. 1 to 9; Luke vi. 6 to 12; xiii. 10 to 18 j xiv. 1 to 7; John v. 9 to 19 j vu.
21,23; ix. 14, 16.) From these and the former passages, it is manifest why
the Lord said, that H, it Lord alIo oftJu &b6aIA, (Matt. xii. 8 j Mark ii. 28 j Luke
Ti. 5;) and becaU8e He said thia, it fellows that that day was representatift
of Bim."-T. C. R. SOl. I

So.. again elsewhere.

"The Lord when he was in the world and united His Human to the Divine
itself, abrogated the Sabbath as to representative worship, or as to the w01'8hip
which prevailed amon~st the Israelitish people, arid mad, tAt &b6atl day tJ dIiiy
of itUtructioa iD tM doctr.M offaitA and love."-A. C. 10,360.
Here is no hint of a change of tk day, but only of its fUU. Indeed,
88 the Sabbath denotes sriritually the state of rest consequent 'upon
the labors and conflicts 0 the six days of regeneration, it constitutes
a problem how, under the Dew dispensation, the Sabbath, which sig-
nifies the repose and tranquillity of the last day of the spiritual week,
should properly stand at the commencement of that week. Would
not this imply that coqjuDction came before combat T-victory before
temptation 1 .
I do not, however, propound this matter for the sake of argument.
Perhaps the time may come when the whole suqject will demand at
the handtt of New Churchmen a more thorough-going and radical
C&nv888ing than it has ever, in modem times, received. Bot at pres-
ent my object is limply to bring to notice &he foregoiDg palpable ill-
 - · o f tJ nppotMfl [J...
terpolation in the Dictionary of Correspondences. I would ask up-
on what authority such a sentence 88 the above has found its way
into the work in question 1 It may be replied that it is copied verba-
tim from Nichol8on, whose work is the basis of the Dictionary. But
what authority had Nicholson 80 to mix up his own opinions with the
statements of Swedenborg as to mislead the reader by making him
think that Swedenborg had said \vhat he never did say 1 As a
general fact I have found Nicholson very fair in representing his
author, but the present is plainly Rn exceptioD, and though both his
work and the Diotionary of Correspondences founded upon it, are very
Uleful manuals, yet it is to be hoped that the passage in question, if
it be not expunged from future editions, may at least be known to re-
ceive no countenance from anything advanced by Swedenborg.
, SCRUTA~9R.

ARTICLE IV.

For the N. c. aepolltofr.

MISCORRECTION OF A. SUPPOSED ERRONEOUS TRANSLATION

IN THE ARCANA.

• B. EITOR,
I notice in No. 7 of your Repository, page 444, an intended correc-
tion of a supposed erroneous translation, which it is unneoessary for
me to quote in detail, aB those who Bre interested in it will tom to it.
The translator had rendered " diluculum," earliest dawn; aDd the cor-
rector proposes to render it twilight. What the corrector means by
twilight,-whether morning twilight or evening twiligllt, he does not
say; but the inference naturally is that he means the latter. If 80,
he is in error, and the translator is right. Diluculum signifies morn-
ing twilight, or daum: whereas evening tlDiligkl is expressed in the
Latin language by crepu6ctdum.
T. B. H.
REMARKS.
We are satisfied, upon examinatiollt that our correspondent T. B. H. is right
in his remarks on the correction proposed, and yet the mistake is one that
would 80 easily aad naturally be made, without a cloae inspection of Sweden-
bOil'S usage of terms, that we are Dot at all surprised that it 1IGI made. The
following is the original article which has drawn out the critique of T. B. H.
"In a recent reading of A. C. 10,135, we noticed the following passage,-
&From these considerations it may D<?W be manifest ,vhat is signified by
moming. and what by evening; but, let it be observed, that this morning in·
volvea also mid-day, and that evening involves also the ,arli"tdatm (diluculum).'
Thia should evidently be rendered twiligltt, as it is in the sentence immediately
IN'.) SI
foUowing j l For when mention is made in the Word of morning and evening,
in such case the whole day is meant, thus by morniug-also mid.day, and by
evening also night or tflJilight (diluculum).' The error is 80 obvious, that we
trost it may be corrected in future editions."
Bere it is evident that the same original term is rendered in one case earliut
tlatm, and in the other tUJilight, and ,ve have recently noticed that in the Man·
chester edition of the Arcana, printed in 1820, the phrase earliest daum does
not occur at all, bat dilueulum is unifonnly rendered by ttl1ilight-a term which
in ordinary parlance denotes, as is well known, the ftJening ttDilight. Without
a special recurrence to the original Latin 0 f Swedenborg, the impression
'Would undoubtedly be that by t1Dilight was meant the ob&cure ligit oftlu et1m-
iAg, both here and in the following passage.
&1 The reason why morning denotes a state of love and of light thence de-

rived in the intemal man is, because in the heavens with the angels the states
ft.I'J as to love and the faith thence derived, as in the world with men times
ft.I'J as to heat and at the same time light; those times are, as is well known,
morning, mid-day, evening and night; hence in the Word by morning is sig-
nified a state of love, by mid.day a state of light in clearness, by evening a
&&ate of light in obscurity, and by night or twilight a state of love in obscW'ity."
-..4.. C. 10,134.
In this passage, however, the original is dilucwU1A as before, and by a strict
comparison of taeveral parallel places it appears unquestionable that the
meaning attached by our author to the word is uniformly that of the early da.,.,
just preceding the mane or morning. The usage is very distinctly set forth in
the ensning extracts.
l:. These states also are meant by morning, mid-day, evening, and nigbt or
I.light in the Word; in like manner states of the Church, the first state of
which is also called morning in the Word, the second state mid-day, the third
evenin~, and the fourth or last night; but when the Church is in its night, in
which It is when no longer in Jove to God and in faith, then morning com-
mences from the ea,.liest daum (diluculum) with another nation, where a new
Church is e8t2.blished."-.A. C. 10,134.
" It is from this ground that it ,vas said, that he (Peter) should thrice deny;
that this was done in u." early davm (diluculum) when morning was about to
come, is manifest from John, chap. xviii. 28; and that eock-tr~.Ding and etl"l.,
tl4. . (dilueillum) denote the 88Jne thing is evident from Mark, 'Watch ye, for
ye know not when the Lord of the house is about to come; in the evening, or
at midnight, or at coek-trOtDing, or in the morning' (xiii. S5.)"-lbid.
The general subject here treated of is the variation or vicissitude of states
in the spiritual world.
" For the states of love and of light vary with the angels, as in the world
the states of the times of the day vary: which are morning, mid-day, evening,
night or tM .rliest dawn (diluculum), and again morning; when the angels are
in a state of love, then it is morning to them, and then the Lord appears to
them as the rising SUD; when they are in a state of light, then it is mid-day
to them j but when they are in a state of light in obscut'ity. then it ill evening
to them: and afterwards when they are in a state of love in obscurity or in.
some degree of cold, then it is night to them or rather the early datJm (dilucu-
lurn) to them; such states succeed continually with the angels, and by them
they are continually perfecting; but those variations do not exist from the
sun there, its riaing and setting, but from the state of the interiors 0 f the
VOLe D. 2
• [Ju.
....els themselves; for they desire, like men, to be ODe while in their inter-
nals, another while in extemals; when they are in internals, thell they are in
a state of love and of light thence derived in clearness, and when in externals,
then they are in a state of love and of light thence derived in obscurity, for
such is the extemal in respect to the internal; hence comes the origin of the
variations of the states of the angels."-A. C. 10,136.
To a full view of the reasons of this peculiar usage it is important to bear
ill mind the fact mentioned A. C. 6110 ;-" It is to be known, that in heaven
there is no night, but only evening! which is succeeded by the twilight (dilueu-
lum) that precedes the morning; but in hell there is night." So far as the
. Church in the world is conjoined with heaven it has no night, properly speak~
ing; but 80 far as it disjoins itself from heaven it is subject to lapse into
night's darkest shades. Swedenborg accordingly says in reference to the
Churches that have been J " -
Il Such etates also are the states of every Church from its beginnmg to ita
end, its first state is likewise a state of infancy, thus also of innocence, conse-
quently of love to the Lord, this state of it is called morning; the second state
is a state of light; the third state is a state of light in obscurity, which is its
evening; and the fourth state is a state of no love and hence neither of light
which is its night: the reason of this is, because evils increase every day, and
80 far as they increase, so far one infects another like a contagion, especially
parents their children; besides that hereditary evils are successively condens-
ed, and thereby derived."-.A. C. 10,136.
The general theme of variations of states among the angels is one of 80
much interest that we cannot forego the opportunity, thus casually offered, of
dwelling a little longer upon it. This we do in the ,vords of our author, .Aa C.
5962.
U He who does Dot know how the case is withJthe state of the life of spirits and
of angels in the heavens, cannot kno'\v '\vhy the occultation of truth and good
&b.ouJd be now treated of. when they had been in the light thereof JUBt before.
That state of Life in heaven is this, that spirits and angels have their morning,
m.id.day, and evening: also twilight, and again morning, and so on; their
morning is, when the Lord is present, and hlesses them with manifest happi-
nees, Bnd they are then in the perception of good; mid.day is when t.hey are
in the light of truths; and evening, when they are removed from them, and
then it appears to them that the Lord is more remote, and concealed from
them: all who are in heaven undergo andjass through these vicissitudes,
otherwise they cannot be continually perfecte : for hence they have relati,-e.,
and from relatives more perfect perception, inasmuch 8.8 they thence know
what is not happy, because hence they know what is 110t good, and what is
not tme. It is worthy of admiration, that one state is in no case altogether
like another to eternity; also that one spirit and angel does not pass through
similar changes of state as another, by reaSOll that one is not alt.ogether like
another as to good and truth, jUBt as no two men are precisely alike in counte-
nance: but yet the Lord from those varieties makes a one; it is a general
canon, that every 006, in which there is any quality, exists from varietjes~
which are reduced into such unanimity by the CODsent of harmony, that
they appear all as one; the one thence derived, or the union ill the heave1l&,
i8 effected by the love and charity. The occultation, which is signified by
Joseph'8 sending away his brethren and their going, is in the Word called
evening, which has place with angels at those times when they do not per-
oeive the Lord present, for there iR in heaven a continual perception of the
Lord when they are in a state of non-perception, they are not then alfected
with good, neither do they see the truth, as before, and this torments them;
but shortly afterwards twilight (diltu:ulum) comes and thus the momiDl."
1841.]
It is still to be bome in mind that these vicissitudes originate with the an-
•
gEJs, and not with the Lord.
1& That noon denotes a state of light, is because the times of the day, as
morning, DOOD, evening, correspond to illu8trations in the other life, and illus-
trations there are of intelligence and wisdom; the vicissitudes of illustration
there are such, namely as morning, nOOD, and evening on the earths: states
of shade exist like those in the evening, not from the SUll there, that is, the
Lord who always shines, but from the proprium of the angels; for as they
are let into their own proprium, 80 they come into a state of shade or evening;
and as they are elevated from their own proprium into the heavenly propri-
nlD, 80 they come into a state of light: hence it is evident from whence it is.
that noon corresponds to a state of light."-..4. C. 6672.
On the whole we profes8 ourselves obliged to our correspondent for pre-
senting us with the occasion that has led to aD interesting examination OD a
point that had escaped our notice before, and which we presume will be
somewhat Dew to our readers. It is evident that Swedenborg'8 use olthe term
dilUftllum is uniform, always denotin@' the morning and not the evening ttDiligh',
though the term twilight is constantly employed in the Manchester edition of
the Arcana, while· early or earliest datDn as uniformly oecurs in the London, wich
howE!ver, the single exception in No. 10,135, which suggested our original
criticism. As to T. U. H.'s closing remark in regard to the legitimate import of
the two words diluculum and crepusculum, no scholar could of course fail to be
aware that such is their dominant usage in the classic writers, but as the idea
of a little light is the leading idea of the term. diluculum, as it is also of the
English word tviligl"t, we know not that Swedenborg's Latinity would be
liable to be seriously called in question were the term found to be applied by
him to express the lWning ttltiligl&t; still, in point of fact, it is not so. His use of
the term, as we have seen, is correct and uniform, and we trust that this little
critical encounter will be the means o{ clearing up an interesting topic far .
beyond the original intention of either party.

A.RTICLE v.

SWEDENBORG'S INTERCOURSE IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD.

Wz give in tbp ensuing list the names of a yery large proportion of

the individuals of \vhom Swedenhorg speaks in his " Spiritual Diary,"
as ha'v'ing either conversed with them in person, or as having ac-
quired and communicated a knov."ledge of their states after death.
Many of them are of course personages of whom little or nothing
can be expected to be known in this country and at this period, being
eontemporaries or associates of Swedenborg him8el~ and leaving
behind no celebrity. The greater number, however, are names to
which posthumous distinction, to agreate ror less degree, attaches, and
respecting whose condition and character in the other world it is in-
teresting to be informed, provided we can regard the infoflnation aa
 (Jan.
authentic. The New Churchman has small hesitation on this score;
with others the testimony of our enlightened Seer will probably
weigh so little that the divulgement will draw after it no injurious
consequenceL .
Abraham, Alderbeim, Addison, St. Antony, Aristotle, Augustus,
Barek, Benzelstiern, Calvin, Cicero, Cocceius, David, Dippel, Jacob,
Lejel, Luther, Mary (Virg.), Melanctbon, Mohammed, Moses, Nord-
berg, Sir Isaac Newton, Paul, Penn, Peter, Polheim, Pope Sextus the
Fifth, Sir Hans Sloan, Rudbeck, SchOnst, Solomon, Louis XIV tb,
ZiDzendor£

ARTICLE VI.

VINDICATION OF 8WEDENBORG FROM THE MISREPRESENT..

ATIONS OF WESLEY,
IX .&. LET1'D nOM THE LATE BEV. 10lDf BABQaOV:L

THE following letter, we believe, has never before been published. It has
been hitherto in the possession of the family of Mr. Hargrove, and from them
has come into our hands. The original is without date. It was apparently in-
tended to be followed by a series of letters on the same subject, but this part
of the plan seems never to have been executed. An extended and unanswera-
ble refutation of Wesley's main slander against Swedenborg has indeed been
given to the world by Mr. Noble in his U Appeal," and in a volume of biographi-
cal le Documents" embraced .in the Swedenborg Library; but the present letter
presents the conduct of the founder of ltfethodism in some new lights, so far
as it regards his treatment of S,\~edellborg's memory ~and writings, such as
will scarcely fail, we think, to lower the tone of opprobrium with which many
of his clerical followers are prone to assail those of their people who are
known to be turning their attention to the doctrines of the New Church. So
far as we have learned, these spiritual guides are very little acquainted with
the works of Swedenborg, and therefore cannot denounce them from their
own knowledge, but their policy is to intimidate and deter from reading by
appealing to the authority of Wesley, who has not scrupled to characterise
Swedenborg as a madman~ alleging in proof of it the fact (clearly shown to
have been a fiction) of his having run naked into the street, proclaimed him-
self the Me8siah, and rolled himself in the mire! They seem to be totally
guiltless of the leut approach tpwards &"conception that the real question at
issue is not whether Swedenborg was ,aM or in,an" but whether what he
wrote is tn&e or fah,. This question is being so fast settled in a multitude of
intelligent minds at the present day that the coarse ridicule and violent tirades
of Wesley are becoming as much of a t,zum imbeUe to prevent the spread of the
N. C. doctrines as were the brickbats and bludgeons that took the place of
logic in opposing the early career of Methodism.
DEAB. BIll,
"Wesley'8 Thoughts," &c. made their first appearance in the world
through the medium of the English Arminian Magazine, for the year
1848·1 16

1783, vol. 6, London edition;- and after havitlg run their race and
finished their course in the olel world, \vere piously resuscitated in the
new through the medium of the American Methodist l\{agazine, for
the year 1797, voI. VII. Philadelphia edition. "Beatson's Vindica-
tion," &0. was addressed to the publie, only through the medium of
the "Magazine of Knowledge for the New Chureh," for the year 1791,
vol. 2, London edition; very few copies of whicb have ever reached
America.
Mr. Beatson's " vindication" of our favorite author certainly pos.-
sesses great merit, both as to matter and manner; yet is not 80 full
upon the subject, perhaps, as to preclude the propriety (though I will
not add necessity) of a fe,,· more impartial remarks on the same sub-
ject, from the plain unpolished pen of your hwnble servant :-more-
over, as I shall thereby not only evidence my respect for yourself; sir,
at whose pressing request I have now taken up my pen, but also
testify my veneration, gratitude and afrection for that highly illuminat-
ed, truly pious, and greatly penJecuted man, the Baron Emanuel Swe-
denborg, to whom, under GOD my SAVIOUR, I am chiefly indebted for
all the genuine knowledge of the Scriptures that I now possess.
And if my heart doth. not deceive me, I am not led to write the
following remarks so much from an intention to expose the celebrat-
ed founder of the l\lethodist E. Church, or to taunt or mortify any of
his numerous followers- (many of whom doubtless are men of candor
and piety), as to comply with what I conceive to be the requisitions
of duty from me, and thereby retain "the testimony of a good con-
science" in my own breast. And such is the power of truth, when
submitted to the candid mind under an honest, plain and logical form,
that though I am unhappily possessed but of very few classical at-
tainments, and unskilled in the ,vHy tactics of religious controversy,
I despair not of producing the most unexpected and serio11S convic-
tions upon the minds of all who may be liberal and patient enough
to pursue the following remarks with impartiality and attention.
It is granted that the Rev. Mr. Wesley was & very extraordinary
character; and when ,ye reflect upon his great success in calling
sinners to repentance, and his great labors as a preacher of the gos-
pel, we should not hesitate in allowing that" he duerved 1Dell DJ" hu
country." But certainly it would be very bad logic to infer fJ·om this,
that all the religious and political doctrines which he held and pro-
Fagated were true; or even that the motives which prompted his ex-
traordinary labors were pure, and free from the defiling loves of self;
and of dominion.
The labors, the sincere and pious labors, ofaXavier, in endeavor-
ing to propagate the tenets of the Church of Rome in Asia, ,vere
probably greater (until he sunk a mart)..r to them) than those of Mr.
Wesley to establish his favorite system in a more civilised part of the
world.
Indeed the labors and toils of an Alexander or & Bonaparte, in
subjecting millions to their arbitrary and delpotic sway, have doubt-
less been no less; nor their propensity to contend with all those sur-
rounding nations which seemed to stand in the way of their growing
 [Jan.
fame and power, greater than that of Mr. Weeley to contend with
every surrounding sect (or apiritual nation) which da.red, in his da.y,
to differ from him in any point of Christian faith or practice, or im-
pede the rapid and enormous progress of his religiou8 popularity and
power.
It is true, we are exhorted by an Apostle to" contend earne,tly
for the faith once delivered to the aaint8." And it is equally certain
that mere defensive \vars are not unlawful, for otherwise 8elf-pruer-
vation itself would be unlawful; yet, I must be permitted to fear that
it is one and the same kind of spirit which has generally 'stirred up
one religious sect to contend with, and cruelly calumniate all others
who have differed from them, apd that which now i, prompting the
mighty warriors and belligerent nations of the earth to contend with
and destroy or subjugate all others who cannot with propriety and
safety fall in ,vith their designs.
And here I would add, that it is somewhat consoling to reflect
that the Divine providence, foreseeing the sad necessity of wars, hath,
in mercy, inclined the most contentious and powerful nations of the
earth to establish, and also to regard, some general laws, or rules, as
to their conduct towards their enemies, ar those they are about to
make war against (calculated to lessen the miseries and inhumanity
so apt to accompany such a state) the wanton or avoidable trans-
gressions of which general laws or rules have always been branded with
infamy and wickedness by every lover of peace, equity and good
order. Ho\v much more then does it become all those who profess
to figbt under the banner of the" Prince of peace," to establish, and
conscientiousl~r attend to some similar laws, or rules, whensoever
they may conceive it to be their duty to contend with any of their
fellow-Christians, respecting mere religious opinions 1
Indeed the Rev. Mr. Wesley himself (who like Goliahof old ,vas
a man of war from his Iyouth) became so thoroughly convinced of
the propriety and justice of attending to some "stated rules" in con-
troversy, that he has laid do\vn and established some of th,ese rule8
in his celebrated and printed" Remarks on Mr. Hill's Reyiew of all
the Doctrines taught by Mr. Wesley." This little pamphlet is now
before me, out of which I must beg leave to make a few extracts, in
order to prove how un generous and how unjust Mr. Wesley's manner
of attacking Baron Swedenborg was, ,vhatever might have been his
genuine and interior motivu.
1. "Mr. Hill publishes a review of all the doctrines taught by Mr.
John Wesley; but is it possible for any man to do this without read-
ing all the writings that I have published T Is it possible in the
natare of things 1 He cannot give an account of what he never read;
and has Mr. Hill read all that I have published 1 I believe he will
not affirm it. So any man of understanding may judge, before he
opens his book, what manner of review it is likely to contain."-p.9.
2. "I observe here, and in fifty other instances, Mr. Hill mentions
no pa.ge ; now (in controversy) he that names no page has no right to
anyanswer."-p. 15.
8. "Here I must beg leave to put Mr. Hill in mind of one stated
1849·1

raJe in oontroversy, we are to take DO authorities at second hand."-

p. 45.
Now, sir, you are doubtless ready with me to subscribe to all the
above excellent rules in controversy; but what shall we say, or
what sha.ll we think, if Mr. W~sley himself: ten years after he laid
down these rules, and loudly remonstrated against the breaking of
them by Mr. Hill, coolly and without tile least personal provocation,
broke through them all, and wantonly and repeatedly transgressed
them 1 Well might St. Panl say, "Happy is he who condemneth not
himself in that which he alloweth !"
I shall now proceed, sir, to lay before yon proofs, the ttmtlemniRK
proofS, of this serious charge, which I have advanced against the Rev.
Mr. Wesley.
And 1st. Previous to Mr. Wesley's attack upon the Baron, did Ae
read all the theological works of the maD whose religious system he
W88 about to refute 1 Let us hear what Mr. We81ey himself has
said upon this subject in the 5tli No. or paragraph of his" Thoughts
011 tIN Writing. of Baron Swedenborg."
" Desiring to be thoroughly master of the subject. I procnred the
translation of the PI1l8T volume of his LAST and LARGBBT Theologic&l
work, entitled" TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION" (the original the Baron
himself presented me with a little before he died), I took an extra.ct
thereof; from the beginning to the end, that I might be able to form a
more accurate judgment."
What! form an accurate judgment of the contents of a system,
which fills about thirty other volumes, equally large with the ODe be
alludes to, by merely looking into that" one 1 "Impossible in the
nature of things," 88 Mr. W estey rightly observed in his printed re-
marks in his answer to Mr. Hill. ~
This accurate gentleman egregionsly erred likewise, in 8S8uring
his readers that the work entitled" TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION," was
the largest of all the Baron~ Theological works, when the truth is
that his work entitled" AKCANA Ca:LESTIA" (written long before) i.
at least six times as large as the former I On this article, therefore,
may we not add, with great propriety, and in the language of Mr.
Wesley himself in his printed remarks before alluded to, "So then,
any man of understanding ma.y judge, before he opens Mr. Wesley's
book, what manDer of' T1wv.ght8' it is likely to contain."
Id. Has not Mr. Wesley transgressed his own ,tated rule. i..
controversy, also, by never referring his numerous aDd implicit rea.-
ders, in anyone single instance, to the No. or page of the Baron'.
works from whence he made his extracts 1 And could he expect
any answer to 1&i8 remarks 011 Swedenborg's doctrine, when he only
reflected for a moment on his own stated ",le in controversy, to wit:
" He that names no page (in controversy) has no right to an answer."
The troth is, that Mr. Wesley "rished no such answer to be made
to his attack npon the Baron, any more than he wished his readers to
CODsWt the originals from whence these mutilated, disjointed, and
Itodionsly obscure extracts are .aid to be taken, lest thereby his OWtl
waDt of justice and liberality might be di8closed, and the pare light
 [Jail.
of genuine truth, from the heavenly doc";au of the fiew Jerusalem,
break in upon their souls.
When Mr. Wesley tells his readers that ·the Baron was iruane,
and that he " rolled himself in the mire," &c.; does he add that he
himself 88W this 1 Far from it; on tbe contrary (regardless of
another of his stated role, in controversy) he runs to mere" second
hand authority," though ten years before he could " beg leave to put
Mr. Hill in mind that we are to take no authorities at second band."
. And who were these second hand authorities that Mr. Wesley
brings forward to substantiate this charge of madne88 against the
Baron 1 Why, a Mr. Brockmer, at whose house the Baron lodged,
.and a "very serious Swedish clergyman, a Mr. Mathesius." Now it
is a fact, that this 'lery Mr. Brockmer publicly testified that he never
opened his mouth to Mr. Wesley on the subject (See Mag. of Know-
ledge for the New Church, Vol. 11. p. 92). And also that this Rev.
Mr. Ma.thesius (like some other Rev. gentlemen,) was, with all hiB
",erioU8ne8S," a violent and bitter enemy to tbe Swedenhorgian The-
ology and actually became insane himself a little after he propagat-
ed this report of the Baron, and was dismissed from his congrega-
tion in London, and sent back to Sweden to li,Ye upon the bounty of
his country. .
One thing seems, however, very singular, with respect to the
Baron, that all the time he was insane and" rolling himself ~R tile
mire," he took care to keep his pen clean I-clean from ever contra-
dicting himself, or calumniating any of his fellow-Christians. This
is more than some of his most popular opponents have done; for let
us hear what Mr. Wesley himself confesttea, in the pamphlet alread)-
alluded to (p. 11), in reply to Mr. Hill. " You charge me likewise,
and that more than once or twice, with maintaining contradictions:
I answer, if all my sentiments were compared together from the year
1725 to 1168, there would be truth in the charge, for during the
latter part of this period I have relinquished several of my former
. seDtiments."
. And again, in the 33d page of this same memorable little pam-
phlet (which indeed is all of Mr. Wesley's writin~ now in my po&--
Bession), Mr. Wesley him8el~ being run hard by Mr. HiIJ, OD. a cer-
tain point of doctrine, is fairly compelled to own that after he had
assumed the dignity of a commentator on the Holy Scriptures, and
had actually published notes on the Ne,v Testament, he had no just
ideas respecting the nature of indwelling ain in the regenerate chil-
dren or God !
In the first edition of Wesley's Notes on the New Testament (2
Epis. -to the Cor. v. ch. 4th verse), we have it as follows: Text-" For
we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened."
We,ley'. notes.-" That is, with numberles.fJ infirmities, tempta-
tions and sins."
But in his reply to Mr. Hill, above alluded to, in order to steer
clear of Calvinism, and keep his neck out of the noose that Mr. Hill
had prepared for him, he hesitates not to contradict himsel~ and deny
the truth of his former comment. Hear his own \vords OD this occa-
1MB.]
•
&ion ; • This is wrong; it is BOt the· meaning of the ten; I wilLp.t it
out if I live to print another edition I I I"
Meantime, however, his former and confessedly erroneous editien
remained in the hands of thousands of his innocent followers, many of
whom, doubtless, were to indigent to purchase a new edition of
Wesley's notes on the New Testament as often as their ha.~ty author
was compelled to reJect the old.
But it is only fair, play to admit Mr. Wesley's own defence of him-
self OD this occasion, which may be found in the 11th page of his
aforesaid replY'to Mr. Hill, in the following words:
M The plain case is this. I have written on varioaa heads, and
always as clearly as I could, yet many have misunderstood my words,
and raised abundance of objections. I answered them by explaining
myself; showing what I did not mean, and what I did. One and
another of the objectors stretched his throat, and cried out evasion· I
evasion I And what does all this outery amount to 1 Why.,' exactly
thus much: they imagined they:had tied me so fast that it was im~
poaible for me to escape; but presently the ceb,vebs were swept
away, and I was quite at liberty."
Bravo! But then may it not be asked, in the name of sympath,.
and Christian charit)", why could not Mr. Wesley reflect that it might
be possible for him also to mUurtder.land the Baron's words and
meaning, at a time too when it ~as DO long~ in the power of the
latter to explain himsel~ and show what he did not mean, and what
he did? And why was this celebrated preacher of Christian i8.ith
and practice so willing, and so hasty in reverberatiog with the mali-
cious and unhappy Mathesius, Madman! Madf1lll7l!
One more observation may be proper here. in order to show still
more strikingly the ihameful and 81wcking disregard- for justice, truth
or charity, which the Rev. Mr. Wesley has evinced in his unprovoked
auaek on Baron Swedenborg. This observation, it is true, did not
escape the notice of Mr. Beatson, and it is as follows:
"In W esley's 'Thoughts on the Writings of Baron Swedenborg,'
No. 8, he inserts the folloWIng words, 88 an extract from the Baron's
work entitled ' 7rue Ohriatian Religion ;'-' There is no faith in an
iDYisiblA God I' "
Now, sir, wha.t will the admirers of Mr. Wesley's honesty and
candor think, or tJay, when they are assured that in all the Baron's
voluminous works there is no such expression I " O! tell it not
in Gat~ pablish it not in the streets of Askelon, lest the daughters of
the Philistines rejoice, lest the uncircumcised be glad." Or, in other
words, lest the evil affections of the enemies of revealed religion be
gratified in perceiving the little regard Mr. Welley .has paid to his
own excellent 8.nd stated r~ of religious controversy, any more
than to the rules of justice, faith and Christian charity in his unpro-
voked attack on Baron Swedenborg.
Indeed the manner of his commencing this attack, by introducing
a disjointed paragraph or two from 8. letter written by the Baron to
his Rev. and learned friend Mr. Hartley, and on the earnest request
of &he latter, is truly siDgular and peculiar to himself: Destitute of
10 [JaIL
aDy order or introduction, modesty or mercy, he denounces the trUly
systematic and learned founder of the New Jerusalem Church as &
madman, before he had finished his third paragraph; and this too
merely because Swedenborg had announced that the Lord had
"opened to him a sight of the spiritual world !"
But if this high and gracioos privilege constitutes a madman,
then how plainly will it follow that most of the holy prophets and
apostles of old were madmen also 1 Except Mr. Wesley can prove
that the ann of the Lord is shortened since their days, and that how-
ever loudly the state of his Church may require such gracious vouch.
safements, to arrest infidelity and banish superstition, yet he ba.th
"forgotten to be gracious," or is now too angry to confer any more
such ancient favors on his Church.
It is Dot my design, sir, in this letter, to make any reply oC a doe-
trinal nature to the various objections which Mr. Wesley has made
to the Theology of the Lord's New Church; but chiefly to offer a
few remarks on the manner, the unfair and ungeneroos manner,
which he has taken to answer the end he had in view. It may be
appropriate however, with this plan, to make one more remark with
~t to the concluding words of Mr. Wesley's primary thoughts on
Baron Swedenborg; where, after retailing a paragraph of the Baron's
letter to the Rev. and learned Thomas Hartley, written, let it be re-
membered (for Mr. Wesley has not seen proper to insert that part of
the letter) at the earnest request of Mr. Hartley, Mr. Wes)ey thus
concludes, " This is dated London 1769, I think he (the Baron) lived
nine or ten years longer."
Now had Mr. WesJey condescended to make any inquiry into
this matter, previous to favoring the world with his" Thoughts on the
Writings of Baron Swedenborg," or looked into that admirable eulo-
gium delivered on the occasion of the death of Swedenborg, in the
hall of the house of nobles, in the name of the Academy of Sciences
at Stockholm, the 7th of Ootober, 1772, by Monsieur Sandel, kni~ht of
the polar star, and member of the said Academy, he might have
uuule his fint thoughts on the writings of Baron Swedenborg more
correct by about seven years.
But the good man had not time for this. So ea.ger was he to break
& lance with the dead; or rather to arrest the progrp,ss of the Baron's
doctrines among his own societies, several of whom, both preachers
and people, began about the period Mr. Wesley wrote his" Thoughts,"
&c. to receive the Heavenly doctrines of the Lord's 'New Church.
Now what makes the uncorrectness of Mr. Wesley's primary thoughts
on our favorite author the more astonishing to me will appear from
the following extract of a letter, received some time ago from the
Rev. Mr. Pownal, minister of the New Jerusalem Church in Bristol,
Great Britain, the original of which I have carefully filed among
my religions documents. This letter is dated the 6th October 1804,
and is as follows :
"Our Methodist brethren here have Dot that tender spirit of love
for us that we have manifested towards them. I was in communion
with them above tweaty yean. That amiable, worthy and much
 1849.] 31

hooored man, Rev. John Wealey, made hilabode in my hOUBe about

six weeks, the last Conference he held in this city. I loved him sin-
cerely, and revere his name. His prejadice arose from wrong infonn.
ation given him of the Hon. E. Swedenborg'1 writings ; and be did
Dot read them sufficiently to understand their author's meaning. He
once said at supper, in my house, tha.t he was surprised at one cir-
camstance which took place just before E. Swedenborg's death. A
messenger came to him from the Baron, informing him that if he had
& desire to see him it must be in fourteen days time. Mr. Wesler
-.id he :had for some time past much desired to see him, but had
never told it to any person, upon which he set out with a design to
see him bot was met by a person who informed him of immediate
busine88 to be attended to by himself; on which business he proceed-
ed and forgot to call on the Baron. But to his great astonishment,
at the end of fourteen days, he heard that the BaroD was dead, when
the neglect of calling on him was viewed with much surprise I But
had Mr. Wesley sufficiently perused the writings of Swedenborg, his
surprise would have ceased when informed of the LoBD'S open
eommlDlications to him, from the spiritual world."
Thus Car the Rev. Mr. Pownal-by which it is evident that Mr.
W ~.sley's " Thoughts," in that part of them which respects the death
of Swedenborg, might have been more correot, by about seven yean,
had he only allowed himself a little leisure to think upon the time
when this very singular circumstance took place, which was certainly ·
in the year 1772.
It is true Mr. Wesley did Dot pen his" Thoughts on the Writings
of Baron Swedenborg" until the year 1782, about ten years after the
death of the latter; at which period he was about fourscore years of
age, a period of life in which, we might charitably conclude, his mem-
ory at least, if not his understanding, was much on the decline. Had
he Dot 80 fully evidenced the contrary by the ~eneral tenor of his sub-
sequent writingH on various occasions, as well as by the continuance
of his former strength and vigor of his corporeal powers also; some
other concerns then of a more interesting or pleasing nature, must
certainly have occupied Mr. Wesley's mind about that period.
You seE', sir, I am willing to find an excuse for Mr. Wesley's for-
getful frame of mind about the year 1782, or rather a little before;
and I am the more inclined to do this from my knowledge of a cir-
cumstance which must have taken place about tha.t period; Damely,
a violent attachment of the good old man, towards (to use his own
expression,) "one of the most perfect works of created nature;" or, in
plainer words, towards a pretty little Irish girl of about twenty-three I
And here, lest some warm and honest advocate of Mr. Wesley's exalt-
ed state of self-denial, and qeadness to sensual enjoyment! should
doubt the truth of Mr. Wesley's courtship to the·' charming Eliza" as
he calls her, I feel at liberty to affirm that Dr. Coke, Bishop of the
l\[ethodist E. Church, confessed to the truth of this fact, in my presence,
a.nd in answer to my interrogatory on that subject, in the house of the
late Mr. Caleb Dorsey on Elk-ridge, the very first year that the Doctor
'I'
 Notice' of Boo1cI. LJan.
set his foot in these United States. And farther, upon my re~arkiDg
~ the Doctor, in reply, that this young lady must certainly have pos-
aessed some very extraordinary accomplishments, to captivate Mr.
Wesley at the age of eighty-one; the Doctor immediately rejoined,
that the best which could be sa.id of her was, " she was a very hand-
_me girl." From which expression, and the manner in which the
Doctor told it, I confess I was instantly impressed with an idea that
Miss Eliza, with all her attractive force and transcendent beauty of
person, was, notwithstanding, not over prudent or pious in thus ar-
resting the venerable attention of this hoary and celebrated Apostle
~fthe day.
How differently engaged, from such Jnerely earthly objects and
sensual affections as occupied the mind of Mr. Wesley at the age of
eighty.one, and during the very period of his open and declared o~
position against the Heavenly doctrines of the New Jerusalem, was
the mind of Emanuel Swedenborg, when he was engaged in writing
his Arcana Ccelestia, his Apocalypse Explicata, or his True Christian
Religion, when he arrived at the same venerable period of life 1
Indeed his philosophical writings when yet but a young man, at-
tracted the attention and commanded the respect of all his learned
eotemporaries. It should be granted, however, that the profC>und dis-
coveries of this great and good man, were, through the sublime illu-
mination of his studious and retired mind, not easily to be apprehend-
ed by his too hasty and superficial readers: but to the impartial and
scientific inquirf'rs after truth, if patient enough to examine his system
thoroughly, from a sincere desire to search after truth, they cannot
fail of deriving the most solid satisfaction on every doctrine of revealed
.religion. To me, every page of his Theology contains a volume of
instruction, and every sentence aD oracle of truth; which, doubtless,
in due time, when the prejudices of early education shall be dissipat-
ed, will be more and more admired, while modern systems shall be
regarded DO more.
JOHN HARGROVE.

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

1.-Tm: JUDO_ENT DAY: aAOtJJing tDA.ert, 1wuJ,ond vlam tu Ltut Judgment taia
~14ct. By SARIN HOUGH, Miniltw of tIN NftIJ Jertllalem CAureA. Columbu8, o.
8iebert It Lilly. 1849, 12mo. pp. 214.
It is not purely from partiality to the views advocated by Mr. Hough, that
we are disposed to think \veIl and to speak well of this little work. It makes
a higher draft than upDn the favoritism of those who are friends to the author
or friends to the cause. It is a treatment of the general subject in a high degree
judicious, striking, and able. It is presented in lights that will be in many re-
.pects new even to New C\1urchmeD, and that too I10twithstanding the writer
remarks of himself that " having but recently become acquainted with those
,
1849.] Noticu of &0118. 88
doctrines he cannot reasonably suppose that he Jlas written, or would be able
towrite any thing, which could enlighten or instruct those who, for many
years have been engaged in the study of the heavenly truths." M.any such,
we venture to say, will be ready to express themselves grateful for the inter...
esting confirmations which the author has gathered round the subject and
which are 80 well calculated to commend it to the respectful Jlotice of candid
and intelligent minds.
The justice of our remarks will be in some degree apparent from the follow-
ing eompend of the contents:
Part I. Sect I. The Popnlar Doctrine. 11. That the Last Judgment takes
place in the Spiritual World shown from the nature of the Resurrection. Ill.
That the Last Jodgment takes place in the Spirilual World inferred from the
scientific proofs of the permanent durability of the earth. IV. That there is
no probability of a General Resurrection and Judgment in the Natural WorId,
inferred from the want of any evidence in the Word of the Lord that the
natural earth will ever be destroyed. V. Apparent objections in the writ-
ings of the Apostles examined and answered. VI. That the World of Spints
must be the scene of the Last Judgment shown to be necessary in order that
the end of the Divine Love may be attained.
Pan 11. Sect I. The nature of the Spiritual World. II. The nature and
form of Heaven and Hell. The enjoyments of the former and the miseries of
the latter. 111. The Last Judgment in its individual as well general character.
Each of the above heads is expanded into a great variety of details, in
which the argument is wrought ont with decided ability and e1Fect, and the
whole constitutes a plea in support of a leading tenet of the system for which
the Church may well afford to be grateful. We trust they will evince their ap-
preciation of our brother'8 labor of love by a liberal patronage of the work.
This is not only due to him, but due also to the generous enterprise of the
young men who have assumed the risk of the publication, and that too with-
out counting upon any thing more than a remuneration for the actual outlay.
We fear the disposition evinced in this nndertaking is but too slighdy estimat-
~d in the Church at large. If men are willing to labor without remunerat\0D
in the cause of the heavenly doctrines, it would seem to be no more than rea-
sonable that they should be sustained without the necessity of making per-
sonalsacrmces over and above their labor. Had the publishers of the present
work felt at libeny to indulge more sanguine expectations on this score, they
would doubtless have brought it out in better typographical style. Of its de-
fieiences in this respect they are fully aware, and frankly aCCoullt {or it on the
ground of their limited resources. We are con8cious of the want of a better
class of materials in getting up the volume, but we would still rather have it
in an inferior dress than be without it.
\Vhile on this subject of publishing N. C. works we cannot refrain from
putting before our readers the following very appropriate remarks by a writer
in a late No. of the Intellectual Repository. u, And here we cannot but per-
form an act of justice to the various writers who, at great tabor and frequent
loss, have advocated the cause of the New Church. We venture to affirm,
that greater and more disinterested devotedness to a cause has never been ex-
hibited than by these deserving, bu~ not always duly appreciated individuals,
even withiAthe New Church. With an almost certainty of 108S, they undaunt-
 N6C1ce, of Boo1II. [Jao.
edly eet to work, and, iD. order to benefit others, they reDder their publicationa
most costly to tbemselYe8, while they are least 80 to their purchasers. They
have been accustomed to compress, generally, the largest comp888 of readable
type, into the smallest quantity of paper. They knew beforehand that New
Church people are 80 satisfied with possessing a && Swedenborg Library," that
they are by no means liberal book-buyers, beyond the writings themselves ;
and ellpecially, perhaps, the remark applies to the always employed and sue-
OMaful money-getters among them, who have" no time for reading," and
therefore require very few books, while they have 81 little time to talk about
the troths of the church to persons who are " withoul," and are, therefore, little
interested in getting books to lend. But still the disco111'8ged authors have
persevered. All honar to their disinterestedness and truly benevolent zeal!'"

2.-Go» III CHlllIT. 7l.ru Di,couTIU tUliwred at NItIJ BaWD, Cambrid~'t and ~ft­
dowr, vi'' '
Cl Preliminary Diaertatitm OR LAapage. By
Hartford: Brown and Parsons, 1849. 12mo. pp. 356.
HORACE BVSIDIELL.

This work of Dr. :Bushnell, so long awaited, by different parties, with the
anxiety of fear and hope, has so recently made its appearance that we have
not as yet found time for that careful examination of its contents which we
intend. \Ve can therefore do little more at present than chronicle its issue
from the press. We shall hope in another number to make our readers some-
what acquainted with the new phase of orthodoxy which looms up to view
in this remarkable book and which has a decided squint at least in the direc-
tion of the New Church. Meantime we give from the lndlpendmt newspaper
the substance of a critical notice of the work, understood to be ffom the pen
of the Rev. Dr. Bacon of New Haven, ODe of the editors of that paper. "Of
the three discourses, the first is on the Divinity of Christ and the doctrine of
the Trinity; the second is OD the Atonement, or the relation of Christ's life
and death to the salvation of men; the third is entitled 'Dogma and spirit, or
th~ true reviving of Religion.' The second discourse is the one which will
be read the most, and will be the least satisfactory to tae great body of evan-
gelical ministers and Christians. In the third, many things are well said,
which needed to be said, and which having fit utterance, will make their own
way, in time, to thousands of devout and believing hearts; and yet this dis-
oourse, notwithstanding the incomparable beauty of many passages, seems to
118 the least powerful of the three-and, we will add, the Jnost deficient as to
definiteness of conception and represeniation. 'Ve hope that his views will
be read, and cOIl8idered, and discussed, not as put forth by the leader of a party
or the founder of a yet newer c school,' but only as the views of a single, ear-
nest, independellt thinker, who is responsible for himself alone, and is willing
to bear that responsibility.
U But while we hope and pray that there may be no controversy about this

book-no parties divided oft" against each other, as Bushnellists and Anti-Bush-
nellists-we have no doubt that its appearance will be the signal for a new
examination and discussion of the great subjects which it handles. In all the
theological seminaries, old 8chool and new school, the professors of what the
GennaD8 call Dogrnatik, will denounce it IX cathedra; otherwise, they will be
1Nl.] NoIic. qf Boo1ct.
DDtn:e to their YocatiOD. Bat in all the seminaries, little bote aDd elubs of
smdeDts will read the book, and will talk aboat it; and however eamest1y
they may reject its theory of the Trinity and its theory of the Atonement, lame
of them will get aome Dew ideas quite out Gf the beaten track; their miDde
will be quickened, and their hearts too; and they will be led on, llnconscioU8-
If, toward those simpler, les8 rationalized, aDd more Scriptu18J views of the
Gospel, in which the universal Church ia &0 find at laat its union, ita reet. and
ita life. Pamphlets and volumes will be issued-we might venture to guess
as to where the first will come from-showing the" dangeroU8 tendency" of
I1Ich speculatioDs; the theological quarterlies will do their office; religious
magazine. and newspapers will swell the hue and cry; but notwithstanding
all this, and without any defender or any party rallying for its support, the
book will be making its way and will be performing its mi88ion. The book
will be read. Within three months every minister's meeting in New England
will have had a review of it, and a discussion of its merits. The book win
Dot be admitted 88 an orthodox authority. The accepted orthodoxy of New
England will not be shaken. The Dew and peculiar theories of this book
will obtain, among the orthodox, only a limited and qualified acceptance.
But thE:re are ideas here which have the vitality of truth, and which will ger- .
minate, slowly or rapidly, in many a mind. In the end it will be found, if we
mistake not, that this book has left its mark upon the age aod upon the histo-
ry of Christianity."

3.-THE SCIENCJ: OF COll.J:I.ONDENCE8 ZLVCIDATJ:D, aoo.a1&otDn to he tl. T,.. X",

to tJ Rigl&t Intnpr'taticm of tJu Word of God. By RJ:v. EDWAIlD MADEUY.
London, J. S. Hodson and W. Newbery. 1849. 8vo. pp. 184.
We have in this work from the pen of Mr. Madeley, of Birmin.ham, Eng-
land, unless Mr. Noble's treatise on Plenary Inspiration be an exception, the
first formal and elaborate treatise on Correspondence which the New Church
has produced. In the various collateral and illustrative volumes to which the
8y&tem of Swedenborg has given rise-in sermoDS, reviews, eseay8, tracts,
prefaces without number-the subject has received elucidation in a multitude .
of points, but we have never before been favored with a work devoted of set
PurlJose to a scientific development of the doctrine. The task could not, per-
haps, have fallen into more competent bands than those of Mr. Madeley, judg-
ing from the manner in which he has accomplished it, although his aim has
been rather that of illustration than of confirmation. Without omitting the
distinct state of the fundamental principles on which the whole science
rests, he has at the same time labored another point more fully-we mean the
accumulation of instances designed to exhibit the truth of the general law.
In this he is judicious and happy t and he has moreover fortified his main posi-
tions by a range of research and a copiousness of authority which we had
scarcely thought to exist. The \vhole is presented in a style clear, easy and
c!l:lSLP, equally removed from tameness on the one hand and ambitiousness
on the other. It is a work of a pleasing complexion, and that promises to
wear ,yell. We should for ourselves have preferred perhaps a more pbilo-
sophical mode of treating the subject, that is, by tracing its principles back to
38 MUcelltmy. (San.
the very psychology of man's nature, and showina somewhat in detail how
inevitably the doctrine of Correspondence follows from the constitution of
spirits as related to an outer world. We should prefer &110, as the work has
swelled 80 far beyond the ordinary dimensions of a Lecture, to have had it
broken up by divisions into heads and chapters, which would have left a
clearer impression of its contents on the mind of the reader. But these are
abMements of little weight against the sterling merits of the Wlerk. We cheer-
fally invoke for it a wide acceptance, and only regret that demand for New
ChW'ch works generally is 80 dull among us as Dot to warrant its immediate
republication, for the author's benefit, on this side of the water.

MISCELLANY.

"The ensuing letter., from a miscellaneous correspondence, will be read with interest,
as indicating the progresa of the New Church cause in di1f~rent quarters of the chris-
tian 'World. They were not designed for pubJication, but as the I'rr.tMftel and the lomlt
ate-carefully suppressed, we Eresume the writers will not deem any confidence betrayed.
The iint is from 'a venerable dJergyman of another denomination received eeveral weeks
since ana which was replied to simply by sending a number of N. C. pamphlets, such as
_eel beet oaloulated to meet the point of his inquiries.
- - hR. 8th, 1849.
REV. AlID DEAR till,
·"The Principles of Nature, her Divine RevelatioDs, and a Voice to Man-
kind. By and through Andrew Jackson Davis, the Poughkeepsie Seer and
Clairvoyant!" You are probably aware of such a work. Have you reason to
believe that in the getting up of this work there has been no imposition ,
Did Dam when in a 'Clairvoyant state utter what is there ascribed to him ~
Wm-e any of the parties concerned previously tinctured with Swedenbor-
gianism! Have you reasoD, from independentsource6 to believe that there is,
in fact, what Davis contends for, such a thing 88 " independent clairvoyance 1"
Do all who enter that -state agrtt in their testimony 1
Did Swedenborg work miracles, or prophesy 1 Did he admit that Moses,
Jesus Christ, and the Apo8tleS performed the miracles, or did the wprks, ascrib-
ed to them in the Old and New Testaments 1 Does Swedenborg give any
ground of faith in his revelations except his own declaratioDs and what is
contained in the nature of his communications' Are there any external
evidences of the truth of his testimony' Does the U New Church" believe in
eternal damnation 1 Do SwedenborgJans interpret the account of the erea..
tion 88 given in the first Chapter of Genesis by the language of correspon-
dence-a day for an infinite time 1 What reason can be given for this but the
necessity of 80 understanding Moses in order to reconcile his account with
the facts revealed by the science of Geology' Is then any independent rea-
son fo~ such an interpretation! If yon will be so good as to answer the above
you wlll greatly oblige one who is sincerely but feebly searching for truth.
Yours, &e.
After a laple of levcral weeks the following communication was received, enclosing
one from the writer's IOn, which we ineert below.
- - F,b. 24th, 1849•
• •V. am,
I accept yo~ favols with thankfulness. The volume you speak of I shall be
happy to recelve. For three months to come, should I live and be well I
expect to have but little spare time to devote to .the study of the writings ~f
J84I.] .."".,. 17
swedeaborl or of the New Cbmch; after tlaat, if ProYideDCI ~rmilt I I

!lope to be able to give dlem a pretty thorough examination. I thank

you much for your kindous in eendiDg me those pamphlets relating 'to
Davis' reYelatioas, aDd the doctrines and views of Swedenborg and hie
followers. I have IODg wi8hed to see hi8 writings, but as providence did Dot
thro.. them in my way, and as I could not well afford the means requisite to
pmdIaee them, DOt knOWiDg that I should wish to keep them, I remained
almo8t whony iplorant of them. But it 10 happened that one of my SOD.
bourht aDd brought home the work of Davis, and anotber 80n read, ltudied,
ad firmly believed in Davis. Thus cireumstanced, I, of course, read Davis,
and from that studied Geology, &e. in order to understand, and, if possible,
set my son right. In this search, I applied to you, sir, and you sent me thOle
hooka; after reading them, I sent them to my SOD, who is teaching school in
or at --"-. I sent m,t the review of Davis. This seemed to do him 118
1OOd, but led him to think of and actually attempt to answer it and defend
Davis. I then sent him the remaining pamphlets. The inclosed half sheet
from him I have just received. Judge of my 8ul]>rise and great jOl on readiDJ
it j any thing rather than infidelity and 8in. If the writings of Swedeuborir
CUl help us out of these rationaIlI and vuly, thank God for them. I.na
JOu enclosed one dollar-please take pay for the former pamphletta, and, il
~ thing remain, select ana aend us such as you judge beat to the amo1lDt.
Perhaps it will trouble you too much-if so (your buaineas Dot permitting) yoq.
may some way let us know where, as we may wish and be able, we maJ
obtain, in this cheap style, the other works of Swedenborg. I think/ov
ought to publish, in the secular papers, that these writings can be ha ill
pamphlet form and cheap--8Of'1IB ODe in a thousand perhaps would care 10
read them. If Swedenborg is right, now is the time to draw attention to hie
writing8-and if he is not right, still the know ledge of his worb must be
vastly important in these times. After reading, I intend still to send to my
lIOn, and tm8t they may be of real service to us both. Let us have an in-
terest in your prayers and those of your faith. We love the truth, but CBDDot
eonsent to be deceived. Our motto i_prove all thing8 and hold fast that
which is good.
Tbe foIlowiq i. the letter from the IOD abcmt ~ened to.
DUa .r.lTldt,
I have received those pamphlets which you sent me containing some 01
Swedenborg'8 wrltings, and the tndu therein contained have operated power-
full, upon my mind, so as nearly to throw me off from my balance; aDd I
aJeI'lously think of giving up beat, and hauling down my colors for the present;
that is to say, I have given up my proposed plan of attack upon Swed....
OOrg-s workS and his defenders; for I am almost convinced that they are
rilbt and I am wrong. I love the truth wherever Cound, and do Dot Wish to
be foUDd fighting against it. I must take more time, and inveRtigate more
thoroughly Swedenborg's works, before I oppose them. He has convinced
me of some new troths, which never before met my eye, or even entered . . .
my thoughts as troths; indeed they are tNtD, and take me wholly by 8~riee.
He explaio8 the Scriptures in such a way 88 to meet mI comprehension IUMl
reasoo, and 80 to overthrow most of my objections; and perilaps thinga will
appear plainer after I shall have read all his writings, which I shall do at the
first opportunity. On, tTutl& (of which I cannot doubt) i. ~"'iculG,., hu
now, for the first time, engaged my attention and taken me wholly by 8111-
prise-it is this-that man afteJ:. death is his own love, or his own will--&bat
his reignin,-love constitutes his tAaTacteT, which remains with him. after
death, and IS never changed to eternity, Cor the reason (as given) "that man
after death can no longer be reformed by instruction, because the ultimate
plane, which consists of natural knowledges and airections, i8 then quieeceDt,
and cannot be opened, because it is not spiritual; and that npon that plaDe
tbe iDterion which are of the mind, rest, 81 a house on ita foundation; eveB
...- the !leavens rest UpOJl the earth &Dd other worlda for their fonDdUoas ....
YCL d. a
 .
are .. the ManIc'.. of these world•." .Hence the law 01 progressive improve-
ment (which I thought W88 universal) ooly extends to the worlds, and not
[JaDe

Decessarily beyond them into heaven, unleu the spirit be good, aDd IO!e8
truth and good for its own sake, for ()therwise these truths and goods which .
enable him to improve, are shut out of his ntiIld, for he is ae his love, and he
loves them not. Why did I not perceive this before 1 becau8e I never had the
chance. It is a mighty truth. Do you fully comprehend and realize ilt and
are you a believer in Swedtmborg'~ You need not send me back that first
letter or the others, but keep them. I will send you what I have already
wri~en about Davis, &c. for your pemsa1, and I shall write DO more at pre88llt
OD that subject.

The foUowiDI, the last leceived from the father, came 10 haDd • few daJl ,iDee :
MY J)~ ID,
-1 am naturally and habitually inc1ined to understand every writing" and
especially the Holy Scriptures, literally, according to the ordinary rule' of
exegesis; and nothing short of the alternative of a new exposition, or
infidelity, could reconcile my mind to the transition. And that transition
must be wamlnted by sufficient data, or it cannot be made even in view
of such an alremative. I must be -convinced. The facts connected with
clairvoyance seem to a1Ford a presumption in favor of the natural possibility
of the state professed by Swedenborg. This is confirmed by SomnamLulism
--I mean, one familiar with th9 facts connected with those eyentB would
more readily admit the truth of the case of Swedenbolg--only, the tendency
'Would be to explain it as a flatural phenomenon. But when the Scripture
revelation, confinned by miracles, is considered, there is nothing incredible in
the declaration of Swedenborg, that the Lord himself opened his interiors,
and let him into th~ Spirit World; and this principally for the purpose of qual-
ifying him to open ttie internal sense of the Word; provided it shall appear,
in the progress of intelligence, that the literal sense cannot be made to accord
with reason and facts; and, provided 81so, that the assumed intemal 8ense
shall itself harmonize -with reason and science, and shall possess an impor-
tance worthy of 80 high an origin. Thi8 is the more probable from the Tact
that Swedenborg experienced the opening of hi. interiors while in the full pos-
session of his natural faculties. I must however become better accquainted
with these writings before I CRD correctly decide whether the@e conditioD8
are provided for in ~wedenborg's case. The principal necessity of a corres-
. pon(lential or internal sense to the Word, that I at present feel, is in reCOD-
ciling the Mosaic account of the creation, &'c., with the sciences of Geology
and Astronomy. There is indeed a necessity arising from the imperfection of
our faculties that MaWflly things should be described in an accomodated lan-
lUage· but this is provided for in the admission of scripture, that U we see
through a glass darkly"-nor is there anything in the nature or
the difficulty
that would not exist 88 much to prevent a perfect disclosure by Swedenborg,
a8 by the Apostles: our faculties still remaining imperfect, unless our in-
teriors were also opened. There is also a necessity arising from an imper-
fect revelation, which is but preparatory to a subsequent full develorment.
Much was the law dispensation of troth, expressed in types and partia utter-
ances, preparatory to the Gospel revelation; but, as the first was established,
tu t ruM., by miracles, so was the perfect display confirmed in ,a, ma"nw,
and if the G08p~1 revelation coufd be accounted, like ita }Jredecessor, also,
somewhat defective, and would ultimately need a diwu .~ftationl how will
it ap~ar demonstrable, that that explanation has been indeed domed, UDle88
thiS 18 alf>O confirmed by miracles! I wait to see if there be a aatiafaotory
proof of Swedeoborg's divine iUumination and call to this high o1lice, whell
he comes confes8edly unaccom:panied with miraculous attestation.
I think 80 far as my son is mdebted to the New Church (and he is peatly
indebted), his obligation ia perhaps equally to Swedel1borg him8elf, and to
those who by me8D8 of his disclosures have 80 aOCC888full, usailed Daris'
BevelatioDl. For, thouP the fiat reeult of readiDI the " 8eyelatioDl JleYeal-
 iD prodncing a satisfactory answer, prepared him to receive the doctrines of
• Swedenborg-Der can I thmk tbat either separately would have convinced
f.•
eel," was to' provote an attaet; yet I doubt not that the real diftlcultiee he

him. I only fear that he will ,elapse; for though I do Det at present subacribe
to the truth of Swedenborgiaoism, yet I view this doctrintr 80 far removed
from infidelity, aDd 80 much substantially Christian, that I ep.nnat bot greatlJ
prefer his preseut to his former position. May the Lord eontinue to help hini.
Do you know that tbe Sliekers profees to have, threugh Ann Lee, an open-
ing into hesveD an~ hell' 'Po have intercourse with deputed spirits and
with the Lord himself 1 That while many of their· disclosures correspond
Dearly with those of Swedenborg, that in several respects they eaaeotially dif-
fer , That they bold the second coming of the Lord to have been pel80Dal in
a female (Ann Lee)' and that through her there is an opening from eome of
the hells into heaven! and. that they Dot only aslert theae tlaiDga but produce
miracleain proof! Pray for U8.
. Y01U8, ldFeetionately.
P. S.-Should you see fit, with pen and ink, again to communicate with me.
Jou ....ould much oblige me if you would inform me in relation to the facti
of clairvoyance, as follows: .
1. Was Davis' state in which he claimed independence or freedom of con-
trol from his m8lDeusell peculiar to him" or is that etate common to some
others ! Is this befCJlld dispute' ,
S Does Mr. DaVls, in a state of clairvoyance 8till pel'lia to maintain the
troth of hie revelations' and has he attempteti te &Dswer the chief objectio..
to them, and with what sueceu 1
3. Have ay equally advanced clairvoyants cml1irmed' t'. revelatitm8 of
Swedenborg, or given ess6ntially different reports fmm Davis ,. Bo clairvoy-
ants, in these matten, equally well qnalified, contradict each other'
It seems te me that the principles of Davis involve Pantheism or Atheism.
I know he often talks ., God, or of the great 1JOBitiw flliM 88 etemal and in..
1

finite; but iD detail hew is· He 80' I see Dothin~ in the beginning but the
1'88t univercmhun of .nparticled matter, and motion pervadiag· ,the whole
JBII8I. This matter and motion both equally etemal-IBBtion moviog matter
according to an eternal la w arising from the essential nattlfe of both, and the
DeCeS88lJ' and eternal relation of each to the other.. TIaie motion in matter is
all the God I can diecover. Motion is the 8001, and matoer the 1IOOy of God-
at leDgtb this motion pro:Juces forms in matter, and through minerals, plants,
aimals, and 1IlBD, are developed life and sensation and, intelligence. In
aD the progreu God ia the lOul, and matter the body; and IlOW an the life,
ad all the eeneatioD, and all the intelligence God has is- what uiat8 in matter
pIOIfessiYe. In these, God is constantly increasing. lie has now got to be
quite an intelligent being, as, according to DaviBt all minds in the second
IpheN constitute one Great Man, 80 alt the nm&ion, llfe, seneation and intel-
liIence in the seven spheres coDstitute one 8J'eat God. Mind was not etemal
_ , potentially, not actually_uob was the nature of eternal motion in mat-
ter, that mind must at lengtb be- developed. Now if there be any other God,
liYe us these eternal principiee and law&, and we have no Deed of him. The
IlDiverse will get alODg without him.-The Lord forgive 8uch an exhibition.

From an occasional corJelpoDdeDt.

DUa ID,
My brother 81JIP8ted to me the idea of fumishing a serie8 of articles to the
R. c. Repository, of a purely scientific Dat'lJre, and particularly addreued to
. . . minds as received the Y"ip cf CretJtioa 81 the m08t philosophic theory
of Da&1Ue. I W88 to keep the IDaterialist constandy in vieW' and to advance
:.0 facts or argaJIl8llta to wh~ch be would: Dot give hie _at, even al~':Igb
-.h facta ad
.., ......
DUPtDOt be ~ ~ b7 = e &hel. .t .pm"
iD &bia oirc1uDHriMl . . . , I ..... _ ,..,.! I
 [J...
~ 8no. iD aat8re CO proye Swedenbori'a SY8tem the moet reuonable of
aUhJPOIh. . .
On leviewiog and further prosecuting some of the natnral8ciences widl
cbia object in view, I am more and more astonished at the uDive18al applica-
bility of E. S.'s system to the solution of the enigmas of nature and life. Tbal
pound ia the trUe Califomia of the mind whence the intellectual wealth of
eentoriea to come is to be dug.
Ally articles wbioh I could write mU8t nece,suily be outlinee (happy if &bey
ev8l1 be correct ones) of subjects, each of whiCh would demand a Iarp
YGlume to do it justice. I have 81ready found much which could be GOD-
yeniently blended with my first easay on Cosmogony, Uld al I cut my
e.er the tract marked out before me
.y.
., 11111I peep 0'. hi11l aDd Alp. OD. Alps arUe...

• PIOID an EJlIlilh correapoDdent.

I belie'ge I am correct when I state, that the brethren iD England, u.itJ~

_ye DO sympathy whatever with the st.raDge, aDd, u we couider, moet iD-
jarioue di8cusaioDs and agitations respecting the 7ft.. ia tU ltIim~, c-...
~ " &c., which have now a loog time 80 much occupied the minde of
. . American brethren. They certainly cannot be aware of the ~eDse ~
iury to the holy cause, both in respect to their own minds, in promoting that
-em,
MI, brotherhood of love, which is involved in the descent of the New Jent-
aDd also in regard to the spread of the holy truths amongst the 00IIl-
munity at large, which theee agitationa must neceeaarily engender and inflict.
To engender discussion upon a subject 80 external u the trine and tile fOllll
of ecclesiastical government, &c., and to divide societies and individuals upon
the queltioDl is, I am certain, one of the wiles of the dragon in hia attemp18
to deltroy the "male child;" although open violence and penecution a.
tIIaIon and his crew cannot practise now; the time is put for that; certaiaIJ
iD America, if not altogether in Europe, especially in the darkest parts of Romaa-
iIm: but the drBI0D can still do great miachief by hie wiles ID causing ooa-
troveny and division in the very" beloved cit7" imelf. And this contro.... . ,
.iD Amen.,. is, I am certain, one of those direfo wiles of evil spirits, by wbic.
'die attention is kept from the great essentials of doctrine and life, and bed
upon a mere dry bone, which the external in question is, when compared
With the great essentials of the tmly spiritual and Christian life, which it is da.
JDiuion and object of the New Church to bring to pB.88. We are quite OGD-
YiDced that externals as to order and Church Government, will be grad~
developed u i.tmacl. become aetive and vital. The Old Church haa JIaa
quite enough to do with eztl'rfUll" but the New hu to do \vith iRlemalB-IOft,
mercy, truth, .le., and these internal, we can now, of the DiviDe mercy, calSi-
vate and cheriah by virtue of the knowledges of truth 10 abundantly opened
&0 us through the opening of the Word. The euential external of the N••
Chareh is the Good of Life-love and tnlfh, charity and faith, in ad. Thi. il
the eamtitJl txftrnal, to which all heart8 and eyes should be directed, and we
may be sure that where this tzlwftal exists, tme order will follow; all other ex-
ternals, such 88 forms of worshi~, forms of Church Government, &e., are ..
JIIere garments which may be sUIted, and fitted, and altered as circumstances
mal require. Such I understand to be the doctrine of Swedellborg, aDd I
tIlbik that we may aUlee that it is founded in the trueat wiadom, suited to all
eoUDtri-, and adapted to all circumat&nees. If our brethren in America laad
. . one tenth part of the evila of conformity as to Episcopacy, Church Goy.
eimDen&, ritual wonhitJ, &0., u we have in England, they would abhor tile
ftI'J idea of OODtrOVerting about die TriDe and Church GOftnJIIleDt, with a
view to .ltahliBh a 1IIIiform .~ in America; it C1ID. . . .er be dQD8; . .
_ If" of ..i..... _ _ . . . . iI.
1NL] ct
»a. T~EL AND LE BOYS DU QUAYS.
n..e ale two hoaored Dames amoDI the condDeatal brethrea oC &be K.. C......
11le fbnDer is the well Down Editor or the I..tiD worb or
SwedeDborR aad the traB*-
tor or anenI oC them iDto the Germu lugaage. Re i. a1al the author of a Dumber GC
nlaable tread.... theological and philOlOphical, bearing upon the 8)'Item of the New
Cluuch. larp portions of which would wen repay the labor of transferring into English.
w. ha"" lately received a copy of hi.lut work. ellthled cc FuDdamental PhiIoIophy," of
which we .ay preMDt our readers witla IGlUS a0c0llllt iD a rataN No. TIle latter, .....
des GaaYSt 11 . . . ~l Imown .. a dnoaecl. aDd Indefatigable adYooate or the B_~
DoeIrIDee ia PraDce. ae t. Editor or the .. NoaftHe lera.lem," an able periodical pab-
lillled at PuU aad. embodying IOme of the ablest essaYI on N. C. themes which have
. . appeared. It wa. in thia work that the admirable Cl Letters to a MaD ot the Worlcl"
. . . Ant giYeD 10 the pablic. We are still hopilll for" Wther OODtiDuatioa of the .11-.
tMaP hia enppmenl in tranalation.. which appear in his Magazine, will probabJr
"'1' the compledOD or hi. plan a very .Iow prooeea.
TIle followtDr item. of penonal remini.oence respecting theee two dlltlnpl,hed Ineft.
ftclaat. are from the peD or the Rev. T. O. Prescott, a sketch of whoee "isit to the cont!-
D8Ill dariDl the put ,ear has appeared both in the Boston N. J. Mapzine and in cbe
LoMaD 1Dt.eL BepoeitorJ.
&I From Paris I proceeded north to Bmseels and Antwerp, thence to Colople,

aDd ap the Rhine to Frankfort. Here I found a brother of Dr. Talel'., who
. . . in FrankCort u a member of the Gennan DieL He very kindll introduced
.., iato the Hall of the A.aeembly, w1:lere I had an opportunity 0 wimeuiDg
, . . sh.ort time &he proceedings of that body, which has done much &lid
plDaaises to do mOle for the freedom of Germany. This gentleman, Dr. Tafel's
bmdaer, is undentood to be favorable to the doctrines, but, aa Dr. Talel after·
warda remarked to me, he is ao absorbed in political matt~rs just III preaeDt,
• DO~ to take peat interest in other thin... From FraWdort I welJt bJ rail- .
way to the beautiful town· of Heidelberg, thence by coach and railway to
Beilbrom and Stuttprdt. the capital of Wurtemburg. From this city It is
aboat twenty milea to 'lUbiDgen, the reaideDce of Dr. Tafel, CO which place I
proceeded by coach, and arrived in the evening. .
"The followiq momiog I called on Dr. Tafel. He has a suite of roome in
die old castle, whicb stands on an eminence' in the outskirts of the towu,
COD"I' 8odin«. vWT beautiful view of the 8urroUDdiDf country. I had written
Dr. TaCel from Paris, that I was about to do mysel the pleasure of payiug
JIim • visit, &Dd he now JeCeived me in the most kind and cordial manner,
aDd. at once iMisced upon mr1eaving the hotel aDd taking up my abode with
him during my ltay iD Tubmgen. He is a penon of about middle statan,
ndaer 8ligh~~ad8,-face not broad, as is 80 common with Germans, but
rather thin otherwise; his hair somewhat grey; he ia in his fifty.third
year, haviDg been bom, as he informed me, on the 17th of February, 1796.
Be wean spectacles. The lithograph portrait of him we have in America
. . . not convey a very correct idea of his appearance; there WU ODe of
them baagiDg up in his room, but he remarked that it was not a very rood
likeDe88. His countenBDce has a very gentle aDd sincere expression, &Dd
Ibere is an almost child-like 8implicity in his manner, with the most entire
fteecIom from pretension and aelf-oonceit, accompanied with a slight air of
lhKraetioD, natural to a student. YOlt feel at once that he i. a single-hearted,
faidlful, and pod man; he is ODe whose society it is purifyq to be in. Mrs.
Talel, too, is a 'Yery intelligent, sincere, and warm-hearted peraOD; I 8hall
10IIg remember her kind and thoughtful attentioDs. They have a fiDe family
et I8Yen children. Dr. Talel is librarian of.the uni1W8ity, &Dd his duties 00-
. " him from Dine o'clock till four; the librarr rooms (contaiDiDl iOO,OOO
. . . . . .) aN iD tile AIDe baildiDl. Hia o8ice 11 a perm&DeDt ODe, ...... be
 •eaDDot, _I underatoocl, be . .owed from it.bu& by prooeu af law; he is there-
fore likely to enjoy a support from it during the remainder of his days; a
providential provision, by whioh he will be -enabled, I wet, to go on per-
formillg the liigh uses for the church in whicb he has been so long engaged.
Be became acquainted with the doctrines, 88 he told m." at the age of seVeD-
Ieen, first hearing of them from a person, if I remember rightly, in whose
employment he was, or with whom he was studying, and who was a partial
, receiver of them, but rather more inclined to the view8 of Jacob Behmen.
(What great uses are oftentime8 unconsciously perfonned by feeble instnt-
lDents! 'Ibis instance 8hould teach us to deepair of DO efforts, ·however seem-
-"ly ine8ientual, to make the doctrines known; ODe who becomes but a
partial receiver of them, may be the meaD8 of introducing them to another
who will become & full receiver, and a most efficient man to the church.)
After passing through the Tubiugen University, Dr. Tafel studied divinity, and
began to preach; but on his views becoming known, was soon suspended.
At the early age of tW1!nty-five he began to labor in the cause of the New
Churola.
U I spent four days with Dr. Tafel~ and, as mar be supposed, had much in-
ar.esting conversation with him 011 a variety 0 topics. He speaks English
remarkably well for one who has never been ill a country where that language
is spoken.. He informed me, that in consequence of a decree of the German
Diet, tolerating to a partial extent meetings of religious dissenters, it had
been determined at once to take advantage of it, by calling a Convention of
the receiven of the New Church doctrines in Germany and S"..itzerland,
which \VU to be held at Canstadt, near Stuttgardt, on the 1st of October.
Thi8 seemed and excellent movement. He showed me the manuscripts of
Swedenborg'• .Ad"".,aritJ, and also of the newly-discovered scientific work On
QlfII1'tJtion. The hand-writing is exceedingly difficult to read, and it would
eeem to require a degree of patience and perseverance p088888ed almost peen.
liarl, by the German mind, to edit luch manuscripts. Tile eminent ale
which Dr. Talel is now performing in this way it seems 8S if he was pecu-
liarly fitted for, and it surely behooves the churcb at lure to sustain him in it.
He was a litde disoouraged, just at this time, by haviDg received information
from the London Printing Society, that, on account of the embarrassed state
of their finances, theY' would be unable to aid him any further for a coDSider-
able time to come. I trust that efforts will be made in Amerioa, east aacl
west, to Iustaia Dr. Tafel in tbe ~ro8ecution of his important labolS.
I l The last day of my stay was Sunday. We held a bttle meeting of worship,
and at Dr. Talel'8 request J read them a short discourse, the first New Church
eermOD, as he remarked, that he had ever heard. It wu a pleasant time for
us, our number, indeed; was small enough,-there were none but Dr. aDd
Mn. Talel and myself; but we thought of the Lord's words, & Where two or
three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst o~ them.'
On the l8Dle evening, at nine O'clock, I took leave of m"f kind friends, with
IDB.llY affectionate words at partiuR; thus concluding a VIsit which had been
exceedingly interesting, aDd one to be remembered 88 long as I live."
* * * * * * * * *
liOn my way throngh France, I stopped to pay a viait to M. Le Boys d.
Gnaya, the author of that admirable work, the Llttw,toG ManojtJu World. St.
Amand, tbe,residence of M. Le Boys des Guays, is about thirty miles south of
Bouqe8, whence there is a railway to Paris. I reached St. Amand about ea
In the evening, and 800n found M. Le Boys des Guays' honse. On hearing my
name, and that I was from America, be welcomed me with much warmth ana
cordiality. He is rather under the middle size,-a man of quick, ardent tem.
perament, dark hair and eyel, and Imall fine featuree, and speak, very rapidly.
He is 6f'ty.follr years of age, though you would not take him for more than
forty-five. His countenance has a very lincere and earnest expression, Bot
'·unliKe that of Dr. Tafel,-excep.t that the one Is a German and the other a
Frenchman. M. Le Boys des Gnayl does not speak English; he reads it a li&de.
He took me up at OBce into his study, when, at that. table, he bu labonMi 80
JMl] If; Ir" 1).
~ years in the eau. of the New ChUJCh. lie writea, u be iDfOlmed 1IIet,
ten b01U8 a day,-vis. from seven to nine in me momiDg, from-eleven to DVe,
aod then again from seven till nine in the eveDinl. He said he wu nevei 80
happy as when poring over the worb of Hwedenborg; he seemed then to be
in the full 8phere of 8piritual truth, whioh was delightful to him. He has DO"
I8aCbed the twenty-aecoDd chapter of Exodus, in hie translation of the A,.....
and expects to finish the work in a few months. He then intends to und.-
tat. the Apoeal". Eqlained. He informed me, that he has been a reeeiver of
the doctrines fourteen years, having beoome acquainted with them while OD.
• visit to Paris, when about forty yeam of age. After much interesting COB-
venation, we went out to visit aome of the members of the lOCiety. The
Ilumber of receivers here is about twenty-five; there are utJualll present at
worship from twelve to fifteen. The meetings are held in M. e Boys des
Gay8' house, and ho officiates as minister to the .ociety. After a pleasaat
evening, spent at the hduse of ODe of the members, who is married to an
~ h lady, T returned to M. Le Boys de8 Guays' to pass the night. The
next morning he woke me.early, to take a walk with hun to a neighboring
bilt. which commanded a fine view of the town and surrounding country. St.
Amand is rather a handsome tOWl1, of about 8,000 inhabitants; the country
around is beautiful. M. Le Boys des Guays was {or sOlne time prefect oC the
district, but resigned the post, and at present holds no office, public or
private, but, as I understood, is p08sessed of a moderate competency, which
supports him. Returning to breakfast, I haci the pleasore of being introdncM
10 Madame Le Boys des Guays, an interesting and intell~ent lady. At nia.
o'clock I was forced to bid adieu to mT kind friends, ta)uDg the diligence to
Rouges, and thence the railway to P8118, which I reached the same evening
at ten o'clock."-InUl. RtpoI. p. 35-39.

SUPPLEMENT TO SWEDENBOR&8 "A.NIMAL KINGDOM."

Our readers, we are certain, will be glacl to lea.m, that the parte ueceuar,
to eomplete the magnificent work on the U Aninull ]{ia«dom," have recently
urived from the pre8s in Germany. Our indefatigable lriend Dr. Tafel has
edited the work with his ueual care and ability, from the manu8cripts kindly
lent for that purpose bV the Royal At:tJdemy of SeN,.,. at Stockholm, to the
~ r htoc'Mioft in oondon. The U .Animal Kift1Jdom," as translated by
Mr. WiUdnsOD, was described by Mr. Emerson, in hIS lectures at the Man-
chester A.theoantm, as one of the most magnificent works of the age. "No-
Ilitag (said Mr. Emerson) could ue«d Ail bold and brilliant tTeatmmt of a IUhj«:t
wtItIlly 10 dry aM r.."ulri'fJ'; it tIJtII tJ pieture of ttatur, 10 vUl, and fret, as t~ . .
iaptJaiOfNtl ~ t:Otdtl not 1uJ", IU~," ate. It is obvious that the publication
or- the Animal Kingdom in English, and also of the philosophical worke of the
author, is the pioneer to the acknowledgment of Swedenbbrg's claims 88 a
writer on theology, and on the loftiest subjects that can engage the buman
mind. We therefore congratulate 'the u 8f1Mtlmborg .A&toeiGtionn OD_ possessing
the parts necessary to the completion of the Animal Kingdom. The general
eontents of the work are, 1. 01& tM common ttUna of th Carotid Arteria. 2.
ne QJJfttIWft brataM of tA" Ezt,TfIGl Carotid Art".y. 3. 0. &flMJliOf& 1ft GIfImIl.
4. 0. tJu &ra. of Smell. 5. 0" tlu Ea" and tM &1Ut of Hlaring. 6. On tIN
Ere attd Me 8". 0/ YiliOft. 7: On Light and Color,. 8. On tA' &mu, OTt (lA
BiIuatitm ift fhnnal. Epilo~. This chapter is of immense importance; It is
suggestive of the bigbest philosophy in relation to the mind, Its perceptions
and aBectiOD", and its operations ID general. 9. ne f"Ula, or la.. qf Haf'ntOr&ia,
or JlUlic, and, lasdy, 10. On Me UraMntanding aM it' ~,at;o",. This chapter
c.ches us what logic· really is, or how, according to nature, we must proceed
10 form ideas, and to develope the powers of the mind. This work is ofgreat
importance, not only to th.e seientific, but to the general reader. To the
teacher it ple8eDt8 numerous suggestions as to the development and cultiva-
doD of the mind; poiDuns out the true order in which we JDust proceed to
 • _.11da;
..we && COIIMt·i.... _ all_bjeolll, aad aIeo tb.eNtadon betw8eu tile 1lahI-
. . and apirialal atate of DUIII; .howing that only iD the spiritual'tate can the
true anel bapp,. • •tiny of man be reali8ed and enjoYe4. The work ia pre-
pared ia the~uallDcjdand scientific fonn of the author. It nowremaill8 to
.. seen how soondli. useful work can be translated and 'Published. Mr.
Wilkwoa, we are Ilad to hear, i8 girding him.elf again for the tabor of
....latiDg, and in a sholt time, if properly encouraged, will present it to the
public in an English drel8. To this end, however, subscribers are intlispen-
iDly required, who, we tm8t, will readily, yea, zealously come forWaid to
MBiBt the publication of this work. whicli completes the Afti... KiftgrlOlll of
Swedenborg.-I"ul. BqoI. JaA. 1849.

PSYCHOLOGICAL F A.CTS ILLUSTRATING SWEDENBOB&S DOCTRINE

OF THE SOUL.
Tu foU.iDg letten are taken (rom the Autobi....phy of Sir John Banow. Bart.,
aocl are IDeerted here from the cc ltItlNi.g HI!IYI1I' Df &pttm"'" 18tA, 1848. The I811ladons
.hloh th8young man, whilst in the act of drowning, experienced, caused. especially to
the mind. of Lady Spencer and Sit Henry Halford, muoh t~ghtCul inquiry. We pre--
18D& che CollowiDg documentalO our readers, beoaue we believe tba' Swedenbo,.. iD hie
worb reCened to below, h.. explaiDed~thl••(.. Sir John Barrow deeipat.ellt) " moet
_rioat, myste1'iow., and 101emn sl1bj8Ct;tt--

8mltJtion .lil, in tAl .del of Drovmiftg.

" I cannot here omit (8ay8 Sir John Barrow) the opportunity of giving to
thole who may condescend to peruse my little volume, the following clearly:
expreased letter of the late Lady Spencer, describing with great accuracy, from
baving once only heard it read, a most interesting letter of great length and
oDcDlll8tantial detail, on a 8ubject most curiou8, mysteriou~, and solemn .
.~ .. The letter of Lady Spencer is as follows:
u, 8pmccr HOt*, DeDlflllM 6, 1829.
c My DJaIl Ma.·Boaow,
" , I IUJl not gOillg to ask a job of you, but to reqaest your aseiataDce to ob
cain from Captaill Beaufort, the very intelligent and eminent hJdrogra~h..,
actually at the h.ad of his peculiar department, the lavar I am exceediDllY
anxious to procure from him.
" , Some fears since, my dear and regretted friend, Dr. W. Wollaaton, showed
me a most Interesting and extraordinary letter" addre88ed to him from Captain
Beaufort, Ul whicll he had, at the particular reqbest of Dr. W OUastOD, described.
his own sensations and thoughts, of body and mind, while in the act of drown
iog, when a young maD, in Portsmouth harbor. He was happily preserved
from a fatal termination of this alarming accident· but he ODe day described
10 vividly and 80 strikingly his state of mind while in danger of death under '
water, and again while in tbe proce88 of recovery on shipboard, that Dr. Wol-
luton was instantly solicitous and earnest to persuade hlDl to write down the
precise detail" which he bad 80 admirably related to him.
" , Captain Beaufort yielded to his entreaties, and wrote to him the letter which
Wollaston read to me, and of which he promised to give me a copy, OD my
, eagerly petitioning him to do so. Alas! he was seized by disease and died
before he perfonned his promise. Now, my present object in a:oubling you,
my dear Sir, is to entreat you to discover if Captain Beaufort would kindly be-
.tow OD me a copy of this highly interesting narrative. Wollaston told me
that he was very anxious to prepare that which he p088esaed for the Royal
Society; and this leads me to suppose that Captain Beaufort was Dot unwill.
ing to impart it to his friends, since it had been in contemplation to prepare
it for the public eye. God knows he miaht aafelr emibit such a delOrip&ioa
MN&l ...,.
., btiaade aDd reaQ&ade of ~ .. daia beutiflll_ of
ID' ..
pia,., whell iD the fearful peril of~ea&h. . YetI feel that .~t to . . . . .
•
- "Sir HeDI'J Halford hu urged me 80 strongl, to attempt to acqui.re thia.... .
it requires the intermediate 888istance which I veoture to olaim from y••.

aWe document, Uaa1 be rave JD8 co1U8le to make the aa&alpt•. Be ia p. . ."
a ~ulia.r &ubject, to which this very curious statement of faoce relative ..
daB hlllDaD mind, while strualiDg WIth death, wonld be of iDvaluable .....
aDC8. In conversation with1iim OD thia topic, I naturally mentioned the leu.
WoUaBton had shown to me; aad the rault of our COBvenatioo WM a . . . .
&tesiIe of ob~ a CC?PY of it. You DOW have all I caD ea, to eDue ~
pl'e8eDt application. Will y01l forgive me 1 I reel 8UI8 that. 10U wilL ....
lieve me, IIlJ dear Sir,
1& , Entirely yoars,

"'UVDlU. s......'
Cl I shall now insert a copy of the letter 80ught for bY' her ladyship, which
bu been kindly given to me, at my request by Admiral Beaufort j and whicb,
for its eomposition and style, but 8till more for its subject, is deserving of, ani
wiJI receive, the approbation and admiration of all who may perase it j
DO common subject, nor handled in a common manner•
beiD,
.. Cop, of. Letter to Dr. W. Hyde WoUuton, written, I think, in 18., ...
returned to me by his Executor in 1829.-F. B. .
U'Deu Dr. Wollaston.-The following circumataDc.1, which atteDdetl-r
beiD« drowned, have been drawn up at your deaire; they had not atrl1ck _
88 being 80 CUriOM as you consider them, because, from two or three perlOM-
who, like myself, had been recovered from a similar state, I have heUd • et.
&ail of their fee~ which resembled mine .. nearly u wu 00D8ia&8D~ 1rida
0Dl dillerent constltutioD8 and dispositions.
" , Many year8 ago, when I was a yOUDpter on board ODe of his Maj~.
ships in Portamouth harbor, after &coUing about in a very Amall boa&, I . .
endeavoring to fasten her aloDgaide the ship to one of the 8CUUleriIIp; ..
fooliah eaaemeu I 8tepped upon the guDwale, the boat of COD1118 1l~t, aDd I
feU into the water, aDd not knowing how to swim, all my e1forta w lay Jaol.
either of the boat or of the fioating sculls were fruitleu. The traD8aCtioD W
DOt heeD observed by the sentinel on the gangwaYt and thereloN it wu Dot till
me tide had drifted me aome distance astem of the ship that a man iD the fo~
top ea.. me splashing in the water, and gave the alarm. The first lieateD8Dt
instantly and gallantly jumped overboard, the carpenter followed his eumple,
&Dd the poner hastened into a boat and pulled after them.
" , With the violent, but vain, attempts to make myself heud, I bad awallowM
IDIlch water; I was soon exhausted by my strolgl., and before aoy relief
reached me I had aunk below the aurfac_all hope had led-all U8l1ioa
eeaMd-and I felt that 1 was drowning.
Cl & So far, these fact8 were either partially remembered after my recovery, or
Rpplied by th088 who had latterly wime88ed the Icene; for dlUlDl an interval
,-intr
of nch agJ&atioD a drowning penon is too much occupied in catchinl at e~
IUaw, or too much absorbed by alternate hope and despair, CO mark
&be 8ucceeaioD. of events very accurately. Not 80, however, with the faotI
which immediately 8DBued; my mind had then undergone the 8udden revola.
lion which a~peared to you 10 remarkable-and all the circ1UD8tances or whicJa
. . DOW . . VIvidly fresh iD my memory .. if they had ~urred but , . . .

cia!: From d1e moment all exertioDS had ceued-which I imagine waa the . .
JMdiace conaequ8Ilce of complete sWFocation-a calm feeliDc of the moat ~.
f'ecc tranquillity Iupeneded the 'previous tumultuous 88D88uoua-it might be
.ned apathy, certainly Dot resJIIlation, for droWDiog DO longer appearid to
... lID evil-I DO longer thought of beiol rescued, nor was I in any bOdily paiD.
OIl the ocmtrary, my sen_tioDS were now of rather a pleasurable cut, partak•
... of &ba& dull bus CODteJlted IOn of f"liDI whiala preoed. the . . , pfCMlao.
 11 [I..·
ea ~ ftlti«ae. fteurh tile MD8eI -.ere !ha c1eac1eDed, DOt 8G the miIla; itB
aetivi~ seemed to be invigorated, in a ratio which defies an description-for
thouglit roae after thought with a ra~idity of succeuion that is not only ind.
ICribable, but ?roba~lyinCOD"eivable by any ODe who has not him8elf been in a
aimilar aituatlon. The coume of thoee thoughts I can eyeD now in a great
meuure retrace-tbe event which had just taken place-the awkwardness that
had produced it-the bustle it must have occuioned (for I had observed two
persons jump from the ehaios)-the e1fect it would have on a most affectionate
father-the manner in which he would disclose it to the reet of the family-
and a thousand other circumstances minutely auociated with home, were the
first series of reflecti0D8 tbat occurred. They took then a wider rang&:-our
lut cmiae-a fonner voyage. and shipwreck-my school-the progress I IuuI
made there, and the time I bad mi8-8pent-and even all my boyish pursuits
and adventures. Thus travelling backwards, every past incident of my liCe
l8em~d to glance across InY recollection in retrograde succession; DOt, how-
tlver, in mere outline, as here stated, but the picture filled up with every minute
and collateral feature; in shbrt, the whole period of my existence seemed to
be placed before me in a ·kind of panoramic review, and each act of it seemed
to be accompanied by a consciousness of right or wrong, or by some reflection
OD its cause or its consequences; indeed, many trifling events which had been
10Dg forgotten then crowded into my imagination, and with the character of
recent familiarity.
Cl , May not all this be some indication of the almost infinite power of memory
with which we may awaken in another world, and thus be compelled to con-
template our past lives! Or might it not in some degree warrant the inference,
that death i8 only a change or modification of our existence, in which there is
DO real pau8e or interruption! Bot, however that may be, one circmnstanee
.... highly remarkable i that the innumerable ideas which flashed into IIIJ
mind were all retrospective· yet I had been religiously brought up-my hopee
ad fears of the nen world had lost nothing of their early strength, and at any
other period inte1l8e interest and awful anxie~ would have been excited by
the mere probability that I was floating on the threshold of eternity; yet at
that inexplicable moment, when I had a fun conviction that I had already
• CI'088ed that threshold, not a single thought wandered into the futnre-I was
wra~t entirely in the past.
U The length of time that was occupied by this deluge of ideas, or rather the
_ortDes8 of time into which they were condensed, I cannot now 8tate with
J»!eciaion, yet certainly two minutes conld not have elapsed from the moment
Of au1Focation to that of my being hauled up.
&& , The strepgth of the flood-tide made it expedient to pull the boat at onee
to another ehip, where I underwent the U8Ual vulgar process of emptying the
....ter by letting my head haog downwards, then bleeding, chafing, and even
admiatering gin; but my submersion had been really 80 brief, that, according
to the account of the lookers-on, I was very quickly restored to animation.
&CjCKy feelings while life was returning were the reverse in every !Joint of
th08e which have been described above. One 8ingle but confused Idea-a
miserable belief that I was drowning-dwelt upon my mind, instead of the
multitude of clear -and definite ideas which had recently rushed through it-a
helpleu anxiety-a kind of continuous nightmare seemed to pres8 heavily on
every seue, and to prevent the formation of anyone distinct thought--and it
was with di1Bculty that I became convinced that I was really alive. AgaiD,
~atead of bein. absolutely free from all bodily pain, as in my drowning etate.
I was now tortured by pain all over me; and though I have been since
wounded in several places, and have often 8ubmitted to severe eurgieal dia-
cipline, yet my safFennge were at that time far greater, at least in general die-
trees. On one occasion I was shot in the IUDgs, and after lying on the deck at
Bight for some hours bleeding from other wounds, I at length fainted. Now
.. I felt sure that the wound in the lungs was mortal, it win appear obvioue
that the overwhelming seoeation which ~panies fainting must hav:.l:'
. . . . a perfect oonvictioD that I wu th~n iD the act of dying. Yet D ·
 ... ]
ill die Ieut reeelllbUDa the operatlo.. of my mlDd -beD clrowDiDg then took
place; and when I bepn u» recover I returned to a clear conception of my
•
Naletate.
&I l If theee involuntary 8%perimente OD the operation o{ death dord any la&-

iI6Iction or interest to you, they will not have been aWlered quite in vain by
. ", Yours, very trug,
U 'F. BUl7J'OAT.'

UThisletter of Admiral Beaufort (says Sir John Barrow) must give rise to
ftUioU8 suggeationa. It proves that the spirit of man may retaiD its full ae-
cirity-we may perhaps 8ay aD increased activity-when freed from the tram-
Dleta of the flesh; at least, when all the functions of the body are deprived of
animal power, and the splrit has become something like the type and shadow
of that which we are taught to believe conceming the immortality of the souI.
It is a curiou8 fact, but a very conceivable one, that, as he says, ' when I had
a full conviction that I had already Clo88ed the threshold of eternity, Dot a
angle thought wandered into the future-I was wrapt entirely in the past.'
The inference to be drawn from this seems to be, that the impression of things
or ideas that had actually happened was strong, and afforded DO loom for the
admission of anticipation; that the former alone, that is, the past, altogether
gave dort to the memory; in fact, memo~ can have no concem with the
, future. But that does not lead us far or help us much, it being the effort of a
man all but dead, in whom we have here a separation of the spirit £rom the
corporea18ubstance.
"I do Dot believe that the practical philo8opher, Dr. Wollasto11, threw &Dy
light on the 8ubject to Captain Beaufort, or that Lady Spencer acq~ed mucll
lmm Hir Henry Halford; and, perhaps, it is best that we should content our-
.lyea iD concludiDg, with Shakspeare (who is rarely WlOug>-
. We are l1Iohltdudre... an . . . ot'"
Thai fill' Sir 1. Barrow.
From the above facts it would appear that the internal memory, or the memory pecu-
Uar to the eplrit, was opened, and that Captain Beaufort was oODecioal of ita .uperior ao-
liritfes. This memory, at me time or death, when the external eeD" and bodU, orpal
become quiescent, awake. to its conscioDs lite, and Is Incomparably more acdw. more
minute and copious in Its details, than the external or corporeal memory. This Intenlal
memory is properly the hook oC a man'. liCe, iD which, as hia OWD biographer, he faith-
fally ~ eftIY occumm08, even to the most trUltu, moicle..&, aDd enry purpose, iD-
1IDti0D, ad thought, eYen to &be moat transient ilance o£his bodily 'ilhL Thil'book of
tJft1I1 man'. liCe is opened after death, when, u the Lord _,., cc tUrf .. ttotAi_, toHf"fII
dol . . . tIOt hrlf1.utl, twitA". Aid IMII1atJll tIOIl" holM" (Luke xii. 2). It la a law ID
oar constitution, that in proportion as our extemal OrgaDS and CunodoDl become quiee-
oeot, or fall uleep, oar Internal orpna and sen.1 become oODICioualy active. Thu, iD
eommOD 1Ieep, in which our utemal olpU and . . . . IU'8 quielO8Dt. our internal . . . . .
as iD dreamt, become 10 activc1, .. ID a few minute. to P" duoaIh -aeDeI, and to wit-
aesa phenomena, whieh, if remembered ID our wakiDl .tate, would require muoh time to
narrate. The pbeaomena also ofmesmerllm clearly l1hutrate this, which become the mOle
GtIaOrdiDary the more the external eensea, and what Swedenbor. oalll the ,zt,rior tWIt-
...u1'ri'Mi,u, orebe miDd beoom. quielOenL (See..d. O. 649'7,6849. and 9216.) But
wbea, u at clealh, the external orpn. and .ues become .nrtl, ......,.. we ma,
NadilylRlppoee that the Internal spiritual olpU aad I8DIe8 awake lDIo the activi" pe-
callar to their more exalted nature and life. But ooncemlDB the IDtemal memory -
Swedenborg'1 ..AreAtIG Ot.elatitl. 2489 to 1494. See also Spirit_I Di4,." 88'1 to ni,
10771 1078, 1079. And Nlpectiqtbedying ltate OCDUlD, and hla relUlOitatioD from the
.... _ ..._ .lUI4 43~ 10 .fB4.-ltIId. ..,... Dtt. 1848.
 ~S.TR_ •
.A. JIOCTllDlAL cotiT&A8'I'.
We take the following from a late No. of the uEDlliah Preabyterian Renew,·' whioJa.
IMnreYer, oi_ it wiClaOllt...... We _Ye DO ablohlte YCNOher, tbelebe, for the
. . .1lIDeaeea of t1ae atraot; b1lC the ItFle i.lt...me. with it iaten1al enct.oe 011..

pipiD.. of the p.t

P......
orqpn, aDd every ODe acqaailltecl with the pnerallCOpe oC Lather'. writ.inp win .....
DiIe iD the parapaph but an echo oC hunched• .of similar To theee IOli1ldilUl
ReIormer the whole oC Pro1lNCaDt Ohrl.-dom hu daDeed Cor tIaree
. .turi.. It ID., be PJe81Ulled that &he IteadJ deIe_t of die New J~ will be ....
tiD••U,.4Ii......iDr the CalIlti. that have pdleNd JI01Iad thi. doctrlDe, utD dae irrea.a--
. . crath of tile OO1IIlter·.... let fbrth In the appeaded extract lJom Swedcmbol'l w18 . .
~ , acbow1edced.

C& LVTHD'. MunuLI: PaOTDT.l.TlOlf 'O'POlf TJD hTIC~ o. JU8TIftCATlOlf.-I,

Martin Luther, an unwonhy preacher of the Gospel of our Lord JeaU8 Ch.ri8t,
thul prole.., and thus believe,-That this Article, that faith alone, with-
out worb, can justify before God, shall never be overthroWD, neither by
the Emperor, nor by tlie Turk, nor by the Tartar, nor by the Persian, nor by
the Pope, with all hie cardinals, bishops, eacri1icen, monks, nUDS, kinp, pow-
ers of the world, nor yet by all the devil8 in hell. This Article shall stand fut
whether they will or no. This is the tme Gospel, Jesu8 Christ redeemed 118
fIom oar .m., aDd he only. This most firm and certain truth is the voice of
Scripture, though the world and all the devils rage and roar. If Christ alone
take away our sins, we cannot do this with our worb; and as it i. impoeai.
We to embrace Christ but by faith, it ie, therefore, equally impossible to apple-
'hend him by works. I~ then, faith alone must apprehend ClJrilt before wOrk.
can follow, the conclusion is irrefragable, that faith alone apprehends him,
before and without the consideration of works. And this is our justification
and deliverance from sin. Then, and not till then, good works follow faith,
as its necessary and inseparable fruit. This is the doctriDe I teach, 8Ild this
the Holy Spirit and Church of the faithful have delivered. In this will I abide.
Amen."
So lDuch for Lather'. dogma of lC laidl alone." BayiDI100ked apon that pioture let 11.
MW loot upoa tIUL Let the UDbiueedjudpnent of the Chriatian reader proDOun08 lIpoa
.... oompuauYe cJaima of the two view. 10 the cbaraoter of truth.
cc From what hae been adduced let it be wen conaideredz whether to hay.
faith be anrtb:ing elee than to live accordiD, to it j aDd wllether to live ac-
ootdiDg to It, be Dot only to know and to think, but also to will aDd to do ;
fDr faith is Dot in man whilst it is only in his knowledge and thought, but
when it is also in his will and in his actiOD8. Faith in man is faith of the life,
but faith Dot let in man is faith of the memory and of the thought thence
derived. By faith of the life is understood believing in God; but to believe
thole things which are from God, and not to believe in God, is mere historical
faith, which is not laviD". Who that ia a true priest and good pastor, doee
BOt deaire thu meD may live well, and who does Dot know that the faith of
knowledgea, obtaiDed from hearsay, is not the faith of the life, but historical
faith' Faith of the life is the faith of charity, for charity is life. But although
the case is thus clear! yet I foresee, that they who have confirmed themselves
in the doctrine of faith alone and justification thereby, wilt not recede from
it, by reason of their connecting falsities with truths; for they teach truths
when they teacll from the Word, but they teach falaitiea when they teach
from doctrine; and hence thef confound those thinp, by safing, that the
fraiw of faith are the good of hfeJ ana that these follow from faith, and yet
that the goods of life contribute nothing to salvation, but faith alone. Thus
do they conjoin and separate: and when they conjoin, they teach truths, but
only before the people, who do not know that they 80 invert, and say these
thilip from necesaity, iD order tba& their tloctrine may cohere with the W cri;
--,
Inlt when they separate, they teach falsities, for th~ say that faith saves, and
DOt the Iood8 of charity which are works, in this case not knowing that
abri~ and faida act as one, and that charity consists in acting well, and faith
ia believing well, and that to believe well without acting well is impossible;
th1l8 that there caD be no faith without charity, and that charity is the eue of
faith and ita soul, hence that faith alone is faith without a IOul and ilia. a
dead faith; and inasmuch as such faith is not faith, hence justification thereby
is a mere non-entity ."-~. E. !SO.
"That faitl! alone, or faith separate from goods in act, whioh are ROOd
works, C8IIDot be given, may appear from the eesence of faith which ia
charity, and charitf is the affection of doing those ~ which are of die
faith, wherefore faith without charity is like thought WIthout atrection, and
thought without aft'ection is no thought, consequently faith without charity i8
DO faith; to ~eak therefore of faith without charity i8 to speak of thought
without affection. likewise of life without a soul, of emtere without aD elM,
of • form without a thing forming, of a product· without somewhat prodnciDI.
aDd of an effect without a cause, wherefore faith alone is a nonentity,'and fro•
• nonentity, to produce goods in act, which are good works, as a good tree
cloee &nit, is a contradietion, from which that which is believed to be some·
dting turns oat to be nothing."-.A. E. 190.
II The Church is altpgether de8troyed when the truth, thereof are tumed iD..
faJaes, and the goods th.reof into evils; that this is done by the doctrine of
faith separate from life, may appear from this consideration, that the doctrine
of the church is a doctrine of faith, and that the doctrine of life, which is caned
-..J theology, is a forensic doctrine, regarded as serviceable to the church at
pleasure, but 88 having DothiDg of salvation in it, because nothing of faith.
-hen, DotwithatandiDg, faith separated from life is Dot alive but dead, 8IMl
coD.lequently. can save no ODe. It is 8uppoeed that man, from the doctrine of
faith separate, can believe that there is a God, that there is a heaven and a
hell, and a life after death, that the Word is divine, and therefore that the tbinp
therein declared are to be believed; these things man may indeed know, uMl
aIIo tbink and in some degree understand from the light of reason, but still lie
cannot have that faith in them which will remain long alter death; for the-
fUtIt which is of the Itfe remains, but not the faith which is separate from the
life, and every ODe has this life only in proportion as he abtains from evils, anel
muDS and is averse to them beca118e they are contrary to the Word,
thus COD~ to the Lord; faith from this life remains after death, because it
aD.
is fIOm the Lord, aDd thus of the Lord with man: from these cODsidera-
tiOD8 it may appear, that man from faith alone cannot truly believe in the
existence of God, and how then can he believe other thirigs' hence thon
it follows, that the dootrine of faith separated from life destroys tbe church
u to all the goods and truths thereof. That it is 80, has been made ab1lA1l
aatly evident to me from such persona after death, with whom I ha. .
convened; the followen aDd defenders of that faith, who have only ~leaD8.
eel the ontside of the cup and platter and not the inside, after a short ~
passed in the world of 8~irit8, reject all things which they have said and
believed to be oT their fatth, and acknowledge for gods, either themselvee
CIf othen who excel in power by means of arts well known in heD, yea, they
deride the w&hs of the Word which they called holy in the world."-.A. E.
T9G.
EXTRACT.
" All the willdom and a1l1be felicity of the aDpls of h_"n i. from good by truths,... ,
dae quantity and qllality of wisdom aDd felicity with every ODe there i_ accOl'diDI 10 1be
quantity aDd quality of the good from wbich truths are derived, wherefore good i_the vel1
~ or the angelio life, and consequently the essence oC heaven Itself; they therefore
who plaee &be all oC l&1..don in .ilb alone, aDd nodIt. . thereof In good 'Worb, caBMI
ht abat heanD apiut thaauel"., for the, make loodDeu, w)a.-la 0081IIII."
• MOOGDl DOl .DJ" o._icIeraIbl, aDd wbRe pod Ja DGC, . . . ft'iI Ut w'" eriJ AI,
. . . . . . . .-.£ •• ,1'1.
18 [I...
.DI'O.IIL I' ••••
Dr. Buahnell'. Dew work, 1& God ia Chrilt." mendODeC1 oa. 1onD., ....,
ID8etI, we are
iDformed, with a wIde and rapid aale. Contrary to Ihe 1I8ua1 cultOm with authors aDd
pabli8hers, no copies or it, we belieye, have been seDt Cor notice to the rellrioul papen
and periodicals. Whatever may have been the mouve Cor this policy on the part oC the
author, the Inference is pretty plain that he did Dot consider the aancuon oC editors u at
all esiential to the we of the work, nor their judgment, perhaps, ofanJ great account In
reprd to ita merltl. Be 1. dODbtleu aware that he can proad. blml8lfUtde clemency,
ID view of his bold positions, ftom the corpl editorial, who are usually swom to the words
of the several parties and IeCts whose baunen they display. Having moreover reIOlvecl
to eschew controversy, he would spare himeelC the provocations to reply which periodical
odticillD migh& be CODtiIl1l&Dy ahowering about him. cc Some penona," .ys he, " andoi-
pate, in the publication oCtheee dilC01lJ'Ie8, tbe Openinl of another great religious COb-
mn-er81. There may be lOch a controversy, but I really do Dot lee whence it is to Gome ;
tor, as regards myself, I am quite J'E'SOlved that I will be drawn to no reply, unless th~re
la produced against me 80me argument of 10 Ileal force that I feel myself required, OI1t or
simple duty to the truth, either to surrender. or to make important modilca&iou. in the
news I have advanced." We are glad to read lach an honest avowal. but Dr. Bomnell
will excite still more sarpriee in the New Church than he now does in the Old iC he
mould ever feel the force or an opposite argument to euch a degree as to compel a cc lur-
l8Dder)" of his Prel8D& yiew8. Such mrrendem are DOU to neYer witneued. IC Dr. B.
Ihould hereafter reoede from hia preeeDt pound it will not, we opiDe, be iD oDUeql*loe
oCthe superior logio of aD adversary, but bJ a procell oC eelf-OOOYicdOll. Be may'"
hJmeelfcompelled to qai' the stand-point he has now reaahed, Dot, however. to go back-
ward, bpt to go forward; and this is no real le surrender" oC an, thing already gained, at
least in any other eense tban that in whicb ODe surrenders the state of boyhood when he
enters upon that of manhood.
We have received one No. ofa weekly rellgiouI paper entitled le The Medium," pub-
lished at JacklOD, Kich., and ~ted by Rev. H. N. StroDltaDd clnoted to the iDle. . . . 01
the New Church. HanOI received DO labaeqUeDt 1.... we bow DO& whedaer the paper
11 oontlD1Ied. If it be W'8 should be happy of an exohup.
A London publisher wriIM that saoh is DOW the demand in England for Des Gapt
te Lettera to a man or the World." Ihat he hasjuI' publi8hed a reprint .roar ed1dOD.
Mr. I. 8. BodIon, New Churcb publisher In London, bu o1fered a 'premium or £10,
or '100, for a work Ob Marriqe, to be entitled ;-"ltI-n.p tIN __ I&ol, Df all nlatiou ;
ill el'en. ot& tAt Order tJfItl Well-6n., Df B«uI, J tlttd it. i...,..,...t -Jl---e Oft 1JIG.'.
E'trttalltate." Mr. H., tbe oft"erer, remarkl upon the proposition cc The lam of £20, f.
but a small remuneration for such a work as that proposed; but it i. better than publish-
iJ'1 with a certainty of loa; and by the rever.ion oC the copyrilht the author may eYeDt-
uJ11 reap further beDelt. However, such as it la, I o.r it to the CODaideratlon of &bole
who may be iDterelted in the matter, with great good reeun,. The name. of the enmi.
Dell or jndges, aDd the coodltlons to be observed b, the writers, win be duly published J
as no communicationa will be expected before the lit of December next. I have leIected
the subject of • !lardap' beoa1ll8 it il one that is Dot au1BcieDtly considered and app. .
elated eyen iD the New Chul'Oh, althoulh SwedeDbo'l has ueated the IIlbject la 10 eIl-
1Ilhtened. and boty a maDDer; and also because there ia not among oar publicatioDs an,
popular work at all oalculated to recommend the Jmportant views of the ohUlOh
\IIOD it to the noeptiOD oC mankind pneral1y. SbODld this propoli&lon be the DleaD. or
. . . . . . . . . . _M are oompeteo.....D. there are blaD7' Roh In the olaaroh-to cIiaII'
IMir
the ca1U8
to" IDbjeet, .... alGId a. die aiel or tMir ....... a . . . .dOD • . . , 01
he . . .-al&."
ne 1Mt No. of the LoDdon New Charoh Qaadedy (OcL-Dec. 1848). iD .,.aa, oC the
. . . . .t p.-pecta of the New Church employ. the followU1llaDpap ;-'. &iDee the ....
Iati.Pa impuled through Swedenborg, the liIht whioh claWDed iDto his miDd haa peIletraled,
MCOI'diDa to his plftiicDoa, and &he expectatioal oC the New Church, through a tho.'"
• • into this lower world; and j. now cWruaiD, itaelC OD all hands by the apaoy or
die pre& A. few Jean 810 the eoiDoideuces between len8J'al literatul8 and that of tb8
New Cha.rch were few aDd remarkable; 10 that i& wu oomPuatiftl1 8UJ to polot &belli
0IIt, aad catalope their reawta. Now, it would be DeoeMary 10 coun& them in battaliou i
dae mental horizon, in abort, i.lit~tiq up all alOud us, aDd, turn in whatever direotiOla
we may, the kindliDl rays ate seen stretching upward to the zenith, where, with the .".
of faith, the New Jenualem may be eeen coming down from God out oC heaven. To
speak without a metaphor, certain great truths. of the lut importaDoe to man', 'Pill."
weIfaJe, which were elicited b, Swedenbol'l Crom the Word or God, aDd con8rmed bJ'
llis ape.rieDce iD the apiritual world, haft 10 pernded the . .era! mincl.iDee hie time.
as 10 be UDderpiDg Dew and lurpriaing developmeots through the miDd. oC men . .
_ve Bever received them by an, outward channel-who are either Dot at all, or but . . ,
IUclatl,.. acqoainted with cbe oompreheDaive claima oC&he New Church to be reprdecl.
theclOWD of all form. dilpenlauQDLJJ

We ullders1and that a work by a New Churchman hi lOOn to be put to prea. OD tbB

I1Ibject of the Mi_imy. in which it il maintained that the ftuaction oC teaching In the
Churoh i. a form oC spiritual ,charity ,and that the laWI of the Miniltry are the laW! of
Charity iD that apheJe or its operationl.
From the last or Feb. No. of the Intellectual Repoeitory we learn that a pamphlet bu
lately appeared in Enlland, emuating from the Roman Catholic College at Olcott. near
Birm inglaam, entitled, cc Remarks on Noble's Appeal in behalf oC the Doctrines of Swe-
deDborc." Not having seen the pamphlet DOl been informed of Its character or scope.
we can _, Dothing on that lCore. although it is euy to conoeive that a oritique OIl . .
doetrines oCtbe New Church written by a minion oC the Papaoy-a IJstem which Swe-
denborg doe. not allow to be a Church, but merel,. a rellrton-would ftDd abuDdaat
matter for condemnation ud conllagration. However this may be, we lee it 8.IlIl01lnoecl
that a reply is being prepared by the ReV.' Mr. CU.old, with an early copy ofwblch we
hope to be favored.
In the receDt eD')igratiou to CaliComia a cOl18iderable number oC oar N. C. friencla,
from thil city and elsewhere, have cast in theu lot, and from IOme of them we han 0b-
tained . .uranoe oC epistolary communicaUoDI after their arrival. We tnlIt they ma1 be
lDltrumental, by their labors, in opening richttt miD. oC spiritllal wealth than aD1 that
are dug by spade or pick-axe-that they margin the Dew oomen tidiDp oC a IaDd of
1IBIpeUabl, more opulent stores than lhat to which they have mipted;tho11lh cc &be ItoDeI
oC it," in the IaDpap oC lob, ca are the place oC _pphirea and it hath dalt or aoW
(Bd. gold-ore).· Ma1 they lMs ellabled to impreu their CeUow. with the conYiotlOD tha&
CC there is a pam which no fowl kooweth, and whioh the vulture', eye hath Dot eeeD. TIle
depth _ith i& i. DOt in me J aDd the sea eaith it is not with me. It ClUlDot be IoeteD for
aoId, nei&ber IhaIll1lver be weilhed for the price thereof. It oannot be yalued wj th the aoW
or Ophir, with the precious ODYX, or the _pphiro. Th~ gold and the crystal eaDDot
equal ita and the esc~aup oC it shall not be Cor jewe1a oC flDe lold. No mendon maD be
made of coral or oC peUla. for the prioe oC wi.m i. aboTe rubies. The top.. of Ethlo:
,la gall DOt equl ia. _llber 1baI11t be n1aed with pue plcL Whe11G8 tb_ lGIDeda
 AI·... .., .... [J&II. 1_.
...... , AJUl
.aa ,. .,.. LoaD,
ill tile,...
~ 18 WI8DOII,
of ............ '
AJQ) TO DJrPA&'I' I'IIOJI
Uato ........., --..a, ~
nu. I' ~A"".·
A plDphM, or . . lOll of • prophet. 'DntlertUee III a late No. or the MWfIt IImIW to
""'01 the deetlDy oC die Pope ha the following .etch 01 folare deftloPmema in ItaIy.-
',. TIle qaeedoD BOW !88UN, What ta to be the destln, or the Pope' If the Itomaa tltroae
... deputed, as both the pJedlctioll and the Romu people declare, what wIll be hi, . .1
. . . .pe it will he cWlaalt to defl8nDiae this point de4Dltely. Amidlt tile multiplicity of
..,..,alati0D8 abroad. IMW of daem .wt, eC C081'88, be erroaeoal, and . . WHI," _.
TItoIe wbo haYe read the wri. .·.late work on ' The Re8tltatloD. the Fall of Babyloa,' ju,.,
....ID' 'riewt .. to hie fbtare co.ne and destiny. It i. briefly this: That a 1..- will

_ft
. . tbnDed among the Italian gcmmunents, tell In nDmber, to restore the Pope to hi, tblOD8.
I DO faith la any or the peat continental nadona,-nch .. FruGe, or Aaltlia,-i..
telf'erin. in tha' "'lr with an armed force. But the lelected in.tramen.. 01 the Almi_
• lift theJr power, 1tIeDfdI, aDd kingdom to the Pope, are ten kinp whioh haw . .
.,.. power, jll• • •h as the Italian pemm8DtI aN. The refusal oC the BAMnan people
. . . . . .ft . . . BoIiDeII, will eau. the am.to hate that oity, make her deIolate . . .
Mked, . , her ..... aH b1Ull her with Ire, a. foretold iD the 1'7th or BeY. Ba, tM
.lrttaal power of the Pope wUI be rather etreDgthenecl than weakened by .oh a ~
. . . . A DeW oeatle will be IODght aDd found i bot it wUl Dot be either PI'Ul08 or die
Uaited States, as a permuent establishment. The peat error of making Rome, ID. . . .
01 Jeruwalem, It. PeW. patrimouy, win be attempted to be retrieved; and the Jd. . . . .
Qf God .-toEed to )lout ZiOll, Wtead of retainiDl tile throne oC the Cmaal••" One of
kiD.,
. . . tell (wIlD is ODJ, a duke, by the way--duke oCTuec&DJ) haa alread1 run
away like the Pope and needs restoration himself before he can render much eervioe ill
e&odDI that oC his HoUae.. As' to the other items of sacking the city of Rome 1br iu
Ulti-paJMlC1 aDd aanlferriDlthe leat oCpapal dominion from Rome to Jerasalem,.ia
••, be espeot.ed to take place about the .me time with the litmal Second AdftDt.
The DlIIDeIOa readers and admirers oC the Rev. S. Noble oC LoDdon will be griewd ID
~ tiom the loUowiDI utract of a letter lately received, how .vere aD a1IllotloD Du
....... him. cc The on11 aoo18 I have to o1l'er (for silence) iI the failure oC m1 aiabt
daraalh the lormatioa oC cataraCt in both eye., joined with the hope which I then eater-
. . . . that, thl'C)1l1h the meau I waa using, the aight would improve. 10 U to make writ..
. . ... dU&Cult to me thaa it enn then wu. The oODuary has been the cue, aDd I
.... deter the duty DO looger, lell in a few week. more I should be unable to execute it as
d. You lee that I still ea. write j but I cannot aee what I write, ecarcely, whether alae
pea marks the paper, and if the ink fails to flow, I often am not aware oC it. But I 111))-
pe. I ma" ftom habit, be able to write .omehotD. 10 long as r can see where the pea is.
Ih" 10lll been unable to read either print or writing e%cept with the help of a gl. . oC a
quarter an Inch rOODS, which only takes in a word at a time; and this I can do lor but
a abort dme together, .. 1& strains the sight excessivel" and tends to aggraftte the COWl-
.plaiD&. Daring the last six month. I have had an operation performed tbree times upoll
one or my eyes by one or our moat eminent eye mrgeons, and he 18"
that by repeating
the operation _"ral tIm. more he e%pects that the obstrnction wiH be removed: bDt I
Bee no llpa or it .. yet, and ftDd it dlfticult to retain any hope. With tit., eye I can di..
ttapiah nothing but the light." We may here ObaeI'Y8 th8.t the letter containing the aboft
paragraph ia writtea ID a hand oC rematkable neatness aud clearness, showlnl Dot the
least indication or having been penned under circumstance. such as the writ6r here de-
ICrlbee. The linea are allstraf.bt, the word. distinct, never ranntng into or ",.a1 60IIl
each other, aDd the punotaadoll .. nice and accurate as It It were copy prepued for the
priJder It 11. . . . . . . . culolJl, .. DlastradJll6e ...... or..... bUlt.
 THE

NEW CHURCH REPOSITORY

AND

MON'l'HLY R.EVIEW.
=
rei. 11. rBIRlJiRI, IUt. 11. J.

ORIGINAL PAPERS.
ARTlCI.E I.

ON SPIRITUAL MEDICINE.
7'rafUlatltlj,om tAt Pr",tA 01 Ed. RicMr, !(If' tA, N. C. RepoIilory.
AMOBG all natural beings, man is the ODe which can be most sue-
eessfully studied under a. point of view purely moral. There is a
eommon source of spiritual life, which animates all beings; eaoh
takes from this source according to its organization, one more, 811.other
less ; the perfect organization of man enables him to receive more
than all other animals. Intelligence does Dot result from such
or such an agency of the parts; but the perfection of the organ. is
the necessaryconsequence, after perfection ofthe intelligence. There
is DO physical influence of the organ upon the thought; on the con-
trary, there is spiritual influence of the thought upon the organ.
In vain has Helvetius said that thought was a secretion of the brain;
this assertion, repeated in some works on physiology, is 88 unbecomiDg
in expression, as it is incorrect in theory. The brain does not secrete
thought as the stomach digests food: it receives only a movemeal
which it communicates to the rest of the body. At the extreme ter-
mination oe the nerves, we must always 8UPP0se, sa~ M. KeratJ-y,
BOmething which is not matter. This something which evades our
senses, is that moral faculty which receives everything from above.
Cabanis in vain sought the mortal being in the last fibres of man.
The volitive determinations, compared, establish an order of life diC..
ferent from that which proceeds from the instinctive movementL It
is these determinations which demonstrate the moral power of maD,
and in which there is no intervention of the most delicate anatomy_
Gall and Spurzbeim have reduced all the functions of man into two
kinds-the affective and the intellectual. These are two moral pow-
~ which in the last resort, are the origin of all the movemeatB of
ID8D ; he does Rot perfonn a single action without the intervenDon 01
YOL. D. 4
 On Spiritual Medicine. [Feb.
the will which is the source of the affective functions, and the under-
standing to which things intellectual are referred.
" All the modes of thought which we observe," says Descartes, ill
his EletneIIU of Philo6ophy, " can be referred to two universals, one
of which consists in perceiving by the understanding, and the other in
determining by the will." The phenomena which depend upon the
faculties of the soul, are not comprehended by means of the organ-
ization. Matter does not give here a quality which it has not; all
comes from above-the intellecual faculties are above the organs
which receive the impressions, and do not result from their mechan-
ism; beyond the study of the physical man, is. the science of the intel-
ligent creature. The telescope does n9t bring the divinlty to sight in
the infinite space of worlds. Nor does the scalpel of the anatomist
lay bare the -human soul under the mortal envelope which covers it ;
it is because God and the soul of man are not material; it is because
while here below we are wanting in the senses which present them
to. view. Nevertheless, we have a right to affirm the~ existence,
since we can prove it by effects, like all the wonders of nature.
It is not enlightened physiology alone which recognizes the empire
of the soul over matter; the science of the human understanding,
better apprehended at this day, returns to the acknowledgment of
these tmt1w as old as man, but which the spirit of system has so often
~erverted. There is DO influence of material objects upon the
thought, but, on the contrary, occasional influence of the soul upon
the sen88S. Aristotle has said that nothing enters into the intellect
which has not previously been in the senses; an idea upon which
slieptics have based their irreligious scaffolding, expressed in these
few words.
" Everything enters the mind by the gate of the senses." Leibnitz
added this necessary restriction: "except the intellect itself." In
fact, according to the modifications which the organs of the senses
receive from external objects, the thought descends into these organs,
and perceives impressions from them. It receives notice through the
senses, of which it is the only regulator; it is not produced by their
action; it is not the sense which perceives, it is the soul which per-
ceives by it.
A moral emotion does not result from an extemal impression; this
impression, uniform to the organs of several men constituted in the
same maDner, affects one differently from another; it is the soul which
appropriates to itself the impression differently i at the sound of the
voice from a beloved object it starts; at the sight of a beautiful hori-
zon it muses delightfally; it is the perception which makes a seat
for the sensation. Now this pertains to the body, the other to the sou]
alone. Man is all understanding and will; the organs do not give
birth to thMe two faculties; on the contrary, the faculties direct them.
Would these lips move if the thought did not flow in with eloquent
words 1 Would these hands know the pressure of friendship, if af-
fection did Dot stamp its action upon them 1 It is then the soul which
sees in the eye, which listeDS in the ear, which feels, in fine, in all the
0lpDL
lY.] On Spiritual Medicifle. 11
It is asterlishing that 8 theory 80 simple should have beea unknown,
and tltat • superfi~ial soience should have so lQllg persuaded us that
all tile moral impressions spring from the sensations alone; thus, to
love., was to feel; and to pray, was no doubt to feel also; aDd here
we see the origin of that wretched habit of seeking a physical theory
ill the explication of all the intellectual pJaenomena. If man were
aeasation only, he would be an automaton; we are pa.Clsive in sensation,
but perception is a moral power, and consequently it is active; thUB
iD the phellomenon whioh writers on mental philosophy give as the
only cause of our ideas, I see two very different actions.; I see the
concurrence of two very distinct faculties. In every corporeal action
I am not limited to feeling. I compare. Now, in this comparison, is
the certain part of an agent different from that which passively re- •
ceives the impression.
In every action, the soul acts successively, though it appears to act
simultaneously, as if there ,vas but one cause of its movement;
the thought precedes the speech, and the will precedes the movement.
At the very time when the metaphysics of the sensations was re-
duced to corollaries, and taught in the schools as something strictly
demonstrated, the author of Emile gave it the formal lie by deD)ing
the principle upon which it supported itself:
"To perceive," said he, " is to feel; to compare is to judge; to jodge
and to feel are not the same thing; by sensation, objects present them-
selves to me separated, isolated; by comparison I remove them, I
transfer them, 80 to speak, I place them one over the other to pro-
nounce upon their difference and upon their similitude." .
The me (71WJ) then still finds an asylum in man out of the senses.
Imagination, hope, the whole moral world, in fine, has then another
existence than that which it appears to hold from the impression of
external objects upon our organs. Religion. which is the nourishment
oC sensible souls; hope, which consoles so many unfortunate beings,
have another guarantee than that left them by a science, which, ,
discovering nothing besides the sensations, led almosi to the convic-
tion that everything terminated ,vith them. "Not one case can be
cited," says Dugald Stewart, " where sensation and intelligence ap-
pear to result from a combination of material molecules."-SketcAe.
of Moral Philo8ophy.
There is then a Dloral power in us; and this power, which the or-
gans of the body, by means of the will obey, modifies sometimes
these same organs without man's being conscious of it, and perceiving
that the \vill has had any part in it whatever. All physicians ac-
knowledge the influence or the moral upon the physical; in attribut-
ing this in1loence to an excited imagination, they confess by the
&erm it8el( what they refuse to acknowledge; indeed the imagination,
whatever definition may be given to it, is always found to be in the
last analysis a moral agent. Words do Dot always discredit things
which they seem to oppose.
The physician confesses that such or such a passion often produces
upon the sick a remarkable change; now, this chaDge is the eWect of
a mora1 power; here the body is moved by some iDcorporeal power,
 0.. Bpiritval Me_ne. [Feb.
Tb~ physieian will aplain these eWects by the different movements
of the animal fonctions-; but his explication, however teehnical and
however strict it may appear, will be insufficient, unless he takes 1\0-
count, above all t of the principle which caused the movement; now,
this principle is an idea, a sentiment, something, in fine, which falls
not within the domain of the senses.
There is an interior man which animates and modifies the uterior
man, it is the former which feels pain in the limb, which has been
amputated, and which consequently DO longer exists in the the latter.
Immaterial life su1rers no divisions, it is entire in the sanctuary of
being; bot it manifests itself di1rerently in the different subjeets.
This amputated limb which is never repaired with certain individuals
of the first classes of the organic kingdom, is reproduced among
some of the lower classes. That which we would take for a miracle
is here an ordinary e1rect, so true it is, that there are in nature wonders
which almost always realize what the most exacting imagination de-
mands.
We might enumerate thousands of examples of corporeal .acts
produced by the moral power alone. to which, to be understood by
every body, we give the name of imagination. How often has not
the invalid on the way to the springs, obtained relief from his
pains before arriving at the end of the distant journey which he has
undertaken t Taking leave of home, the imagination becomes excited,
and this imagination cured him. Who h·as not heard of tbe man
under the scaffold, who at the moment that his reprieve arrived, fell
dead from excess of joy 1 The dumb son of Crmsus aroused by a
strong sense of danger, found in his filial piety, the voice which nature
had denied him. How often has not the simple seal of a letter long
expected, sufficed to upset the most intrepid minds? Who has not read
of the nostalgy, a disease altogether of the mind, which has filled
hospitals with young soldiers who had escaped the dangers of battle'
This moral power from which is derived the sense of suffering, is
the same which deprives the being of the sensation of pain. In the
excitement of the moment the warrior does Dot feel the wound he
has received, his eye is turned away from the hurt before the
wounded part hu communicated it to the sensorium: it is not that
the sensorium has received- no notice of it, but employing the nervous
system in another sense, the man was inaccessible to pain. It is this
same phenomenon which has been exemplified in 8 most striking man-
ner in those persons whom a powerful exaltation of mind led to face
dangerous contagions without experiencing the least effect. The self-
devotion of Belzunce, at Marseilles, is well knoWD.
"Since the imagination," says M. Droz, "can overtbro\", our phy-
sical frames, why cannot it also restore them 1 Among cures almost
incredible, and which man)' persons assure us they havE' seen and
cite as miraculous, doubtless there are some real ones which the ex-
altation of a powerful faculty has sufficed to produce."
Upon this subject, the author of The Art of b~ing Happy, cites this
fact: During the siege of Lyoas, when the bombs fell upon the hos-
pital, the terri1led paralytic. rose up from their beds and Sed away.
1849.] I'
The committee appointed by the Academy of Soiences to examine
magnetism, reportf'n that they have seen the imagination when excit-
ed become powerful enough to produce crises, cause them to cease,
aDd arrest the speech in an instant. We find in'their report these
remarkable expressions, which we transcribe word for word: " What
we have learned is this, that man caD act upon man at any moment
and almost at will, by exciting his imagination; that the action which
man has upon the imagination can be reduced to art, and conducted
by a method upon subjects who have faith." Distinguished physi-
cians have noticed examples of cores produced by the aid of the
imagination alone. One of them declares he produced abundant
IWeats by presenting to the sight of a sick man an innocent drug for
a sudorific. A strong will, says another, can cure some diseases and
hasten the cure of those which attack us. The moral power, adds he,
communicating itself to the physical, aids in throwing off the conta-
gion. A celebrated physician said pleasantly: "I would hav, died
liIuJ Qrwther, if I had u,;,lled it." These words, reduced to their true
seuse are a testimony unintentionally rendered to the empire of the
will over matter. Some have gone 80 far as to say, that the extreme
desire of seeing a beloved person could retard death. We should not
coDclode from these words a new theory of immortality, but the ac-
knowledgment of a moral power which may become a remedy.
It is this power which Condorcet appeals to when he tries to prove
that the Stoic philosophy which professed to escape from pain, was
founded in nature. " The Stoics," said he, " rightly judged that they
coald Dot oppose to the evils to which we are subject by nature, a rem-
edy at once more useful and certain than to excite in our souls a per-
manent enthusiasm, which, increasing at the same time with the paiD,
by our efforts to bear up against it, would render 1L~ almost insensible
to it." The authority of this philosopher ,viII not be called in question
in this matter. For if a mechanical expllWlation of this phenomena
bad presented itself to his mind, we may be sure that he would have
availed himself of it.
How many remedies have charlatans produced of the curative ef.
fects of which chemica.l analysis has demonstrated the impossibility?
Doubtless there was an impossibility of a real action of such an object
upon such an organ; but there was an influence direct and certain of
the soul of the sick man upon his body; he took the prescription with
a confidence without bounds, and this confidence, altogether moral,
produced an effect wholly material. 1'hat confidence was a force, a
power; it is that which the physician acknowledge., when he so often
exclaims at the sick bed, ,. courage I courage!" He well knows that
the firm will of the diseased coonts for something in the cure which
his skill means to attempt.
The infiuence of one soul upon another is as incontestible as that
of the lOul upon the body. How often has not the physician observed
the effects of his presence upon the sick 1 How many fathers and
mothen who can testify to real impressions which they produce upon
their children 1 A great captain electrifies with a word those who
are about him; he makes of a pusilanimolls spirit, a courageous soul,
which faces daIlger, and feels no pain. There is a spiritual influence
 [Feb.
here \vhieh it is impossible to mistake. Our souls unite, because they
are of the same nature. It is those who have most soul who most
.sensibly control others. Tacitus relates that Vespasian made use or
this irresistible ascendency which sllrrounds power to cure, in Egypt.
two sick persons who ,vere brought to him.
There may be some truth in the effects ,vith which exoTcisms have
been follo,ved; superstition-itself hR.s a moral force oC which the re-
8111ts upon the body are undeniable. The grossest error has conse-
quences. The mind attentive to a prophecy, which concerns it, ma.y
see it realized. The moral power of soul upon soul is prodigious"
and the very dangers which are the fruits of it, bear witness to its
own greatness. There would be no need of so much watchfulness
over the exercise of our powers, if they,vere of a material origin-
bodies do not mutually penetrate each other. Contact does not produce
fusion of one into another.
But this power which the soul of a.n individua.l exercises upon its
body, this power which it receives from another, whence is it derived '1
Reason and philosophy answer that it is Dot inherent; it is from some
other source. Man is Dot the SOUTce of life, ht' is only its organ; he
is not the principle of immaterial power, he is only the receptacle.
This power appears to us as if dependent upon ourselves; we believe
we have it in ourselves, we imagine we transmit it by the sole action
of our will; but thispowerful will is given to us only tha.t we ma.y be
free orga.ns of life; without this precious gift we would be automa-
tons. The po\\'er which we exercise, is communicated, and we merit
or demerit according to the free use which we make of it. This is a
philosophical truth which the science of the physical maD esteelDs of
no value. Without this condition of our nature, the divine. influence
would descend into man as into an inanimate being; there would be
reception, but no conjunction.
If the life which descends int() man did not seem in fact to belong to
himself; there would be no morality attached to his actions; virtuous
without merit, and guilty without remorse, he would have nothing
which should appertain to intelligent nature. Suppose, on the con-
trary, this independent will communicated to a being who neverthe-
less receives all from another source, is it not true that the free use of
this faculty will constitute all the nobility of his nature 7 In humbling
himself before the Being who gives him life, be will acknowledge him-
self a debtort recognize the bestower, and worship will be the conse-
quence of this free sacrifice of man.
This is the idea which was felt by him who exclaimed with 80
much eloquence: "Being of beings! I am, because Thou art; the most
worthy use of my reason is to humble myself before thee; it is the delight
of my soul, it is the charm of my weakness, to feel myself overwhelmed
by Thy greatness." The author of the Philosophy of History thus ex-
presses himself: "MaBe for liberty, man was not destined to be the
subject"of imitation ofsnperior beings, but every where he is led to this
happy opinion, that he acts of himsel£"
Man r~ceives everything, both the impressions of externa.l objects by
his senses, and immaterial power in the moral faculties which are its re-
1841.]

ceptacles. The affections and thoughts descend into the human mind
according to its state of reception. Thus there is influence from the
other world upon our moral faculties, as there is this world's influence
apon our physical organs. Man is not a being detached, having the
power to create; he receives and combines the elements which he
has received. Enthusiasm descends from above, 88 the etymology of
the word expresses it, which signifies God in UI ; the imperfect meta-
pbysics of the sensations will not explain how this state is produced
hy the contact of our senses with external objects. These may be
the occasion of a sudden inspiration, but they cannot be the cause.
If the moral as well as physical life were not communicated to
mao, he would possess it in himself, and then he would be God. An
independent life, which has no source but in itself: l\ life which of
itself is self-sufficient, belongs not but to the self-subsisting and only
subsisting Being; that is called self-subsisting, which alone is; and
that is called only-subsisting, from which every other thing i~. Oar
affections are warmed from the divine fire, our thoughts are purified
by light from the supreme source. If we refu~e to approach it, we
become blind. The Pythagoreans who knew these mysteries of the
soul, called themselves the living, in contradistinction to other men in
their view plunged into the darkness of death. It is in this sense that
the Scriptures also call those dead, who do not partake of this moral
life. "Let the dead," says Jesus Christ, "bury the dead."
There is, then, one common source of life, for all beings; this
source I call God. Mallebranche4lr defines it with just reason-the
place of spirits, &ct space is the place of bodies. Plato says that it is
impossible to exeTcise the least influence upon men unaided by 0, su-
perior power. Man has, indeed, the will to act of himself; as we have
explained above; but this troth, that he can do nothing without
divine assistance, is so deeply engraven upon all hearts, that impostors
themselves are obliged to have recourse to it, and profess themselves
to be the messengers of the Most High, eVt'n when they are acting in
a sense opposite to that of the divine influence. Hypocrisy proves
virtue, as the exception p:r:oves the rule; this, the testimony of impo.-
tors, itself; confirms the opinion that God descends into the human
soul to render it the agent of his will.
The nearer the approach to the Divinity, the greater the genius,
the more the man becomes elevated. It has been remarked that every
man who speaks of God and the soul, with conviction, becomes sud-
denlyeloquent. The nearer the source, the greater the power, and
his eloquence is the consequence of a ~ore intimate commerce with
that order of immaterial things which we deny, because we never
seek it where it is. • ..
Pythagoras had remarked this phenomenon, observed so often since,

• Richer here approves of the idea of Mallebranche, because he explaiDs himself bY'
means of the theory of degrees, of which that metaphysician bad no k.nowledge. With-
out tbis theory, the opinion oC Mallebranche may be dangerous, and has b~n justly CeD-
eared, bat developed by Swecleaboq'1 theorr oC degree., i& pr~DtI no duger, and tl
above all criticiam.
 that in a temple, man, penetrated with the divine-presence, "takes, 80
to speak, a new being. Plato, Senec~ MarcUB Aurelios, philosophers
of all ages, affirm that it is from above that these gifts descend, which
.hine with certain men, and make them beings superior to thOle of
their species. Sacred history gives us an example of this change.
The apostles, after having received the Holy Spirit, became new meD.
Their ascendency was such, that communicating to others the heav-
enly power with which they were filled, they exercised towards them
that spiritual remedy, the effects of which are verified in the sacred
books.
In quoting the apostles, I must not forget to remark, that in this
thesis, I consider as proven the historical testimonies upon which it
is 8Upported. If a physiologist should call them in question, he would
relinquish his science, and his denial would be of no value. It beloDgs
to the historical critic to destroy here facts of which another and dif-
ferent science is not the judge. These are facts, which, if you reject,
diBcUlSioD is at an end. If; on the other hand, you admit them, then
substitute a theory more probable t~ that which I here expound
to you.
The existence of another world, whose influence modifies ours, is a
thing acknowledged by all thinking men. Nature produces nothing: of
itself it is but the plane upon which life operates. Life is without or
above it, though it makes one with it, as the soul of man is itselfdistinct
from the body which it animates, and with which it appears to identiC)"
itself: The order and wisdom which reign in the universe, are not
.the fruit of the fortuitous reunion of the parts of which it is composed.
That which has not intelligence, canuot manifest any.
There is a real influence of 80methiDg upon the mind; now aB
there can be no inftuence of nature upon nature, that of which we
speak must necessarily come from the very principle of all things.
The ancients recognizing the causes of all thiDgs to be in the spiritual
world, the word Manes, according to Festus, was given to spirits,
because they believed that all terrestrial objects were subjected to the
power of the shades or ghosts, and that emanatioDs proceeded from
them which were diffused round about; manes quia ab eia omnia man-
antur. To this t~.stimony of superstitious credulity may be added
that of enlightened science: "There r~.sults for man," says Cabanis,
Mthe idea of a wisdom, which has conceived the works of creation,
and of a will which has put it in contribution; but of a wisdom the
most high, and a will the most attentive, to all the details exercising
the ~08t ~xtendedp~wer, ~it~ the most min~te precision."
TblS wisdom, 80 hIgh, this wisdom so attentive, man has been created
to compreh~ndand communicate them. If the ideas which are formed
of the divinity, do Dot always answer to this 888ertion, it is because
they are not correct. The principle of this world whence proceed all
possible influences, this principle is God, and man is the recipient of
the divine power. The" supremacy of lI)an," says Bacon," haa no
other foundation than his resemblance with God. Every man has
within him this receptacle by which he becomes an image of God, by
which from 8 sensitive animal he becomes a religious anima) : it is
I".] 8.
tile priviJege which distinguishes him from the brute. It is the im·
prescriptible title of his excellence. All philosophers have recognized
& superior principle, which iDspires our thoughts. Material movements
haTe C&118e8 which depend upon the ordinary course of the laws of
nature, thole of man proceed from a superior order."
J. M.
IpriJllWd, o.
(CoftClwled in OU1' taa'I.)

A.BTlCLE D.

AN ESSAY ON ORGANIZATION.

To elementary substances of Chemistry are few in number, and

simple in character, but their combinations are infinite. They are
the pieces which constitute the great kaleidoscope of nature, present-
iDg us with the numberless forms which challenge our adniiratioD,
while they ba1Be our research. Many of the links in the chain of or-
ganization, are even invisible to our eyes. A single cubic inch may con-
tain millioDB of infusorial animalculm, each one of which possesses
distinct org&DS, and enjoys an independent existence. Again there
are thousands of plants which only the revealing powers of the micro-
scope have brought to ourknowledge. From these, our investigations
ascend through countless myriads of forms to the banyan tree, with
its hundred tmnks, to the whale, the elephant, and the mastodon. or
all these fonus, from the minutest vegetable germ, to the gigantic
quadruped, it may be said, that their story is but a repetition of the
chronicles of man, for like his their career is marked by birth, growth,
busy life, reproduction oC species, death, and total decomposition.
Next in interest to the mystery of our own consciousness, is the inquiry
into the circumstances and laws which govern th.e evolution of de-
finite forms, from a structureless material. The hypotheses offered
for the explanation of these phenomena may be reduced to two classes ;
those which accept the Mosaic account of the creation, and thOle
which deny all spiritual forces, and view the world as a mighty me-
chanism self-existent, and self-elaborated. The misinterpretation of
the first chapter of' Genesis, has been productive of much mischie£
The literal sense of that chapter enforces OD us thtt following deduo-
tiOD: God, by his spoken word, created the solar system, in six days,
all the geological strata, mineral, vegetable, and animal depositions
appearing almost instantaneously, and in n,u.
This is the Proems-
tean bed whereoD, in the opinion of many, every system and every
hypothesis must be measured. It. supporters stretch every diminu-
tive argument and lop 01£ every exuberant fact to accommodate the
state of scieDce to this Biblical cosmogony. Philosophers of distinc-
tion have been persecuted with virulence because their discoveries
were 8Up~ to militate against the infallible standard. And, even
at this day, the sword of popular censure is suspended by & hair over
 LFeb.
the head of the independent thinker, who gives more credit to scieu-
tific researches than to the exegetical dicta of the reverend savans of
Oxford, Princeton, and Andover. We are rejoiced, however, that
many liberal and cultivated minds have given up the hypothesis, as
untenable, and look on it as fairly open to the graceful satire of Lyell.
That prince of geologists compares the advocates of the Mosiac ac-
count to a party of philosophers with a religious belief that the world
was but a hundred years old, poring over the antiquities of Egypt,
and framing fanciful explanations for the appearance of her mauso-
leums, her obelisks, and her pyramids.
The rival system is the scientific creed of loany men who have re-
jected Divine Revelation, and peered forth with unassisted eye into
the dark night of nature's mysteries. It la.ys great stress on the ac-
cumulation and arrangement of facts, and recommends extreme cau-
tion in the deduction of inferences. It maintains that inherent prop-
erties of matter have developed the original chaotic mass into the
infinite forms of beauty and sublimity, which we see around us. Of
this materialism, the" Vestiges of Creation" may be considered a pretty
fair exponent. The arguments of that book are based on the follow-
ing suppositions-viz: the progressive development of matter; the
spontaneous evolution of germs; and the occasional transmutation
of species. But observation and experiment with their Briarian arms
are ready to pull down this fairy palace of imagination. Forms of high
organization are found in the lowest strat8~ and many links of the
pretended chain are deficient. The limit to which speciek may be
modified by circumstances is marked, and no transmutation has ever
been authenticated. S~ntaneous evolution is nothing but creation
at the proper time, in tile proper place, and under the proper condi-
tions. Propagation by germs, however, is the general law of organ-
ization, and the deviations must be very rare and very peculiar. The
"Vestiges ofCreation," is little indebted to science, and still less to logic
for its popularity.
The system of Swedenborg proposes no compromise line between
the contending theories. It pronounces an unqualified disapprobation
of both; of the first as inconsistent ,vith reason, contradictory to fact,
and productive of erroneous impressions of the nature of God, 81ld
the significance of his works; of the second as eminently atheistIC,
subversive ofall truth, and destructive to all religion. The Swedish
interpreter of nature has propounded a philosophy of organization,
based upon spiritual principles, which the Christian and Materia.l-
ist must respect. • It points with one hand to the Bible, and with the
other, to natural science, for between the word and the works of God,
there can be no contradiction.
According to this authority the spiritual and natural worlds are
co-existent and mutually dependent. The forces employed in their
creation and constant maintenance are identical; namely, the Divine
Love, and the Divine Wisdom; but the material operated upon is dif-
ferent. In one case, a spiritual ·sun, spiritual earths, atmospheres,
forms of infinite variety, and the human spirit are produced; in the
other, a material BUD, earth, atmosphere, minezal, vegetable, and ani-
]849.]

malforms, and finally the human body. The two are connected with
each other, and with their Creator, by the vivifying principle which
emaDates from Him alone. and is termed inftuz. The forms produced
become fixed and permanent, by taking on an envelope or precise
mould of inert matter, when they become visible to the natural eye.
The material universe is, therefore, an ultimate or basis which upholds
an things, so that the earth may be appropriately called the footstool
of God. Every natural form corresponds to or represents a spiritual
form. To give a faint illustration, a pleasant emotion occurs in the
spiritual body, a smile follows it in the natural body, as its material
correspondent. The smile had a spiritual meaning, so has a stone, &
flower, a bird, 8 cloud, yea, every object of nature, its spiritual mean-
ing. We frequently perceive or recognize the signification of the
smile; were our understandings sufficiently enlightened to catch the
spiritual meanings of all things, the universe would be to us an open
book, revealing the very thoughts of the Deity. Such a book is the
Bible, and its spiritual meaning has been unfolded by Swedenborg.
The creation of man, a being capable of reciprocating the Divine
Love, was the end or aim of the Divine Being, and to this end all the
elemenbl of nature, spiritual and material, are directed. All the
forms of the universe have relation to the human form, which is an
image of the Divine Form. In the progress of the great work we ob-
serve a uniform sequence ofevents, and a determinate relation of parts.
No form or object can appear. or be created until all forms subsidiary
to its well-being have also appeared. To think otherwise, would be
as absurd as to fancy that the roof of a building might be erected
before the foundation was laid. But still another element enters into
the constitution of na.ture, that of use. Every thread in the web of
being has its definite place, and is necessary for the perfection of
the structure. Every form was created with a direct reference to its
relation to other fonns. These beautiful doctrines of Order and Use,
are deduced from the nature of the Divine Mind. In an act of mem-
ory we reproduce, before the mental eye, that which was within the
mind and constituted a part of it. In an analogous manner the spir-
itual world being an outbirth or projection from the Divine Mind,
must necessarily correspond to what is in the· Divine Mind. Of this
mind we are taught that Love is the impelling, and Wisdom the
directing or determining power, that Order is its method, and Use is its
aim. The four words Infl,u:E, Correapondence, Order, and Use, are the
keys to Swedenborg s pfiilosophy of nature.
9

Such is 8 bird's-eye view of a system which, for.beauty of concep-

tioD, symmetry of outline, and extent of application, is unrivalled
among the specnlations of ancient or modem philosophers. Decla-
mation and eulogy, however, cannot kindle the spark of belief in
the cold bosom of incredulity. The religious and psychological bear-
ings of this subject we leave to others, it is our business to compare
it with the recent teachings of natural science. We expect to show
that the revelations of Swedenborg not only stand the test of scientific
scrutiny, but open before the mind new avenues of discovery. In
this manner we hope to direct more respectful attention to that
 LFeb.
august philosopher, from around whose majestic form. the miBt8 of
ignorance and prejudice are beginning to break away.
From the spiritual hypothesis the following natural or physical for-
mulm may be logically deduced, aDd we shall endeavor to show their
plausibility by reference to established facts.
PrYYJK!litio1l l,t. Heat and Light corresponding to Divine Love and
Divine Wisdom, are the active forces of nature-Heat playing the
MOtor and Light the formative part in the process of organization.
Proporition 2d. Individual development or organization always
begins at the same point, proceeds through the same phases, and at-
tains its maximum ill the human form.
P~ion 3d. The connections and correlations of forms are
established on the principle of Use, aDd every form appears or is cre-
ated at the precise time and place when and where its function or
use can be best fulfilled.
Proposition l.t. Heat and Light are so generally associated in the
phenomena ·of na,tore that we are in danger of attributing to ODe
what may really be the _property of the other. Their distinctive
features, however, are sufficiently marked to guide us in oor present
inquiry. We have no apprehension that the first clause o~ our p~
position, which gives to Heat a motory power, will be challenged..
HeatJs positively necessary to organization, but the unrestrained
tendency of Heat is evidently to indefinite expansion. which is of
oourse totally subversive of all form. Some force is required to de-
termine and limit the expansion and condensation of matter, so as to
produce from it definite structures. Now, many interesting facts
point to Light, as this formative agent. Crystals, under the partial
influence of Light, caD be made to assume the most curious forms,
and beautiful appearances. H a ray of light be permitted to fall on
a strong mineral solution, kept in a dark room, crystallization speed-
ily commences at the luminous spot. The vegetable kingdom is the
connecting link between the mineral and the animal. Plants, alone,
have the power of appropriating the amorphous elements of inor-
ganic matter, and transforming them into specific structures. This
marvelloQs faculty is due to the agency of Light alone; to Light as
contradistinguished from all other stimuli. This is ODe of the best
established facts in vegetable physiology. Put a fresh leaf under
water in the luminous portion of the solar spectrum; bubbles of ox-
ygen gas are disengaged, and carbon is cODverted into vegetable
tissue: interrupt the solar ray, and the wonderful process is immedi-
atelyarrested. What is the effect of a com~lete and continued with-
drawal of Light from a growing plant 1 Dr. Carpenter answers in
strong language-" Bleaching of its green surface, loss of weight of
the solid parts, dropsical distention of its tissues, a want of power to
form its peculiar secretions, or even to generate new stmctures after
the materials previously stored up have been exhausted,and finally its
death and decomposition." It CanDot reproduce its species, it cannot
even preserve its own form. All these facts point to a failure of
&he organizing principle. Heat, electricity, moiature, nutriment, m&y
all be abundant, but all iD vain if Light be absent.
 J849.]
The distinguished physiologist just quoted, remarks: "There is
abundant proof that Light exercises an important influence on the
processes of development in animals, no less than in plants." Among
other striking illustrations, he instances the following: "Certain in-
, sects reared in the dark, grow up almost as colorless as plants which
are made to vegetate nnder similar circumstances." Tropical birds
when bred by artificia.l heat, in temperate climates, never acquire the
splendor of plumage which they posess in their native regions. The
appearance of animalcmm in infusions of decaying organic matter is
much retarded by seclusion from Light. No marine species are found
in the sea, beyond the depth of 1800 feet. We may possibly detect
the reason, in the fact that the 80lar rays, in their passage through
8e&-water, are subject to a loss of one half for every seventeen feet.
At the depth specified the fraction expressive of the relative quantity
or intensity of light is entirely beyond the grasp of the im.~nation.
An unusual tendency to deformity is to be found among' persons
brought up in cellars, and mines, or in dark and narrow streets. But
the most striking experiment was made by Dr. Milne Edwards. He
has shown that if tadpoles be fumished with every condition of nor-
mal development, but be entirely deprived of light, their growth
continues, but their usual metamorphosis into frogs is arrested, and
they remain pennanently in the condition of large tadpoles. It ap-
pears to us, in consideration of these and similar facts, that the word
/armative is an ..appropriate epithet to characterize the agency of '
Light. We are aware that we are treading on theoretic ground.
Objections are readily suggested, and experiments for the verification
of an isolated point are difficult and uncertain. The fact that sun·
light is injnrious to the first stages of germination, cannot be arrayed
against our theory. A certain degree of Heat, insteBd of fromoting
the development of the chick, coagulates the albumen 0 the egg.
A apooitlc amount of Light is, in all prohability, requisite for each
individual form. We speak of sensible Heat, and latent Heat, or
Heat of which our senses and our instruments give us no intimation.
Is it not probable that there is sensible Light and latent Light 1 The
former is that degree of Light to which the organization of our eye
is adapted. With a different organization, the intensest ray of the
san might appear to us as but a faint glimmer. So our faintest glim-
mer may produce in some animalculm the effect of the snn's intensest
rayon us. We readily conceive that Heat is still in an action between
the atoms of frozen mercury. Analogy warrants the idea of the
ubiquity of Light. A degree of Light which to us would be total
darkness, may be eminently powerful in determining the- arrange-
ment of the molecules of matter. The vibrations of Light possess 8
certain dynamic principle, for when two of them clash under certain
eonditions, they produce darkness, just as two equal and opposite me-
chanical forces destroy each other's momentum. How this dynamic
principle determines the shape, size, aod position of parts, we shall
probably never discover. The hands which weave the web of being
~~..visible: we cannot bear the veil from Divine Wisdom itsel£
~ C&DIlot dismiss this topic without making an allusion to Ohem-
I •
 (Feb.
ical Action, Electricity, MagnetillD, &c. Swedenborg speaks of no
other creative forces but Heat and Light. He teaches us that affec-
tions, thonghts, and all modifications in spiritual bodies are excited
by the inllux of spiritual Heat and Light. On this ground, we are
disposed to believe, that Chemical Action, Electricity, Magnetism, &c.,
are phenomena excited in natural bodies, by the influx of ~he natural
Heat and Light. That these excited forces should react powerfully
on other bodies, is in accordance with the analogies of the spiritual
world. This uniform correspondence has led the materialist to attri-
bute all mental manifestations to Chemical Action, Electricity, Mag-
netism, &e. More positive knowledge of the imponderables is still
to be desired, and much might be expected from the prosecution of
the subject in the spirit of New Church philosophy.
PrtJP08#tion 2d. The primordial substance of the world was the
matrix of all forms, the basis and material of organization. Into this
substance the spiritual influx resident in natural Heat and Light
flowed. Its first effect ,,~as probably to modify it into the el~.mentary
substances of Chemistry. These afterwards took definite arrange-
ments, producing the grand substratum of nature, gases, liquids and
solids; but whether before, or after the disjunction of our planet from
its parent 8un, it is fruitless to inquire, and unnecessar)l' to know.
Unity of material being conceded, unity of development, the purport
of the proposition, must be pointed out. The great central fact of
organization, is, that every form springs from a nucleus, the first
change in which is a division into laminm. It would Dot tran..«teend
the limits of legitimate analogy to call the nucleus of astronomic
nebulm the parent·cell of the planetary system. Its laminm, indeed~
are broken off; and form floating nucleoli or planets. In our earth~
the laminm remain adherent, and present us with geological strata,.
In the cleavage lines of crystals we again perceive adherent lamin~,
but they have advanced a step farther, they take definite directioD~
and are productive of beautiful geometric figures. Again, in the low-
est vegetable form, we have the. constant nucleus or germ, but its
simple laminm are metamorphosed into organs possessed of scarcely a
property but imbibition. The complexity of these organs increases as
we ascend in the scale, until they perform distinct digestive and res-
piratory offices. In a higher class, another lamina is developed into
a vascular apparatus. When wc come to the animal kingdom, \\-e
find a third lamina the basis of the nervous system.
The animal ovum, or vesicle, therefore, surrounded by an amor-
phous nutritive material, with a tri-Iaminated wall, is a form which
has already sketched out in its little history, phases of evolution, each
ODe of which marked a persistent form, subordinate to itself in use~
and inferior to itself in vital activity. This vesicle is the starting
point of animal structure, and each lamina has its different and suc-
cessive stages of development. Every form advances up\vards on
this scale of being, until it arrives at its distinct point, or degr~e,
when the development is arrested, and the form becomes permAnent.
Man, standing at the summit of the scale, has passed through-an"
t1l. . degrees of evollltioD, and it is accordingly in human embryoieDl J
184&] .Aa E.., OR Organization. 87

that W8 most fiad the great panorama of organization. This subject

has been especially investigated by many distinguished 80ns ofscience,
and the accumulated facts are of great interest. We limit ourselves,
however, to the abstraction of some prominent points from standard au-
thorities, particularly from Mr. 8o111's celebrated work OD the Human
Brain.
When we trace the human embryo, as far back as microscopic
powers can carry us, we find it to be a minute nucleus of animal
matter, Dot differing in chemical composition, or physical prope~iea,
from the germ of an oyster. The subdivision into lamina takes place
with uniformity, and each lamina proceeds with its individual devel-
opment. The ultimate or peripheral parts appear before the central
organs of each system; the simple, before the more complex. The
capillary vessels are seen before the veins and arteries, and these are
sketched out before the appearance of the heart. The nerves are
prior to the spinal cord, and the spinal cord to the brain. Each la-
mina, in its progress, exhibits a shifting series of forms, each of which
is permanentin an inferior species. At one period, the lungs of man re-
semble the respiratory apparatus of fishes, and communicate with the
air by perforations in the neck. At first the heart is a single chamber,
like that of insects, subsequently it is doubled like that of the aquatic
tribes, again it presents three cavities, which are persistent in the
adult crocodile, and finally it is four-fold, 88 in quadrupeds. The
same successive and remarkable steps are taken by the brain, 80 that
animals have been accurately and appropriately classified, according
to the development of the nen~ous system. The degree of convolu-
tion observed OD the cerebrum has been proposed by OweD, and others,
88 a plausible criterion of mental power. The brain of man, at first,
is perfectly smooth, as in the lowest species of animals. It becomes
more and more wrinkled and convoluted, as its successive stages are re-
presenstive of higher classes, and finally attains in man the highest de-
gree ofcomplexity. Writers, with religious theories to maintain, have
passed over these astonishing facts in silence, or vaguely attributed their
occurrence to the arbitrary will of the Deity. Materialists have pom-
pously paraded them forth to the public gaze, as the strongest argu·
ments of their doctrine. The New Churchman surveys them in a
new light. Swedenborg's peculiar view of the human form as the
representative of all forms, and the aggregate of all uses, is strikingl,
confirmed by these embryological researches. The weapons of the
skeptic are thus turned against his own breast. With this reftection
before us, we need Dot shrink from studying the phases of human de-
velopment, in dread that the spectre of infidelity will start up at every
discOvery.
Pn1p06jtion ad. We have given a faint sketch of the plan or type
of individual development. Our concluding proposition embodies an
expression of the principle on which the Divine Wisdom has associat-
ed these individual forms and established affinities and relationships
between them. Our readiest illustration may be taken from the hu-
man body. This is a form resulting from the aggregation of minor
fOllDl or Org&D8, each of which has its specific use. Each organ is
 Bi61iclll ~. (Feb.
dependent on the others, and their mutual and combined services
maintain the existence of the body. Every stmature, simple or com-
pound, appears at the precise point where it can best fulfil its definite
function. Dr. J ackson, of Philadelphia, remarks, " Every organ created
is a 811fficient reason forthe appearance ofthe organs which follow it."
This definite correlation of parts is a fundamental element in the or-
ganization of every era, and in the geographical distribution of plants
and animals. The study of geological strata, the facts of Ch~mi8try,
and even Materia Medica, Botany, and Natural History, from the In-
ftuoria, to man himsel( substantiate this idea, involving the doctrine
of use, which is so strongly characteristic of the Swedenborgian phi-
losophy. It is needless to dwell on a point so obvious to .all, and to
which no one will probably demur. '
Such is a bare outline of Swedenborg's philosophy of organizatioD,
and such is the system which has been branded as more absurd tha.n
the monstrous fictions of the Koran I We refer its merits to the court
of nature, and anticipate a decision in our favor. If physical science
does not sanction the theory, we are willing to abandon it, or to give
it a place only in our memories with the beautiful visions of the great
poets of the world. A theory, unsubstantiated by fact, is a shadow, &
vision. But a theory which not only harmonizes with known (acts,
but is eminently suggestive of new ones, deserves the attention of
every mind at all acqnainted with the history of human discovery. If
the laws of nature are to remain riddles for ever, if the materialist
has stretched the bow of philosophy to its farthest limits, then indeed
let the works of Swedenborg be entombed in old libraries with the
forgotten speculations of former ages. But if the universe is not the
monstrous offspring of Chance, if the Bible is Dot a discordant medley
of Jewish traditions, then will the revelations of Swedenborg supersede
all theories. The time is passing away when ridicule of the maD, or
ignorance of the system can obscure the glory of the one, or suppre..
the merits of the other.
Truth, crushed to earth, will J'iee again;
cl
The eternal years of God are ben.
But wounded Error writhes in pain,
And diea amid her worshipel'l."
W.B.H.

ARTICLE Ill.

BIB~ICAL EXPOSITIONS.

I.
JOHN VUI. 2-11.
U ABD the Scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in &dlll-
tery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4. They say unto him, Master,
this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5. Now Moses in the law
commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou 1 6. This
they said, tempting him, that they might have to aCCU8e him. But J88I1.
Itooped down, imd with his fioger wrote OD the ground,., tAouP " A.nl , .
1849.] Biblical E.ntimu. 89
N. 7. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto
them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 8. And
again he stooped dOWD, and wrote on the ground_ "9. And they which heard it,
being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at
the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the WODlan stand-
ing ill the midst. 10. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and sa\v none but the
woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers ~ bath no
mao condemned thee1 11. She said, No man, Lord. And Je8us said uoto
her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more."

The insertion of the clause in italics at the end of verse 6, to which,

of coarse, there is nothing corresponding in the original, tends to con-
'''ey the imprr.ssion, that our Lord stooped down and wrote with his
finger on the ground in a kind of reverie or fit of abstraction, as not
paying attention to the charge brought against the woman. This is
doubtless very far from the truth. He wrote upon the ground, not
because he did not heed what was said to him, but because he did.
A parallel passage suggested by Swedenborg affords a most satisfac-
tory clew to the true interpl-etation_ Jer. xvii. 13," 0 Lord, the hope
of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart
from me .hall be written in the eart!l. because they ha.ve forsaken the
Lord, the fountain of liviog waters."· The language is a clear rebuke
to the apostate sons of Isra.el, with the threatening of something im-
plied in their being'" written in the earth." What this is we may
learn from Swedenborg's explication :-" To be written in the earth
is to be condemned on account of the state of life, inasmuch as by
earth is siguified what is condemned. Hence;' he continues, " it is
evident what is signified by the Lord's writing ,vitb his finger on the
earth, namely, the same as above in Jeremiah, or, that they were equally
condemned on account of adulteries, wherefore Jesus said, 'Ho that
is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.' That the
Lord twice wrote on the ground in the temple signified their condem•.
nation for adulteries in the spiritual sense; for the Scribes and Phari-
sees were they who adulterated the goods, and falsified the truths of
the Word, consequently of the church; and adulteries in the spiritual
sense are adolterations of good and falsifications of truth; wherefore
also he called that nation an adulterous and sinful nation" (A. E. 222).
This is a clear and satisfactory view of the scope of the incident, 88
to which all the commentators are sadl~" at a loss to make any thing ..
of iL Mr. Bames says of the writing on the ground that the Saviour's
.' object is unknown, and conjecture is useless," although somewhat
strangely he offers himself in the same connexion the following solu-
tion ;_66 By this Jesus showed them clearly that he was not MJlicitcnu
to pronounce an opinion in the case, and that it was not his wish or
intention to intermeddle with the civil affairs of the nation." The
• It is wort~while to notice here the sudden change of person. The verse opens widt
an address to the Lord in the second perBOD, and it is said. cc all they that forsake tINt
than be alhamed," when all at once the 8peaker identifies himself with the Lord, saying,
U they that depart from me sbaU be written, &c." This illustrates the position of oar
aathor elseWhere, that when the divine influx infills an angel-messenger he knows 110
other than t.hatlIe i, the Lord himself: From several passages in the Word it would see.
that this holds aleo occasionally of the sacred. wrhen UDder the a1IlatuloCfnspita&ion..
VOLe IL 6
 Bibl. Espofttitnu. [Feb.
above exposition however gives quite another version of the affair,
'and·shows that the Lord by 8 symbolic act designed to apply the Old
Testament prophecy to the persons before him. In a most significant
manner he would teach them that as their forsaking the Lord was
spiritual adultery, it was with a poor grace that they stood forward
as the accusers of the offending woman. It was a rebuke administer-
ed by an act which might be properly translated into the language of
Paul :-" Therefore thou art inexcusable, 0 man, whosoever thou art
that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another thou condemnest thy-
self; for thou that judgest doest the same things.-Thou that sayest,
a .man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery 1"
If.
Hos. x. 12.
U It is time to seek the Lord till he come and rain righteousnes8 upon you."
This is rendered by Sw~denborg"" till he come and teaclt you righ-
teousness," and so also a number of critics and commentators of
good repute render it. But to the Ne\v Church it i~ not of much COD-
sequence which rendering is adopted, as the original Hebrew for to
rain and to teach ( M.,,,, yltrlih) is the same, and ho\vever remote tbe~e
ideas may seem at first blush to be from each other, yet the amalgam,
80 to speak, of the spiritual sen~e, serves to bring them together in
very close relation. It is one of the many instances \vhere, in the
Hebrew, the very letter affords a clew to the spirit. The follo\\ing
remarks of our author ,vill be seen to be in point: "Because rain
water descends out of the clouds in heaven, therefore by raining rain
is signified the influx of divine truth from the Lord in heaven; and
inasmuch as rain fertilizes the earth, therefore it signifies the divine
truth, fertilizing and fructifying the church, whence by rain is also
signified spiritual benediction. That by rain, in the Word, is not un-
derstood rain, but the influent Divine [principle], from which intelli-
gence and wisdom, likewise the good of love and truth of faith in mao,
grow and fructif)·, and that by rainin~ is signified influx, may appear
from the following passages: Thus in Moses: ' My doctrine shall
flow down as the rain, my word shall drop 8S the dew, as droppings
[still m1upon the grass, and as the drops Lguttre] upon the herb' (Dent..
xxxii. 2) : doctrine is bere compared to rain, because b)1' rain is signi-
fied the divine truth proceeding, from which is the all of doctrine;
for all comparisons in the Word are also from correspondences: in-
asmuch as the divine truth flo\ving down is signifi~d by rain, it is
therefore said, my doctrine shall flow down as rain" (A. E.644). In
the passage from Moses the original \vord for rain is ""''=1, m,oreA,
from the root above mentioned~ and it is worthy of notice that in Joel
ii. 23, the marginal reading varies from the text ill such a way as to
throw a confirming light upon the asserted relation ;-" He hath given
you the former rain (m,~, moreh) moderately (marg.' or, a teachM'
ofrighteouslU'SS)." In the spiritual sense either version would answer.
From the same root comes likewise the original term for law (~..,
Coral), which evidently has the 88ID8 interior import.
1849.] T1&e Mu,ion of Swedenborg, cfc. '71
It is interesting to trace the usage of the Hebrew word in a sense
strikingly correspondent to what Swedenborg gives as the opposite of
the foregoing; "From these considerations it may now appear, that
by rain, in the Word, is signified the influx of divine truth from the
Lord, whence man has spiritual life, and this because waters, of
which rain consists, signify the truth of doctrine and the truth of faith :
bot whereas by waters, in the opposite sense, are signified falses of
doctrine and of faith, therefore also by showers of rain, equally as by
inundations of waters and by a flood, are signified not only falses de-
stro.)·ing truths, but also temptations, in which man either falls or
conquers" (A. E. 644). He remarks also that by a violent pouring
down of rain and by showers of hailstones is signified an immersion
into evils, and a powerful injection of temptations. In like manner the
term before us, which in one connexion denotes the gentle distillation
of rain from heaven signifies in another the violent casting of darts
and stones upon a person, or a plunging him into the depths of the
sea. Thus Ex. xv. 4, " Pharaoh's chariots and his hosts hath he etUt
(m"', yllrllh) into the sea." Ex. xix. 13, "There shall Dot an hand
touch it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through (n~~~, yly4reh).
Ps. luxiv. 7, " But God shal'slwot at them (=.,..,
gm-em) with an arrow;
suddenly shall they be wounded." 1 Same xxxi. 3," And the battle
went sore against Saul, and the archers (b~.,,~n, hammorim) hit him,
and he was sore wounded of the 'archers (=".,,~n, hammorim)." Prove
u,·i. 18, "As a mad man who casteth (""", yoreh) firebrands, arrows,
and death." All these terms ar~ from the same original root.
It is certainly somewhat remarkable to find one and the same word
used in such a diversity of senses, and yet the key of the internal
sense very easily solves the problem. Such illustrations of the
general principle of a spiritual sense are by no means of rare occur.
rence in the Hebrew, and we propose from time to time to point
them out. ED.

ARTICLE IV.

WAS THE MISSION OF SWEDENBORG FOUNDED IN THE MORAL NE-

CESSITIES OF THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD'

To a truly sincere mind there can be but two branches of inquiry

in relation ty this very important subject. First, is the proposed sys-
tem in accordance with the revelation of truth contained in the
Bible; and, secondly, is it adapted to the wants and circumstances of
man in his present state of sinfulness and probation 1 We should
always bear. in mind that Swedenborg professes to make DO new re-
velation of truth to the world. He leaves the Bible precisely where
he found it, Dot rejecting a single word or even a single letter of the .
original text. He proposes no Dew object of worship, projects DO
new code of morality. con~ends. fqr .. no new scheme of salvation.
The great principles of truth contained in the revealed Word of Jeh0-
 '72 TIle Mi6ft01l of 8wedenborg- [Feb.
vah he contends are as everlasting as their Author himselt: nay, tha.t
they are intimately and unalternately identified '\vith his very nature
and attributes. Being truth emanating from him, they cannot be
less than the truth of God, independent of and unconnected ,vith
any thing that is in man, and the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.
The difficulty on man's part is, not so much to understand where
truth is to be found, as to discern its full meaning, and enter into its
proper spirit when presented to the mind. And this ,viIl be done
effectually just in proportion as man's spirit becomes more nearly as-
similated to the spirit of him \vho gave it. S\vedenborg's commis-
sion therefore extended no furtber than to the exposition of that truth
which had been ravealed for centuries, which has remained unaltera-
bly the same in the \vri.tten word of inspiration, and ,,,hich is to re-
"main the same throughout eternity. Let us see for a moment whether
there is reason to suppose that such an exposition \vas necessaT)",
, and that this solemn and important task of explaining the truth has
been successfully carried out in the theological writings of our
author. ,
We are fully instrncted in the Bible that man has a natural part
and a spiritual part, 8 natural mind and a spiritual mind, n natural
discemment and a spiritual discernment. Should anyone attempt to
find fault with this language, and to allege that it is unsatisfnctol1"
and unintelligible, we can only say in reply that with such an one "re
must at once break off all communion on this subject, since it is im-
possible that we should treat it otherwise than as connected with the
acknowledged truth of divine revelation. Deny the truth of the
Bible, and you must 8S certainly deny all that S\vedenborg has Bald
in regard to the heavenly arcana contained therein. Perhaps one
reason why men are so slow in apprehending truth is, that they in
the first plac~ deny and discredit the source from which it emanates,
rather believing that it originates with themselves, than that it is to
be traced either to God or the Bible. With men who are in this
Itate we say again we oan have no fellowship on the present occa-
lion. The truth of Swedenborg can only be t~sted by the truth of
the Bible, and if the last is to fall so must tht' other also.
We assert and maintain therefore tha.t there appropriately belongs
to man a distinct spiritual discernment of heavenly things, a faculty
of perception adapted to the pure and transcendant truths contained
in God's holy Word, and that this faculty is as much the subject of
improvement or decay as any other faculty of the mind by which maD
is able to discern the light of mere natural truth. We are informed
in Swedenborg's writings of the successive establishment and fall of
different churches which have existed at different perio$ of the worl~
and which, if believed, can only be accounted for from the perver-
sion and obscuration of that spiritual faculty in man of which \ve are
speaking, and which is sufficiently illustrative of the position we
have assumed in regard to this subject. Take, for instance, the gradual
decay and final consummation of the Jewish Church. No one can
doubt for a moment but that it was altogether purer at its origin and
first establishment, purer we mean 80 far as regarded a right under-
I
]849.] was it founded in Nece"ity. '78

standing of its requisitions and services, than it was at .its consumma-

tion or end. The love of self and of the world was by no means so
strong at the commencement of the Jewish Church as it was at its
termination. F~lses of doctrine and evils of life were; more and
more interwov~n into the ,vhole frame work of their religious ser-
vices, until the faculty of discerning and receiving spiritual instruction,
which in the J~w at least was never very strong or brilliant, became
weaker and ,veaker. A mass of traditionary innovations was en-
grafted on .the law and the testimony; the lamp of truth in their
temple burned every day dimmer and dimmer, the shattered fabric
of their religion tottered to its very base, and finally not one stone
\vas left on another that ,vas not cast down. The Jewish Church
became a dead carcase, a valley of dry bones.; a whited sepulchre-
the spiritual discernment of men existed only as the pale flickering
light of exhaustion and decay--the glory had departed from Jerusa-
Jem-and in order that men might be saved, in the church and out of
it, it ,vas necessary that a new dispensation from heaven should
quicken their faculties to a right perception and understanding of
truth, and that they should.be ·prepared to practise it in their lives
with zeal and affection.
'\Ve \vill not stop here to inquire what other means, connected
with a ne,v dispensation of truth, are usually provided by the divine
love and \visdom for the amelioration ofman's spiritual condition, and
his restoration to true order and happiness. We may readily suppose
that the mere presentation or revelation of truth to the minds of un-
qualified men, after the truth has be~n obscured and perverted, could .
be of little efficacy in producing a change in the will and affections,
without which the reception of truth would perhaps do more harm
than good. Swedenborg is plain and emphatic on this subject, while
at the sanle time he unfolds and explains to us how the Divine Provi-
dence by an extraordinary influx flowing down from spiritual spheres
9

into the- natural \vorld around us, operates to make truth available,
eYen at a time when its very first principles have been destroyed in
the ~inds of men. But it is enough for our present purpose to sce
and be convinced that maD, relying on his own self-derived intelli-,
gence, has in all ages of the world and of the church receded
from the divine image, and that his tendencies, when not counter-
acted by extraordinary influences, are to a deeper and deeper state of
moral and spiritual darkness. .
The Jew, then, destroyed his religion by evils of life and faIses of
doctrine. Unpromising and external, adapted to the mere outward
mao, as were the rites of his church, yet even the little fruit that might
have been expected to follow from these \vas either not gathered
at all, or \vas so far infected and injured by his foolish traditions as
to render it almost entirely worthless. .
S\vedenborg informs us that so far as regards the church, the Chris-
tia.n is in a not much better state at the presen~ day, than the Jaw was
""hen life and imnlortality ,vere first brought to light by the Gospel.
It may be well for us to consider fora moment whether this statement is
tt1SCeptible of proo~ for if it is, it ,vill not only go ,far to establish that
 '74 T!'e Miuioa of 8wedenborg- . [Feb.
spiritual organism of which we have been speaking, but may be a
strong reason for looking with Cavor on Swedenborg's theological
,vritings.
We are aware, howe,-er, of the nice ground on which we tread,
\vhen we come to the discussion of a sUQject of this nature•. No mat-
I ter what may be the urgency or the purity of the motive; no matter
what may be the terms made URe of; no matter with what fairness
or caution the statement may be drawn up, nothing will prevent the
sneers of the skeptic, or the denunciations of the bigot. The one will
in all probability laugh, and the other rave, and while each pretends
to be the advocate of truth, and the friend of humanity, yet both
alike adhere to the inflexible and merciless canon of long-cherished
prejudice, and rely alike on a fanciful orthodoxy, which in the church
and out of it is to form the standard of light and reason. The
task we say is a dangerous and a difficult one, and we only venture
on it from an overwhelming sense of right and dut)", and in order to
invoke an impartial judgment on a man whose claims are beginning
to press on the attention of mankind in such a \vay as to compel a
decision either of condemnation or approval.
The christian religion had its origin' under circumstances that fa-
vored the spread of purer principles than bad been acknowledged by
either the Jewish church, or the Gentile philosophy. The one, as we
have already intimated, had been spoiled and destro)"ed by the foolish
inventions and selfish worldly temper of a corrupt priesthood, and the
other had been exercised for the most part in promoting either sensual
gratification, or unintelligible mysticism. Both had fallen into de-
cay, and were alike devoid of purity and simplicity of intention on
the one hand, and of correct reasoning on the other. All the elements
of moral worth and integrit~,., all the feelings of natural piety and
veneration, had been convulsed and overthrown on the agitating and
still increasing strength of hereditary evil. But, as- in the case of
corresponding atmospheric tempests, something of value had been
raised tQ the surface, and required the helping aid and the divine sympa-
thy of a new religion. There lived at that age of the world, as had
lived at former periods, and as live at the present day, a few ment
whose ..moral and spiritual powers of perception ""ere far stronger
than their reason, and who could discern truth much more clearly
than they could talk about it. These men had no difficulty in appre-
hending and entertaining the prominent doctriaes of the new Christian
dispensation. It was not difficult for them to understand that love to
God and love to man was the great central saving truth of all religion
and all philosophy. They were fully convinced in their own minds
that in some mysterious way, which we can hardly believe they un-
dertook to fathom, Christ was the true God, and eternal life. But we
cannot suppose that it bad ever entered into their mindd to divide the
Godhead into three distinct persons, much less had they digested and
thought out a plan of mercy and salvation, predicated on this tri-per-
sonal scheme.
They were men of great simplicity of character, follo~ving virtue
for virtue's sake, rather than speculating on the effects or consequen-
.1849.] tIJtII it ImMdetl 1ft Necurity 1 '16

ces of their conduct. They had let go their grasp on mere worldly
and temporal objects around them, and were looking for a brighter
country, an everlasting mansion, a building not made with hands,
eterna.l in the heavens. Indeed it would seem that many of them were
confidently entertaining the opinion, an opinion no doubt foun<led on a
wrong apprehension of the divine language used by our Saviour when
on th~ earth, that the whole material world around them was soon to
perish, and that the hopes and schemes and expectations of men were
all to be absorbed in the melting of the elements, and the sudden
destmction of the great globe on which they lived. No wonder,
therefore, that they should ask for nothing fro~ this world, that they
should hope for everything from the next. And although their concep-
tions in regard to things around and above them were not founded in
the exact truth, yet they never failed to contend for the fundamental
principles on which was to be erected tha new religion, the rock on·
which the church was to be built, namely, love to God, and to love
man.
Under these circumstances, the first Christian dispensation flour-
ished for a while. At least it made wonderful inroads on the false
philosophy and even on the political tendencies of that period. The
great internal promptings of truth were practically exhibited and
embodied in the lives of the followers of the lowly Jesus, -and while
many perhaps were induced to pity their credulity, many more were
constrained to admire their virtues and magnanimity. We are aware
that the church was at the same time encouraged and established by
superior'inftuences from abov~, but these influences had their great-
est efficacy in the unpretending purity and exemplary lives of her
primitive followers. It was that great animatin~ principle, the new
commandment that they should lov·e one another, inseparably con-
nected with that other truth that they should acknowledge God in his
humanity, that lay at the foundation of all her hope and expectations.
Nothing above this was comprehensible to man, nothing below it was
safficient for his salvation.
Such then was the commencement and promise of Christianity, but
not such the fulfillment of this pro mist'. As her followers increased
there was found a great~r dissimilarity in their views and a greater
diversity in their attainments. Men of vigorous intellect, but per-
haps of worldly pride and interest, began to qu.estion her simplicity
and to pry into her mysteries. They regarded the Gospels 8S a cla88
of writings of acknowledged authority indeed, but as possessing little
or no distinctive difference from that of any other merely human
composition. They were willin~ that they should be callfld the word
of God, and they adopted this language themselves in commenting on
their contents, but they seemed to have a very imperfect notion of
what essentially constitutes the difference between the word of God
and the word of man. It never struck them that a purely divine
composition must be as highly exalted above the ordinary language
of mortals, as the works of creation are ordinarily above the level of
mere artificial contrivance. It never entered their minds that lan-
guage spoken by a Being of infinite love and wisdom must in its
'78 ne Murion
.-
of 8vJetleflborg- . [Feb.
very nature contain things infinitely transcending the sphere of man'~
finite nature. True it is, God speaks to man in language adapted to
his capacity and comprehension, but this language is only the ulti-
mates of that which is essentially infinite and divine, just as the out-
ward form of the plant or flower is the correspondence or representa-
tive of its internal qualities, or as tIle natural world is but an outbirth
and correspondence of the spiritual world in which it had its origin.
The primitive Christian did not attempt to unlock the fountain of
truth in the higher forms of its spiritual arcana. He saw enough in
the literal senNe of the Word to make him wise unto salvation, or if
he understood more than this, he was indebted for it to that faculty of
spiritual perception which gave.. him an intuitive knowledge of truth
without resorting much to the process of investigation. It was this
spiritual faculty wbich enabled him to exclaim with Peter, "Thou art
Christ, the son of the living God," while men of the world could bot
discern, in the divine person of our Saviour, Elias or one of the pro-
phets. And when these same men began afterwards to reason nato-
rally about the truths of divine revelation, anrt to look for a solution
of its higher announcements in the Jetter and not in the spirit of its
message, a signa! discomfiture, as might have been ~xpected, was the
reward of their presumption and temerity. Hence arose many false
doctrines and conflicting opinions, until in a short time the Arian con-
troversyagitated the whole Christian world to its very centre. Then
came the Council of Nice, a council professing to act from authority,
arrogating to itself the exclusive right of judging of spiritual things,
and called together for the express purpose of stifling investigation
and putting an end to controversy. But alas I this wa.~ perhaps the
most noted and signal instance of the blind leading the blind, or rather
of the blind compelling the blina, that was ever recorded on the pages
of either sacred or profane history. The whole scheme was predicated
on entire ignorance of the philosophy of the human mind, and es-
pecially in direct opposition to that sacr~d principle, that in order tha.t
man may appropriate truth to himsel~ it is absolutely necessary that
he should act in freedom according to reason. The violation of this
principle was in itself a flagrant outrage on the rights of humanity,
and what made it tenfold worse was that an injunction wns laid on
the Christian to assent to doctrines that were not only diametrically
opposed to orderly and correct thinking, but even subversivl" or the
fundarnentu.l principles of the gOt1pel of our Saviour. Such at least
have been considered to be their legitimate consequences and tendency
by men of that age as well as of the present. And this fact would seem
to be abundantly proved by the histor)· of the christian religion itsel£
The assumption of three divine pt"rsons in the trinity, co-equal and
co-eternal, has not only created an inseparable difficulty in the vlay
of u, right apprehension of the character and attributes of ~he Divine
Being, but is interwoven \vith the whole frame work of the Christian
theology, and, in the creeds and inventions of the professed expouDd.
era of the sacred writings, is at the foundation of all alleged faith and
doctrine. The Catholic and the Protestant are alike clamorous and
dogmatical on this mysterious subject, and while each i~ disposed to
)849.] IDQ8 "it founded in Nece"ity '! '77

blame the other (or a 'departure from the primitive rules of christian
faith and practice, there is after all an almost identical sameness in
their doctrines, and perhaps much less difference in the practice re-
sulting from these doctrines than is generally imagined. Both pro-
fess to place their hopes of salvation on ,vhat is alleged to have been
the expiatory sacrifice of the cross, and although they may say that
they differ some\vhat on the subject of faith and works, yet it is very
evident that both alike, in the true sense of the term, argued the doc-
trine oC being saved by faith alone as the eardinal point of their res-
pective creeds. This happened unavoidably from the dogmas and
teachings of the Council of Nice, which were afterwards received by
DE'arly the whole Christian world as the doctrines and truth of the
BibJe. Hence the bewildering and perplexing errors which beset the
church from that period down to the present. Hence the unseemly
attempts of many to mingle the profane philosophy of pagan writers
with the pure truths -of the Christian dispensation. Hence the low
standard of christian life and character, leading mankind to constant
efforts at reconciling the violation of every moral precept with the
purity and simplicity of the gospel. Hence the pride and prE'8Ump-
tion of the papal hierarchy, claiming an exclusive exemption from
the ordinary infirmities of humanity, and yet infected in every de-
partment, of its colossal despotism with the love of self and the
love of t~e 'Y0rld. Hence the spirit of persecution-the sword, the
dungeon, and the faggot, the haggard forms of revenge and bigotry,
gluttoning and sharpening its appetite in the blood of its victims, and
waiting in its turn to be devoured by some other monster of bigot-
ry as merciless and cruel as itself: Hence the long, long reign of
fanaticism and superstition, which covered the whole christian world
with a terrible night of fearful desolation, whose ravageR have not
yet ceased to torment and destroy the visible church. Hence the
idle contentions of theological pedantl-tlie throes and., convulsions
of good men in behalf of the truth, and the disgraceful warfarE:' which
has everywhere been ,vaged hy angry disputants of every creed and
of every sect. Hence in short the total consummation and destruction
of the church, the spread of evils of life aod falsities of doctrine,
and thet consequent spiritual darkness which even )"et rests on the
minds of professing Christians.
And \vhat does Swedenborg propose as a remedy for the removal
and destruction of these exorbitant e\yils, or, more properly, what ac-
count does he give of the means adopted by.Divine Providence for
restoring and renovating his church? He tells us of the New Jeru-
salem "descending from God out of heaven, adorned as a bride
for her husband." He points to the prophetic annunciation, "Behold
I create all things new!" and he sa)"s now is the time of the second
advent of the Lord for that very purpose. He commences his ~ttack on
the tottering fabric of the old church- by showing that its very founda-
tion, that of assuming three divine persons in the Trinity, a founda-
tion derived from the self-derived intelligence of men, and not from
the Word of God, is discrepant and out of place, and that in conse-
quence thereof the whole building-is weak and vioious, irregular and
 'is [Feb.
disproportioned. He evinces.. as in clear light, that from this great
central support an immense chain of doctrines is pending, every link
of which is spotted and corroded by the canker of the false and the
absurd. He singles out from these the doctrine of being saved by
faith alone, and holds it up as the plague of the church, the abomin-
ation of desolation, the first great hold in the mighty chain which
has bound mankind in a labyrinth of perplexity and falsehood for
centuries. He then enumerates another and another fa.lsity, all linked
together in the same monster chain, and all reeking with the infection
contracted from the first radiating point-the doctrine of three divine
persons in the Trinit)". Soon the description assumes a fixed reality
ot startling magnitude, a dead carcase with an appearance of life, a
diseased and tainted form with Q. show of health and strength and
beauty. The picture is drawn out in its full proportions, the exhibi-
tiop becomes one of painful interest, and the serious beholder, turning
away with disgust, asks if there is no remedy for the evil.
The remedy pointed out by the Swedish Revelator is simple in it-
8el~ although invested with circumstances of paramount instruction
and importance to the Christian church. He tells us to retrace our
steps, to believe one and worship one God in his glorified and divine
humanity, and to banish forever from our minds the idea of three di-
vine persons in the Trinity; to regard fu.ith and charity as the divinely
constituted means of preparing man for heaven, and not faith alone;
to believe that one of the laws of divine order is, that man should
act in freedom from reason, and that he' is not arbitrarily doomed to a
state of bliss or misery from an unchangeable prede~tination-to re-
member that regeneration is not instantaneous, but is increasing and
progressive, and although it must be commenced in this life, it is
,in its broadest sense the work of eternity rather than of time; to be
convinced that while man is an inhabitant of this world, yet so far as
regards his spirit he is constantly in the society of angels and spirits,
in another world, acted upon and influenced by them in a manner un-
known to himself: to be fully assured that the divine love and wis-
dom are unceasingly exercised for the spiritual '\velfare and salvation
of all his intelligent creatures, and tha~ the divine providence over-
rules the affairs of men in this life mainly in reference to their spirit-
ual states in the world to come; to believe that this divine providence
has respect to the minutest particulars of every person's life, both
temporal and spiritual; to see and acknowledge that the Kingdom of
Heaven is a Kingdom of uses; that man will exist in a perfect human
form herea£ter, adapted to the performanc~ of these uses; that his
state and condition in the next \vorId. will be chosen by himself ac-
cording to his ruling loves and affections, and will be precisely what
h~ made them by his lite in the body; that the life of a good angel
in heaven will be exhibited in a perfect form of charity, glowing with
intense love to God and love to the neighbor, and the life of a bad
angel in hell will be exhibited in a corresponding form of evil, glow-
ing \vith intense hatred to God and hatred to the neighbor.
And; now in conclusion, as a final application of our whole subject,
let us appeal to our best reason, to our constant experience,~nd to
)848.] IDtU it founded in Necumy 1 '79

the experience of the whole religious world as a test of the probable

truth or falsehood of the several positions which have been assumed
in the preceding essay. ~lmost eighteen centuries and a half have
elapsed since the first publication of the Christian Religion. rt pro-
fesses to have descended from God out of Heaven, and to have been com-
municated to mankind by means of a wonderful incarnation of that
very God himsel£ He who believes this, and the whole Christian
world professes to believe it, ,must most assuredly be convinced that
it was intended for the good of man, that both in its letter and its
spirit it was designed to promote his present and everlasting interests.
And if it ha.s failed in any considerable aegree to accomplish this
great purpose, the inevitable conclusion must be, that there is some
essential and specific reason connected with man himself which can
alone account for it. But commencing from a very early period of
the Christian dispensation, year has succeeded year, and century has
followed century, and the great problem of the truth of christianity
has still remained to be decided. Even good men have been puzzled
by its claims on their faith, and the inconsistencies if not enormities
of its practice; the peculiar religion of heaven has been made the
excuse and pretence for a thousand false sentiments, a thousand su-
perstitions, a,thousand persecutions, and a thousand crimes. A dense
cloud of darkness and error has for ages rested on the Christian
church, and although its sombre hues have occasionally been changed
into appearances of less absolute blackness and despair, yet even
DOW the serious mind is appalled at the threatening forms of evil
which float above the Christian horizon. Men have not yet forgot to
qnarrel about points of doctrine, and systems of mere external obser-
vances. Angry disputants rush to\vards each other \",ith a creed in
one hand, and a form of bitter denunciation in the other, while the
infidel world mocks at the spectacle with open derision, and pronoun-
ces the whole Christian scheme to be a system of weakness, delusion
and imposture. The church is openly proclaimed to be in danger,
even by her most zealous advocates, and so'me are again beginning to
invoke the strong arm of ecclesiastical authority as the only security
against the schisms and heresi~s of a beligerent and intractable laity.
And all this time the blessed form of charity stands without the
churcb~ rebuked and abashed amidst the desolation that surrounds
her, banished from the altars and affections of Christians, seeking for
an abode in the bosom of some ragged Lazarus, that is ~illing to
be fed '\vith the crumbs that fall from the rich man's table, and liter-
ally dwelling more with the Gentile than with the Christian nations.
Selfishness, pride, the love of ~he world, and, as a natural consequence,
frand, deceit, insensibility to human suffering and to the destitute
condition of the poor and ignorant, oppression and injustice, infest
the very porches of our temples, and crouch at the very footstools of
our altars, and while these insatiable evils are remorselessly preying
on the bleeding and ~angled body of the church, the sullen eoho to
the work.of ber deadly destroyers is still heard moaning tp.rough her
cheerless aisles apd passages, and proclaiming as in a voice frqm the
dead abyss, that map. is saved by faith alon~ !
80 Swed8nborg on Sleep. '[Feb.
Now is this fancy or is'it fact 1 Is it truth or is it falsehood 1 And
if it be truth-if a long, long night of desolation and death bas set-
tled down on the church, is there no escape to her children-must this
gloomy night last forever 1 And if men have been struggling for
ages and ages to pierce the intolerable gloom, and to emerge into the
light and life of spiritual freedom, but have sunk down again and
again, overpowered by their own selfish impotence, is there no rea-
son to hope that in strength and reason, a goodness and a power,
greater than that of man is, while man nevertheless is both free to act as
of himsel~ would at last redeem him from his prostrate, unhappy condi-
tion, and raise him to ~he glorious liberty of the children of God 1
The church is consummated· and destroyed, and \vhat can man do to
extricate himself from the overwhelming desola.tion 1 And if he
can do nothing, then a new dispensation of truth is absolutely neces-
sary. Then Emanuel Swedenborg may be the messenger of aNew
Church-then the New Church writings may be the fitting and appoint-
ed means to free us from our miserable condition; then the second
advent of our blessed Lord may in truth and in reality have come! Is
such a supposition at all inconsistent with the divine love and wisdom
of our heavenly father 1 Hitherto ,ve may not have been in'states
to become the proper recipients of his truth and goodness; but the
world has been changing, and must no change take place in the spir-
itual condition of man 1 Surely, he that proclaimed to man and to
angels, '~Behold I come quickly," will come at last. Let us look for
his coming-let us wait for it-but, let us beware hOlY we oppose it.
I . A. J. C.

ARTICLE v.

SWEDENBORG ON SLEEP.
TBANSLATBD FROM: THE cc (ECONOXIA REGNI ANI.ALIS."

BY THE EDITOR.
THE following article is all extract from the supplementary volume of the
U Ec;onomy of the Animal Kingdom," published in London, 1847. The general
topics of the volume are the Fibre, the Arachnoid Tunic, and the Diseases of
the Fibre .. The paragraph on Sleep, which we give below, occurs under the
third head, aud is introductory to the class of diseases which are attended
with lethargic effects upon. the brain. The technology has 'made it sometimes
difficult to do full justice to the original, which often blends in a remarkable
manner the rigidly scientific with the elegantly rhetorical, but the leading ideas
are every where faithfully rendered. In order to avoid a too frequent re-
iteration of the same term, we have not been unifonn in regard to the
translation of "Cerebrom." We have sometimes retained the original, which
is sufficiently naturalized in our language, and sometimes represented it by
Cl brain." The reader, however, is here advised that wherever Cl brain" occurs.
the original is always ,e cerebrum," which he can substitute if he thinks it
better.
1841·1 SlDedefaborg on Sleep. 81
I. Sleep takes place when the brain returns into its natural state,
such as it enjoyed in the womb, and there is a quiescence of the
motiolL~ and affections of its snimus. The cerebrum then suffers a
kind of collapse in its mazy pa~sages, its furro,vs (SUlCI), and the
spaces intervening bet,,"een the cortical spherules and the medullary
fibres. The effect is indicated by a peculiar tranquillity and inno-
cence apparent in tbe face, and at the same time by a more equable,
slower, deeper, and more spontaneous respiration of the lung~: mean-
time, \vhile the cerebrum is at rest, the cerebellum is in motion and
animation. Accordingly at night or during sleep the cerebrum re-
lues the reins and gives them up to the cerebellum, which, in the
exercise of its prerogative, propels the pulmonary machine by means
of its own and the fibres of the Medulla Spinalis, as it does also the
cardiac apparatus in its contractions, together with the muscles of
the body, into all which it flows, producing as it flo\vs a complete
eqoilibrium of the whole. From the cause of sleeping and wakeful-
ness, (lnd from various other phenomena, conjoined with diligent
anatomical research, we learn that the cerebrum flows in, by the
medium of the Medulla Oblongata and Spinalis, into all those mus-
cles which a.re moved by the will; Rnd in lilie manner the cerebellum
through its fibres; so that the fibres of the cerebrum, the cerebel-
lum, and the Medullas Spinalis proceed confascisted into one nerve,
and shrewdly unite themselves in the muscles, while the cerebellum
acts into a still greater number, and that too in such a way that
while it governs one muscle, it at the same time governs another,
and even an antagonist one, and as one muscle cannot be excited to
act against another, as is done by the cerebrum, there arises an
equilibrium of the whole. Hence the alternate rest and unrest, the
cerebrum sleeping while the cerebellum wakes, and vice verla j
whereas if both should sleep together inevitable death would ensue,
and life would hover in uncertainty if both were equally and con-
stantly in joint operation.
2. In sleep every thing is prostrate and recumbent which can vo-
luntarily excite the muscles or dispose the organs of sense, so that
they shall distinctly receive and represent the modes in which they
are- affected. Thus sleep is the temporary death of the voluntary
actions and sensations, being in fact an affection of the whole cere-
brum, which is the common seat, both of the sensorial and of the
voluntary moving powers. But the precise manner in ,vhich the
brain is affected is only to be learned from the exquisite anatomy of
all its parts, its substanc~s, meninges, membranes, and its connexion
with the cerebellum and the two-fold medulla lying below. The
cerebrum is divided into hemispheres and into convolutions like those
of the intestines. and these again into minor ones Inost exactly dis-
eriminated from each other by furrows and ridges; one fold, com-
missure, and duplic8ture passing subdivided into another, very much
as the great artery is ramified into its lesser and least branches.
When all the partitions and diramifications of the cortical ~rain are
distinctly and duly arrayed, and the proper spaces opened between
them; or. in other words, when the cortical brain is 80 expanded and
82 Swedmborg on Sleep. [Feb.
made erect, that there is SD open passage from one fUlTOW and one
fold to another, then the state is a state of wakefulness, attention,
and intention. But when the cortical cerebrum has suffered collapse,
that is to say, "rhen one layer of the cortical substance reposes
on another, and the distinctions are well nigh obliterated, t;hen the cere-
brum is in its state of sleep, obscurity, insensibility, and indetermin-
ability. that is, in an impotence of \villing to act and of sensation:
For to \VILL is to determine into act what is concluded by the under-
standing, under the prompting of the desire of a certain en~ or as
influenced by a present sense of enjoymen~. ' SENSATION in the cere-
brum is the perception of images and modes,' which flow into the
mind from the external senses, and from the memory. The cerebrum
cannot determine into act what it wills and aims at, unless it per-
ceives the object of aspiration; for such as is the perception of the
sensations, such is the will of the actions, and vice versa. PERCEP-
TION, THOUGHT, JUDGMENT, CONCLUSION, WILL (voluntaa), and DETERMINA-
TION lN1'O ACTS exist at first in one successive series, and at last simul..
taneously. If the first link in the chain be cut oH; the last also fails,
for upon the first all the intermediates and the last depend. So also if
the last fails, the progression from the first is instantly arrested, and
thus the actual existence of the first perishes with it.
3. If then we shall be able to demonstrate that the state of the cer-
ebrum in sleep is such that it cannot perceive, or that it cannot de-
termine the desires of its will into act, the result will be the same.
In order that the cerebrum should be able to determine into act what
it wills or desires, it is necessary that it should be in a state to move
separately, one by one, its cortical substances, or their congeries,
which are distinct or separate among themselves, and excite corres-
ponding muscles in the body. If the cerebrum collapses, and by its col-
lapse overwhelms distinc.tions, it can then of course exercise no control
over any muscle in particular, but actuates the whole in general; this
impotence of particular motions or determinations is what is termed
sleep. In order then to the brain's sleeping, it is necessary ~hat it
should fall in upon itself or collapse, and in this way extinguish its own
power of acting by singulars.
4. But it is important to know what is involved in the erect or ex-
panded state of the cerebrum, which is its state of waking. Every
movement or affection of the mind elevate~, erects, expands, that is,
in a word, arouses or awakes the cerebrum. Joy, exhileration, yea,
ambition and other similar excitements, expand the brain on every
side, and throughout its whole extent in the cranium; for that there is
then an intumescence of the cerebrum is obvious from the clearest
and most sensible indications. Sadness, on the other hand, humility,
disappointed hope, constringe the brain very much as does anxiety
the bosom and pain the nerves. Anger and rage, and like forms of
madness, effuse the brain, as it were, and break up and confound its
orderly state by a copious inflow of crude and malignant blood. So
also, in their own way, with other passions and emotions, as revenge,
envy, fear, frenzy, love-of all which I shall speak in their proper
placeL That there are so many ordinary states of the brain we see
1849.] SUJeden1Jorg on Sleep. 83
to the life in the countenance of every individual, for the countena.nce
is the index of the animus. It is, moreover, especJally obvious from
the state of the pulmonary respiration, which is almost s)pnchronous
or coincident with the animation of the brain; for the lungs, as being
more or less relaxed, or variously compressed or expanded, respire al-
so more finnly· or .feebly, more quickly or slowly, tnore tacitly and
gently, according in fact as the brain puts forth its animations; the
lungs in like manner apply and accommodate themselves to the every
nod of the will of the cerebrum, and to its distinct animations, in
order to move the muscles and to produce actions. These are
common states of the brain, from which it rests or lapses into its
natural state, when the state of sleep supervenes.
5. Into this, its natural state, the brain lapses, when its cortical sub-
stances, discriminations being abolished, fall in upon themselves; for
thus the distinct and diverse elevation and animation of the several
congeries of that substance perishes, and in place t~ereof succeeds
acommOD, indiscriminate, and simultaneous action of the whole brain.
6. Such as is the animation ofthe brain, such alsois its life; the dis-
tinct animation of the s1ngle parts gives a distinct or particular life
under the general, that is to say, a life having the potency of feeling,
willing, and determining everything into a.ct. As before remarked,
e~~ry cortical torus or tuft corresponds to its own muscle in the body,
which the brain excites br the distinctive eleva.tion or animation of
its cortical substance. A common or general animation, on the other
hand, gives a common or general life, that is, one which is undistin-
guished and obscure, such as is that of the sleeping cerebrum and the
waking cerebellum. Whatever, therefore, deprives the brain of that
power of animation takes from it also the faculty of sensation and
volition.
7. In the sleeping state, moreover, the red blood is prevented from
approaching too near to the several distinct cortical substances, and is
detained at a distance proportioned to the degree or depth of the sleep.
The reason of this is that the animation spoken of, withdraws the
blood from the arteries, and invites it towards, but not into, the cere-
bral cortex, whenc~ it follows that as the animation is, such is the
a1Box, distribution, and' circulation of blood in tbe brain. Thus the
blood in sleep coasts along the extreme surface of the pim meningU,
nor does it penetrate into the more interior portions ofthe brain except.
through the more open highways of the larger arterial trunks; it can-
not make its way through the more intricate folds and commissures
towards the cortex, because these are compressed and collapsed.
8. The causes of sleep are apparent from what has now been said,
to wit, whatever goes to inhibit and extinguish the distinctive anima-
Dons of the cerebrum, and to keep back the blood from the cortex, the
brain then collapses of itself and begins to sleep. Among these causes ·
we may enumerate'silence, inaction, profound peace of mind, quies-
cence of passion, fatigue, venery, soft breezes, grateful harmony. A
morbid sleep is owing to a sluggish motion of the blood, to its defect ·
from depletion or involuntary discharge, to external or Internal press-
ure' of' tbe cortical brain, attd to obstructed circulation.
 84 Swedenborg on Sleep. [Feb.
9. But among the principal causes of natural sleep is the necessity
of the restoration by night of what has suffered collapse, waste, or dis-
turbunce during the day; for what the voluntary principle destroys,
nature repairs; \vhat the waking state disturbs, sleep recomposes;
,vhat the cerebrum confounds, the cerebellum distinguishes; and
what the cerebrum contracts, the cerebellum expands ~ and so vice'
versa. Unless therefore these organs should be each alternately
active and passive, that is, unless sleep should take place, the an·
imal machine would "not long hold together. Necessity itself sug-
gests. admonishes, and, as it were, solicits, that the distracted and
wearied cerebrum should relax itself and rest, and that the cere-
bellum having meanwhile enjoyed its due repose, should renew its
functions with fresh vigor and alacrit)-. Accordingly whenever the
circulation of the animal spirits of the blood and of the humors is res-
tored, and when the econonJy and universal state of the corporeal life,
especially of the cerebrum, is duly renovated, then the cerebellum
abdicates its empire, and makes it ov~r to the cerebrum, or, in other
words, the cerebrum on being awakened assumes it of its own accord.
It follows from this that whatever tends strongly to excite the cere-
bellum is a cause of sleep. That the cerebellum, when left to its freest
action, that is, '\vhen the cerebrum is quiescent, exerts itself or puts
forth its animations more constantly, equably, strongly, slowly, and
profoundly, we learn from the anatomy of the brain.
10. From what has now been said the reason appears why infants
sleep more than adults, and also why the aged have difficulty in pro-
curing sleep; why, from too much sleep, arise somnolence, hehetude,
stupor, weakness of memory, obesity, aversion to action, that is, a dif-
ficult erection and expansion of the cerebrum; why upon awaking '\ve
stretch the limbs, and comfortably compose our beds on going to rest;
wh)r gross alimen~s have soporific effects; why, when oppressed by
drowsiness, the muscles gradually relax, first those of the eye-lids, then
successively those of the face, neck, arms, and finally of the feet, for
the process begins at the top of the cerebrum and gradualJy extends
downwards.
11. Meanwhile every cortical glandule, which is a miniature inter-
Dal sensory, a cerebellum in the least form and a symbol of the ra-
tional mind, often remains in sleep permanent and unchanged from its
common state, which is a peculiar state in respect to the general or
prevailing state of the brain as a whole; for the state of individuals or
of single parts and their permanency does not prevent the change of the
common compound state, (or the statf; oftbe whole,) as'is known from
the facts of physical science. Just as all affections of the animus
change tqe common or general state of the cerebrum, inducing upon
it forms convenient and adapted to their modes of acting or to their na-
ture, so all desires of the mind (mem) which respect a certain end,
are so many causes operating a change in each distinct portion of the
cortical substance and inducing upon each one a luitable form. If
these abide or are changed d~riDg.sleep, ~here t~ence arise dreams,
viBions, phantasms of. eve~y d!verslty of kind, wh~ch are 80 man1 re-
pre{5entative images In the nund from the soul (an mente ab ~nl.~,)
lMO.]
,
N6lieuofBoob. ..,
aecording to the state of the cortical substances, and according to
the degree of influx into the general state of the cerebrum where the
things of memory and of the mind's imagery reside.
12. To recapitulate under one head the various causes of sleep,
whether that sleep be natural or supernatural, we remark that they
are. l. Such as take away the distinct aniplations of the cortical sub-
lltances of the cerebrum, and reduce them into one indiscriminate ac-
tion. D. Such as repel and throw off to some distance the arterial
blood from the cortex of the cerebrum. DI. More especially such as
fatigue the cerebrum and render it sluggish, while, on the other hand,
the cerebellum becomes alert aDd active. IV. The effect is that the
cortical portion of the brain which is the common sensory and motory
of the voluntary powers collapses, and by the falling together of the
mass distiDctions are obliterated and a kind of coadhesion takes
place; the consequence is, the oormsponding muscles in the body are
Dot excited by a distinct and discriminative i~ftt1ent force, but alto-
gether by a certain common and undistinguished one.

NOTICE S OF BOOIS.

I.-Tu PsILOlOPHY 01' RzLIQION. By J. D. Mouu., A.. M., .AtuJuw of tU

"IlUtoryof Mod.,.. PhilOlopA'y," ,tc., IIc. D. ApPUTOB,. Co., New York, 180,
~~o. pp. 369.

TIle former work of Mr. Morell, on the U History of Philosophy," we no-

tioed in the March No. of the Repolitory. The present volume, it app....,
was called fortb in conseqnence of certain hard constructionl put by the re-
viewers upon various portioWJ of the " History," as favoring unduly what theJ
were pleued to denominate lhrmaRim, Rational.., Neolon, b. The am01lll&
of their charges or insinuations is, that Mr. Morell has allowed hilDl81f to
think a liUle too freely in certain suspected directions, and to speak more fa-
Yorably ofauch men as Schleiermacher and others, than exactly comports with
che sqaared and cubed orthodoxy of the reigning Ichools. In the work be-
fore 118, Mr. M. has taken the pen in self-defence, and offered a stroag pi.
in oppOsition to mere declamatory invectives against the free use of reason iD
te1igiOD8 inquiries. Not content with this, however, he has advaQeed fattber
into the geperal philosophy of religion, and here we do not feel the foJOe of
his reasoning 81 we do in his vindication which occupies a very 10118 preface.
Re has many valuable thoughts, but lacking a knowledge of the diatiD.ctioll be-
tweeD Will and UnderstandiDg, the book is. cloudy COD~m to the New Ch.....
IIUUL We are eadly mystified by the " intuitional CODeeiGU8lle&l" and the " lop.
caI eoDaciolWle88," ana the respective funotions of each, except 10 Car •• tber
coincide with the two grand elemental principles mentioned above. 80 far . .
.0,
theJ
YOL IL
hie terminology is a W'onderflJi darkeaiDI 0(COUD88I. ~ tbe whole &be
8
 N. . of . . .• [Peb.
pwuaal of the workbas left u pateful in the reftection that if this is the plilOlOplJ
of religion, it it well that it WDot indispensable that it should be understood-
that the simple may still attain heaven without being fi1'8t made philoaophere
of Mr. More1l'8 atamp.

,2...!-TRJ: MUUSTBY, by Geo. B. Ball.

A ahort title to quite a bold and vigorous onset against some of the leading
positions of the" voluminous Report of the Central Convention, especially on
the score of a triraal onl,.,. in thl miftiltry, a plea for which is elaborated at great
length in the aforesaid Report, and a dissent from which Mr. Ball does no thee-
itate to enter in the most emphatic terms. U The trine in flu minutry is pre-
cisely the SIlJlle trine tb'at exists in all other uses whatever, and no other tiine
can by any possibility exist." This is certainly explicit enoll~h, and he is
equally unmistakable in the a8~ertion of· the sufficiency of one Ordination. -
Nor is this mere assertion. The writer of the pamphlet adduces strong reasons
from the general nature of Priesthood, as simply one form of spiritual
use on the natural plane, Bnd from the scope of the writings of the New
Church, to show that the claims set up for tbe priestly order, 88 the grand
medium of conjunction ,between heaven and earth, and the main vehicle
of regenerating influx, is fallacious. Still the author would not be understood
as derogating,in aught from the value and authority of the ministry as a divine
institution.

U We shall be much misapprehended if it is suppoeed that we wish to super-

sede the necessity of form. and order being observed in the ministerial office;
on the contrary, our views confirm the propriety of method and order in this
as all other uses, particularly that none butlroper caodidates suitably qnalified
should be adnlitted, and that there shoul be an inauguration into the office,
that its official acts may be recognized and respected. The distinction we
make consists in estimating this function or use to exist on the same plane 88
all other uses of this natural world, and regulated by our perceptioos of what
is just aud proper and becoming, as other uses are regulated, and looking to the
Dlvine Word for light to guide it through the perfonnance of its duties, instead
of deriving its authority from any established arrangement of Divine order,
apo'tolie 8uccessioDt or being endued with any peculiar powers, 8anctity, or
representation ."-P. 6.

The pamphlet as a whole has many pregnant suggestioDs, but is marked and
marred by a cumbrous awkwardness of style, and by a vein of personal ani-
madversion, not to say reproach, which scarcely finds an apology in the 80und
views and well grounded criticism that (or the most part pervade its pages.
New Church truth tells ever with most effect when pressed bome in a New
Church spirit.

3.-MAJOB1TT REPoaT of tU Committee OR JActura tmd LicenuJ, to tA, &vmt1& Aft-

..tMJl M",ing of tIN Mici:igaft .IItlNorllum IndiGraa.4aociatioa of 'hi N.. CJawcla.
Feb. 3, 1849. Marshall, Mich., pp. 20.

Tqis able and ,interesting Report has so recently come to hand that we can
do little more than mention its pnblication and its dominant scope. It WB8
 1_.] MJtiC'e' of BDoII. S9-
drawn out, it appean, in consequence of the previous report of a committee
of the same association appointed to inquire U whether any and what meal..
ores may be necessary to avoid the dangers and disorders Stlppo8ed to be
connected with unl icensed lay lecturing on New Church subjects." The
whole theme has been very elaborately canvassed in the present report of the
preeent committee. They begin by setting forth the following summary of po-
sitioDs virtually assumed in the report of the previous year:

1st. The mini!ltry or priesthood is a distinct order of the Church.

!d. The authority and power of the ministry is from the Lord, by ordina-
ations according to what is termed the principle of "Apostolio successioD."
3d. The priestly office bei.ng holy and inviolable, its functions are exclusive.
4th. Insinuating truth, dogmatic teachings from the Wprd, being among the
exclusive functioDs of the priesthood, may Dot properly be undertaken by
those not regularly authorized.
5th. The rules and and recommendations of the General Convention on this
subject, are an, appropriate and sufficient guide.
6th. The practice of some members of this Association conflicts with this
order, and evil results are anticipated if not realized.
This, the Report observes, is opening, in effect, the whole subject ofthe min..
istry for discussion, and'makes it incumbent on the committee, in order to do
justice to the inquiry, to dwell at some length upon the orderly relatione of
the priesthood or ministry in the Church. Upon this topic the Report then
enters and laying down as a basis the acknowledged principles of the New
Church, as enunciated by Swedenborg in regard to the internal and extemal
in man and tbe chu~ch, reaches, by a logical and luminous train of thought, the
conclusions embodied in the following paragraph:
We do believe it to be the duty of the Association to adopt some plm
whereby all who wish to promote the spread of the Heavenly Doctrines by:
personal efforts, may do so, in union and harmony with their brethren, ana
without being forced into poSit.iOllS foreign to their feelings or actual circum-
stances. lVe believe this can be done \vithout endangering the integrity 0/
the Church, either/in faith or in feeling.
To that end we would propose and urge the the adoption of the following
standing recommendations by the Association :
lat. That every melDber of this Association, in accordance with what is
taught in Doe. Charity, No. 101, consider the communication of free aDd sin·
cere instruction on religiou8 matters, according t.o his ability and diepoaition, .
to be at once his duty and his privilege.
2«1. That those members who have studied the doctrinals of the Church
interiorly, and confirmed them from the Word, and who feel that with the ra·
ticmal perception of the truth of these doctrines they have the dispo.sition and
ability la teach them pnblicly, ..hould do so-but guardedly, and avoiding the
aunmption of forms and usages commonly understood to be peculiar to the
ministry: Prtn1idal, that they who wish to act in union,and brot~erly concen
with the Association, should adopt this course only in 'pursuance. of cODsulta-
tion ud advice with two or more members of the ActJng Com.m.ittee.
ad. That the Acting Committee report all such cases annuaUy to .the AUG-
eiatioD, and recolnmend those whom they deem auitable, to be licensed &0
preach, &.c., by the Presiding~Minister; and that the la.tter, in oue the A~cia.
tion asree, and lie see8 no reason to the contrary, shall hceuae them aooordiD8ly_
 Nolieaof Boob. [Feb.
4th. That soch licentiates should hold themeelves in reaeliDe., if called
upon under favorable circumstances to become ministers of societies j but that
if after full trial any ODe feel himself unsuited to the duties of the ministerial
office, he ehould relinqoish the public teaching of the doctrines.
6th. That the Actiog Committee take this subject of the ministry, and the
. proper duty of the Association in reference to it, under careful consideration,
and report from time to time such modifications of the above order as they
may deem 8uimble to be adopted by the AssociatioD.
In the coune of the discl1A8ion the Report be~tow8 much atteDtion upon the
following passage from the ~TCtJr&CI, whicb has been thought very explicitly
to forbid that kind of teaching for which it pleade :
&l Good may be insinuated into another by eyery one in the country, bot
Dot truth except by those who are tea~bing ministel"8; if others insinuate
truth it gives brrth to heresies and the cburoh is diaturbed and rent .soDder.
Eyery ODe ought first to acquire troth to himself from the doctrine of the
church, and afterwarde from the Word of the Lord, and this truth muat be the
object of his faith." ~. C. 6822.
Upon thil the Report comments as foUow. :

We understand here, by the tenn tl4t:A1·"'g fIfi"i,terl, any who, from love to
the Lord, and charity towards the neighbor, are in truths, and are bringing
those trutha into actual life, and feel prompted by the spirit of said truths to
leach them to othel'8.· See~. C. 10,863; .J4. R. 398 and 594. For if it mean
what is commonly understoOfl by ordained ministers, it would seem to place
8wedenborg8l8in8t himself, spinet the Word, and agaill8t the experience of the
wbole church. For it ie a principle, now well established, that truths are eteT..
nal verities, and that all truths are of and from the Lord, and that the means
which, by hi! divine mercy, he is nsing to iosemiuate troth into hie needy
creatures, are as many and various 88 are tbe statee and ciJ'cumstances of the
recipients, aud that but a small portron of the truths that are now being re-
ceived from the Lord, are presented tbrough an ordained ministry. For, thoup
the truth "be free from an men," ye~ it U becolnea servant unto all, tnat it mighl
pin the more." Cl Unto the Jews, as a Jew, to gain the Jew.-; to them that are
under the law, aB under the law, to gain them that are under the law; to them
that are without law, ae without law, to gain them that are without law; to
the weak, as weak, to gain them that are weak; to the froward, froward j to
the upright man, upright; to the pnre in heart, pure; all thing8 to all men, that
it may by all ",'''RI save 8ome."-(1 Cor. ix. 19-22.)
Who would presume to say that a layman, really "bom of water and of
the spirit," truly" baptised witb the Holy Ghost and with fire" into t}n, le body
of Clirist," wo1lld still be unable to inseminate truth into another without kiv-
ing birth to heresies when the sure command of God to all such is d gifJem.1IGt
eo tM hungry and tl,-iM to tJa, tl&in~ ;' with the 80lemn assurance that if they do
it not they must finally receive tile dreadful sentence" depart ye cursed 1"
Besides, it muet be acknowledged that the terms teachers, ministers, priests,
'w., when used in the Word, are often ~pplied to others than those 'Jet apart
by outward ordination. We read in Exodus xix. 8, ofa U kingdom ofpriests and
a holy nation." Peter, in his 1st Epis. li. 5, saY8 to rhe church, " Ye also, _living
atones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up aaerificee
acceptable to God." Paul says to the Corintbiaos, 1 Epis. %iv. 26, 31, Cl Every
one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, bath a tongue, bath a reyelation,
hada an interpretation. Let all things be done with edifying." U For ye may
aU prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all be comfoned." Many ar-
pmenta supporting the exclusive right of the ordained clergy to preach hant
been adduoed from the etrictD8u of t4e Jewish and christian ordinance OD this
object; but whu iI the record of the latter when, like the New Chureb at
 .1
present, it was in ita infaney 1 It appears by Acts viii. 1-4, that at the time
of the great persecution of the churcli at Jerosalem, they were ALL ecattered
abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles; and
&hat u they that were scattered abroad, weut everywhere preaching the Word."
Peter says to the church, 1st Epis . iv . 10, "As every man bath received tbe
pft even 10 ministEtr ODe to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of
God." Paul to the Corintbians, H. Epis. iv. 13, says, U We have the same spirit
of faith, according 88 it is written, I have believed and have heretofore spoken,
we also believe and there'fore speak." In the xii. chap. of the 18t Cor. it is
clearly taught that every mem1>er of the church has a ministration to oth-
era--that the u spirit is given to .every man"-"to one, the spirit of the
word of wisdom; to another, kno,vledge; to another, faJ.th j to another,
healiog; to another, work ing of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another,
discerniog of spirits; to auother ~Dgues," atc. Now admItting what is com-
mODI, understood by ordained ministers to be the meaDing of the above ex-
Prea&101l from Swedenborg, it would be difficult to make anything of the above
described churcb.. Which of the gifted members should be selected to be or-
dained and become the only inseminator of truth to others' Are we not ra-
ther here taught ~hat no one individual is the whole bead of .. 80ciety 1 But
that iD a large society, many may constitute the head, or the bean, or the
tongue, or the eye, or the baud, atc.
Again, .,4. E. No. 386, h ' If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry and satisfy
the aBlicted soul, tben sball thy light rise ill obscurity aDd thy darkness be ea
the nooudaf'" In these words is signified the exercise of charity towards those
who are in Ignorance, and at the same time desire to know the truth. Obscurity
Aiguifies the ignorance of the spirituallnind, and darkness the ignorance of the
natural mind. Light 81gnifies trUlh in the light; likewise noonday.. In IUt1
illutTalion, ar, tIItJ!I fJJho from e1uJrity i1llt,tu' ,ho., v/eo ar, in faha from igrao-
ranu; {or that charity is the receptacle of truth from the Lord. To deal
bread to the hungry signifies that from charity the)" should communicate
10 and instruct those who are in ignorance. To' bring the poor who are ont,
into the house,' signifies to amend and restore those who are in raIses, ate. They
who are in truths are in the liouse. 'Wll.en thou seest the naked that thou cover
him;' to cover the naked, signifies instruction. 'I was a stranger and ye took
me in.' By a stranger issignified t.hose who are out of the church; to be taken
in is to receive the docuiuell thereof and live according to them.'" .
Swedenborg says, .A.. E. No. 1340, ,~ He is called a servant who is in truths,
and he is called a minister ,vho is in goods." And in No. 155 ,e They who are in
the good of love are, in the Word, caned rriests." He also teaches that all in
the celestial kingdom are called priests, an( all in the spiritual kingdom, kings or
royalists; so all the regenerated are, in the next worla, either kings or priests.
And it may be also shown that they are often called so in the Word, while iD
this life; and that it is the duty of all sucb to teach and minister to others in
spiritual and heavenly things. The church itself is the great lightho1U'e of the
world j and every true member of it has light which he is commanded to put
Dot" under a bushel, but iD a candlestick, that it may give light to all in the
house:' Every man to whom a single talent is giveu is commauded to use it,
or it will be "taken away."
From all these consideratioDs it is manifest that THE great essential prepa-
!'8tiOD for the mi1?i~try is the merciful and gracious Spirit of Christ-that good
ID the heart, or oil ID the lamp, which by the fir, of the love of God and the
neighbor, illuminates the head, and lIlakes the recipient a proper medium of
tbe wisdom and love of tbe Lord to others. Aud it requires no further remarks
to prove that this may be the case tDithout outward ordination.

We have seldom seen a more calm and cODculsive presentation or a great

prinoiple of church order than we find in this Report, aDd we think the antece-
deat reuoning fully warrants the concluding judpoent of the col'DllliUee, who
. , that.
 Poetry. · lFeJ..
They are animated by the love of U8e, not oC disorder, and as sound views
011 order and the mean" of use become more and more prevalent, we fear not
.but they \viII freelr answer to the call of those who need their official ministry ~
or this ministry beIng otherwise fully provided, will r~tire from'a service, un-
suited, perhaps, rather to their circumstances than to their states.
Taking this vi.ew oC the subject, your Committee believe that tho!'e mem-
bers of the Association who have spent their time and talents in suppl~ng the
deficiency of regularly appointed preachers of New Church Doctrines, deserve
and should receive our warm approval and thanks! for the efficient service they
have thus performed. That t6ey have not, in the perfonnance of these uses,
acted in formal connection with the Association itself, is owing rather to the
want of any provision suited to the circumstances of the case, 88 above des-
cribed, than to any intention or desire on their part to act contrary to the order
of the Church.
Through the medium of these lectures hundreds have been, for the first
time, introduced to the New Church writings, mallY of ",horn are now reading
with interest, and not a few are becoming warm receivers of the Hea\genly
Doctrines. •
We trust this Report may have a wide circulation throughout the extent of
.,ur body, as it abounds with important 8uggestioDs on a subject \\"hich is con-
,ioually exciting more and ntore attention among thinking men ,vho are pon-
dering the cmavmtion-alities of the church.'

POETRY.
For the N. c. Repoaltory.

TO MY GUARDIAN SPIRITS.
THE jnnocent, gifted Bnd pure, are come,
On errands of peace from their spirit bome,
With gU8hing affections of heavenly birth,
To bless me a \veary child of earth.
I know your forms by their Jiving light,
And discenl the source of thonghts so bright;
Your deep revealings are sweet to me.. ,
As ADgel.eom~unings ever be..
Ye are rays from the u SUll ofRighteotlsness,"
Drops from the sea of celestial J>liss,
Mediuma of life from heaven above,
Fraught with inteJligence~ peace and love.
The good and the true ye love to impart
To the open, seeking, receptive heart;
Ye are guarding and guiding the inner life,
Delivering my soul in its fearful strife. ·
Evermore dwell, blest ones, with me,
In celestial affections pure and free,
More fragrant than "flowers, lighter than air,
Dearer than earth's treasures your care.
 · Poetry_
Stay stay, ye kind ones, and ne'er depart,
Till I love the Lord witb all my bean,
Till the six days' labor is past and done,
Till the combatant rests, the victory woo,
And the Sabbath of rest is ou'earth begun.
A.. G.
ITBACA, &pt. 15th, 1848.

For the N. C': ~poeitory.

PRAYER FROM THE INNER LIFE.

BY T. H. CHIVUS, M. D.

How long before my soul, doomed now to pining,

Scourged by the iron lash of emel wrong-
Shall soar to Heaven where my dear son is 8hining,
And see the little ones that died 80 young'
This the burden of my song-
U How long, Oh! Lord! how loog 1"

How long before this bloody sweat of a~guish,

Bathing my marble brow, shall cease to flow'
Or cease my sOlll in this dark world to languish,
;' Waiting for that wbich earth can never know 1
This is the burden of my song-
" How long, Oh! Lord! how long !"

How long before our souls, like Ministering Angels,

Shall do each other deeds of heavenly love,
By acting out the Lord's Divine Evangels-
Doing God's ,vill on earth as it is done above ~
This is the burden of my 8ong-
" How long, Oh! Lord! how long '"
How long before the world shall know its duty-
Man treat man right-right take the place of wrong,
Trath, clad in the garments of 8upernal beauty,
Triumph o'er Error that has grown 80 strong 1
This is the burden of my song-
C& How long, Oh! Lord! how long 1"

Oh! for the dawn of that IMMORTAL MOIlNINO-

The tardy breaking of the EVJ:RLABTIJiG D.lT,
That Heaven's high hills above are now adorning-
But darker makes the earth around my way!
This is the burden of my song-
., How long, Oh! Lord! How 1001 1"
 It [Feb.
Then _all MUl'. soal be bathed iD bIiufol wODder,
Bearing Heaven'. choral shouts burst through the aky-
GocI's eeripture rolling down in rhythmic thunder
Oat of the diapason of the Btars on high.
This is the burden of my 8011&'-
U How LOJlQ, OB! LoaD! HOW LORG '"

MISCELLANY.

We OODtinue our extl'acta &om private col'l'8lpOlldeDce, DODe of which dates back m~
1han a i!w month.. .4.. USU8] we withhold names aDd plaoea, aDd for the most part com-
1IleDte. The communications ~k for them_vea.

- - AUQ1J8T 12. 1848.

-.aa aa,
The circumstances under which your Dame hu been mentioned to me will
I hope be an apology for this address, without a more special introduction.
I In an iDtere8ting conversation yesterday with Prot: - - oC - - College,
on various topics of human interest, I disclosed to him Bome views of
Christianity which led him to ask.if I was acquainted with your writings or
tbose of Swedenbor,; and as I answered in the negative he remarked that he
thought I 8hould enJoy them both very much, and he bade me write to you,
and mention hi' name, and ask your assistance in 8ending me the Sweden-
borg Lib~. He remarked that my mind bad reached a domain of thought
in which those writings would be an inestimable guidance. .
Behold me then, dear 8ir, at your feet, on the outskirts of spiritual inquiry.
Take me by the hand and lead me to the green pastur.es and the still waters
within Jour knowledge. As Quintilian regarded those as having made some
progreu in eloquence who admired the writings of Cicero, so I hope I may
be regarded a8 not unwonhy of your notice ~nd guidance, inasmuch a8 Swe-
denborg'8 name for a long tune pa8t bu been to my spiritual vieion like the
approach of Sirius within the range of Hencbell'8 telescope, or like that of the
M888iah in Paradise Lo8t,
U ..c
Fu off hi. coming ..
With great esteem,
YOUI'8, &c.
Prom the ..me.
- - Dltc 4, 1848.
DU. lIB,
Your letter of 'the 19th Sept. is before me; I feel greatly obliged to you for
it, u also for the precious \Vorks accompanying it. It has formed a great epoch
iD my life, from which I shall date the spnnging np in my mind of the purest
aDd sweetest joys. ,
I have marked a good many places which I intended to refer to in my letter
to you, but I am obliged to defer saying a good deal, as I determine to write
to you again, and a8 I want some of the works of Swedenborg sent on imme-
diately for 80me friends oC mine here, whose minds are on fire like my own
with tbe novelty, therichuess, the stupendous nature, and ineffable gran~eur of
these revelatioD8 ofrhe latter day glorywhieh flow from Swedenborg's writings.
I have read the works you sent me through and through and through, and
having loaned them to two friends here whose minds, like my OWD, haye been
trained to IpiriCOallSpiraUona and a higher conception of christianity than ~
1848.] 11
old churches wat oI-they havecommiuioDed me to get 88 many numbers of
the Swedenborg Library as five dollars will purchase, together with a copy
each of tbl' Cl Letters to a Man of the World."
These books you recommend in y~ur letter. You say they constitute the beat ·
ioitiation ipto the ..ystem. I think: in two or three years there will be a good
many in this place happy like myself with the wonderful disclosures with
which Swedenbolg's writings "are pregnant. I send S- myself for a series,
as far the money will go. As soon as we know of one of our merchants
going on we shall send for more.
Would it be BD unreasonable thing to ask the publisher for a series for the
purpose of useful loaning ! If I had such a series I think I could get twenty sub-
scribers in six months. The churches here are in the low.est possible state-
Calriaiam and Methodi8m are both ellete if the people had but sense enough I

to see it, and self-dependtfllce sufficient to do without them, and this commu-
nity I live in is ripe for 8u~h inquirie8 as S,vedenborg'8 writings incite to. I
can assure the publisher that it will be greatly to his interest, as I can effect a
great enlargement of the sale of these invaluable writillgs, if I had the power
of loaning. .
Allow me to say that the principal rea80n of my deferring an answer to yOOf
letter. aDd the order for the series of the Swedenborg Library that ,OU recom-
mend has been, that I have been waiting to send you a coPy 0 a MaaoDic
Diseoune that I delivered in this place last June, and which IS in the prese ;
bot the delay in getting it ont lias been so unaccountably great that I am
obliged, even after waiting so long, to put it off a little longer.
Very respectfully and truly, yoan.
Fromlbe same.
- - J.A.WUY 7, 1849.
BUR SI.,
I send you herewith my Address. You will see how much I wanted the
hand of Swedenborg to guide me; at the same time I bope I have proved my-
eelf in it an 88J)irant after more liR'bt and a bigher church than was visible be-
fore me. I had never read a word of Swedeoborg when it was composed. It
has paved th,e way, together with your own labor in tbe Swedenborg Library,
lent to me and to my friends here, for a New Church in this place, or at least
for a 'very great dissatisfaction with the present state of things. My friends to
whom they were addressed are delightea with the books, and they, as well as
I, have begun to lend them to others. I am willing to sacrifice mine in that
way as fast as I read them. I have diffused a knowledge of them to several
friends at a distance, likely to be impressed in their favor; for there must be
a moral perfection to enjoy them, and sufficient independence of cbaracter·to
form a condemnatory judgmeut on the atrocious doctrines lltill to be heard iD
the churches.
The tritbeistical theory instead of setting up one Lord to the w~rshjp of the
soul, I have ever felt to be virtually a dethronine of him. For 10 strong is the
tendency to contemplate the Deity as one, that I have always felt that it might
be and actually was a robbery of God, the Father Almightv, to make our sup-
plications on the grollnd of the (incomprehensible) atoning merits of another.
J bope to be pardonea for these thoughts. How the human mind is bandaged
by fal8e doctrine! The congregations of the old church are made imbecile by
false interpretations, and the tendency of Calvinism is to engender-an enerva-
ting Asiatic fatalism in the character. What mere mummery Protestant wor-
ahip has been! It is scarcely better than the Catholic, and the servitude of the
lOul is Ba great in the one as the other. Congregational control seems to be the
~t object of the priest in both. The PrOte8tant minister is as much afraid
of light and knowledge aud science as the Catholic. There is th~ same old
rooted oblection cloaked over. I am curious to learn the views of Sweden.
borg in reprd to church government. 1 have not found anything yet. We
are to IM all "kings aud priests unto God." Will any paid clerfrY be want-
iDr' I should tremble to be entmlted with the aacerdocaJ funotioD, iD vi.. ·
98 Mi8cellany. [Feb.
of what impostors priests have been in all ageR. The true and real obstacle
to the enligntenment of congregations is the (ear of losing dominion in the
clergy. Our Lord should be the only roler. And he woald draw all men unto
him. But how' t shall be guided in my thoughts herein, J have no doubt,
by a peru!\al of the h Book of Worship." Please send it to me, as also the
Book of Hymns, prepared by the English Conference. Is there a Book of Tunes
suited to a Piano Forte accompaniment' I want to set up Family Worship
in accordance with the New Church doctrines and New Church ideas.
Accept my most grateful acknowledgments for your instruction imparted
in your letters and in your writings. r commend you to the keeping of the Lord.
Very respectfully,
and truly, yours, &:c.
From die lame.
- - FBUUAlLY 8, 1848.
DBAa IIR,
I h~ve got through the U Swedenborg Library," with the exception of yom
reply to Dr. Woods, which I shall begin forthwith. Indeed these writiogs
have been oC inestimable value to me. I would not part with them for the
mines of California. The Book of Worship too that you had Bent to me, I
prize exceedingly. Your preliminary remarks and plea form an invaluable
link between the old and new. Not to be irreverent, it is a sort of Juno's chain,
~. This reminds me to saY' what a puny thing all classical lore is when
looked at with spiritual eyes. What noble and elevated literature shall we have
when the writings of E. S. shall have purified the visions of the scholar!
Metaphysical writings appear to me to be converging to the New Church Doc-
trines. Our blessed Lord is already drawing all to himself. This is visible to
my mind in everything around. We have reached the end of metaphysics by
cutting the Gordian knot; it is ground of adamant on which we tread.
The mere metaphysician is beating the air or involved in labyrinthian
mazes inextricable! Did not Kant probably get his best ideas from E. S..' He
has been drawn on, I think, very largely without acknowledgment. This how-
ever has been Cor good, on the whole, as it has prepared tens of thousands for
a reception of the Doctrines oC the Word.
Can you recommend some sermons to me of the N. C.1 Are any of your own
in print 1 I ask because I thiuk I shall have topreach, and I have never had
any experience. 1 trust to the imtnu;tion of our bl,md Lord, but I should like
to read some sermons.
Last Sunday 1 used the Book of Worship in my family, and it is desired by
8pme to make my house on the Sunday morning a nucleus of the N. Church
worship. I played some of toe chants on the Piano, and made some observa-
tions at the usual time for the sermon. l\rly feelings were greatly overwhelmed
with gratitude, but I was sustained and strengthened di~ine]y.
Several orders for books will be sent on by Mr. S., for books of the N. C.
May our Lord be present with those who read them! Thy kingdom come!
Most of the evils that have infested society in all ages, have beeu connected
with Hierarchy. The Protestant clergy are ever averse to much light in their
churcbes, indeed as much 80 a8 the Catholic clergy, if knowledge is appre-
hended to assail their power. There was an instance here a week or two ago.
Several men have been reading the &c Swedenborg Library," and a minister ,vho
came along having found it out, denounced, in a8et sermon, the doctrines of
Swedenborg from the Methodist pulpit, although I understand he confessed
he had never read them. He declared that Swedenborg was so crazed tbat
he had been seen in the 8treet almost naked. This will do no hann with U The
Documents" afloat in the place. Several ladies here are reading these Heavenly
Doctrines to the assurance and comfort of their souls. Thanks to you!
Your letters are precious to me! Advise me, and instruct me, and may the
Lord repay you a thousand (old! I recommend you to his gracious blessinl!
Sincerely, Y0uls.
184••J
The (onow i ng i. from a soutJaelll pDtlem•• previo.))' uDknown. Anotber letter, re-
qllesting the tlatmni.ioD of books, had been received prior to the date oC this, which
ICmowledps the receipt or the package:
- - 8EPT. 8, 1848.
DEAa BIR,
A Dumber of books has been received by me, treating of the faith and doc-
trines of the New Church. I have read some of them with great pleasure and
iDterest, and hope to be profited by the principles promulgated in them. It
has opened aD entirely Dew field to me, in philosophy and theology. Admit-
ting the basis on which the argument (aDd how can it be other than true'l
proceeds, and the most skeptical must-acknowledge the correctness and trUth-
fuloess of the conclusions deduced. I have been reared in the lap of ortho-
doxy, and have for some time been Attached to the Churoh. Notwithstanding
I have ofeen been 'the victim of doubts and fears. My profession led me to
aearching the sariptures, mor.e than I had hitherto done, and I very soon dis-
covered, that by interpreting the Word according to the old faith, there was a
vast void that could never be filled. I always claimed the right to think for
myself, and hence I was often found blundering blindfold in the quicksands and
b~ of ekeptieism. Hence, the delight with which 1 greeted your mel88fI'IJ
of light and love; but I must confess to yon that my doubts are not all re·
moved. Perhaps this is owing to the fac~ that it is 80 very difficult to eradicate
early impressions, that it requires time 'and labor to abandon old and long-
cherished systems, and that a new train of thoughts must be established be-
fore one can take in the new doctrine, let it be ever 80 true. I have seen no-
thing ye' in relation tolour organization as a chnrch, &c. Can you not Hud
me Noble'8 Appeal, an your reply to Dr. Woods 1 I see them frequendy re-
ferred to by Mr. Cabel in his Reply to Dr. Pond.
Very truly, )'our ob't serv't.
The fOllowing is (rom a clellYlDan oC the Methodist denomination.

UT. AJI'D DEAR BROTHER, .

I ealled to see yon twice last week, in order to get from you some
information and some expository works relative to the New Chureh doe-
triDes. I have, already glanced at some of Swedeuborg'8 writings. It was
at a time, however, when my mind was deeply imbued with prejudices.
All that I then read, I find has given me a great curiosity to Know more
of his pecnliar vie\vs. A young man formerly in my service lent me what
works I have refld. and the only ones I had access to. A superficial J;tJance
\\115 all I had opportunity to give them. At present, I am a Methodilt,
honestly holding their views of doctrine. I am, however, open to convic-
tioD, and feel it my duty, as a Christian man, to examine any system of Theo-
logy before I discard it. I propose to examine your church views prayerfu1ly.
studiously and impaniaUr. But, like all other ministers, my finances are
scanty. Can 10U assist me 1 If 80, by loan or otherwise, any package will
reach me. DIrect, &c.
Yours, very respectfully,
DECEaBJ:. 14, 1848.

Since the i.De of the laSI No. of the Repository we have had an iDterview with the
young man whose letter to his father was inserted in that No. He was OD hi, way to
California, for which place he has jast taken hi. departu#e. We found him verr Itrona1y
coa1lrmed in tbe poeral truths of the New Church. and quite happy to take aloDr wiab
him aD abundant suppl, of Tractl.
11 BeIediou. [Feb.

SELECTIONS.
LU'J'BBaIAlf GDlB.

No. 1.
We have recead, met with an anoint I.tln yolameentitled, "Loci c..... D -
fi"i L/tthti, Yiri Dd, tt Prophet" 6erwuI.iri," wblcb il, being interpreted, I ' C ....
1'14(1, of Mtlrli. £tit"",., .1141. of God, aM Gtr",,,,, Proplatt." It is a quarto yolume of
about 600 pap., made up of a choice coJl~tion oC estracla from his varioua writinp in
pom 0 logical or aphoriatic (orm, aad published at London, 1651. The compiler, in lay-
I . oat the plan of the work. lem.rks that .. the Theology of Luther i. rather practical
than tbeoretieal, it has seemed r60d to arrange his illustrious 8entiments into fin elasees.
and In luch order that tbe first shall be devoted to GOD. the ~ond to MAK, the third to the
CBJI,IITU1f, tbe fourth to lIJauacBum and the fifth to the DavIL. In this claasiftca-
tie- a lOIDewhat prominent place I. liveD to the Iauer pel'8O..... iaumuob ... 80e0rdiog
10 the author oC thi.lorllep, collected from ever., beel ortbe Reformer's theolop.1 prd~n.
tbe Devil ~. arrays hi mte](aplnst all the rest-batel God, enviel the salvation orman. fights
wltb the Christian, and is a migbty t roub]er of all Hierarchies," from which, however.
La&ber would probably except that of the Pope. which he would say the Devil hu more
iQlerest in 8rmly upholdiOl than in disturbins.
III raaning over the pages oC tbe difl'erent departmenla oC the work, we find;n them a
ttorebouee of characteristic remarks on a great variety or topic., man, of them pithy, strik-
Ing, truthful, and vigoroul, while others are in every respect the revene. As Luther has
ever bedn looked upon a. tbe great ~racle of the Reformation, and .s the reGent work oC
D'Aubign6 is ("rbishiOl up anew the Came of the le Antlcbrlltieidelt oC Wirtemberg, .nd
liviognew eclat to what are Itrled par ""itlftl« the cc glorious doctri nes ofthe ReformMioD,"
we have thoUiht it might be worth while to open tbe cuket and spread forth to ou~ read-
en IOme oC tbe gelDl wbioh have 10 long lain concealed from the view oC Cbri.teDdow.
A. our space will enable us to draw but IClUltily o~ the rich D1a. of material in each nam-
ber we .ball insert extractt from timeto time through a luccession of number.. A. Swe-
denborg arose in the bolOm of the Lutheran Church, and had pre-eminently in view tbe
Calaitiee of that Church, it canDO' \Jut be interestinl to New Churchmen to see 8110b • spe-
cimen oC the Theol., oC Luther and Lutheran. a. i. here presented.
0. J UBTlnC.lTIO!i •
The theme of Justification and Grace is most delightful, and alone m~kee a
theolo~an, and of a theologian makes a judge of the eanh and of all kinJ!
of a1raU'S.-In Gen. Tom. ilL 447, b.
In my heart reigns that one anicle t to wit, the faith of Christ, from whom,
through whom, and to whom flow and reflow, by day and by night, all my
theological meditatioDs.-Id. Tom. iv. 1, G.
There is need of most strenuously insi8ting upon this article, and of op-
posing it to Satan, whether we be infants or orators, learned or ignorant. In
case man is silent, it behoves that this rock should be proclaimed by the rocks
or stones of the fieJd.-Id. Tom. iv. 1, b.
He is not the righteou8 man who works much, but he who, without work,
believes much in Christ. The law 8ays; Do this, and it is Dever done. Grace
says j Believe in him, and all is done.-Id. Tom. i. 27, 6.
No works whatever justify or mak{' just, but faith aloLe does this. The
jaatified man, however, does works. We are not, as Aristotle aiiateaches,
made JOlt by doi~ju8t things, but having beeD made just, we then operate
what 18 jWlt.-Itl. Toa. i. 807, 6.
1848.]
Since faith alone jaatifi. and does IOOd works, it follows that DO pouible ,
•
works of any law whatever justify, nor are the worD of any law whatever
good, bat that of faith ontr.-Id. 1'011I.415, 6.
Faith alone does Dot auftiee, aDd Jet it is faith alone that j1l8ti&e••-Itl. 7bna.
i. 449, G. .

Aa the soul has Deed of the word alone in order to life and righteousneu,
80 it is j118tiDed by faith aloDe and by DO worb.-ltl. TMII. i. 464, b. .
Faith can by no means subsist with works; that is, if by works, be they
what they may, you presume at the same time to be justified. When you
once begin to believe you willleam that there is nothing in yourself but guilt
and damnable sins.-Id. Tom. °i. 464, 6.
Faith. unleas it be independent of any even the least workl, justifies DOt,
nay, is not faith. Still it is im~o88ible that there should be faith without as-
siduou8 and great worka.-Id. Tom. i. 522, 6.
faith, note. it be aloDe aDd without works, is Dothing, Dor does it juatify.
Works, thelefore, infallibly follow faith t since it is not idle or em,~. Righdy,
therefore, is it said, Faith without worJt8 is dead, yea, is Dot falth.-Id. TGfII.
i. 524, tI.
By faith alone in Christ, anciently promised and now exhibited, is the wbole
church, from the beginning of the world to the end, to be jU8tified. Collie-
quendy this effect bem, due to faith alone, neither reuon, nor the law, nor
the fulfilling of the law, which is called charity, has anything to do in the
matter of justification.-ltl. Tom. i. 565, 6.
No aooner is the knowledge of faith received than everything elee ie seeD
to be mmeceuary to rigbteousne88.-ld. Tom. li. 514, s.
In -the matter of cOD8cience faith alone is everything; works are nothing;
indeed they are the fruit of the tree that is justified by faith. Common sen88
eyen declares it to be impOl8ible f~r one to be justified by work•.-Id. TOIII. n.
100,6.
To become righteous is Dot to work: but to be born; the worker is not born,
but he is a begetter rather of works. The mao, however, in justification, is
merely p888ive; because God alone operates in us the faith by which we are
begotten; hence Peter speaks of U8 as merely bom.-Id. Tom. ili. 557, G.
That confidence, which is called the confidence and hope of the lIleMy
of God exhibited in Christ, 8bould remain single and alone, and most nakedly
oaked (fludi"im, flUtUJ).-ld. Tom. iv. 502, tI.

Why, 0 insane sophist, dOlt thou insist upon love, hope, and otbervirtaea1
I know, indeed, that these are distinguished gifts oC God and enjoined by the
Holy Spirit to be excited and cherished in our hearts. I know that faith doee
Dot exist without these things; but, the question now is in r~gard to the
distinct province of each. Y~U hold in your hand a quantity of different kind.
of seeds, but I do not uk you with what they are sevelally conjoined, but what
is the peculiar virtue of each. Tell me ~Iainly, what does faith aloDe do 1-not
with what graces it is conjoined. Faith alone apprehends the promises,
credits the promising God, and puts forth the hana to receive what he ie
pleased to proffer" This is the appropriate wor~ of faith alone. Charity, hope,
patience, Iw. have other matters about which they are conversant, they have
other limits within which they range. They do not embrace the p~
~ execute _co~~. They: hear God comma~~m. and requ~. tbey
do DOt hear him ProllU81D8, u faith doea.-Id. TGrII. 11. 67, ., .. "'P. 16. .
 100 [Feb.

IDIToall~ ITI_S.
As might be expected from the coneervator. oC rigid orthodoxy, an alano has begun to
be BOUnded from the watcb-tow•• of the New EDlled Zion in reprd. to tile recent
demonstratioDs oeDr. Bushnell. A writer in the N. Y. Evangelist has for three succee"iYe
weeks bem wearying echo with dle question," What does Dr. BaahDell meaD '/" After
propounding a number of tbinp wbich he is qnite lUre he dOM .., mean, the *rtJer
comes at lenkth to the conclusionlhat it is as well for li. to R.88ume the task of answer-
iDg affirmatively his own question. He accordingly writes tho.s ;

I now proceed to show what Dr. Bushnell dot. meaD and affirm, rt't'pectlng the doctrine
, of the Trinity, the person of Christ, and the AtonemenL
I. The doctritat of tM Triflity as held by the Orthodox, be wholly rejects, and avow-
edlyadophl tbe theory of Sabellius as explained by Schleiermacher, ditfering from him
onay a. to the rfl8.80n s for using the term Father. The words Trinity, &0. are" mere term.
of convenience" (p: 174). The Persons ace &C three limp]y BS related to ollr flnite appre-
hension, and the communication of God's incomlDunicable nature" (p. 177). In other
words, the Deity maoitelta himself, or ac1S, under one set of relations and ia then called
Father. under another set of relations and is then called Son, under a thi rd set of relatioD.
and is called tbe Holy Spirit. Dut there is DO corretipondent tri-petsonalit11D the diviue
esseDce, on which these three m~nifeslation8 are founded. All interior distinctions of
this kind, are strenuously denied. "I call it," he says, U an iut,..".,.,al Trinity, and the·
Peraooaiutrumltltaj PenoD6" (p. 175). It is then substantially, likeGeorge WaabiD(loo'a
manifesting himscl~ or acting, under the thr~efold relation of the Father of his country
(made such during the revblulion), t.be Presid(l'nt of the Unit(l'd States, and the Command-
er-in-Chief of our Armies. It is a Trinity oCWords, not of things. This cannot be the
Trinity of the Bible. To justiJy tbe use of the personal pronouns, there must be fOme-
thing correspondent in the nature of the Heing to whom tbey are applied. Mere relations,
or forms of manifestation, are.not per~on8. Neither George Washington nor any other
being, oan UIe the word 1 to describe himself as acting under one let of relatione, th_
under a eecond, and M under a third. A mere manifestation of a being, callDot .u
another manifetttation of tbe pine being. What should we think of the assertioD 1 that
Oeorp Washington 88 proprietor ofMt. Vemon, addreueda petition IOGeorge Wa8lliog-
toll as President of tbe U Di ~ States. that he would send George Washington ail a mili tary
commander, to defend hi. e,tate from pillage? These are Dot mere t1trhal contradictiona
and absurditi~8, a8 when God is spoken of allthropopathicallyas having human affec.
tioDs or performing human acts. The ab$urditylies deeper, in the very nature of the ob-
jects spoken of. Such language is forbidden by the constitution of things, and Dr. Bu.h-
Dell admits that cc we can never believe anything that is really absurd or contradictory."
We shall see other difficulties oftbe same kind, pressing with even more weight upon him.
under the next head.
1I. A. to the Per.- of CAr"t, Dr. BushneU maintains, that the one indivisible God
wu directly united. to a human body, as the organ through which he manifested himse!f
to our race. It was a literal inoarnation. like that of the Bindoo deities.. There was
eitber DO human lOul. or it was 10 absorbed aDd lost in the diVine. that nothing can be
ueribed to its separate agency. Cl Tht"re u," 8ays Dr. B., ., no solid foundation for the com-
mon Trinitarian theory of two distinct or distinctly active subsisteuces in the perlOn of
Christ. It is not acriptural. It accOUflt. for _othiflg I" (pe 155.) This scheme is attended
witb the follOWing diflicu ltiea I
(1.) The Bible, in direct terms, calls Christ a "'tI, 1 Tim. HI 5. It makel the em-
oac, of his redemption to depead upon his belonging to 0Ir f"rJCI, Heb. ii. 11-14. It re-
plel8Jd1 him as posseuing and exhibiting the natoral atreotion8 \)C a human being, John
si. 30. Bu' he who has DO human lOul distinct from the divine nature IS noe a man.
He may be an inoarnate God. but he i8 not of the race of 4d.anl. Dr. BU8hnell does Dot
attempt to meet this diffioulty. '
(2.) Christ was cc in all points t,mpted like as we are," that is through the con.stitudoD&.l
I1lsceptibilitie8 of our nature, Heb. iv. 15 ; and was particularly subjected to the temp-
tation of the devil iD the wildernes8, Matt. iv. 1. But U God cannot be tempted of evil."
Jamea i.- 13; and t.herefore if Christ had no human soul distinot from the diyine nature.
UlbptlltlChl ••llm possible, and the above deoluationl ofdae Bible are falle. This ......
meat ia not Dodced by Dr. B.
(8.) Christ.id 10 His Father iD . . prd8D, "Not m, will, but thiDe be done:' Luke
aii. 42. Slro we _ye. UDav.oid.abi" t.be .uPRQliIi_ or &wo dia&iDol wW., with. pocsi-
 101
bility in the _lore oC things of their being opposed to each other. This, on Dr. Bushnell':i
theory, is impos!lible. Be has passed over this difficulty in silence.
(.f.) Christ said, .. But of that-day and hour ltnowetb no man, DO, not the angels whioh
are iD heaVeD, oeitber the BoIl, bu& the Father." Mark xiii. 32. As Dr. Bushnel1 will not.
"*r tbis·to any hwnan soul in Christ. he must admit. that U God manifest iD the ftesb"
was limited in one of his attributes-limited not merely in the display. but in the actual
po!Io8eS5ion of infinite knowledge! He has tdken no notice of this difficulty.
(5.) The Bible ttays, cc Jesus increased in VJiltlom and statwe:' Matt. tie 62. Dr•.
Bu9ndl first answers, that cc this is the language of external d~ription merely, or 89 only
..... forth appmraoceJ 88 appearances" (p. 15'l). In other words, the fact was not in
reality a5 tbe Evangelist represents! He then trle8 to mend his statement. and says, that
"the body of Christ evidently grew from infancy, and that all his actings grew out, 80 to
~k, with it" (p. 152). This is only mying, that there was no real growth in wiMom,
bat only aD appearance of progressive development! DOCt'the Bible say this 1 or is there
aDJ reL~D to believe that God would thus practice s. deception on the minds of men.
(6.) Christ IU/fered. Dr. Bushnell nlaintains, that the divine nature endured the suffer-
inp a~ribt-tl to the Redeemer!
(1.) Christ prayed to the Father, and wonthiped Him, as one to whom he owed obedi-
eDee and subjection. Dr. BU8bn~1l feels the force of this difficulty, and labors hard to re-
move it. All that can possibly lJe said, however, is summed up in thi~, that et Christ in
eJ:p~sing what is perfect in God throllgh the human, mnst u~e the human type according
to it! nature, and the conditions to which it is subjt'Ct" (p. 161). In other words, be mult
" " ' " to do what in fact was not done! This difficnlty is 50 great, that Dr. BushneU
flankly confesses, " I do not pretend, however. to solve this matter of worship" (p. 161).
(9.) Paul declares of Christ that u \Vhen all thjll~ 8hall be subdued unto Him, then shall
tbe Son also Him!elfobe subject unto Him that did put all things under Him. that God
may be aM in all t " 1 Cor. xv. 28. Dr. Bu~hDell qnOIe8 tbis passage only to conteN, thel
he ia unable to explain it in accordance with his theory. He say'. "I do not oare to open
God's secrets before the time. Let the future bring the future. and I know it will not be

I.
ami ..g when it comes." (p. 177). But the question is Dot whether the future will bring a"y-
thing arni.stt." but wbether Dr. Bushnell hBl' not adopted a theory, which cannot stand if
tbe!e words a~ true. That the same indivieible Being l2hould in one manifestation or mode
or acting deliver up his power and become subject to him.tlfin another manifestation or
mode of ncting, i~ an absurdity in the nature of things.
It is wonderful that Dr. Bushnell, crusbed and overwhelmed as be founel himseU by
theee tlifticalties, should still ho14 OD to his theory."
In view oC these extracts the New Churchman will have no difficulty to dete~nine OD
,,·hich side the burden of heresy hangs most heavily. While he sees in these objections the
old and hackneyed dogma of triper80nalism; which is refuted over and over again in the
writings oC the New Church, he is at the same time conscious of the disadvantage of Dr.
BusbneU's position so long as he attempts to maintain it on any other ground tbad that
which the illllmination of Swedenborg has prepared for him. He has gleams of truth that
haYe bftmed Into hi. mind Crom the IIplendors of tbe celestial city, and br dle Ught of
lha& troth could. easily dispel the falsitie8 of his critic., bot the stroog spirit of eelf-reliance
iD &be m.Ut anel hi. bed repugoance to t.be admi.ion of any higher .ut1&";t,·in the
taaoblnp of Sw.nborg than iD thOle of Luther. CaJviD, Edwards, and Dwilht, will
probably preYeDt. anything more than aD approximation 10 the sublime verities of the
:s'ew Di8peDladon.
Since the pUblicati~n oC our last No. in which was inserted an article bearing OD the
SeTeDth day Sabbath, we have learned, from the c'Intellectual Repository," of January.
1839, oC the existence of an important error in the later English edition of the Arcana t
YOl. I. n. 85, baving reference 10 the ·same subject. The original Latin reads tbus;-
I'Quocl homo cteleetis iit lepdmu8 diel. et I8pdmus dies inde aaDCtificat1l8, et diem. Bab-
bathum. qttlete, 8unt arcana nondum detecta," oC which the literal rendering is.1 £01.
Iowa ;_c. That.tbe· celeati~l maD is the aeventb day t aM tut U&e Ift1MtA da, tDCII ,laMa
-aiJM, and called the'Sabbath from re."
are arcaDa which .ye IJeen hi&hertq uue-
"'ed." This i. the translation which occurs in the earlier English editions of the
Aacau. but in the later the clause-CC and that the seventh day was theDce Rnctifiecl"-
101 [Feb., 1840.
la ahopther omitted j whether owl.., to lDOOlDpeteIlC1 or lDadftrteDoe we kDOW DOt.
We are happy, however, to ltate that in the Amedcan eclidOD, publilhecl at Boeton, the
correct reuderiog i. preeerved. ID 'he. New York edition or 184'7, whiob followed die
London edition of 1837, the omission remains lIDl1lpplied. It is not, perhaps, aD error
from which very eerioul coneequences are 11kel11O 80W', but it is stin to be regreuec1,
as the aaactUlcatioD of the ...,..,,, day i. ve". emphaticall, Ulertecl b1 Sweel_boll.

A Dew edition oCthe Index to the Arcana Cmlestl. i. announced ul.. preparatioa for
the prell in LODdon. As the value aDd usefbloul oCthll (Dd. depend chieft, QpoD ita
copioulneasaDd completen. ., all readers who ma1 have diecovered omi.iODI or imper-
fectionl in the volllme are requested to send notice of the lame to )Ir. H. BatemaD. who,
we prelUme, takel charge of the publication. We scarcely know anything more ne!Cled
than a thorough revilion ofchis Index. We have been innumerable tim. anllOfed by
tuming to the eectlon reterred to in the oommon editions, and hding Dot the I...t rete-
ftDC1 to the point in hand. Nor on turning to the original Latio have we la.recl an, better,
.. the errors in the translation we have invariably found to occur in the origiaal abo.
The Boaton Edition oC last year i. a decided improvement apoa the previoaa LaDdoD edi-
tion, but it illtilllmperfect, and indeed the wbole work ought to be out in eome respeoII
...ew. Some headl are 'Very defective, and Olllht to he la1'F1, apuded, .. for iDIltaDCe
"JaltUlaadon," ander which are on1, two referencee, whereu there mi,ht plOperl, he a
cIosen. The term •• Ultimate'" has DO ex.plaDatiOD and no 18"'08 Beepl to re Emreme"
. . . parallel. But re Extreme" does not occur, though re Extremity" doe., which, how-
eYer, cuts no light OD the lubject of Cl Ultimate••" In IOme cues there ought to be DeW
beacIa introduced, adapted to the preeent state of theolOlY, as "Atonemeat,"·· Fall (oC
man)," U e.lvatiOD,· &c. In others there sbould be a traDllocation oCimportant refer·
eDee. under panlcular heads, as (or instaDce, the article" lAmP.," inl. .d ofbei.
u!lau.ted, al it DOW il, br a limple reference to c, Tonpe," .bould have iuerted unci.
U, all that relates to Cl lpeech," and every thiq relatlDI to .. Toape," ~ a member or
the bod" Ihould .land b, itlelf, with a referenoeat the clote to cc Lanl1lap" or Cl Speech.·
ADd 10 in numero1ll olber iD8taDcea. To make a trul1 complete aad worth, IDdu of the
Arcaoa il an arduoul work, b~t it ia ODfl oC luch importanoe that we would propose 1OID8
Ioopr dela, iD Its preparation rather than to have even a corrected traoecript oC the pre-
.Dt volume. The A.rcana ought reall, t9 be read carefully through whh a view to the
ooDatruction oC .ach an Index.
Mr. HodlOD, N. C. BoobeUer la London, has teoeDd, pl1bUabed aD admirable CataIape
or
of New Church Bookl, pllbllehed sold by him, with an iDtrocIactol'J no" ....
account of the I8Y8ral aathon. Tb.. Dotioes are n.....,O, brief, bat IGIDe iI
"Yeo to every Dame that" at all kaowa in Ihe I t sbort aDd .tmple umall" 01 N. C ....
".p. They embraoe the foDowma-forty two in an: Alien, Arboala, Artlaar, Banea,
Bayley, Bradlq, Buh. Cabell. CUllOld, De Charml, EdleltOD, Go,der (T.& D. G.), Bill,
Blndmanh (J. & R.), Hoclton, Bowarth, .1[. . . ., Madele" Xuoa, Noble, Nio~,
Parry, ParaoDl, PrelCott, Proctor, Proud, Reed, ReDdeU, Rich, SandeD, Senior, Shaw,
8tbl" SmithlOD, Swedenbol'l, Tale!, WhitteD, WoodDlIUl.
Rey. T. O. PrelCott writel UI from Glaatrow :-'1 IC roa haft .-cl the IIOOO1lnl of !DJ'
Ifilh toor loa will be pleuecl to learn that, aided br our Irilh (deDd. and br the ~
Printiq Society. I haYe ainee caaeed IOme oflbe prlaoipal worb oC S.......boqr to be
placed in sis public Librari. iD Ireland. .is. LoDdonderl7, Belfut, Belt. . CaIIep.
Dabli-. Cork, aDd Limerick!'
 THE

NEW CHURCH REPOSITORY

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MONTHLY R.EVIEW.

,.1. D. IIll1£B, 18'1.

ORIGINAL PAPERS.
ARTICLE I.

SPIRITUAL MEDICINE.

7NulGtallrom tAc Ft-meA of Ed. RieA"., for tAl N. c. RlpOlitory.

(Coru:lud«l.)
DaTIKKD to reign over animals, man has relations more intimate
than theirs with the power which has created all things. The more
interiorly he uDites himself to it, the more moral force he acquires. It
we had not within us some element of its nature we could not assim-
ilate ourselves to it; "wecontemplate it," says a philosopher, .. because
our thought is one of its sparks_; an attraction carries us towards it
18 towards our centre." In bereavement we feel ourselves consoled
in drawing near to God; in weakness we experience strength. la
the degree that we estrange ourselves from Him, Qn the other hand,
We feel ourselves more alone, leg energetic. Our confidence in Him
is the source of our moral vigor; our removal from Him is the cause
o( dryness of heart and those insopportable voids with which the life
purely material is filled. This truth will appear incontfstable, it; to
the sentiment of the divinity of which we usnally have so false an
id~ we substilute any ruling love whatever. Without this love man
cannot move, because without it he has no motive to move. The
ennui which he experiences attests that he is separated from
life. What I say 'here more than all moralists, is this, that thil
coveroing love from which we live takes its source in the imma-
terial world whence is derived every principle of action. Gath.
ered into the Great Btting, genius acquires supernatural lights. Cicero
avows that no mind can elevate itself without some divine inspira-
tion. Seneca adds that all great geniuses communicate with God•
• 01. D. 7
]04

In the degree that man is deprived of this aliment of prime neceB8ity,

his faculties are inactive. •
United to God by essence, why should not man be so in action' Ir
this were impossible, the Creator would have deceived him in giving
him hope; the scriptures would deceive him still more in giving him
the promise. God communica.tes himself only to those who devote
themselves to him. .. Give thy'life," says St. Martin, "if thou wish-
est to receive life."
It is then"by prayer and seltdenial that man enters into this ineffa-
ble commerce with God, s~ necessary to the intellectual life and the.. .
physical action which is its result. By these two means, he becomes
more and more fit for the reception of the divine influence. Thus
there exists for him a spiritual remedy, of which prayer is the agent.
Whatever ridicule may be bestowed upon this assertion, yet does it in-
evitably result from all that has been just said. There is an action pro-
'Veri of the soul upon the body; another of the soul upon another soul;
there is an inftuence of the creative power upon man. Those pheno-
mena which the BOul produces upon another should be 80 much the
more remarkable, as the acting soul draws more power from its true
source. The more intimate the commerce between God and man, the
more he acquires power and energy; the more he identifies himself
with the author of all things, the more he becomes completely the
organ.
There is, in this circumstance, the consideration of another discred-
ited word, but which it is necessary rightly to make use of. t would
~of grace.
Solomon and Paul say that the gift of healing is not granted to
every ODe. Without entering into the mysteries of the views of prov-
,idence in thiS re~ect, is it not permitted us to suppose that the reli-
gious soul who does not obtain this gift, in the circumstances favora-
ble to the. re-establishment of health, has not sufficiently identified
itself com~letely with its author, has not prayed with sufficit;nt COD..
fidence and perseverance. " Ask," says Jesus Christ, "and it shall be
given to you. Knock and it shall be opened." .
I have said that renunciation of self and prayer were the two mCMIt
powerful means to arrive at this int~llectna1 communication by which
man receives power from God. This point is not difficult to prove.
and like all that I have hitherto said, this demonstration OOlonp of
right to philosophy. The author of the Art of perfecti'!lf Man de-
votes a part of his work to prove that reDUDciation of self 18 the prill-
cipal source of the elevation of the soul. Man of himself is nothing;
all is given to him ; and the less he draws from the source from which
he has received all, the more he refers everything to himself and be-
comes weak and contracted. It is in this sense that pride is of all
the passioDs of the human heart :that which the most debases it bJ
giving it the ho~ of further self-elevation. Madam de 8tael has said,
with much spIritt concerning this passion, "that it is a sentiment
which makes the man a gentleman the more effectually to ruin him."
We find in the Arab philolophers, quoted by Kaleph ben Nathan, tbiI
1_.] Oa ~ JlfJIIieitae.
tlrikiug thought: Cl Take the royal rotd of self-denial &Dd hamUitJ.
By travelling this road, where we 88 yet see nothing, we arrive at
that secret retreat where there is nought bat God alone."
10 turning away from God, referring to himself his sole powers a .
I8lf-derived intelligence, man falls into error &lid evil. The spbere of
the soul is luminous, says Maraus Aurelius, when it extends itllelC
and attaches itself to nothing without; when it does Dot dilBipate il-
I8lf; then it abines with a light which discovers the truth iD every-
thing. The author of the Imitation of Jenu OArUc, who is reckoned
among our greatest philosophers and most sublime moralists, renden
everywhere homage to this truth. "The merit of mu," ..,. he,
• consists in annikilating himself more perfectly and more profooDdly
in himself: If I lose all sentiment of myself: if I abase myself, if I
annihilate myself; if I reduce myself even to dust and ashes, as it is ia
tact all I am, thy grace, Lord, will be fa'Yorable to me, and thy light
will shine in my heart." The reason why, says the same author, there
are so few men truly free and enlightened in soul, is that they willllC'it
practise in themselve8 a thorough self-denial. Another adds these
remarkable words :_'C Our will must disappear to let that of God have
authority in us. We.must cease to be, to be something i so true is it
thatwe are nothing." It is in this sense that the LIJrd's prayer, the moat
IDblime of prayers, tells us to ask nothing or God but that his will be
done. "In my confidence in thee," exclaims an eloquent author, c'the
supreme wish of my heart is, that thy wil.l be done. Coqjoining mine
to it, I do what thou doest; I acquiesce in thy bounty; I have & fore-
taste of that felicity which is its reward.'"
The Gospel tells us that it is when we die to self that we are born
from above. When we believe ourselves seltsuflicient, we seek for no
power Dor light elsewhere than in self alone; when the heart is full
of desires which it caresses and willingly nourishes it leaves no room
for anything else. It is when we believe ourselves to be notlling, that
animated by the great spirit which directs nature we are capable of
everytbing; it is when we believe'ourselves to be something that, re-
duced to self alone, we are truly nothing. Milton in the harangue
which the spirit of darkness holds to the fallen angel~ makes him
use those words: Our ]JOU1er comufrom ourselves. The sole cause of
the fall of Satan is there.
Strangers to moral things the greater.part of men form no just idea
of the efficacy of prayer.. This sincere transport of the soul towards
its author is not a vain set form. It is in a sublime manner defined·
by St. Martin as the reapiration of th~· soul. In fact it is only here
that man can draw true existence. It purifies everything for bim ; it
corrects our propensities; it o~~rates everywhere a moral action ca-
pable of regenerating man. You attribute an incontestable JM'wer
to that immaterial f&culty which you designate by the name of im-
agination; with how much stronger reason should you Dot accord a
more complete power to that prayer of the heart which carries away,
which subdues, the whole man; which assumes in his eyes the char-
acter of a devouring passion' that no aliment can, here below. satisfy?
If the divine power communicates itself to the man who abuses
this power by referring everythingito lel~ how much more lively must
-
. ., ita actioll upon lUm who \Jnplores it wilh ard~r, aDd
thiug to itt By prayer man IS modified physically and morally; his
rerem ."'err-
influence over his species is increased. His intelligence is developed:
enlightened himself he becomes capable of giving light to others;
atrong in his convictions, he sheds upon other souls that confideDCO
without bounds which redoubles the vital activity. So many moral
faoaltiea, nourished often by illusions and fallacies, have a real pow-
er, why should we Dot acknowledge the power of prayer which de-
rives ita force from the only centre of all poBSible forees 1
This sweet cODsolation which the soul experiences from answered
Fayer is Dot a ohimera I We feel that it has been hearkened to, aI-
though, immersed in this mortal body, we may Dot have -heard the
answer. The hope which it produce- is not the fruit of delirium. ·
There il something certain, though the organ to discover it is wanting.
A writer of our own times did not conceive that he was debasiDg his
mind when thus expreasing himself when these subjects,
,
" That prayer whioh mODntllo God'. eternal throne,
A chain oC Sold binds heaven and earth in one."

among several, prayer is more powerful. Each man increases his

individual force fronl the general force. We feel ourselves as if sus-
tained by other souls who partake of the same opinions with ourselves.
We would say that there is a kind of attraction, by which souls re-
uniting assimilate themselves to each other. (jravitation has laws of
which the moral world presents to us the emblem. A body obeys the
universal gravity so much the better when it is formed of a more
considerable number of material particles. The reunion of several
men, in like manner, forms a moral body whose action is in the ra,-
tio of the number. The Gospel presents this fact; J~sus Christ has
told us that where two or three are tUlembled together in ku name, Ae
will be in the mid,t of them.
. We form generally such narrow ideas in matters of high philoso-
phy, that we conceive of prayer only as an act of worship prescribed
like all others and to which we should submit as a doty. There is in
man a superabundance of moral life which finds in the accomplish- ·
ment of all the duties something else besides what the duty teaches.
It is good to be charitable without doubt; but ask a, Howard it his
active charity is confined to a cold duty 1 It is becoming to love one's
friends; but ask sincere friendship and it will tell you whether there
is Dot something else besides what duty demands as a propriety! A
beloved object is to be preferred to onesel~ says the strict moralist.
and these sublime acts of devotedness which history records--have
they waited to illustrate this maxi~ sojust in itsel~ but which appears
80 cold to exalted love that it would seem tempted to take it for
irony 1 .
Prayer is like all these passions; it is doubtless a duty; but if it were
only that, how far would it be from accomplishing its end 1 It is to
religion what enthusiasm is to the fine arts. We have no taste for
these but when all the powers of the soul are exalted to teel them
worthily.
. .
W. caDDot completely prove the power of prayer but
~
w_
 lea] ••
it IIss become. '_0* whieh a"''* all the..... It is then tbII&
we doubt not its power. It passes into the life of man aDd transforma
him into another being. It beeomes illdllpeDsable to him who hu
tast.d its eharms.
Without it who could tear those tender hearts from the sweets of all
ill-Conned friendship, f~m the eductions of fortune, from the prom- '
iaMB of imprndent bymenial enga.gAments' What power is there
then in the comme~ee of man with his God, when by it man triumpa.
aver love itself? Ah! though. sueh a power should not fall within the
eomprehe1lBion of the senses, it should not for that reason cease to
appear prodigiou8 in the view of him who knows the human heart I
There is no influence of the 8001 upon itself or of one soul upon
another which caD form 8 parallel with this irresistible action.
Bot, says one, it is only among mystics whose brain is overheated,
that you will find such a power. This again is a genera.l error which
proceeds from want of reflection. Pra.yer is natural to the homaa
heart. It is in advance of all conventional .forms and is found in
those solemn occasions of life where man is alone with his conscience.
An unforeseen misfortune makes it known. Th~ thunder rolls and hr
m1D1llurs a veritable prayer to infidelity itself. This atheist who ,dis-
putes with her son on her death bed will throw herself on her knees
before him to ask his prayers. What I is there an influence of pray-
er among those who have no God! And should there Dot be a stiR
more powerful influence with the generality of men 1 The first emo-
tion of a mother who presents her first born-is it Dot to render thanks
, to heaven f Ask the mariner who has just escaped from shipwreck
what is the sentiment which he experiences in his heart! ask him if
~ has not prayed t
The tears 6f gratitude never come unpreceded by a secret prayer.
This prayer is not always that of the lips, it is that of the heart which
hall need oebut one veritable emotion to reach the throne of the Crea-
tor. If this union between God aDd man did not exist, wh)-, in moments
when carried away by our feelings, without time for reflection, in
tIlese movements when a sudden misfortune or an unexpected joy fills
tile soul, do. we raise our hands and eyes to heaven f It is the moral
88Dtiment, stronger tban all the sophisms of a captious reason, which
telll us that it is God whom we implore. It is, that something from
the bottom of the heart wams 1IS that we are not alone, that an invis-
ible hand is extended t08ustain us, that there is always near us some
ODe who Lars us, and to whom we have recoorse even after we have
ealumniated him. What man is there who has not experienced this
calm which succeeds the passions when we return to ourselves'! It
ill, that our conscience, then, in contact with its principle, has resumed
its empire; it is that it is united to it, and has made us stronger tba.
before. .
Let it not he said that these are things which we cannot palpably
feel, ud consequently cannot judge. It is one of the gTosse,t errors
to imagine that there is no certAinty in the sciences but when we sub-
mit them to the demonstration of the senses. Medical science, alto-
pther physical, as it seems, recognizes more taan every other science,
dlis immaterial action without which it caD do nothing. I transcribe
 - h ire ...e liIaeI t.... a meclieal writer, OM 01 my tn.M18, apoatlw:
.mjeet before 111: .
" What would the greater part of oar yoaDg ud old ph"'", of
this day say if they should see a Raimond Lulle, who acquired the
reputation of a magician, becaUI8 of his great skill aDd mBllifold
eares, if they should lee him, I say, kneel down every momiag Wont
ping out to visit his patients 1 Robert Fludd, an EDrtilh ph)'lici....
OBe of the most universally leamed that I am acquainted with, has
left 118 in one of his works, several prayers applicable to differellt
• oases of diBeases. If these physicians have recognized the . . . .ty
of prayer in the exereise of their art, they have I8eI1 the action of tile
immaterial UPOD the material. Above all the venerable old man of
Cos had ebscurely seen it in the. diviraaa'Jl'id whioh he found iD all
diaeues. J have seen, says Femel (De.AbmnulitU .Rorw. caaU),
maoy paralyses, leprOlies and other diaea&IeaJ. the despair of ordinary
medicine, oured by prayep."
The physioian exercises a powerful iniuenee upon the moral qual-
ities which bave Dot the least hold on hi. science. He who is priacl-
· pally religious, puts the 80ul of his patient in a dispesitien more
favorable to the action of the eurative means of his art. Tb. eoDft-
deace wbich he inspires is more complete, the su1fering man experi-
aoes in seeing him a coDsolation the cause of which should DOt be
IDUght in a greater or 1e88 degree of skill only.
MaDy illustrious physicians, among whom I may mention Ambro8e
Pare, formerly concluded their prescriptions in this form; " TIuu I
hat JOU; God cure, you."
In Egypt, the medical art uDited to the priesthood obtained cares
which belonged as. much to the function of the priest as to the scienee
of medicine. Go, aDd sin no more, said Jesus Ohrist to the sick whom
he cared. Sin, in restoring to it that philosophical signification which
it has lost in the common language. sin, considered 88 the act
of the ooDscience whioh breaks the relations of man with God,
should, indeed, be opposed to the moral cure of which we are treat-
iDg.
Physical ehastisement is very often, says the physician whom I b&ve
before quoted, the consequence of the interruption of our relabaDS
with tbe divinity. The man who sins, says Ecclesiastes, shall faU
into the hands of the physician-an energetic manner of expressing
himself and recognizing the certain inftuence of the moral st.te of maa
upon his physical body.
There results from what has just been read the following proposi-
Doni:
1st. There is an inftuence of the moral upon the physical, or iD
other words of the soul upon the body.
2d. There is an influence of one soul upon another soul.
ad. The human 8001 ha not iD itaelf this power: it receives it from
its principle which is God.
4th. The means ofcommunication establishedbetween man and God
is self-denial and prayer.
These propoaitioDSt once adopted, lead 118 to this conaequenoe : that
I""
tIIeM IDaJ he aare. pelforaed by prayer. Let DOt aily ODe aelalm,
••
that iD MOptiDg sueh a conclusion we cause the lights of loienoe to
NbogracJe; on the contrary there are superior lights whioh oause 118
to arrive at this result which an imperfect science would refllle te
admit. There is nothing more here tha~ what spiritualiBts of all
ages have acknowledged. To deny what we have just said is to
den~ principles upon which all philosophy and all religion rest.
If preliminaries are not adopted, phil~pJtical discussion is iDl-
poEble and religious Hentimebt improbable.
This aclmowledgmellt, against whicll 80 many people exclaim, is'
the natural consequenoe of a particular science; that of the moral
&

man and of the relatioDs of thiS man with the divinity I This leience
_ its demoDStraUoDB like any other; but at tile same time it is so
near the beart of man that it is confounded with the religious Benti-
ment under whatever form ,it may have hitherto appeared ill the world. '
In all religions, indeed, have been found individuals more particu-
larly in contact with the divine power, and who have exercised by it
a real actin upon others. Antiquity professed faith in CI1r88 performed
by the laying on of hands and DO one has called iD question these DD-
deniable e1fects. The most judicious critic avows these facta a_
we have Dot yet come to that pa88, to make faots yield to oar systelDL
That which does not enter into our explications may nevertheless ex-
ist, whatever shock our proud science may receive from it. "If yea
wish to advance in the study o( wisdom, fear Dot," says Epictetes,
• to pass concerning external things fur an imbecile and a fool."
The four propositions which we have just examined are sheltered
from all objection, and I dare say that the science which will opp088
them"wishing to show itself more severe, will itself fall on the other
hand into superstition. Indeed, this science, w~ich will grant us the
ant two point., without difficulty, will oaly halt at the third; for it,
there should be truly the moral action of the 8001 upon the body, of
ODe sew DpoD another, but not the intervention of the divinity. .
The refusal to acqniesce in this proposition proceeds from complete
ignorance of spiritualism and a contracted idea of Theodiey. A.
cording .to these critics, God should be a being separate from man, a
....nger in some way from his work after baving created it. The
divinity, thus disfigured, shrinks from our view, and gives 118 a feeble •
idea of itselfand of man. This God, Qiled in heaven, like that of Epi-
C1In1S; thil God, whom no relation connects with the being wbo feeJs \
and adores him, is incompatible with the ideas which all philolOphea
aDd all religious souls have formed of him.
What prejudicatioDI to sustain an idea 80 extravagant I I( in .pite
ot the conviotions of CODscience, men force themselves to pervert rea-
_n to 10 absurd a belief; they end in rejec'iDg every thing. The
ID8D who is a deist in this manDer is not far from becoming an atheis&.
The God wbolD he has placed too far from him soon becomes a ......
pr to him, if he seeks him in his heart he does not find him there.
Then, for him, the idea of his 1001 and its sublime relations with ita
author yaniBhes away, there is but one thing real, it is his IeD_ ;
bat ODe thing true, it is nature. If that which we have not seen iI
DOt, 1&)'11 Montaigne, our science is marvelously curtailecL
 11. 0. BpiriMIl llel....· [Marab,
The God which phUOIOphy ooneeives, tile God whiala reliPm oon·
t..., i" Dot thus. We would not call him our Father if IOmetbing
did not tell liS that there still eDsts relatioDs between him and UL
He is not a God who is 8, stranger to his works; he is a being who
nves, who feels, who respires in every one of his creatures who com-
preheDd him. The foundation of such a philosophy is CtJrtain, beC&U88
It is founded upon the moral sentiment, that instinctive faculty of man
which neyer deceives him. A God separated from man and whom he
no more finds in his heaJ1 is a being of re880n .which reason may
reject. No testimony affirms his existence, since instead of relying
upon relatioDs felt and acknowledged, it is simply deduced from sys-
tems Itaore or less probable. .
What would be prayers addre88ed to such a God 1 V &in souads,
which would strike the air, aDd issniog from our lips, would have DO
power to modify us, to draw us Dearer to our onlylource 1 These
prayers would be words, they would not be sentiments.
The ineWable commerce which religion establishes between rn.aD
and his Creator, would be then an aWair of pure discipline, of whicla
the mind could not conceive the cause; we would acquit ourselves
01 it as of an obligation, looking for' a recompense. Taking an idea
.nU lower of ourselves and of worship,- we would come to consider
this as a deception established by policy and 8ustaioed by it. To give
an example of submission to a supentitio1lS people, to preserve places
or honorB, in & WOMt to maDage men, we would appear to respect re-
ligion outwardly, but inwardly we would rid ourselves of it as of an
inconvenient yoke. Satisfied with appearing to be religio1l8, we
would have Tery little desire to be so in fact.
Ask that anlent soul to whom worldly thiDgs are no longer 1Ilffi...
eient, if it is thus tba~ he conceives religion? Ask that inconsolable
widow who boW's down in your temples, if it is thus that she con-
eeives prayer 1 Ah l all sensibln souls will testify here in favor of a
religion which makes God the common father of meD, which mak~
prayer the meaDS of direct communication established between earth
and him. By degre~ says Madam de StaeJ, we eome to feel our
God Deal to us as a friend.
Confess then, if you reject cures by prayer, it is Dot· because they
live us a lower idea of man and of God, but because they disturb, OD
the other hand, the circumscribed systems which you have formed
-POll this 8ubjeet. You would believe in a God deaf to our devotio~
like necessity; a God who has once ordained an obedience always to
be rendered; once to be obeyed, always; .emel jlUftt, .e.per pard.
as 8eneca has it. Then that which appears contrary to tile general
laws which he has marked out for matter, we tu with chimeras.
This God is so distinct from the universe which he has crea. that
.ot identifying himself in any manner with it, the e1Feetl prodaced iD
the world are necesaarily things calculated upon as miracles. For
people who think thus there is no middle course. The cure. which a
Ipiritual remedy performs, being, acconling to their views, no other
_ than miraelest they deny them and seem to exult in their negatioa,
- . . . . it appean to them to aecord with tile atriotut nNIIOD. TMJ
 I1I
eondemn him who adopts them wit~out coDBideriDg that bis lOience
is Dot less exact than theirs, and certainly more in agreement with
the lights of a traDscendanf philosophy and the undeniable testimo-
Dies of history.
The acts which the spiritual remedy perfonns are Dot miracles they
are effects constant and produced according to the laws of a certain
order. We must have an idea of this order in order to comprehend it.
Then, farfrom seeming to be supernatural, they appear, on the contra-
ry, so simple, that we are no I<?nger astonished at them. The enlight-
ened physiologist well knows that there are cases where the spiritual
remedy will fail. Why, indeed should it act against the laws imposed
upon na.ture 1 It will not restore the organ whioh is wanting, beClt.use
it does not create: it will modify that which is created: it will not
produce anew: these prodigies are not within its juri8dietion. The
health which has been lost it restores, but with the requisite condI-
tions, in order that it may be maintained. The moral regimen, in
fine, which the enlightened physician prescribes, and whieh has 8uch
happy consequences upon mtrering humanity, this is the re~meD
which it extols; it is this upon which it relies. Only what the ph)'Si-
oIogist considers as dependent upon maD alone, this attributes to maD,
80 far as he prest'rves relations with God, and draws more abundantI)'
from that source.
Methodical minds, not willing to adopt any thing but what fa
according to established laws, will recognise here phenomena which
operate according to particular laws. The truly learned will see in
these details the principles of 8 special theory, which has its limita-
tions like all others, and which they cannot deny under tbe pretext
&hat it gives no account of phenomena, the explication of which
belongs to another science. Religious men will find here the con-
firmation of wonders, of the existence ofwhich their own heart assures
them, and the rational exposition of a doctrine embraced in the sacred
books of all nations.
If aside from this it is objected that the thing in itself is ·incredible,
unattainable, I think that it is impoS8ible to render plausible any
theory whatever to persons who have but one opinion, and that au-
thoritatively enjoined, or heedlessly borrowed, upon a ·sabjeet ott
which they pass sentence; to persons who in their denial, do not rely
upon the necessity of acknowledging laws of a certain order, nor
upon the avowal of the principles of 8 science, 80 to speak, hype~
organic, nor upon the undeniable testimonies whidh positive religioll
supplies, together with that moral sentiment which has presided in an .
~orship and find~ refuge in all pure consciences even where religion
IS not professed. .
I. M•.
1JniDIIeld. 0,
 A.BTICLB D.

HOW SOCIETIES IN THE NEW CHtT.RCH SHOULD BE FORMED.

WSILB man remains in a perverse state and will not su1fer hilDle1t
to be led of the Lord, he adjoins himself to such a society as is of
his 9WD perverse quality, and it is with difficultl that he can recede
therefrom. Thus as is the quality of a man 8 society, so is the
quality of the maD. If such an one, therefore, were to be seen, as
to the spiritual societ1 he was in, when left to himsel( it will indicate -
his quality. When In such a society the man clearly manifests his
own instinct or quality of life. We may have observed that men,
when left to themselves, or when conjoined to those of their like,
show out their real characters; but when in society better than them..
selves, they endeavor to conform themselves thereto, and do not
show what they are. It is an old maxim that a man is known by the
company he keeps when left to himself. A man who acts freely, acts
&om his internals, and he does 80 when alone or when with those
who are like him and in ,vhose company: he most delights. After this
lifet souls in the world of spirits are adjoined to various societies in
order to discover thereby of what sort they are and with whom they
agree. They are also explored by means of the various states of the
same society, thus the various states are distinguished. The parable
of the marriage of tbe King's son, Matt. nii., illustrates thiS. The
king sent forth his servants to call them; they were invited to the
wedding, and they would not come. "Again he sent forth other ser-
vants, saying, Tell them who are bidden, behold, I have prepared
my dinner-my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are
ready-come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went
their ways, ODe to his farm and another to his merchandize." To go
their way, &c. &c. is to still to adhere to the spiritual societies lO
which they were already pr~viously conjoined, and to be unwilling
and even to refuse to be cOl\ioined with any heavenly society. The
di1ference between heavenly consociation and infernal is, among other
things, that one who, while in the life of the body, is as to his spirit
in infemal societies, is the centre thereof; and those spirits who adjoin
themselves are of the lame quality and gather round about. He
commands and they obey. They conform to him and minister to his
peculiar genius, and angels only keep all in check. But when one is
conjoined to a heavenly society he takes his state from the society in
which he is. Societies of angels, inasmuch as they are in order and
or
are led the Lord, are Dot conformed to the man 6y his conjunction
with them, but they conform the man to themselves, because all
alike suWer themselves to be led of the Lord. Thul he that is led of
the Lord conforms tQ heavenly societies with which he is conjoined
or draws to himself spirits like himself:
In the true church, in which all are brethren, societies can be varied
in like manner as in the societies in heaven or iD thble ofgood spirits,
 1"] lIB
tor like them the brethren do not seek 88IOCiatioD from the love of
IeIf and of pill, but only for the sake of faith and fraternity. There-
fore in such a church (which is the New Church), members can be
arraDged according to the order instituted more immediately by the
Lord, thua very differently from the arrangements in societies in the
Old Church, and from those of the receivers of the doctrines or the
New Church who have formed societies upon Old Church pri.nciples.
These societies are composed oC those who lead themselves, and
each ODe is a centre, and h.is spirits with him of his own genius, and
the man utters the views which are thus formed and are of his own
intelligence. They all think of doing good, hoping to receive agaiD
• like publicans and sinners. They call and dictate terms to the
preacher; they require him to regard them as the focal centres to be
Berved and delighted, and the Lord and heaven in the last place.
Therefore when the preacher ceases to give delight to them " in their
ways," they get together and by a vote decline to employ and pay
bioi any longer.
But in the true church, things will be otherwise. Societies will be
formed as in the heavens; the preacher and hearers will be led of t~e
Lord, and regard what thE'Y are taught as from the Lord, and will
endeavor to live conformably thereto. Each ODe will be desiro1J8
to be in his own proper relation to every other one, and will regard
his neighbor more than himsel£ If one more be added he is either
willing to be led as the society is led and yields his will to the Lord'.
will, or he is perverse and makes disturbance. Wh~n this is th~
case he separates himself: Thus the society will be an image of a
heavenly society; it will be a church in a tme sense. Its members
will be reduced into that order which constitutes 8 complex man,
called a church or Adam. Those who cannot come in and constitute
some member or organ of this man will be rejected as Dot belonging
to iL In such a state there will be ordination and subordination; there
will be degrees of good and of truth, and thus centres and circum~
ferenees, and yet all dependent on the great centre. The teacher
is servant of all, because he ministers to all, from the Lord. All will
be brothers and companions, thus all will acknowledge one common
father and one' mother. The Lord is that father, and the universal
church that mother. When societies of the church are thus formed,
they will have stability, peace, order, mutual love, and progress from
one state aDd degree of life to another. They will enjoy the divine
auspices, and be conjoined with their heaven, so that that heaven
will be their internal, and they will be the external of that heaven.
They will no longer be two, but one-one in end, one in use, obe in
social and sacramental worship. S. J.
114 [March,

THE PRESENT THE EPOCH OF THE L01lD'8 SECOND ADVENT•.

NJIAllLY every subjeot that is made the theme of popular discussion,
is susceptible of a twofold treatment or development. The first
method, which may be termed the scientific, is distinguished for its
exhaustive thoroughness. It seizes upon a prominent subdivision oC
some subject of thought, subjects it to a rigid analysis, and pursues it
through all its particular ramifications. But a small surface, so to
apeak, is presented to the mind at once, in this method; but, to com- .1
peb8&te for the narrowness of the limits, the speaker is enabled to
concentrate upon it a tenfold light. The other method may be termed
the popular. It bears the same relation to the scientific, that a map
of the world bears to a map of a single State, or any smaller division
of territory. It exhibits the generals, and not the particulars ofthingL
It delineates the promiDent features of a landscape, but takes no ac-
count of its filling up. It leaps fro~ summit to summit of the moun-
tains, froln headland to headland of the seaboast, tarrying neither to
explore the foresta or ascend the rivers. It will be acknowledged
that these are both legitimate methods of investigation. They are,
in fact, members of the same series,-parts of one and the same
whole. The popular method is properly introductory to the scientific.
A· general view of a subject is what we desire, before descending to
a study of its details. A survey of the limits and boundaries oC a
country very properly precedes a particular examination of the nature
of its soil, or a description of its vegetable and animal productions.
In this popular, or cursory manner we propose to treat the subject
Belected for discussion. By indicating the method intended to be
pursued. we may obviate the objection of having omitted, perhaps,
many things relevant to the theme, but which do not come within
the scope of our design.
OUf subject is what is generally termed the Second Advent-the
Second Coming of Christ-the close of the first Christian dispensation,
as foretold by our Lord in the Gospels, and announced by St. John
in the Apocalyptic vision. We propose to show that there a.re strong
reasons for placing the epoch of this event at or about the present
age of the world. The proofs of this position will be drawn from
Scripture, reason, historical facts, prevalent opinion, and the existing
state of the Church and the world. Arguments derived from these
lOurces will, it is true, carry different degrees of conviction to differ-
ent minds. With some, the argument from Scripture may have little
weight; with others, the argument from reason may appear incon-
clusive ; but there can hardly be one who would attach no value to
a conclusion fairly drawn from any or all of these sources.
In order not to commence without 8, begging of the premises, it will
be proper first to attempt & solation of some of the questions which lie
at the foundation of the subject. We therefore inquire,-Is the human
race advanciDg in the career of improvement 1 Is this the law of ita
1849.] 111
heiDg, by wlUoh it will be gradually perfected tJuoaghout indeiDite
periods; or are all thiop connected with man ,subject, like the tid.
of the ocean, to a flu~ and reflu~ that limit all bis efforts, and periodi-
eaIly throw him back to the point whellce he started t Will the bark,
frieghted with human destiDy, for ever recJdessly roll and plunge, from
the impulse of the storm that has visited it; or will it, UDder the in-
Suence of mild 8k~es and favoring breezes, again feel the guiding
power of its helm. ~ shape its course for the destioed harborf
These are questions that deeply interest refteoting minds, and men or
subtle intellect have arisen from their contemplation with the mOl&
opposite conclusioDs.
"How moumful," says an English paper, "are the vicissitudes
which history exhibits to us, in the coune of human affairs; and how
little foundation do they afford to our sanguine prospects conceming
futurity I I~ in those parts of the earth which were formerly inhab-
ited by barbariao&, we now see the most splendid exertioDs of genius,
and the happiest forms of civil policy, we behold others which in
ancient times were the seats of science, of civilizatioD, and of libe~,
at present immersed in superstition, and laid waste by despotism. After
a short period of civil, of military, and of literary glory, the prospect
has changed at once; the career of degeneracy has begun, and has pro-
eeeded till. it could advance no further; or some unforeseen calamity
has occurred which has obliterated for a time all memory of former
improvements, and has condemned mankind to retrace, step by step,
the same path by which theR forefathers had risen to greatneas. On
such a retrospective view of human affairs, man appea.nto be the
mere sport of fortune and of accident; or rather, he appean to be
doomed, by the condition of his nature, to run altemate]y the career
of improvement and of degeneracy; and to realize the beautiful but
melancholy fable of Sisyphus, by an eternal renovation of hope and
of disappointment."
And on the other hand the same writer observe-I' Even in thOle
rnde periods of society, when, like the lower animals, man follows
blindly his instinctive principles of actioD, he is led by an invisible
Hand, and contributes his share to the execution of 8 plan, of the
nature and advantages of which he has no conception," &c.
Our limits will not permit us to repeat or review the many argu-
ments that have been advanced to sustain or refute these confiictiDg
opinions. To the believer in revelation, however, the argument for
the progressive advancement of the human race may be presented in
a narrow compsss. The Scriptures teach D8 that rean was created
pure and upright; they also teach that he fell from his first estate,
and effaced from his s01l1 the image of his Maker, in which he was
created. God's purpose to redeem mankind from the wretchedne88 in
which they had involved themselves of their own free-will, is every-
where proclaimed in his Word; and his inspired prophets, uttering the
divine purpose, have predicted for the church on earth a state of
purity and peace far exceeding the most sanguine hopes of man. The
same infallible authority teaches us that this work of redemption has
been commenced. In the history of the last ei8hteen centuries we
·1141
may behold ita ProgNII; aDd, relyiBg 011 the 11Ilerrlag promUe of
Him who is truth itself; we may humbly but confidently look forward
&0 its conaummatioD.
The simplicity of an attempt to settle a vtmed question of thiII
nature by an appeal to Scripture, will probably be smiled at by_some.
But does not reason also-which can never conflict with the Word of
God-does not reason also teach the doctrine of the fall oC man, and
of Jais redemption , Is it re&8Ollab1e to suppose that pure, essential
Love, could create a being 80 imperfect, with a conscienoe 80 blunted,
an understanding &0 darkened, so prone to evils that inevitably lead
to anguish and death, as man, in all recorded history, is shown to be f
Such a supposition is at war with the attributes of a Being who must
forever oODtemplate all the creatures of his hand with unceasing,
unchanging love. And having fallen from his state of innocence,
wilfully shut his soul to the light of heaven, and plunged into an in-
fernal vortex. from which his own efforts could never rescue him-is
it reasonable, is it credible, that Divine compassion should not follow
its offspring, and point the way to life and liope? The thought does
equal violence to reason and Scripture.
Man was created pure,-with all his affections in perfect harmony
with the will of his Creator. The first race of men .pon our earth
were formed to be immediate recipients of the Divine love and wis-
dom, and the condition of their happiness and purity was, that thel
8hould coDstantly re~gnise the source of life, and goodness, and
wisdom, and ultimate, in acts or beneficence towards their fellow.
men, the love that flowed into their souls from the Infinite Father.
Reason and Scripture, therefore, in other words, both natural and
revealed religion, concur to furnish us with the first and last terms of
a simple statement; namely, the fall of man, and his restoration.
The doctrine of· progress Decessarily results as the middle term of this
statement. Receding from one state and advancing. to another is
progress. It is true that many other statements of the condition in
which man' was created are current in the world, and his capacity to
advance beyond a prelCribed limit has been boldly denied; but at this
age, and in this COUDtry especially, the conviction is general, that
progress is a law of our condition, although the conclusion may be
reached by reasonings widely different. Taking, therefore, the affir-
mative of this position as either proved or granted, we may next ill-
quire the means by which this progress is effected. Is it by the mere
wisdom of man, transmitted from age to age in the form of experi-
ence, which becomes as it ,,-ere a firmer basis for each succeeding
generation; or is it by successive revelations to'man from his Creator.
always adapted to his immediate wants and condition 1 The latter
theory is the only one a consistent Christian can adopt, and will be
found to be the only one sustained by the facts of history.
At first sight it might appear that the ancient civilizations-those
oC Babylon, Persia, Egypt, and Greece, for instance, formed an ~.
ception to this rule. But though the knowledge of the arts and
8Clenc-:s among these natioDs evidently originated in rude essays, as
aeoe881ty prompted, and W88 the result of transmitted experiepce, yet .
1140.] 11'
Ibe same c&DIlot be tJald oftheir moralll8lltimentl-their love or truth
aDd justice, and sympathy for their kind, which lie at the root of all
mJization, and in the total absence of which there can be DO society.
OD the contrary, we have reason to believe that their greatest degree
of moral perfection of whioh we have any knowledge, was rather a
degeneracy than an improvement on what they had previously heen.
The-histories of all ancient countries preserve traditioDl of a golden
age, in which man was pure and just, and neither needed nor desired
the refinements of civilized life; and this high moral condition im-
plies an antecedent revelatioD.
We turn now to modern civilization; and here it cannot fail to
strike the most careless observer, that Christendom, however it may
fall beloW' what might be desired or expected, is still tha heart of the
world. Christendom is 80 far in advance of the rest of the world iD
moral and intellectual colture, in social relations, in all that constitutes
the perfection of man, &8 to render comparison between it and the
rest of the world unjust. And if we inquire into the means by which
this result has been effected in Christendom, there will be found but
one rational answer. The most enlightened modern historians, how-
ever they may differ upon ether points, are agreed in this, that Chris-
tianity hBs been the vital prinoiple of modem civilization. That this
is iDdeed true, that the spirit of Christianity has been the effective
power "in subduing the primitive barbariaun of Europe, and preparing
it to B88ume the forms of civilized life, is no dream of an eDthusiast,
but an historical fact, resting on evidence which cannot be shaken;
and the manner in which this has been accomplished is no vagne
mystery, but a rational phenomenon, whioh may be made clear to
. every undentanding. Christianity and the highest human wisdom
have once acted successfully upon the same elements, and we have
the result.
Go back in infancy 1800 years, and survey the countries which
DOW coDBtitute modem Europe. Britain, Gaul, and Spain, although
penetrated and held in check by the Roman Jegions, are semi-
barbarous. The untamed and uDSubdued hOlts of Germany are
savages, in a state of barbarism very similarto that of the aborigines
of our own country, when the sail of Oolumbus was first seen upon
thele western waters.
Rome is at the zenith of her glory and power. Apparently, she
po88eS8e8 nearly_all the resources of the most civilized nation 9( the
present day. Men of eminent leaming in every department, philoso-
phers profoundly skilled in intellectual science, statesmen deeply
versed in the arts of government, enriched with all the stores of Greek
and Egyptian experience, are found in her bosom. In a despised
Roman province, a Judean peasant, reared in apparent ignorance,
shut out from iuteroo~e witlr the wile and learned of the earth,
traverses the narrow limits of his country, gathers about him a few
illiterate followers, bequeaths to them a verbal code of instructioDI
for their life and conduct, and dies an ignominious death.
And now whence, to human ap~arance, will emanate the power
to mould the barbarous _ of BritaiD, and GaaI, and Germany,
 L¥~

.&0 the NfiDed &Dd civilized Europe of the prel8Dt day 1 Viewma
the question in the liaht in which tbole of our own day, who are caU-
ed wise and learned, generally view such questions, is it DOt prepos-
terous to imagine that this task, if performed at all, can be performed
by other, than Roman wisdom, Roman laws, and Roman arms ? But
what was the fact 1 All the energies and r~sources of the Roman
empire were exhausted in a vain endeavor to subdue the barbarians.
The attempt recoiled upon herself; and Rome, in her t~D, felt the foot
of the invader. Then it was that the doctrines of the Man 9f Galilee,
to whose inftuence the Europe of the present day owes its very exist-
ence, began to exert their effect upon the inmost life of the victors,
and rendered the progress from barbarism to civiliz,tion possible.
Are these mere assertions 1 Historical monuments establish the fact,
&bat 80 early as the fourth century, Roman theology, Roman laws and
customs, had lost all controlling inftuence throughout the provinces
of the empire. The Church alone possessed vitality-the Church
aloDe gave form and order to the chaos. Facts will abundantly justifJ
the 8I8ertioD, that but for the introduction of the leaven Qf ChristiaD-
ity at this crisis, the human race would rapidly have perished from
the earth. The two extreme phases ofsociety-the lowest barbarism
and the most elaborate civilization-meet face to race at this ep'Ch,
and loudly proclaim that their results are identical. Degrading
.eDsuality, sordid selfishne88, the absence of all the essential elementl
of social relations, are alike the result of both. But it was the
teaohings of no J udean peasaDt that e1fected the regeneration of
Europe; it was the wisdom of One who spake as never man spake :
it was the Word of God manifested in the ftesh.
If we have in any measure succeeded in establishing the fact, that ·
,the progressiv.• improvement of the human race is effected by exter-
nal revelation, there remains a further question; Is it effected b1 a
single revelation, which stands as the full measure of all succeeding
time, or by succ_ve revelations, adapted to the wants and condition
of man at different periods 1 Facts will assist us in giving a pro~
ble answer to this question. We learn that the patriarchal dispensa-
tion, which preceded the Jewish, effeoted its design, and was closed.
We also learn that the dispensation committed to the Israelites was
limited in its duration. It fulfilled itil purpose, and was consummated
by the dawning of a brighter day. When the truths commiUed to the
chosen people had to them lost all their spiritual import,-had ceas-
ed to influence the heart and lift', and remained but a dead letter and
forDI, then that dispensation ended. "The veil of the temple was
then rent in twain, and the glory departed from between the
oherubim."
It is true, that notwithstanding the singular and instructive history
. of the Jewish people, and the facts connected with the final extinc-
tion of their national existence, there are yet those who affect to see
no signifioanoy in them. Candid minds, however, will still inquire
what it is that has exerted 80 great an infiuence upon so large a por-
tion of the human race, under the apparent forms, at least, of a close
of one ctispeasatioD and the commencement of another.
1849·1 lIt

And now if; as Christians believe, two dispensations have already

a~compli8hed their end and been conlSommated, is it unreasonable
to anticipate that the first Christian dispensation will aJlO in like
manner be consummated' Such a belief has been entertained by
Christians of every age, down to the present; and such ft, belief is
certainly warranted- by the predictions of the New Testament.
There is also an opinion at present very extensively prevalent in the
world that we are ROW living it. that period designated in Scripture 88
me last day.. It is true:that many attach no importance to a faot of
this nature. They suppose the beliefs of men are governed by no law;
that they are the mere results of whim or caprice, and' indicate the
working of no deeper causes than do the ever-varying fashions of our
garments. It can be clearly shown, however, that DO deep-seated and
widely prevalent conviction has ever exerted a permanent influence
Ilpon the human mind without having some foundation in truth.
We all know the excitement that has been created in our own day
by the expectation of the second personal advent of Christ; and
though many smile at the pitiful delusion of poor fanatics, yet it will
be found that nearly the whole of the present Christian Church, by
their interpretations of Scripture, are committed to the same doctrine
of the coming of Christ upon the visible clouds of heaven. Theydif-
fer from Mr. Miller only as to the preciae time at \vhich that evellt will
happen. To show that this opinion is not held exclusively by the il-
literate, we shall quote from the writings of some whose position and
talents entitle them to respectful attention ; and first from those of
the late eminent Dr. Amold, Professcir of Modem History in the Uni·
versity of Oxford, England. "My sense of the evils of the times,"
says he, "and to what prospects I am bringing up my children, is
overwhelmingly bitter. All in the moral and physical world appears
80 exactly to annoonce the coming of the great day of the Lord, that
is, a period of fearful visitation, to tetminate the existing state of
things-whether to terminate the whole existence of the human race,
neither man nor angel knows-that no entireness of private happi-
ness ean possibl)'" close my mind against the sense of it."
The interpretation of prophecy in reference to the second coming
of Christ is at the present time exciting great attention in Great Brit-
ain,-far beyond anything known in our own country. A" Quarter-
ly Journal of Prophecy," pre-miHennial in its principles, made its first
appearance in London in October last. 'Ye give a short extract 88 a
specimen of. the earnestness ,vith which the subject is taken up : -
." It is God, then, who is thus summoning 08 to hear. He is going
before us in this path, beckoning us to follo\v. It is His call that we
are now seeking to obey. His voice is too distinct to be slighted or
mistaken. He is seeking to arouse his saints, and warn a heedless
world. Let us with all haste respond to his call; for the time is
Ihort. The lines of all prophecy are now seen to be converging-
converging ""ith unparalleled rapidity, and toward. & point manifest-
ly near. Shall we not eagerly watch the convergence, and proclaim
to others what we see 1 The Lord himself opens our lips, and guid.. ~
our pens !ft I
VOLe 11. 8
110 The Pre,tnt tAe EpocA of the Lortf, 8ecorul .Advent. [March,
Works of singular ability and eamestness. by clerg)·men of distin-
guished character, in defence of the pre-millennial advent, are issuing
daily from the English press, and passing rapidly through successive
editioDs. We give one more ~xtract, taken from the" Edinburgh
Presbyterian Review," to show the progress of interest in this sub-
ject in Scotland.
" It is now sixteen )·ears." says the Editor, " since this Journal sought
to direct attention to the subject of unfulfilled prophecy. Frequently
during this period have we endea\"ored to lay it before our readers, in
many of its details, presenting the coming of the Lord as the blessed
hope of the Church. Our testimony has not been uoblest. At that
time there were few, ver)· few, in Scotland, who could be pre,·ailed
upon to give the subject a patient hearing. Now the differt'nce is im-
mense. Inquiry into the subject is wide-spread. The belief of the pre-
millennial advent gains wide and rapid ground among us. The fixed
and fierce prejudice against it is narrowed 8S well as softened. It is
proclaimed from many a. pulpit, and advocated in many a circle.
The circulation of pre-millennial ,vorks in Scotland is very great, and
the avidity with which they are read is not a little remarkable. An
association for the study of the prophetic word was formed during
the last General Assembly, among ministers of the Free Church. A
course of lectures on the chief points of llofulfilled prophecy is pro-
jected. A prophetical Journal "Till forth,vith be comm~nced, support-
ed by the friends of l\lillennarianism throughout Scotland and Eng-
land. A series of Prophetical 'frac1s will ere long be thrown into
circulation. Yet all this is little; forthe time that remaineth is shoJ:t !
The night cometh! The outriders Qf the King are arriving day by
day. The sound of his chAriot-wheels is alrefldy heard in the dis-
tance. The last eart}Jqunl,e has begun to heave. ThE'! world's thrones
are dissolving, in preparation for the setting up of the throne of the
Son of Man. The crowns of earth are falling from the heads of its
princes, there to lie till he comes to gather them up, and place them
upon his own head, 8S the rightful heir of all." ·
Now, as we believe the epoch of the Second Advent to have trans-
pired nearly a hundred years since, as will be seen in the sequel, it
may be thought that the attention now awakened to the subject, after
such a lapse of time,' if it p:oves any thing, rather tends to throw
doubt upon the verity of the assertion that the Second Advent is past.
Had this excitement happened at the time at \vhich you fix the
epoch, it may be said, instead of the universal apathy that then pre-
vailed, it might be admitted to have been not without significance.
But are we not expressly told in Scripture that the Second Coming
of the Lord shall resemble that of the coming of a thief in the night 1
Does not the whole tenor of the Sacred Word authorize us in be-
lieving that this event will transpire at a season of profound inatten-
tion and carelessness 1 The interest now so highly excited to the
subject, after the event is past, will be found in perfect harmony with
a universal law of the Divine Providence, which so orders, that the
exacerbation, the greatest effect, in the world of effects, is alw&)"s
manifested some time after the cause has passed its culminating
1849.] Three Queriel relative 10 ceria;" DoclrifM' of Slbedtnborg. III

point. Thas, we experience the greatest heat of the day an hoor or

two after tile SDn has passed the meridian; the greatest effect upon
the tides is produced by the mOOD after her southing; the greatest
heat in summer, and the greatest cold in winter, is felt after the SUD
has passed the summer Rod winter solstices. V iewed in this light,
the attention excited in our oWn day to tile subject of the Second
Advent is profoundly significant.
J. L J.
( To ~ co"tinwd.)

ARTICLE IV.

THREE QUERIES RELATIVE TO CERTAIN DOCTRINES OF

SWEDENBORG.

IIIL EDITOR,
Tm: following Queries are not propounded in a spirit of cavil. The
Querist is a reader, and in most points an admirer and receiver, of Sweden-
borg; but the questions that follow have occasion~d him trouble, and he seeks
a solution from tb9se competent to give it. A. W..

I. In the Arcana (n. 3820,8120, 8121) we are taught t~at "to do

good to the evil, is to do evil to the good, which is not to love the
neighbor." What does this mean? Are we not commanded to do
good to them that hate us, that we may be the children of our Father
in the heavens, ",ho is kind to the unthankful and the evil, who caus-
eth his sun to shine as brightly on the evil as on the good, and sendeth
rain alike on the just and on the unjust 1 By what principle.does
Swedenbor~ set aside the plain word of the Lord Jesus Christ?
ll. Angels are said to be sent to the inhabitants of hell to lessen
their mutual torment of each other.-(A. C.967). Yet it appears
from Luke xvi. that Lazarus was not sent to Dlitigate the torments
of the rich man. Why this apparent inconsistency 1
ill. It has appeared to me that the Sacred Word taught us to re-
sist not evil and avenge it not, and yet S\vedenborg, before hisillumi-
nation, not only as~isted in wars, but in the "True Christian Religion,"
aDd the tract on "Charity" distinctly advocated them and spoke of the
uses of the soldier's life. I cannot see why sa.nctity .should pertain to
a military maR any more than to a Cuba bloodhound. It has been, it
is still, an objection in my mind, to the doctrines of the Sage of Swe-
den. If my difficulties can be solved, I shall be greatly relieved.

REMARKS.
.
In order to appreciate rightly the grounds of these queries, it is desirable to
... precisely what Swedenborg says under each head. We may then per-
J•
.... find that h. himself, in on. portion or otl\. of m. workA, bu &IUIweJ'MI
in effect all the adverse questions that eoultl b. propounded on the subject.
I. The passage in the Arcana, alluded to by the Querist, is the following :-
U Tbey who are in eXfernal truths, know only this ~eneral tnJth in respect to
eharity, t!tat tI" poor oug!t to be relitwd, nor do they know how to dji'cern who
are truly poor, anJ still less that by poor, in the Word, are understood those wl10
are' spiritually poor. In consequence of this, they.do good alike to the evil and
the good, not being a.....re, that doing gf>od to the evil is dQingevil to the good~
for thus there is given to the evil the mean. of doillg evil to tile good j wlterefore
they who are in such simple zeal, are subject to the greatest infestatjGDS from the
.cunninl and deceitful. They, on the CODtrary, who are in intemal truths, kDOW
whe are the poor, and discern the quality of each, and do good to every one
according to his quality. To take another example; they ""ho are in external
truths, know only this general truth, 7iat they ought to loo, thei,. fU!;gltbor, and
))elieve that'every one is a neighbor, in the same degree, and thua that eveq
one is to be embraced with the same love, and so they suffer themselves to be
leduced. But they who are in internal tnlths, know in what d~gree every one
le a neighbor, and that the degree differs in all. Hence, they are acquainled
I

will. innumerable things of which the others are ignoraDt, and consequently
they do not suffer themselves to be led away by the mere Dame of neighbory
Dorto do evil from the persuasion of good which the same induces" (~. C. 3820).
The drift of the author in the context is to show that the affections of mere
external truth are weak as to understanding, inasmuch as they are only in the
pneral! of truth and charity, and do not rise to that strength and firmness of
Ulurance, which rests upon the aiFectioDs of interior truth, a8 illustrated by
particulars. 8wedenboJg every wh~re teaches that in the spiricual idea,
which i. interiorly that of the spiritual man and of the angel, good and troth
are the neighbor to be loved, and that the kind of neighbor is aecording to the
kind of good in the man, or that 'the neighbor is such as the man is. On this
bead he speaks a8 follow8 in the posthumous tract concemin~ Clta,.it'y, n. 21.

,eThat all men are not alike the neighbor, is taught in the Lord's parable of
the man that was wounded by ~obbets, where it 18 said that he was the neigh-
bor I who showed mercy on hIm.' Whoe,·er does not. distinguish the neigh-
bor according to the kind of good and truth in the man, may be deceived in
a thousand instances, and his charity become confounded, and at length an-
nulled. A. man-devil may exclaim, 'I am the neighbor; do good to me :'
and if you do good to him, he may kill you or some oth~r person· {or you
are placing a knife or sword into his hand. Simpletons net thus. they say
that every man is equalJy the neighbor; and that, therefore, it ls of no great
importance to examine iIlto the qualities of meu. But God regards this as
bestowing aid upon evil as a neighbor I and there is 110 love of the neighbor
in acting thU8. He who loves the neJghbor from genuine charity, inquires
what the !!lan is, and a.t the s~me time wi~ the more discreetness, what kind
of good w1l1 be beneficial to hIm. Such sImpletons as do not, are withdrawn
and separated in the other life; for if they come among diabolical ppirits, tbey
are allured to serve them, and to wrong the good. For the evil clamor for
liberty and 8.88istance, a~d herein lies their greatest ~eans of strength: they
are utterly powerless-wIthout the help of, and, as It were, the conjunction
with, those simple spirits j yet with. thOle they have deceived under the name
oLJleig~orJ they are 8ClODg. Chuity, really plluine, ia pmdeDt aud wiee.
1810.' ID
Other charity is spurious, beeause it;s uaerely veluntary, or of good, and DOt
at &he same time illtellectual, or of truth."

Objections to the doctrine of charity, B.8 thus defined, must necessarily rest
upon a denial of any essential distinction in the degrees of the principle. If
there is such a thing as spiritual, contradistinguished fr.om naturai charity, it i8
a charity that operates by trutb, and is therefore discriminative. "Too man of
the internal church," says our author, U acts herein with discrimination, thus
with iJltt::Uigenoe; l»l1t the man of the enemal chlH'cb, ina8lllUch as he is not
capable ·of·exercifin! such discem~ent, does good indiscriminately." If it be
'Said that no one ean do this without claiming to judge of the states of others
we reply that this is, to a certain exteDt, undoubtedly our duty in exercising
charity. ~, It is a cORllllon GpiRion," say. #S-weGe.borg, 1I at dlis ciay, that eve~
man is.equally a neighbor, and ttlat goad is -ettually to be done to every ODe
who is in need of help; but it conu ms Chrittian pnulence to 'CrutiAizI.,u tlu qutJ-
lit!l of a .aft', life, aad to unciw duJrity tuCOT~ingly" (.11. C.6.78.). Again he re-
marks,' " 'I1le man wb.. is in claaritr '~tJflliMl and ducowTl JIg meau 8/ troth tMaI
ought to h lOt1Id, aM in 10000ng and ctmfnTing bmt}itl, regards the quality of the
Gthel"s usefolness" (D. F.19-21.).
nU8 explained, we see no difficulty in atlmitting the ntla of Swedenborl'8
doctrine as couclled in the following pa88age ;-" Genuine charity 'consists in
acting prudently, and for the sake of an end to prGmote good. He who re-
lieves a poor or indigent villain.does evil to his neighbw through him, for by
the relief which he affords he confirms him in evil, and supplies bim with the
opportunity of doing evil to others j it is otherwise with him who gives sup-
port to the good" (~. C. 8120). -We trost our Querist may be satisfied witll
this, and that be ma, see too diat ther.e is 80medlillg rather the opposite of the
decorous in the obvious il'Rptication, net to say distinct char~, that Sweden-
borg u sets aside the plain word of the Lord Jesus Christ.', ~is is not
language to be used by aoy one but a bold impugner of the heavenly doctrines
Wo boa 110 lleu,,-.
11. The paragraph referred.toin the second Query, i8 the fo1'lowing;-.....u When
.the wicked are punished, there are nl,vays angels present to regulate its de-
gree, and aUeviate the pains of the sufferers as much as may be." There iI
nothing elee ia the sectioB that bea'!'! partieuhrrly OD the pGin·t of the quee-
tion, if it has any point, which is not very obvious to us. Because '&nl'el8 are
present to moderate the punishments of the wicked, how is there any "appar-
ent inconsistency" with tJUs in Lazams' Rot being sent to mitigate t1!e torments
of Dives ! To 8ay nothing of anayin! a parable, wllich is generally designed
to illu8trate some particular phase of truth, against a general doctrinal decllll1P
tion, there is DO bint that Laz8lUs had as yet become an angel, and if he had,
DO reason appears why he should be especially sent on this miuion in com-
pliance with the rtch man's request. Moreover, if a coineidence is to be in-
sisted upon, which we think wholly gratuitous, nothingprevents the idea that
the moderating angels may have been present to the rich man, though. nothing
is said of it, and though he may not have been aware ef it. Of, it is po.sible that
Ilia torments" howev.er iDtenle, may 110t have reached the point which callei'
Gr angelic interventioD.. But all this it is of little consequence to determine.
There is no real conflict belweell tll~ scope of the parable and the revelation
of S\vedenborg I

Ill. The question as tothe consistency of war with the genuine spirit of tlle
New Church and the tenor of its ethics, is one of graver consideration. We
first give from our author an ample extract, in whi£b he reaSOllS ,vith the pro-
foundest wisdom respecting lhe relation of ,vars to the Divine Providence.

'l It is not from the Divine Providence that ~~ars exis~ because they are
united with murders, plunders, violence, cruelties, and other enormous evils,
which are diametrically against christian charity; but still they cannot but be
permitted, because the life's love of mel1~ since the most ancient, who are
understood by Adam and his wife, has b~come sltch, that it wishes to role
over others, and at length over all, and wishes to pvssess the wealth of the
world, and at length all: these two loves cannot be held in boucls, since it is
according to the Divine Providence, that it should be permitted to every one
to act from freedom according to reason, concernin~ ,vhich may be seen
above, n. 71 to 97; and because without permissions man cannot be led from
evil by the Lord, thus not be reformed and saved; for unless it were per-
mitted that evils should break out, man ",,"ould not see them, clans would nol
acknowledge them, and tllus could not be led to resist them: hence it is, that
evils cannot be repressed 1)y any Prol'idenre; for thus they would remain
shut ill, and, like the disease which is called cancer and gangrene, would
.pread around and consume all human 'Vitality. For man from birth is like a
little hell, bet\veen which and heaven there is a perpetual disagreement: no
man can be dra,\\rn out of 'his hell by the Lord, unless he sees that he is in it,
and unless he wishes to be drn\vn out; and this cannot be done without per-
missions, the causes of which are the la",·s of the Divine Providence. From
this cause it is, that there are wars, greater and less; the less bet,veen the
possessors of estates and their neighbors, and tbe greater bet,veen the mOD-
archs of kingdoms and their neighbors: greater and less makes 110 other differ-
ence, than that the Jess is kept ,vithill limits by the laws of the nation, and the
greater by the laws of nations; alld that the less as well as the greater wishes
to transgress its Jaws, hut the less cannot, and the greater ean; yet still not
beyond po~sibility. The causes that the, ~reater wars, because th~y are
united with homicides, plunder, violence and cruelties, are not repressed by
the Lord ,vith kings and generals. neither in the beginning, nor in progress,
but in the end, when the po\ver of the one or the otber has beconle so weak
that danger of destructioll threatens him, are very many, which are stored
up in the treasury of divine wisdom; of \vhich some have beeu revealed to
me; among \\.hich is this; that al~ wars, bow political soever they are, are
representative of the states of the church in heaven; and that they are cor-
respondences : such were all the wars described in the \-Vord, and such also
are all wars at this day: the \vars f1~scribed in the \Vord are tbose which the
children of Israel cani~d on with various nations, as the'Amorites, the Am-
monites, the Mflabites, the Philistines, the Syrians, the E~yptians, the Chal-
deans, the Assyrians; and when the children of Israel, \vho rel'resented the
church, receded fronl the commandments and statutes, and. fell 111to the evils
which were signified by tho~e nations, (for every nation with '\vhich the
children of Israel carried on war signified some kind of evil,) then they were
punished by that nation: as, wben they profaned the holy things of the
church by foul idolatri~s, they ,vere punished by the Assyrialls and Chaldeans,
since by Assyria and Chaldea is signified the profanation of what is holy:
Like thIngs are represented by wars at this day, wherever they are; for all
thin~s which ate done in the natural world correspond to spiritual things in
the spiritual world, and all spiritual things concern the church. It is Dol
known in this world what kingdoms in the christian world resemble the l\foab-
ties and Ammonites, '\vhat ones the Syrians and Philistines, and what the
1818.] eerttJia Doe'".. of 8rJJBtleaborg.
Cbaldeanl aDd Auyrial18, and the rest. with whom the children of Israel
carried on wars; but still there are those who resemble them. But what t~e
church is in the copntries, and what the evils are into which it is faIli.ng, and
on account of wbich it is punished by wars, cannot be at all seen in the na-
tural world, since in this world the externals only are manifest. which do not
make the church; but it is seen in the spiritual world, where the internals, in
which the church itself is, appear; and there all are conjoined according to
their various states: the conflicts of these in the spiritual world correspond to
wars, which are gO\gerned on both sides by the Lord by correspondences ac-
cording to His Divine Providence. That ,vars in the world are governed by
the Divine Providence of the Lord, the' spiritual man acknowledges, but not
the J)atural man, only ,vhen a festival is appointed on account of a victory,
as he can then give thanks to God upon his knees, that He has given the vic-
tory, and also with a few \vords before he goes into battle: but when he re-
turns into himself he then ascribes the \'ictory t'ither to the prudence of the
general, or to some measure or occurrence in the midst of the battle, concern-
ing which they had thought nothing, from ,vhich however is the victory.
That the Divine Providence, which is called fortune, is in the most. particular
things of even trifling affairs, may be seen above, n. 212: if yOll acknowledge
the Divine Providence in them, you will by all means acknowledge it in the
affairs of ,var; successes also, and the affairs of ,,"ar man~ed fortunately,
are called, by the common phrase, the fQrtLlne of war; and this is the Divine
Providence, especially in the plans and deliberations of the general; although
he should then and after\vards ascribe al1 things of it 'to his prudence. But
he may do thlS if he will, for he is ill the full libeny of thinking in favor of
the Divine Providence, and against it; yea, in favor of God and against Him;
but let him know that no jot of the plan and deliberation is frem himself: it all
flou's in either from heaven or from hell; from hell from permission, from
heaven from Provideuoe."-D. P.251.

From this it is evident that all ,\\·ars are intrinsically evil and contrary to the
genius of the Lord's kingdoln, but that they are still permitted in the counsels
of Divine wisdom, inasmuch as the pre,·ention of them would be an infringe-
ment on hlunan freedom, and a closiug ill of evils which ,viII be more likely to
be seen and put away if suffered to break out; besides other uses which they are
made to 8ubserve. Now, the true question on,this head is simply this; whether
Swedenborg can be fairly said to sanction war because he l:I'ecognizes it, and
prescribes the line of duty to be observed by those ~'ho may be engqged ill it.
He no where intimates that the scourge is to be perpetual j indeed the princi-
ples which he inculcates will be infallibly. certain to eradicate it in the end by
removing its causes, but in the mean time the lawe and constitutions of all
ClKistian nations compel military service 011 pains and penalties, and good
men may sometimes be unwillingly involved in its acti6u.. We do not think,
indeed, that such a man can at this age enter volontarily into the soldier's life
in consistency with the claims of higher principles; but suppose ·one to have
entered the army or navy in his youth, before his moral perceptions had ripen-
ed to estimate rightly the bearing of war on Christianity, would he be ~e­
quired to abandon the calling forthwith 1 Is not the case of war, ill its moral
aspects, similar to that of slavery ~ '\Vhile both institutions are ill th~lnselvcs
repugnant to the spirit of Christianity, yet may there not be such a thing as
a temporary and provisional abiding in ei ther system, and the observance of
cenain law8 of charity while thus abiding, and that too without really assum- •
ing or being obnoxiou8 to the guilt of the wron~which usually adheres to their I
IUpporte1'8 , ~
 In passing our eyel over the en8uing paragraphs from Swedenbol'g-S treat-
ise on C/ao,rity, we cannot resist the impression tb,at the principles of action
inculcated strike directly at the root of the Upas tree of war, and that if all
men would carry these principles into military life, they would very speedily
do away that life altogether.

" Charity in tA, leadn- of aft army. By the leader oC an army is meant its
general, '\\;hether he be a king or archduke, or whether he be one who holds
the generalship by appointment from them. If he looks to the Lord, and
shuns evils as sins, and acts siucerely, justly, and faithfully, in the conduct of
his leadership or governance, he does the goods of use, which are those of
charity; and because be does, meditates, endeavors after, and exercises them,
perpetually, he becomes a charity. If he be a king, he does not love war,
but peace, and continually in \var loves peace. He never commences war
except {or the safetT of hIs country, and thus he is not the aggressor, but the
defender. But having gone to war, he also becomes the aggressor, so long
as aggression is defence. III battle, if it be not contrary to his nature, he is
brave and valiant; after battle} he is mild and merciful. In battle, he ,,"oold
fain be a lion; but a lamb, \\' .ben. battle ends. In his inward self, he does
not exult in the destruction of the enemy, or the honor of victory; but solel1
in the liberation of his country and countrymen from the invasion of the
enemy, and the destruction and death they would infti~t. Be acts prudently-
He takes faithful counsel for his army, as the father of a family does for bls
. 80DS and domestics. He loves his soldiers; each in proportion as his work
is done sincerely and valiantly: and displa.ys the same character in a variety
of other things. Cunning in him is not cunning, but prudence."
U Charity in the officers under tile leader of an army. Kvery one of them may
become a charity, tnat is, all angel of heaven, if ne looks to the Lord, alld
shuns evils as sins, and does the work of his officership, sincerely, justly,
and faithfully. For thus he, too, perpetually does the goods of use, which
are of charity; his mind being in thern: and ,vhen the mind is perpetUally
in the goods of use, it becomes a form of charity. In the spiritual idea, his
country is the neighhor. He is its defence and security agaiust invasion and
destruction. He does not lyingly boast when he has no desert j nor if even
he has desert, does he think himself justified in boasting; ana this renders
him contented in disposition, and not vainglorious. In war, he loves his sol-
diers in proportion to their courage, sincerity{and obedience. He counsels
them, and wills their good as he does his own; because they are victims to
the glory of his use: for the officer has both the glory of use and the glory
of honor; but the soldier who is a charity, has the glory of use, and not the
glory of hODor. In other matters, what has been said of the leader of an
army applies to its officers, ,vith a difference according to their rank. I have
seen such officers in the superior heaven, and others who were not such,
in hell."
, "Claanty in tJu cOMmon soldier. If he looks to the Lord, and shuns evils as
sins, and does his ,vork sincerely, justly, and faithfully, he, too, becomes a
charity, and a love accordingly, since there is no distinction of :persons. For
he hates nnjust depredation . He abominates the unjust effUSion of blood_
It is quite otherwise in battle. He does not then abominate it, because he
does not think of it, but of the enemy as an enemy, who desires his blood.
His fury ceases when he hears the sound of the drum summoning him to
desist from slaughter. After the victory, he regards his captives as neighbors,
according to the manner of their good. Before the battle, he raises his a1fec-
tioDs to t.he IJord, and commends his life into the Lord's hands; and he then
lets them down from their elevation into the body, and becomes brave, and
all the while his thought of the Lord, of which he is now unconscious: re-
mains in his affections above .his bravery. And then, if he dies, he dies in
he Lord; if he lives, he lives in the Lord."-D. C. 90-9-2.

07
184'.] 117
What would become of the infemal trade of arms if all its upholders were
actuated by such a spirit as that inculcated in the above extracts! Could it
live! Would it not necessarily die _out of inanition' How then does our
Qnerist venture to bring against Swedenborg the charge of U advocating" war ,
When and hQW does he advocate it. He gives It its true character, declares it
to be diametrically contrary-to Christian charity, S8Y8 it is permitted and not
provided by the Lord, and insists perpetually upon principles that will event-
ually extenninate it from the earth. What ground is there then for atfirining
that Swedenborg is an U advocate" for the murderous arts of war , Let Dot
our correspondent be surprised that we here tunl the tables I\nd become quer-
ists omselves. We are ever ready to reply' to any candid inquiries touching
the difficult points of the New Church theology or philosophy, but we must
protest against any rash or ill-considered insinuation bearing upon the author
or the system.

ARTICLE v.
S\VEDENBORG, ARISTOTLE AND THE ANTIPODES.

Tal: April No. of the "Biblical Repository," published in this city,

contains an article by Pro!: Lewis, 011 the "Astronomical Vie\\"s of
tbe Ancients," which opens with the.folIowinwparagraphs:
Swedenborg tells us that in the course of his visits to tbe spiritual world,
he several times met with the ghost of Aristotle, and held certain very inte-
resting conversations with him respecting the opiDioDS he had entertained
while npon the earth. Among other things, he tells us that he found it ex-
ceedingly difficult to drive the old Stagyrite ont of his absurd notions in re-
gard to the figure of the earth It would appear from this account that a two
lhoQsand years' residence ill t~e ghostly world had produced no change in
his philosophical views, or given him any more li~ht in respect to either
spiritual or physical matters, than he had enjoyed dUflug the dark days of his
sojourn in this earthly and animal existence. After a most faithful elIort,
however, Swedenborg at last succeeds in convincing him of his ettOf". He
learns with astonishtnent that the earth is actually round, and finally yields
10 the improbable id'ea of there being anti~ inhabiting the other side, with
their feet and heads in vertical and opposite directions to our OWD. The
ghost of the old Greek, remembering, doubtless, with stubborn pride the abso-
lute sway he had 80 long exercised in the leanled and scientific world, is very
reluctant to be taught such uew and startling doctrines. He is exeeedingly
puzzled to understand how up and down can both have reference to the .
8aD1e point, or how persons and things on the under side of the earth ca:£~.. _
sibl, maintain their position without falling off into the Ir,,,.., or i ·te
abyss of space below. Bot he is at last convinced, and becomes, 88 we are
told, very much ashamed of his former notions.
This may be taken as a pretty good sample of Swedenborg'8 dreams, or
of the manner in which he was wont to transfer to the spiritual world the sub-
jective states of his own mind} with all its errors, ignorance, and prejudicee.
In others of his DumerOU8 visIOns, his theological partialities and dislikes are
 128 8wedenborg, .ArUtotle lMarch,
equally apparent; furnishing conclusive evidence, that the spirituality in
which he lived, transcended but little, if any, the sphere of his own brain, or
the cherished thoughts and impressions of his waking hours.
No reputation that Swedenborg may have among his own followers can
shield hJm here from 'the charge of having made, to say the least, a shameful
and egregious blunder. He admits the possibility of lying appearances sent
by evil spirits, and the most charitable supposition migbt b~, that in this ease
the seer himself was thus imposed on by an emissary of darkness. The
Aristotle whom he saw could not have been the renowned philosopher of
that name, ,vhose numerous \vorks have come down to us. The truth, how-
ever, is, that the Swedish mystic has imposed upon himself, by giving in his
dreams, an objective presentation to one of the most vulgar errors of his day.
Without taking any llains to test: its truth, he simply assumes the common
notion, that, until ~ulte modern times, all mankind, the leuned as well as the
unlearned, had beheved the earth to be a flat, extended, immovable plain.
It is only as representing such a common notion, that we adduce his state-
meut, or attach any importance to it; although we cannot but regard it as
most strange, that one who has among his disciples such a reputation for
learning, and especially for a knowledge of the ancient w~rld and church,
should have suffered himself to be imposed OD, or should have imposed on
himself, by such a falsity engendered of his own ignorance and prejudice.
* * * * *, * *
To return, however, to Swedenborg and Aristotle. In order to prove that
* *
the seer was in this case imposed on by some counterfeit ghost, we need
only, in the first place, turn to the treatise entitled De Calo. We believe that
there is v~ry little, if any, dispute among the learned, of this being one of the
most genuine works of Aristotle. At all events, (if such a prQof of auth.enti-
city might have weight with the decriers of the Stagyrite,) it does undoubt-
edly contain many very strange and extravagant opinions-enough to furnish
an abundant stock for all \\"ho are most fond of declaiming on the absurdities
of ancient science. On these questiol1s, however, of the globular form of the
earth, and of the antipodes, and in respect to a philosophical view of up and dOU'R,
instead of being the fool tbat he ·is represented to be, he was uudoubtedlr as
orthodox as any in the ne\vest scientific church-as sound, in short, as Gali-
leo, or Bacon, or even S\vedenborg himself. He not only held the earth la be
round, and maintained the existence of antipodes, but put forth some of the
best demonstrations that have ever been advanced in proof of those position~
except the actual fact of the circumnavigation of the globe.
A leading one among these arauments ot Aristotle yet maintains its place
in our school-books on astronomy, and is doubtless often appealecl to by
many who are not a-ware of its antiquity, as a striking result of the progress
t

of modern science, since its revival by Copernicus and Galileo. It may be

foulld in the second book of the treatise Dt Calo, chap. xiv. 8. He is reasoD-
ing against Anaximenes, Anaxagoras, Democritus, and others of that ancient
school, who, in spirit, at least, bore the nearest resemblance to some of most
modern date. They claimed to be par eminence, the p/"ysici, the naturaLi$tI, tbe
scientific men of their day. They were the Baconians of their time, the men
of induction, of observation, of experiment,-who, avoiding all visionary, a
Fiari speculations about TO {JE~TlaToJl, and rrJ .",aWrClTOJI, about the tl'tll and fit,
· and highest and b"t, and ideas, and final causes, prided themselves upon ha,"·
ing adopted the cautious, scientific, (J posteriori method of reasoning from facL~
or phenomena, as made known to us by the senses. In contending with thL"-
school, he refutes them on their own ground of philosophising from appear-
ances, and shows that their doctrine' of the earth'~ being flat, and floating on
the compressed air or water, oV ripvoutlfl lJ~A ift'C"'C&)I'(ITi~D"aG ra., dl(HI TO' lC_r..,so-.
like a cover to a vessel, is utterly at war with the phlnomma that are exhi·
bited in an eclipse of the moon. He had before proved the docuine from
other and more a yriori reasons; in other words, reasons drawll from the
known or conceived relations and fitness of things. Here he appeals to the
1849.] and tAe Antipotlu. 129
senses regarded as making their observations nnder the guidance of reason.
U And, moreover, it follows, also, from the appearances or phenomena that
are presented to the sense. Otherwise the eclipse of the moon would not ex-
hibit such sections 8S we see it does. For although in its monthly phases it
has all diversities of outline, 80 as to be at one time straight, again gibbous
or convex, and again concave; yet in its eclipses it has the defining or inter-
secting line, (made by the shadow of the earth,) invanoably curved. So that,
since the moon Buffers eclipse by the interposition of the earth, it must be the
periphery (of the earth's shadow) that is the cause, because the earth itself is
spherical." Another phenomenal argument which still maintains its place in
aU popular astronoDlical treatises, is dra.wn from the appearances (~(I.,racrta')t
and varying heights of the stars. From these it is inferred, not only that the
earth is round, but also that it hath no very' great magnitude.-u Sinc-e even
in a small change of distance, either to the north or to the south, there
is a manifest change in respect to the horizon (0 6,.i'(&)1' ".>-.'), 80 that the
stars which were over our heads undergo a change (of position or direction),
and do not appear the same (that is, vertical,) as we travel either to the nonh
or to the south. In this way, some stars are seen in Egypt, and in the neigh-
borhood of Cyprus, which are not visible in the more northerly regions; and
again, some stars are continually above the horizon in the north, which do
seem to set (or go under the horizon,) in the regions before mentioned. So
that from these reasons also, is it manifest, not only that. the earth has the
form of a sphere, but likewise that that sphere cannot be very large; for
otherwise there would not be 80 perceptible a change to those \\·ho make
such a comparatively small variation in their position upon the earth'8 sur.
face." All the rules of Bacon'S Organon could not have produced an argu-
ment more directly grounded on rational induction and observation. It ad-
dre~ses itself to every man's eye, and to every man's common sense, when
employed in the contemplation of natural things. We certainty must live on
a ball-and that, too, a ball of no great comparative magnitude-because, as
we travel over its surface in one direction, bodies which before appeared in
or near the horizon, disappear ill consequence of the straight line from them
to the eJPe being interrupted; and this can only take place because the curva-
ture of the body on which we d\vell has come between. For the same rea.
son, other parts of the visible horizon come into sight, because we have as-
cended or passed over the convexity that before hid them from our view.
And ~O, also, stars before in or near the vertex make a less and less angle
with t.hat patt of the horizon from which \ve ate departing, and which there-
fore seem to rise just in proportion as we desce'lld, or seem to descend, the op-
posite convexity; all which, as Pliny says--accidere non pOBSit, nisi in figttra
pilae-eould neve~ happen except on something that has tne figure of a ball."

'Ve a.re taken somewhat by surprise to meet with this disparaging

exhibition from the pen of our friend Prot: Lewis. Not that we had
any reason to suppose that he gave in, as runs the phrase, to the truth
and soundness of S\vedenborg's claims, but we were not prepared
to expect that so broad and sweeping a charge would be hazarded
upon the only grounds which exist for it in his writings. We are
aware indeed that this charge does not rest sole])" upon the alleg- .
ed error or "blunder" in this particular instance, for it is evident
that Pro£. L. bas no more confidence in any of S,,'edenborg's disclosures
than he has in this. But by showing that in this case he has wrong-
ly represented our author, without, however, imputing the least de-
sign of injustice, we may perhaps afford 80me ground for a ques-
tion in his mind whether he may not equally have misapprehend-
ed him in other points, and withheld a confidence that was fairly chal-
lenged. We have no doubt that Prof. L.'s state of mind is that of
180 [March,
hundreds in the Ohristian community who, from the theological posi-
tion in which they are fixed, are morally unable to eonceive the possi~
bility that any opposite system should be true, and I~ast of all that of
Swedenborg, who professes to have received it by direct revelation
from heaten. Taking it for granted in the outset that nothing of this
kind can be aught else than dreaming delusion, the}" meet every par-
ticular announcement with a certain internal denial and aversioD, an _
offshoot from the general sentiment of discredit with which they re-
gard the whole. In such circumstances we cannot of course look for
candid investigation. Indeed the first and commanding effect of such
a state of mind is to forbid investigation. The whole matter is out-
lawed at once, and the necessity of inquiry before judgment, which
would at least be deemed decorous in every thing else, is here virtual-
ly denied. But when positive statements are made, and definite allega-
tions brought, we are at liberty to demand that they shall restoD a basis
of fact; that they shall not be such as a simple appeal to the writinp
shall convict ofgross misconstmction or downright perversion. Ofthe
latter we do not believe Prof. L. capable, but that he ha.s allowed his
strong prejudices in the present case to give a certain obliquity to his vis-
ion in reading what Swedeoborg says of Aristotle will be but too palpa-
ble upon the perusal of the followiog paragraph on which his ~
marks are founded. We give it both in ,the original Latin and in our
own version. .
U Aristoteli dictum quod antipodes sint, et quod post 12 homs antipodes flint,
ostensum quum id sit, is sicut alii mirati, quod sic pedibu8 possint ire, sed
dicta causa, quod cum minima aetheris gravitent in minima nosui corporis,
ad centrum. quod tunc deorsum ubi centrum, et sursum respective, et sic
inducit toti corpori sursum et deorsum, proinde ideae, sic venit in lucem et
dixit ita esse, constabat inde quoqQe, cum ratiocinatur ex atmosphaera cras-
sa, ex lapidibus et talibus, ex corpore externo, quod nequa9uam concipere
queat, quod stare p08sit ~e,dibus in opposito telluris, at ut pnmnm removeD-
tur crassa ista sen eorum Ideae, guae Similiter crasaae, tunc in lucem natura-
lem quandam venit homo."-S. D. 3959.
cc It was said to AristQtle that there are antipodes and that (the inhabitants
of all parts of the earth) b~come such to each other after the lapse of twelve
hours. When the fact was shown, he as well as others wondered that they
could thus walk on their feet j but the cause was declared (viz.), that since
the minutest portions of the ether gravitate to the minutest points of our bodyJ
towards the centre, (the gravitation) is downwards when the centre is down-
wards, and so upwards when the centre is upwards, and thus an upwards and
a downwards is induced upon the whole body, which the ideas are to follow.
The 8ubject in this way came into the light, and he said it was 80. Hence
al80 it appeared that when reasonings are instituted from the gross atmos-
phere, from stones and the like, (and) from the external body, it cannot possi-
bly be conceived that one should be able to stand on his feet on the oppoe:ite
side of the earth; but as soon as those grossne8ses are removed, or the ideas
of them, which are similarly gr08S1 then a man camel into a certain natural
light."-Id.

Leaving it, as perhaps it is, somewhat doubtful whether the term

'body" in this passage denotes the body of the earth, or the bodies of
men upon'the earth, we would respectfully inquire of Prof. L. in what
 181

particular point he recognizes the" egregious blunder" which he char-

ges DpoD our seer. We shall probably be referred for answer to the fol.
lowing sentence inhis article; " Among other things, he tells us that he
found it exceedingly difficult to drive the old Sta~·rite out of his absurd
DOtions in regard to the figure of the earth. • . • • After a most faithful
effort, however, Swedenborg at last- succeeds in convincing him of
his errors. He learns with astonishment that the earth is actuaIJ1
round, and finally yields to the improbable idea of there being AntI-
potk~ inhabiting the other side, with their feet and heads in vertical
and opposite directions to our own." Now with all deference to our
mend the Professor, we submit that there is not a single expression,
il the extract from Swedenborg, respecting the figure of the earth.
There is not the slightest intimation of Aristotle's ignorance of that
figure. The whole discussion regards the existence of antipodes and
that only. For aught that appears in Swedenborg's language Aris-
totle may have been as fully aware of the sphericity ofthe earth's form
u Professor L. thinks he was, and yet he may have been ignorant of
the very fact of which Swedenborg represents him as ignorant, to wit,
of the existence ofantipodes. The two things are in themselves per-
fectly distinct, and independent of each other, although in the mind
of the modern science it is not easy to separate the idea of the earth's
spherical figure from that of its being alltifH?dally inhabited. But it
by no means follows that these ideas were thus closely associated in
the mind of Aristotle. It may be questioned, therefore, whether in
this Professor L. is not doing the very thing which he attributes to
Swedenborg, viz., " transferring to the .spiritual world the subjective
states of his own mind."
That Aristotle was acquainted to some extent with the true form
of the earth, we are not at all disposed to deny, but that he knew or
believed the whole of the globe to be inhabited, does not appear from
any evidence that has come before us. We observe, indeed, that Pro-
fesSor L. affirms of Aristotle that he "not only held the earth to be
round," bot also that" he maintained the existence of antipode,." We
are backward to question the accuracy of Professor L. on a point of
ancient leaming, as \ve know no authority superior to his, but we
trust he will, in this instance, excuse our hesitation to receive hie un-
supported testimony on this single point. We do not profess to be
well-skilled adepts in the Aristotelian philosoph)·. We have read but
little of his writings in the original, but since meeting with the Pro-
fessor's erticle we have made ourselves somewhat at home in the
treatise De Calo, npon which he draws for the confutation of Swe- .
deDborg, but we have sought in vain for any express recognition of the
antipodes in that work. Yet if it is not there, where is it 1 Will
Professor L. produce the exact authority for the assertion 1 Will he
point us to page and section? We \visb to see with our own eyel
the proof that Aristotle taught what Swedenborg virtually assures us
he d:d not kno\v. We are the more urgent on this head, as we do
Dot find, after a careful perusal of Professor L.'s whole article on the
• Astronomical Views of the Ancients," that he has adduced the
least evidence that the diurnal revolution of the globe waa then un.
188 8wedenborg, .Aristotle [March,
derstood, or that they had any scientific knowledge of the existence of
antipodes. Yet if the evidence were accessible, why is it not pro-
duced 1
This is the very point of Swedenborg's assertion, and how effec-
tually were he confronted by a passage from the Stag)'Tite asserting
the contrary 1 This evidence our critic has not given, and we presume
it is not to be found. If he designs to put do\\'ll the testimony of Swe-
denborg on this score, Jet him make a true issue, and bring forward
the appropriate arguments. The simple question to be determined is,
whether Aristotle has affirmed the revolution of the earth on its axis,
and the consequent relative change in the situs of its inhabitants that
takes place every twelve hours. We claim for Swedenborg that he
shall be met on the very point on which his assertion resU$, and this
point we have here s t a t e d . , .
A slight acquaintance with the physical speculations of Aristotle
will evince that his mind was greatl)" occupied ,vith the relations of
up- and down. Page after page of his work on the heavens abounds
with hi~ subtle aiscriminations of the AIIW and the t:G1"w,-the above and
the below, th~ upward and the downward. Professor L alludes to
this more than once in his article. Thus h~ remarks, that" in respect
to a philosophical vie\V' of up and down, instead of being the fool that
he is represented to be, he was undoubtedly as orthodox as any in the
newest scientific church." So again, "As applied to the universe,
Aristotle's argument in proof of the sphericity of the earth '\vobld be
absolutely perfect. The great whole has a centre immovable, and
consequently an up and down absolute and unchangeable."
So deeply does this vein of reasoning enter his writings that it must
inevitably have constituted a large element in his prevailing mental
state, and if Swedenborg came at all into the range of his sphere in
the other life (in which the leading life of the world is reproduced for
permanence), it would be scarcely possible that he should not ha\·e
felt the influence of that form of thought with which his mind ,vas so
deeply ilIlbued. The forms, motions, forces, &c., of the earth and
the heavenly bodies, \vere with him an engrossing theme, and the
tendency of bodies upward and downward as the cause of gravit}9 -
and levity, especially as evinced in earth and fire, is elaborately di~
cussed.
Towards the end of the fourth book on the Heavens he observes as
follows: "In the first place, therefore, determining about that '\vhich
is especially the subject of doubt with some, we shall relate why some
bodies always tend upward and others downward, according to na-
ture, and others again, both upward and downward. After this ,,~e
shall speak about the heavy and the light, and the passive qua.lities
which take place about them, and show through what causes each oi
these is generated." Again;" That there is, therefore, something
simply heavy,and something simply light, is evident from these things.
But I call that simpl}" light which is always naturally adapted to tend
upward, and that simply hea.vy which is always adapted to tend
downward, unless something impedes. For there are certain things
of this kind,-and all things are not, as some fancy, heavy. For to

m
1849.] 188
certain other persons also, there appears to be that which is heavy,
and that it always tends to the middle (or centre). And in a similar
manner there is also that which is light. For we see, as before ob-
served, that earthly natures are placed under all other things, and
tend to the middle (or centre)." We notice also, in the Latin trans-
lation the perpetual recurrence of the terms sursum and deor,um, up-
mrtb and downwards. The very terms which Swedenborg employs
in this connectioD, and in "rhich, writing in th~t language, he would
D&turally express the ideas that were so prominent in Aristotle's
mind.- I

With these facts before us, let us turn again to Swedenborg's rela-
tion. How natural that a subject, on ,vhich Aristotle had thought
aDd written with such absorbing interest, should be a topic of conver-
sation, provided that the condition of spirits in the other life be 8uch
aI Swedenborg re~resenta it,-a point to which' Professor L. here takes
no exceptions. How natural too that Swedenborg, with the supe-
rior light of later ages, should take up the vein of Aristotle's specula-
tions respecting the figure of the earth and the la\vs of upward and
downward, and show easily the fact of the existence of antipodes were
reconcilable even with his own philosophy of motion, and his own
ideas of the spherical form of the earth.. Not the slightest intima-
tion is given of any error of Aristotle in regard to this latter point.
The discussion turns upon entirely another hinge, viz., how it is that
men can stand and walk upon their feet upon the opposite side of the
globe. To this objection S\vedenborg, in effect, replies, as Newton
himself might have done, by saying, that as downwards is always
gravitation to,vards the centre, the case is in fact the same with the
inhabitants of the earth on whatever side of it they may happen to
be; once in twelve hours those who may now be said to be up are
down, and vice versa. But their feet are still towards the centre,
and this is downwards, and they have no difficulty in retaining their
position, because they are attracted to the centre, and no difficulty in
locomotion, because the atmospheric pressure on all sides being equal,
they are in an equilibrium, and can m9ve freely in any direction on
the earth's surface; whereas stones and other gross substances, not
having the power of voluntary motion, remain fixed in their place,
and if we were to reason from them alone, ~·e could not well perceive
bow men could '\valk anywhere. .
This we believe to be the' genuine purport of the passage from our
author, and how it could have been construed, as it has been by our
friend, Professor L., passes our comprehension. At any rate, we leave
it to the candid to judge whether he had any good reason for charg-
ing S\vedenborg in such sweeping terms, ,vith " a shameful and egre-
gious blunder," and whether in sa)'ing what he JI.QS actually said on
this subject, he has in any measure justly forfeited that high reputa-
tion '\vhich his disciples accord to hirD, by "suffering himself to be im-
posed upon by such a falsity engendered of his own ignorance and
prejudice." 'fhese charges of "ignorance and prejudice," are two-
• Professor L. speaks of Swedenborg encountering U Aristotle's ghost..;" we prefer to
curtail tbe phraleology aDd .peak of Aristotle'. spirit as AriM_1f hi..-lf.
IN [Mareh,
edged weapons, rather dangerous to deal with, cutting perchance
other fingers tha.n those they are aimed at. If Swedenborg is reall:r
liable to such an imputation, the proof of it, we opine, is to be sought
from some other source than the present portion of his writings, which
certainl)· does not yield, by any fair construction, the sense that Pro-
fessor L. would put upon it. He ma.y not be aware of the operation
of "prejudice" in the disparaging view he has given of Swedenborg
in this connection, but to us it seems that were his mind free from
aIJ sinister bias founded'on theological considerations, he would have
forgiven and passed over in silence his apprehended error on the point
in question in view of his noble testimony to the \ true character of
Aristotle, whom Professor L. so greatly admires, in another section of
the Diary. "I clearly perceived that he was altogether different from
his followers, viz. in that he had developed from his own thought the
things he had written, 80 that his philosophy had originated from a
ground of thought which'he clearly set forth, in such a way that his
terms were only words by which he represented his scrutinizing
thoughts, and thus proceeded from thoughts to terms, which w~re
thence called scholastic, and by which his philosophy (is distinguish-
ed). I then perceived also that he was prompted by a delight of
affection which was predominant, and excited him to thought, so that
it was his genius that he thought from affection, and thence under
the imputse of delight and thus he described his very thoughts;
wherefore he a.pplied himself to the right ear. But his followen
proceeded not from thought to terms, but from terms scientifically
made, thus from mere learned dust as it were to thought, which is
an inverted ,,\vay, and thus from darkness a.nd deadness to the light of
thought, in which case they do not find light but darkness, nor do they
find thought but a certain something lumpish and confused."-(S.
D.3949.) In respect to this asserted difference between the genius
of Aristotle and that of his followers, he says also in the same con-
Dection, " Aristotle, moreover, is among the sane spirits, while his
followers are among the infatuated." Compare with all this the
eulogium which Sir Robert Boyle puts into the mouth of one of hb
interlocutors in a dialogue respecting a portion of Aristotle's works :
.c That great favorite and interpreter of nature, Aristotle, who was, as
his Organum witnesses, the gre~test master of logic that ever lived,
disdained the course taken by other petty philosophers (ancient and
modern) who not attending to the coherence and consequence of their
opinions, are more solicitous to make each particular opinion plausi-
ble independently upon the rest, than to frame them all so as not only
to be consistent together, but to support each other. For that great
man, in his vast and comprehensive intellect, so framed each of his
notions, that being curiously adapted into one system, they need not
each of them any other defence than· that which their mutual cohe-
rence gives them; as it is in an arch, where each single stone, which, if
severed from the rest, would be perhaps defenceless, is sufficientI:r
secured by the solidity and entireness of the whole fabric of which it
is a part. How justly this ia to be applied to the present case, I
could easily show you if I were permitted to declare how harmonious
 1848.] 116
Aristotle'. tloctriae or the elemeDtI is with his other priDciples oC phi-
1000pby; and how rationally he has deduced their number from that
of the combination of the four first qualities, from the kinds of simple
motion belonging to simple bodies, and from I know not how many
other principles and phenomena. of nature; which so conspire with
his doctrine of the elements, that they motuaUy strengthen a.nd sup-
port each other." (Bogie'. Worlu, vol. i. p. 409.) .
In ordinary circumstances the lawri ab laudando viro would, we
doubt DOt, have occurred to Prot: L. in noting the high terms in
which his favorite sage of Stagyra is spoken of by Swedenborg,
and the credit bestowed by the Seer upon the Philosopher would
have been reflected back, in his e.qtimate, upon the donor. But un-
fortunately Swedenborg professes to have been called, without seeking
it, to the high vocation of unfolding heaven's deep ~rcana of wisdom
and truth to the world, and in the accomplishment of this missioll
has contravened in some points-not however by simple assertion,
but by logical argument-the dogmas of theology current in Christiau
lands, and this operates as an act of outlawry to shut him without
the pale of that charity and kind construction which would otherwise
have probably fallen to his lot. The embracers of his system, how-
ever, will always be. as they will always have reason to be, pro-
foondly grateful if nothing shall e,·er be urged more calculated to
invalidate the truth of his statements, and thus to sap the founda-
tions oC their confidence in him, than what our friend Prof. L. has
here adduced.
P. S. While engaged in the preparation of the above remarks, we
addressed a note to Prof. L. requesting him to specify with precision
the authority he had for asserting that Aristotle taught the existence
of antipodes. To this we received promptly the following reply:-
May 2, 1.849.
nu.. So.:
I told your Bon that I thonght Arietode used the word .n'1 X'••'f, but I find
that it was Plutarch. Aristotle, however, distinctly recognizes the idea in his
second book De Calo, ch. xiv., sec.·15, 16, where he speaks of the supposition,
that India extends round to near the Pillars of Hercules, or the entrance to
the Mediterranean. His belief in antipodal f"egion, is, of course, involved in .
hiB doctrine of the earth's sphericity. ~Vhether those regions were inhabited
by men, or occoried by the ocean, was a geographical question which he
had no means 0 settling, and on which he knew no more than Swedenborg
himself. We know now that there are no Antipodes to Greece (understand-
ing the term of inhabitants,) onless they are to b'3 found in the bottom of the
SoUthern Pacific Ocean.
With Ie8pect to Aristotle's ideas of up and down, you will find the very re-
'ferae of what Swedenborg attributes to him, in the fourth book D, CtJIo, ch. i.
lee. 4, 5, atc., wherein he defines wagAt to be a tendency to the centr" and
ligltllUl, or deficiency in gravity, a tendency from the untre. So also, up, he
lays, is from the centrI, no TO., 1"(1n,--d01l11&, towards 'the centrl, ..pos "011''''•.
See e~reS81v Section C.-«trAtIJS 1"" ."" _';0" A,yope. 1'G • •61, «.11 "PO' 1'0 "XflTO. f".I" •••
s.,. .. .,. ...lw; ca1'CIt RI "I'" ,.. ,..... u By light, we simply mean a tendency up--
that ~ to the extremity or outward superficies either of the earth or heaveD;
by . ."" we mean a tendency dOtlmtllGl'tl, that is, ,owrdtJuemtr,." Now, com·,
YOL D. 9
 ,
pare this with what 8wedeoborg says ofhis stupidi*y in the Spiritual ~~
JL 8959. The only difference is, that Aristotle is remarkably clear, and show.
that he perfeetlr UndM'8taods the philosophy of the matter; whilst Sweden-
bOlg's explanation is almost nonsense, unless we interpret him by. the clearer
]aDguage or Aristotle.
Yours, truly, T. Lzwu.

The reader will not lose sight oCthe true point iD debate, viz., whe-
ther Aristotle knew and taught that there were antipodes, which Pro£
L., in behalf of the philosopher maintains, and which we, in behalf o(
Swedenborg, deny. As to the intimation that Swedenborg first
taught Aristotle the sphericity of the globe, he being previously ignor-
ant of it, 88 &wedenborg says not a ~Ilable on that head, we wave
the question entirely, as restiof!' on a mere gJ-ati, dictum of the Pro-
fessor. The question of the antipodes is the question to b~ settlE'd.
On this head it seems (1), that the term «n"...ocJtr. llntipodel, does Dot
occur in Aristotle, and (2'), that the nearly equivalent term _n-'x'...cr.
antichtAonea, oppoaite d~ller8, is not to be found used by bim in this
sense. This is certainly cutting off DO small quantum of the evi-
dence of Aristotle's belief on this head. What then is the evidence
on which Prof. L. relies to make good his assertion 1 So far as we
can see it is all comprised in this,-tbat the doctrine of the earth's
sphericit)" involves the beliefof the existence of antipodal regimu, and
that he speaks of the supposition of others, that India might extend
round to the Pillars of Hercules. As to the first point, we can only say
that if admitted, it does not at all invalidate Swedenborg's 8tatement~
to wit, that every flquatorial portion of the earth's surface becomes
anti[JO!lal to itself after the lapse of twelve hours. Will Prof. L. af-
firm that Aristotle understood this 1 As to the second, we eannot do
better than to quote the passage entire, that the reader may judge
for himself how much warrant it affords for the very explicit language
oC Prof. L. After It.dducing a series of argUments, some of which the
ProfedSor has quoted in his article, in proof of the rotundity of the
earth, he says :-" From all this it is obvious not only that the earth
is round, but also that 88 a round mass it is not of very great magni-
tude, as otherwise there would not be such a sensible change (in the
position of certain stars) to those that make such a comparatively'
short migration from one place to another on the earth's surface; for
which reason those who suppose that the region about the Pillars of
Bercules is conterminous with that of India, and that in this way the
sea is oue, do not seem to entertain a yery incredible opinion." As
an additional proof of this he refers. to the fact that elephants are
found in both regions, the geographical extremes being character-
ized or affected, 88 he terms it, by similar natural productions from
their lying in the same circuit. This then, in the last analysis, is all
the evidence adduced to show that Aristotle taught the doctrine oC
antipodes, and that Swedenborg, for intimating the contrary, is with-
out excuse. To what does it amount 1 As the earth is undoubtedly
round, the hypothesis advanced by some is not incredible, that the Straits
of Gibraltar and the eastern IndiClS are in some way cODnected, and
that one sea lave! both ~egioD81 That,thil is a vastly slender basis
,tM9.] tUI~ de AatiptJtl••• 13'
for mch a supentructure must be evident at once. It is clear also
that the question as here presented is transformed from a question COD-
cerning antipodal TJWP1,e, to ODe concerning anli~1J1 regioru. This,
however, is sometLing without and beside the onginal point in debate,
and we leave it to the adjudication of those whom it may concern.
It may not: however, be amiss to observe that even if Aristot.le had
gone farther and come still nearer the truth in his conjectures, yet in-
asmuch as it tDtlS mere conjecture and not positivtS knowledge or firm
scientific induction, it would not, according to S\vedenborg, abide with
him in the other life, where all mere transient impressions pass away,
and nothing remains permanent except that which is deeply in-
wrought and cemented by the love into the most eentral convictions
IIld assurances of the inner man. Aristotle, doubtless, was not suC-
8eiently rooted and grounded in the true science of the earth, in this
respect, to earry with him into the other life anytiling like a settled
penuasion in regard to it, and nothing else would have remained.
As to the criticism upon Swedenborg's use of the terms up and
tltnmJ, and bis attributing to Aristotle the reverse of what he really
held, we confess our inability to see its point or propriety. Sweden-
borg does not eqweuly attribute any theory whatever to Aristotle on
this head, much less does he sa.y any thing that implies a char@'e of
.. stupidity" on the part of the philosopher. All that it was necessary
for him to assume was Aristotle's doctrine of doWftlDtJrd8, or tendency
to a centre, and this was correct enough, for he perpetually teaches
that all heavy hodies tend to the centre, and his grand argument for
the necessarily spherical figure of the earth is, that" each of its parts
gravitates as far as to the middle. t ' This alone is sufficient to 801-
tain all that Swedenborg represeBts himself as saying in the inter-
view. He had no occasion to go against Aristotle's theory of upward;
it may have been sound or not, but it had nothing to do with the
ground which S\vedenborg assumed in order to demonstrate th~ point
in hand.
We here take our leave of the review, .M rather in sorrow
than in anger." We regret the occasion tha.t has arisen for.tlii~
eclaircUsement on 8 point called in question by onr fri~nd, and) w~i~h
was, in faot, some,vhat gratuitously introduced into his very able and
interesting article on the Astronomical views of the Ancients. Could
we have been allowed to repair the injury where it was inflicted-to
administer the antidote where the bane had done its work-we should
less deplore the necessity of the present expose. But the clear inti-
mation given us that no opportunity would be' afforded in t~. pages
oC the" Biblical Repository" for disabusing its readers of the fa~se·~.
impressions unavoidably created by the tenor of the article, leavds .
118 bot one course to pursue, and we embrace the only alterD~tive
left for righting, as best we may, a truth slanted from its perpendi-
cular. It is always a grievance to a New Churchman to be called
to defend his doctrines from the petty guerilla warfare of cavils aimed
at particular parts and features of the system. Though not desirous
of controversy for its own sake, yet we should far more readily en- ~
COIlIlter an opponent who would take ground manfully against the ,
 188
ftmdamental principles, psychological and theological, oC our Caith.
AIl the minor details of the doctrines, which usually give OCCasiOD for
acandal, even where contempt is withheld, wOQld be speedily aettled
when onC8 the great question was determined whether Swedenborg
spate from an impulse truly prophetic and divine, or whether he
Y~Dted the vagaries of a wild and disjointed phantasy. The grounds
and reasons on which such an extraordinary claim are to b~ in his
ease and all similar cases, sustained, together with the tests to which
they are to be submitted, constitute a theme of diicU88ion which the
ablest intellects would find well worthy of their powers. We mUlt
insist upon it that the problem in the case of Swedenborg is Dot ap-
preciated; particularly the fact that men of unquestioned intelligence
have found, after the most thorough examination, that the system
meets every -demand, on the score of evidence, ,,·hieh the clearest
revelation from heaven could be expected to do. Surely, in the tace
of 80 much that is calculated at first blush to repel belief; there must
be some powerful reasons that avail to extort it. These reasons
whioh have weighed with them, they freely impart to the world, and
submit to its verdict. Why do not their opponents adopt the same
oourse 1 A professed message from heaven to earth which gains
credence, Dot among the weak and credulous and fanatical, but with
the soberest, the most cool-judging, and slow-deciding minds, is enti-
tled to attention, and as definite reasons ought to be given for its re-
Jection as for its adoption. We are aware, indeed, that essays, tracts,
and books have been written and published in professed refutation of
the system in question, but they uniformly fail of effect upon the
minds of receivers from the fact, that the features of the revelatioDS
on which they fix, and against which they urge their assault, are not
the features which have Wlln for them the assent of their espousers.
A true issue is not joined. The one party, from a survey of the whole
field, yields to the force of the affirmative evidence in the character
of the philosophy and the faith embodied in the writings of SwedeD-
bore, while the other plants itself upon a negative position, and urges
.clu~vely the objectioDs that they behold apart from the general
body of the doctrines. The consequence is, that the attack and the
defence drive wide of each other. The objectipns lose all their force
with one who has mastered the principles from which they How,
,wLile these principles, constituting the very pivot on which the whole
contrDversy turns, are utterly overlooked and pretermitted on the
.part of the assailant. Such has hitherto been t.he state of the case
ill.etween the advocates and the opponents of the New Church.
, Whether such is to be permanently the relation of the parties to this
.high debate, time and Providence can alone determine. If it be, we
submit to the allotment, grateful in the meantime if nothing is urged
-eaiDat the system more formidable tOaD the critique before us.
I, ED.
1"'1

POETRY •
... tIl. N. C. Bepolltol'J.

KEN AND FLOWERS•

• Y IIK8. IIAllY 8. WBITAD:Il, 01' CIUJlLl:8TOK, 8. 0.

Tu Spring,-the Spring,-the radiant SpriDg,

How brightly does it bloom!
Glad Nature'S heart doth sweetly sina,
Aa earth were not a tomb.

The aky,-the azure sky,-is sort,

Like childhood'. lightaome sleep;
Its clouds diuolve in rain 88 oft
. .Aa little children weep.

" Blush on,-blush oD,-ye 8priDg-time 8owen.

Your doom ia early death j
Amid earth·. beauteous bowers,
We, too, yield soon our breath.

Ye die,-we die,-a little while

Bees man and flowers depart :
Ye smile,-we smile,-alas! we smile
Oft with a breaking heart.

&I Weep not,-weep not,-poor child or clay,"

Methinb the flowers reply,
U Your better home is far away,
m heaven, where Done may die.
le BiDd up,-bind uPt-the broken beut.
Wipe off the falling tear ;
The tomb is very cold and dark,
Bot soul. ne'er slumber there.

• cc Ye die,-ye diet-the body dies,

The spirit's garment frail,-
Far, far from death the spirit flies;
Angels its coming hail.

" And Spring and towers and joy awaitt .

The soul from bonds set free,
And changeless is the happy state
Of blat etemity."
 8elet:liou. LM~

SELECTIONS.
LUTHERJAN GEMS.
No. 2.
We conth;,ue in tbis Number 0111' extracts 1rom the old "olame of Lather's cc Common
. Plaeee. It The aolifidian vein that runs through them will be evident at a glaoce. It is DOt.
however, simply for the purpose of exposing this in Ilb invidious manner that we draw upcm
Ihe dogmatic treasury before us. Swedenborg has been accused of falsifying the true doe-
trines of the Reformers. He has often been charged with attributing to them a praetical de-
Dial of cbe value of works, aDd a total disparagement of cbarity in. compari80n with iiUtb.
Now the fact is, he DOwhere denies that the Proteslant system admits the necessity of aood
works BDd holds that they will exist' where faith exists, but wbat Swedenborg .ftirma is.
that tbe conjuoctlon which tbe ReCormers and their successors would fainestablish between
tbeee two principles is illicit and spurious, inasmuch as they make charity and good works
wholly the produc~ of faith, and 88!ign to th1lm DO efficacy whatever in the essential act ot
j1lltUlcation.
Our object is to show from Lather himself. tbe Prince oftbe Reformers. that Swedenbo,.
il pe~tl1 ceneot in the statements be ba!' made on this bead, and we think no one can read
this eeries oCextraetswithout eeeing that Lutbercomplet.elysubordinates works to faith, aDd
makes them a mere appendage. aDd that not an indispensable one. to the faith that justilles.
The connection wbich be admits is preci@ely that kind of falae aDd perverted connection
apinst \vhjeh Swedenborg bu enteNd such a IOlemn caveat aDd looh a triumphant COUJ8e
ofreuoning iD the 4fth volume (Eng. ed.) oftbe cc Apocalypse Explained!'
ON J'AITR.

It is at great peril that works are preached np in preference to faith. On the

other hand, there is no danger in insisting on faith without works, for the peo-
ple are mightily prone to put confidence in works, and to give them the pre-
eedence over faith. But where a }Jure faith is rightly inculcated, there works
~ring forth spontaneously, and wIth B Il safet1' the lesson being in the mean-
am. taught, that all the power of works lies ID faith alone, which is the gen-
uine doer .-Op. Tom. viii. 308, G.
God the Father hath made faith to comprise everything, 80 that whoever
has this pas all things, and he who has it not has nothing.-Id. Tom. i.
465,6.
By faith alone without works is the sonl, through the word of God, justified,
sanctified, verified, pacified, liberated, filled ,vitb all good, and made a true
daughter of God.-Id. Tom. i. 466, 6. .
A cordial faith is the head and substance of all our righteousness; where-
fore it is a blind and perilous doctrine which teaches that the precepts are to
be fulfilled by works, as the preceJ?t8 are to be fulfiled prior to all works,
and works will then follow the fulfihnent.-Id. Tom. i. 466, b.
By faith in Christ we are not freed from the obligation of works, but from
the opinion of the value of works, that is, from the foolish presumption of a
justification procured by works. Fai th redeems, rectifies, and preserves our
consciences, by which we know that our righteousness is not in ,vorks, though
works neither can be nor ooght to he wanting.-Id. Tom. 1. 520, a.
Faith in Christ alone justifies, alone fulfils the law, alone does good works
without the law.-Id. Tom. I. 669, a.
To the believer in Christ there are no works 80 bad that they can accuse
and damn bim; and, OD the other hand, none 80 good that they can defend
1Nl.)
4ID4 save hi.... But all our own proper works accule and duan us. and thOle
of Cluist alone defend and save us.-Id. TOIII. ii. 619, G. ..

That faith which apprehends Christ the Son of God, and adorns itself with
Him, and not that which includes charity, is the faith that justifies.-Id. Toa.
iv.32. b.
The sophists, when they hear U8 teachiDg concerning faith, imagine that it
is a controversy about a mere trifle, fur they do not know that faith is a change
end renovation of the whole nature, 80 that the ears, the eyes, the heart itaelf
hear, see~ sod feel i1l a mallner altogether di1ferent from what takes place in
ngard to other meD. Faith is a living and powerful principle; it is not an
idle -cogitation, nor does it Boat upon the heart like a goose upon the water;
it is l'ather lilre water Iteated by fire, which remains water still, but from being
warm and Domore cold is altegetber changed in its quality. Thus faith, the
work of dJe Holy Spirit, forms a Dew mini and <»ther senses, and- makes: in
fact, an ·eotirelty new man. It is therefore a working faith, a difficult and mo-
mentous thin~, and if we estimate the matter arignt, it is rather passion than
action, for minds &Dd &eoses are changed by it. While reason is wont to lean .
upon what is present, faith embraces what is absent, and, contrary to reason
practically regards it 88 present. Th;s is tile cause that the faith of all is not
u the hearillg of all, for there are few that believe. The rest depend more
upon things present which they can touch and handle than upon the Word.-
IJi. i1I Gm. tJ in " 12.
WOLFGANG MENZEL ON SWEDENBOOG.
7he fo'Dowing .mewhat remarkable testimony to Swedenbors is from cc Meuzel'a Germaa
Literature,t. (voL i. p. 1'78.) 1'he work il ODe of high chuacter. and affords a specimen'oC
cbe yutly more lilteral tolle iD wbicll Swedenborg is spokes of b, the literati and many or
the tIIeolegians (If the continent of Europe, than that which:prevails for the most part &mODI
the ame class ofwriten in this country, and in England.
The CoDowiDg will be well entitled to a place in dle Cl Documents" should it reach aDotber
«litioa.
Ooe of the most remarkable phenomena in the latest theological literature,
is tile di«wsiOD1)f the doctrines of S,vedenborg. by means of trar.slatioD8 of his
werka eucuted by Talel and Hofaker in Tubingen. This doctrine is closely
connected, by an iiUemal bood, \vith the ancient Oriental and romantic mys-
ticism; but an altogether pecDliar plant has sprung up from a southern seed
in a Donhern home. He may be called the Protestant Mabomet of the north,
inasmnch 88 he promulgates not only a new doctrine, but even a new church,
and.not only, like Luther, rests upon Scripture grounds the old revelation and
reaseD, -but supports a new revelation, made to himself as a prophet, on the
immediate inspll'ation of Heaven. But as M.hornet's doctrioBt according to
the cbaracter of the torrid zone, is the doctrine of slavery, so, according to the
character of the north, Swedenborg's doctrine is the doctrine of freedom, and
the boldest in the world. Hence it is suited to the poetical rationalists (like
Goetbe, who .adhered to it) no less than to the followers of magnetism; and it
would not be impossible for it to obtain still a wider diHusion, and, at some
future time, tQ form a powerful opposition Bllainst the romantic mysticism, to
which the south will ever remain faithful. The characteristic of this doctrine
jl the most IOlical Protestantism, the opposition of an absolute freedom and
~lr-determinationto the divine determJnation of mall. All that man can be
.this side or the other of the grave, he becomes by himself alone; by the direc-
tion which he imparts to bimselfj aud if he does not enter the higher
regions, it is from hIS own will: he does not, because hq is not at his ease
there, beeause he prefers meaner company. In this doctrine, every thing i.
eerene, clear, and comfortable; one feels in it very much as if he were at home,
and the wonders which we anticipate beyond the grave, and the terrore arising ~
1
 ...".,. [Mueh,
tberelrom, dil8'ppear. ID fact, theN iI DO doetriae ..hioh eGrre8pOIIds better'
with the common sense of the present age. In regard to eelf-determiDatioa,
it is most intimately connected with the philosophy of Fichte, and thereby
with all the ideas of freedom in modem science. Even the intercourse with
the world of spirits appears therein as something quite natural. Swedenborg
belongs to the north, which is thoronghly pervaded by the magnetic power
iD ita inhabitants, as the visioos aDd aomnambulic states of an high nOltbem
DatioD&, the Hebrideans, the GreenlaDdera, the 8chamane, demonstrate. Ani-
mal magnetism is 88 natural there 88 physical, the inner light as common as
the northem light; and as the latter is a aelf.illuminatioD of the earth,-a traD8-
lation of the planet into the IUD,-O the inner light of the stlbjE:ct of magnetism
is a self.apotheosis of man, a traDslation of the mortal indiVidual into the im-
IDOnal world of spirits; though both to a very limited exteDt, and not without
a delu8ion, which neceuarily belongB to the invenioD of relatioDs. The
Dorthern seer and the northern light jlluminate the night only, but are far dif-
ferent from day-light· and he who has been a nigbt-wanderer in this doctriDe,
and at le!lgth beholds the dawn in the heavens, will feel like ODe who had
Men only the northern IUfbt, considen it the SUD, and suddenly beholds the
Rn himself. '
I believe, consequently, that the doctrine of Hwedenborg, however much it
must contribute, in one direction, to the illustration of religious things, and
however elevated it is in respect to iL8 morality, founded on freedom, will yet
always fonn an opposition to the more ancient and romantic doctrine of p&l'-
doning love from on high. It is cenain, however, that if the wretched triri-
ality and want of ideas in theology gives way more and more to profounder
investigation, the doctrine of Swedenborg cannot fail to exert a grea\ in-
ftuence.

------_ _... ...

MISCELLANY.
Ix continuiDg our correepoDdence we are happy to Pr8lf1Dt our NaIIen .. fila .n~
letter from the C1ergymaD mentioned in the January No., who, together ~ith hi, son, was
leading the work8 of the New Church with deep interest. Of the lOll, wbe ha lODe •
California, we spoke in our last•
.My DZA& SIB:
My SOD has left - - , and intends going to California. He has sent me
the .books you sent him. He professes to believe the writings or Swedenborg.
I hope he mar believe nothing worse; and if he believes nothing better, that
he may 80 beheve in tI&em, as to attain to the love and aim at the use which
they inculcate, and to faith ill the Lord. If Providence permit, he intends to
.tart 800n for that golden region, and become a permanent inhabitant of that
countq: I hope he may do well i-the Lord guide him to his glory! I COll-
eented to receIve your favors wjth thankfulness; but I fear the New Chardl
publi~hers and writers find so felv pnrchasers and patrons, that they can
Jiardly afford gratuitous distribution. Be this a8 it may, you will oblige me
to accept the iuclosed as in part pay for the works 80 sent. They have be-
come 80 far interesting to me, that I wish them to c08t me something. U Noble's
Lectures" came safe to hand: I have not yet read them, but I have nearly
finished reading Barrett's, and some of the pamphlets. It ,viII be some time
before I can sift the matter to the bottom, other duties now requiring my time.
., trust, alter thoroughly reading what of these writings I have on band, if I
wieh to read further, I shall be able either to purchase or to borrow the rest
without troubliug yoar generosity.fwther. Still, as you may know better than
1849.] 14i
I what may be necessary for me to attain tbe requisite infonnation, and at
the same time know your own circumstances, I shall not refuse any addi-
tional contributions of the kind you may find it right to send me.
Youn, affectionately,
The two fttDowing letten, leCelnd a few mont'" since, are from. pndeman or hie.
reepectability, residing in one oCthe British provinces. The result of hi. 1'Mding we haft
JaOt been made particularly acquainted with; we only know that his Interest is loch .. to
iDdace him to cooliDge bi. eublCription to the Rq/oIilarr Cor the preeent Jear.

lIT nu. Bm,

IT is now nearly thirty years since I have seen any or our college-cl. . .
mates, with the exception of -- - in 1843, and - - in June last. Whilst in .
Boston this summer I bought two of your publicatioDs, viz i u Mesnler and
Swedenborg," and your U Reply to Dr. Wood's Lec!nres on Swedenborgianism,"
these being the fust of your works that I had seen, and which I have read
with a good deal of interest. I have never seen any of Swedenbor~s works,
and should like to procure enough of his writings to enable me to come to 801118
conclusion 8S to the truthfulness of his reports from the U Spirit-world,"-aIao
more ofyonr own works. You will oblige by aiding my inquiries in the pre-
mises. Please furnish tne with a list of your publications, and point out 8uch
of the writings of 8wedenborg as yoo would direct attention to for the purpose
of making myself acquainted with his teachings, and dlia in the smallest com.
pass.
The 'tMesmer and Swedenborg," I gave to Capt. 0--, R. N., the only bro-
ther of Admiral 0--. He was just about to sail for En~land in the Govem-
ment Surveying Steamer U Columbia," and had not time to procure a copy
from Boston. I therefore gratified his desire to see the work by givin, him my
copy. Several persona have requested a loan of it. I shall send for another.
It appears that" the plea of insanity, but not of imposture, is urged against
the disclosures of Swedenborg. His intercourse (real or imaginary) with the
spiritual world covers, it seems, an uninterrupted period of twenty-nine yearsJ
and I do not find that he was at any time reputed ill8ane by his friends anel
acquaintance. If he had been really insane for 80 long a period on any sub-

~
. it would seem to be very atrange that the diecovery bad not been made
tbose who were in daily, and even ~cB8joDal intercourse with him, and
t Ibe fact had not come down to us in a shape to leave no room for doubt.
To make the plea of insanity valid, it would seem to be nece88ary to assume
a contjlll1a1 insanity without any lucid intervals. If lucid intervals inter-
vened, the concession of his honesty must be \vithdrawn, as it can hardly be
conceived that an honest purpose would not. in his lucid inte"als, have dis-
claimed the vagaries and illusious of his demented state.
I remain, very sincerely,
Yours, ate.

From the -.me at a aubeequeDt date.

KY DU.. ID,
I wish to become a subscriber to the cc New Church Repository.n From the
little that I have read relating to Swedenborg, I am strongly impressed that
a general reading of his writing!' would be attended with beneficial results,
even without an implicit credel1c~ in the verity of his reports from the world
UDseen, and I should be glad to be in anT way able to promote the circulation
of works bearing on the subjects of h18 writings. I am aware that the
great mas8 of men take but little interest in so,ch matters, and especially in
aDything which levies a tu: on tle life. I have long been satisfied that ~·hat
a man is at deatb, he must coutinue to be forever. I am nnable to see how it
shoold be otherwise, and without a direct interpoeition, in the article of death.
or after it, of the Supreme to change his moral couditioDt and fit him for hapPi- ~
 LMarch,
De8l, if Dot already in p088e8lion of a meetness for it-and for this I find DO
warrant. The prominence given by Swedenborg to charity, which is usually
given to faith, accords with my views as the most rational and scriptural. I
may, perhaps, 1Jay that I was more than half a Swedenborgian, as to certain
tloctrines, before reading anything from his pen.
There is 80 much error, confasion, and contradiction among theologians,
that it behoves us to think out for ourselves our own beliefs, with such aids
as we can command. I have learned to rely on no man's creed, unless it ac-
cords with the result of my own reflections, and the U Word" as I understand
it. I see in the writings of Swedendorg a clew to resolve doubts and dispel
ignorance on matters of vital importance. So it ap»>ears to me at present,
and I shall be glad to know more of his teachings, so that I may be able to
come to a rational conclusion respecting them. If be has opened up new and
important truths, I desire to become acquainted with them. I am not, I
think, very credulo.us; I like to kno,v the why and the wherefore, and to form
my own conclusions upon satisfactory evidence.
Very truly, yours, &c.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE

MICHIGAN AND NORTHERN INDIANA AS~OCIATI0N OF THE NEW
CHURCH.
SmCE the publication of our last No. we have received a copy or the above mentioned
Proceedings. ftOm which we 8hould be happy to make copious extraob but that the pre-
paration of the preeent No. was 80 far advanceeJ when the pamphlet arrived, that we are
necessarily very limited in the space we tan devote to It. As, however. we were mme-
what full in our D,tice of the Majority Report on Lectures and LiceDI8I, we feel bouDd
to dqual COllrtely in regard to the Minority Report, 8igned by the Rev. Geo. Field, on the
same subject. In our next we win endeavor to find loom Cor other items of the Proceed.
inp. We regret that we have not space for the reports of the various Sooieties, which pre-
.mt'a very hopeful and cheering prospect 1br the friends of the Heavenly Doctrines in
that western region.
.
PaOTDT of tA. Minority of fle Committ. on lActu.,.,. GM Li"""", tlgaifllt that
part of tIu Rqxwt tiJaia.. ru1cnotDlldgu tM right of Lay lnaugvratitm into tU
priatly oJliu; and of pr,arAing tttiIJ&out Ordination OT LicmM.
Being one of the committee to whom was referred the previous report on
missionary labors, with instrcctioDs to re~ort at the present Re8sion of the
Association, I am compelled nOt only to dJtler from that part of their report.
now presented, which recognizes the rropriet y of laymen, 1Dithout any ewm-
tJltit:al authority, performing that part 0 the priestly function, which relates to
teaching and preaching spiritual and divine truths from the Word i as also
the part which affirms, that the laying on of hands, in inauguration lnto the
mimsterial office, is 110t u the exclusive or even the appropriate function of
dle priesthood." And not only do I feel compelled to differ from this senti-
ment, but earnestly to protest against it. I do 80 because after the fullest in-
fonnation which ( can obtain, from every source within my reacll; from the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments; the apostolic writings; the earl,.
practice of the christian church i the clear and positive instzuction of our en-
lightened author; and the practice still prevailing in those churches which
have been continued from the apostolic age-I can find DO authority for 6uch
admissions, but everything against it.
And though I lIave paid especial attention to the arguments oBered in
.upport of these positions, I am yet unable to recognize their force or appli-
cation; and surely we ought not hastily to adopt so important a measure as
tIlis, without a certain conviction of its truth, for much of the future weal or
woe of th.e church may depend UpOjl it j for wh~tever is not true. or accord-
 · .
~ to order 'mast be injurious to the welfare and prOlpelty of the Lord'8 New
thurch; for do not such doctrines as ours, deserve at least to be clothed in
ahe most perfect garments, or external forms, waicu the church on earth cm
provide! Whether, therefore, as a bride, she should be adomed for her
husband; or as the King'. daughter all-glorious wi~in, her clathing should be
of wrought gold. .
Yet in the ground taken in the report,. there is neitbezo the law of the
church iil heaven, or the church on earth; for in H. It H. Swedenborg says it
is not allowable for anyone but preachers, appointed by the Lord, to teach
in the temples (226). And in His church on eart:A whether ·Jewish or Chris-
tian; no teacher could speak without a commission from the Lord, or· his
representative angel: or representative priest or pr9phet; neither could any
apostle or disciple go forth to preach, until commiss~oned b.y the Lord, or
diose who represented him. And though the heart and hlngs of this church
became diseased: it still retained its proper humanfoma, until in its final con-
summation, the followals of Calvin, separated its internal from its extemal,
and transferred the fundamental doctrines of that diseased internal, into an
effigy made from their own self-derived intelligence, and thus rejected the
very form itself! And this church thus rent and torD, with its deadly wound,
healed only by a falsehood, has furnished the argument for opposing an or-
dinance of Divine appointment! How careful should we be, that we may
not be misled br the seducing spirits of so false a church j or in our resistance
to ecclesiastica government to consider well whether we are not rebelling
against those laws of order, which the Lord himself has provided for his
church for ever; for should such at any time be the case, ho,vever seeminglI
fair the results at first may be, ill the end they must produce mischief ana
grief. We .need not be too anxious to spread these doctrines, at least till the
Divine Providence has furnished the proper means, any more than we should
be back\vard in doing 80 when that time shall have come, and those means
provided. Our duty is, not to go bt/ort the Lord·s Providence, but to follow it i
and as all our times are in his hands, ,ve have only to learn his will and obey
his laws.
Thus Moses was commanded to anoint Aaron and his SODS, Cl that they may
minister untE> me, in the priests office." And says onr author, uthe reason
why Aaren and Ris sons were anointed, was that they might represent the
Lord as to Divine good and as to Divine truth thence derived." Prophets, or
maehers of Divine truth, were also similarly anointed, U because they repra-
Roted the Lord as to the doctrine of Divine truth, consequently as to the Wold."
And lLthe reason why kings were anointed, was that they might represen,
Ihe Lord &8 to j"'mt fl'om DitJi", TnaJa." (.A. E. 375). And in the Christian
church, the priestly function was performed only by those whom the Lord
tsllttl and ifl48prated into theil- oftice, which WIM\ the case with the disciples
whom he had chosen. Thus after he bad appeinted them, "he breatJud ..
1Mrn, and saith, Receive }"e the Holy Spirit." By which, says our author, is aiS-
Dified the reception of U spiritual life, for the Holy Spirit signifies Divine Truth
proceeding from the Lord; and that they should teach it from the Lord, is sig-
nified by his words, & As the Father bath sent me, 80 send I you'" (.A. E. 419).
And '" the Holy Spirit is tbe Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, t.he infiux
of which into the disciples was represented, is thus signified by his breatbiDfr
upon them" (A. R. 343). "The reason whytbe Lord breathed upon his diem-
pl88 and said that (receive ye the Holy Spirit) was, because ,-atiOft or breath-
mg upon was an external representative sign of DiviM ;mptrtJIicm" (T. C. R.
140). And in A. C. 9818, he says that by this breathing of the Lord is signified
u t1e locvlt·y gifted 01 perceimng Di'fJin, TTUu.., aoo thUl ol,.,emnng that life." Tbu
into such as were called to this holy office, there wu (in the prOpel'iDaU~
tion into its (unction,) a virtue, power, or efficacy, resultinJt from this act of
ordination, flowing into the individual thus ordained, either immediately from
the Lord himself, or mediately through his representative. This we are fur-
ther taught by our author iD the minor work OD the Divine Wiadom, where
. . .,8 that by the Lord'. breathwg upon his disciples "wu 8ipi1ie<l the

....
148 lfruceQang. [March,
intelligence which they were about to receive, and by the Hoty Spirit is meant
the Divine Wisdom which teaches and illustrates man." And in T. C. R.
this is yet more distinctly affirmed; for he says, U that the DivilJe vinue and
operatIon, which is signified by the mission of the Holy Spirit, consists with the
clerK!! in particular, in illustration and instruction," and tbat their ordination
to the ministry conveys or carries with it, those graces" (146). StiIJ, these in-
finences are more properly into his official function, for 88 the dignity and
honor pertain to the sanctity of tbe oJliu, 80 also do these graces j they are not
in the person but are adjoined to him, and are "separated from him with the
employment" (H. D. 317). But, besides the mode of consideration or inaugura-
tion by anointing, in the Jewish church, and that of imparting the Holy Spirit
to the seventy disciples whom he had called, bv bre4t1&ing cm tlum, we learn
that the apOItla were ordained to their peculiar function, by the li(tin« ul, or
the laying on of ""nds j thus in Luke xxi v. 50, it is said that the Lord "hfteCl up
his hande and blessed them." The liftiolf up of the hands in ble88ings, or the
laying of the hands on the head, denotes lnflux 1for the uplifted hands are the
medium of influx, and" this is tile reason why inauguration into the minis~
is performed by the imposition of hands." (D. L. and W. 222, Gnd C. L. 396.. )
For" to put the hand OD the head was represented that blessing was commu-
nicated to the intellectual aod to the voluntary, thus to the man himsel~ the
same ritual remains even at this day, and is iD use in inaugurations, Bnd also
ID benedictions" (.A. C.6292). Here then a precedent is clearly given, and
also reasons for it, viz., that all inauguratioDs into tile priestly office are first
e1Fected by the Lord, and when he has thus fitted an instrument to represent
him 011 earth he becomes a medium or daysmall, to ordain others. (See
Numbers xxvii. 16-23). And is not the act of inauguration a part of the Di-
viue Law; and does not Swedenborg say that le priats are appointed to admin-
ister those things which relate to the Divim LafIJ.
To suppose that a laymall can perform an office so exclusively clerical, is
indeed to Invert all the laws oC order, and make influx be from natural into
8i?iritllal, or from external iuto internal, which our author affinns to be im(H»-
Iibl" and is tn direct antagonism with the report it~elf, which affirms that
Cl the order of influx or influence is from internal to external, from spiritual to
natural," and "that iftlerntJI men are the cltrgy, and tzternal tU lait,," althotl8h
this remark is qualified by the expression, "independent of any external
organization." Yet this influx is not into the mm, but into their offiu or fU1tC-
tilm. Now if it were true tbat internal men were the clerRY, ind~tUnt of
afty external ordination, who would know, or who could judge, wliether any
given individual was an internal mao, or an external one! The very attempt
to decide this, would in itself be a means of disturbing the church, or even
rending it yunder. But nothing can be fu)) or in act, until brought out, or
down to ultimate fonn; thUl', though of the clerical genius, or clergymen po-
lIAtUJlly, they are not so in aettMJlity, until thus ordaloed; for this act opens
those ve88el8 of the nlerical faculty for the influx of the Holy Spirit from the
Lord, as Swedenborg teaches, &C that the Divine Principle, which 18 understood
by the Holy Spirit, proceeds from the Lord, by the clergy, to the laity," and
diat it is the province of the priest or clergyman (properly so called,) u to ad-
minister those things which relate to the Divine Law," i. t., ordinations into
the ministry, &e.
With what propriety, then, can it be stated that inauguration into the minis-
try is not" the excluslve, or even the appropriat. function of the priesthood !"
Then it must be the appropriate fonction of the laity. But, u to suppose (88
~..Nobl~ say8,) that a .o~iety or conllt'egation can itself .duly ordain its
Dllnlster, IS to supp08e that Influx CtJn flow from the external tnto the intemal
and indeed that the external can produce the internal, and the expanse th~
centre."-(lUport in 1833.) It seems most surprising indeed that such a doc-
trine should ever have been broached under color of Swedenborg's teaching,
eepeeially as only one solitary pusage is advanced in its support, and even
tlllB in reality doee Dot sustain it at all. This pas&age, A.. R. 802, is quoted to
prove that. 1b8 above 8aceeeaion of orcliDauOBl into the miDiatry. ha tile
 1848.] 147
Lonl, throu,h his representatives, Cl is an invention from the love oC dominion .
oyer the holy things of the church, and over heaven grounded in self-love
which is the devil j as is also the transferring of the Holy Spirit from oue man
to another." Now, this is obviously not the sentitnent at aU; the principle
inculcated is the same as our Lord teaches, when he says, U Ye are of your
father rhe devil, and the works of your father ye will do." It is the succession
of the Papal powr of which our author speaks, and which he calls the devil.
This power, he says, assumes "to open and shut heaven; to loose and to
bind j consequently to remit sins, and so to redeem man;" thus it aS8umes
Divine power, which he says is U profanation," a U love of dominion grounded
in self-love, \vhich is the devil; and thus that the Pope's tJicarlhip is an inven-
tion ;" consequently ill "lUtcaJion is an invention proceeding from that love.'·
What can be plainer than this! It is the Pope" fJicarMip, or his claiming to
himsell the po1Der of God, which is the invention of the devil, and the IUcussiOA
of tAat ~ through the Papal hierarchy. And yet this passage has been
add Deed to disprove the argument, that inaugurations into the ministry were
first ejfec~ed by the Lord,. aud subseque~tly by or through the medium of his
first orda\ned representative. And the latter clause of the raragraph lS Dot
any more to the point; which is, that U the transferring 0 the Holr Spirit
from one man to another," is of the same infemal origin. Doubtless It is 80,
and conseqnently no snch p~sition is maintained.
It is ROt affirmed that tli~ Holy Spirit is transferred from one man to anotkw,
but U that the Divine principle, which is understood by the Holy Spirit, pro-
ceeds nOM THE LoRD, by the clergy to the laity."-{CanOflsjor t1&, N. C. dt. 4.)
Which is in accordance with what is said in the Acts, U that through layiD,
OD of the tlP!JItle'. hGnd& the Holy SJlirit was given" (viii. 18). What, then, can
be more unfounded, or fraug ht WJth more injurious consequences to the wel-
fare and stability of the church, than the lax notion which is thus presented
for your adoption' It commends itself indeed-not to the under,tanding 88
true, but rattier to the unrestrained and unbounded love of freedom, which,
IIIllese brought under the guidance of troth, may produce as injnrious effeeta
by its morbid action, 88 were formerly wrought by its being shackled and
bOund in fetters of iron. It is only the truth which maiu us ,.,ally fr,,; and
all freedom that is not of truth is a mere delusion.
But of what avail is an order of the ministly at all, jf it has neither rights
nor privileges, duties nor functions, nor anything to distinguish it from tht
common uses pertaining to every man' Or would it be necessary to have aD
orier called the ministry to admini.ter the Holy Supper, perhaps four times iD
the year, and baptize once in a life-time, if that should even be thonght ne-
cessary 1--or if, as is urged, that cinutnlttlnu, will render it ~roper for a lay-
man to p",acJ", who can say how long it will be before it w111 be contended
that ct circumstances" will render it also proper for a layman to administer tAl
,.,..ament 1
I am compelled, therefore, to present my most solemn and earnest proted
apiD8t this infringement of the duties pertaining to the order of the priest-
bood j especially as the recognizing of this by the Association will be the first
step towards the rending asunder of the very forms which contain our hea-
verily doctrines.
We are constrained to acknowledge that the above does not do full justice to Mr.
Field'. liDeoCargument, but for the reason mentioned in the outset we are unable to rift
farthel' extracts. The author proceeds iD the eequel to adduce at considerable length hJa
J'8UOD, draWD both from the 1ewish and Christian economies, felf maintaining an excl.-
8ft! right, In the priesthood, to official ministratioDs In the church. With this aim he
cites largely from the apostolical annals in the Acts, and hil reasoning here betrayl a
plWololical error which it may be well to notice. We flret gin the SubstaDce of hit
. . . . .n& which la.. reCerence to Aota viii. 4, 11 They that were lOattered abroad w_t
. . , .Jlere preachiDg the word." from wllioh the inCenmce is drawn in the MaJori.,
JI.tIpart ~t 1heM preaohen IDUI& ba'98 beIIlIaJlll.. Upon tbil be naaarb 1 -
 148 EtlittJrialltmu. [Mareft,
Both in the Greek and Latin, there are two di1Ferent word. used for that
whioh is rendered in English by this ODe word, pread&iftK. In the Latin, ODe
word is prmdico, which is literally what we mean by ".'GeAing, and is used te
denote the addressing of a large number of persons, either in the Synagogue,
the Temple, or the open air. The other word is evangelur, or an evangelist,
i. e. tA, bearer of good nftDS, such as went from hOtlM to hOUM, bearing iutelli-
gence of the joyfnl tidings; those who evangelized therefore were not per-
forming the proper functions of a priest, or publicly preaching, but such as by
private instruction and exhortation went from place to place. This, though
sometimes performed by the Apostles themselves, was nevertheless, more
particularly the province of the evang~inr" who are called" Assistant preach-
ers of the Apostles.n (See Gr. Lex.) Now the word used. in the passage above
quoted (Acts 'Viii. 4) for preaching is ftJang,lizClntel, or the carrying with thDa
VMTetJeT tluy tDIT, ,cattered abroad the Gospel flew,. But, in the very next verse,
where lnention is made of Philip (an Apostle) going down to them and preacA-
ing to the citizens of Samaria, who were assembled to hear him, the word
used is pTtZdicabat. Thus, this text actually refutes the very position it was
advanced to prove.-R'port, p. 44, 45.
Now the filet is, the original word here is ""p6fft1•• tktruat. which i. Dot fairly represented
by the EncUah word ,rtllth. Campbell, in' his DhslIertatioD on this and kindred terms
(Prairn. Du.rt Vol. i. p. 230), after remarking that ........0 ~omel from~, G cricr., abo
.lamJld, and aigniftes to erg. pu61iala, or proel4i-. and ~ . "., thiwg fI'I'blithal.
IIfWlaimed. goel on to say :_U To JWMd& is ieflned by JohnlOD, in his dictionary, I!O
.)l'OIlounce a publio discourse upon sacred sl1bjecte.' Thil exprell88 with saflieiezat
uactness the idea we-commonly aftlx to the term. For we may admit that tbe attendant
ciroumstances of church, pulpit, tes.t. worship. are but appendages. But the definition
liven by the 'EDglilb lexicographer cannot be called an interpretation of the term. kInuIo•
.. used in ICripture. Far 80 far is. it from being neo8l8&rY that the ....",.. Ihould be.
dlloourse, that it may be onl1 a single IeDtence, and a very ahort senteDCe too. Nay, to
aa.ch brief notificatiODs we shall find the term most frequently applied. Besides, the
word kirvuo and lcen6gma wert) adopted with equal propriety, whether the subject were
lUred or civil. Again. though the verb kW1Nlo always applied puhHc notice oC some
nent either accomplished or about to be accomplisbecl. OJ\eD accompanied. with a warn-
Iq 10 do or forbear something ; it tWtIW detlOted eitAer G C'Of'II,."",t . , or ' • •flGtiotl of. aD7
4ectdne. critical observations on, or illustrations oC, any lubjeet, or a chain of reasoniDg
in proof of a particular sentiment. And if 10, to pronounce publicly luch a d iscourae
u. with US. i8 deno~inated sermon, homily, lecture or preaching, would by no mean.
oome within the meaning oftbe word in its first and most common acceptation. It is Dot
therefore sO nearly synonymous with tlidaako, to t,aeh~ as is now commonly imagined.."
We would only lay in conclusion, that the two Reports embodied in tbis pamphlet ex-
hibit a very able discussion of a very important Bubject, and would make a usefll1 tract
for:oirculauon in the Church were 'hey published by thcmselyes.

BDITOIlI!L ITEMS.
Ta London New Church Quarterly Review (or Jan.-March. 1849. has jOlt come
to hand, marked as usual by a rich Tariety of matter. Its contents are-U The True Chris-
dan Religion, by Swedenborg,"-u Recognition, of the Spiritual World,"-IC Spiritual
It.e1IectioDs,''_" Tbe Writings of the Apostle Pault"-u The Science oC Correspooclenoes,'tl
_cc The Seerese ofPrevorst."-topther with copious notices of .. Swedenborg's Animal
Kingdom, Part i....- and·' LiDdsay's Sketehee of the History of the Christian Art!' The
tranllation of the Advenaria iI allo cODtiDueclln the Appendix. We bave as yet mud
1849·1
Uaae for the peraal or the ANt artlole ODI,. OD SwedeDborr's True Cllrlsdan RaUpea.
which is one or signal abUity. A fun review Is promileCl ia the Dext No. oCthe work
tbat: has reoendy emaDated (,om the Roman Catholic CoUege at Oacot, Dear BirmiDgham,
eD&itled ,. .Remarks OD Noble's Appeal," at also of a Dew work in French b, O. .r, ror-
merly Vicar of the Cathedral Church at Paris, but now a Pastor in the New CbUlOh, . .•
Uded U Our Ideas of the Nature ot the Diyine BelDg in the Nineteenth C8Dtary."
The ortbodox zeal oC Dr. Pond, of the Baagor Seminary ha. prompted him again to
enter the controversial fleld as a def~nder ofthe faith against the insidioua and dangeroal'
usaults of the Hartford doctor, who has recently loomed up so ominousl, upon the theo-
locical horizon. The author of" Swedenborglanism Reviewed" has evidently a pttae1uJfll
for Cl being in at the death" oC every ugly heresy which il making Its appearaDce iD
these degenerate days and calling forth the ire of the fathers ofthe aDcient regime. True,
the monsters will not always stay slain; the hydra heads have a wonderful knack oCre-
producing them.lves, but the Church champions are nevertheleaa bouud to do battle, and,
if needs be, Cl thrice to slay the slain." In the present work we see che clear ltacM of Dr.
Pond's polemic....... certain faculty or making a thing appear offensive by -arraying it in
opposition to the commonly reoei ved dogma without oondescending to argae the queatlon
OD its own merits. The received tenet is sound, fCriptural, and infallible of coarse, and
DOIhiDg more is needed to convict any eentiment of mortal error than to a1aauI it.1' as at
ftriance with the accredited standards. In thie point Dr. Pond seems to accord yery Col-
), with the Princeton reviewer of the same work. uDr. Bushnell forptl that there are
c...iD doctriDelIO seftled by the faith oC the church, that they are no, longer OpeD q. . .
tiou. They are unaUy adjudged and determined. If men set aside the Bible, and
choose to speak or write as philosophers, tben of course the way is open for them to teach
what they pleaue. But for Christians who acknowledge the scriptures as their rule of
faith, there are doctrines which they a~ bound to take as settled bflyond all rational or
iuoceot dispute. • • • . There is a divine teaching, and its effect ia to bring the
children oCGod in all parts oCthe world, and in all ages of the churoh, 10 Dnity oC faith.
AI an historical Cact, they have always and every where agreed In an points oC neee.ary
dGctrine. And therefore to de.part frorn their faith, in such matters of agreement, Is to re.
nounce the gospel. The doctrines which Dr. Bushnell dilCllsael and dilOarda, Yiz., the
Trinity, Incarnation, and Atonement are precisely thOle in which their agreement ie moet
certain and complete. It is high time, therefore, it should be universally agreed among
Christians, that the rejection of these doctrines, as determined by the faith oC the church,
is the rejection of Christianity, and should be 80 regarded and created!'
This is shutting the door of discussion with a vengeance. The rfljection ofthe commOll
doctrines oCthe Trinity, loearustion, and Atonement, as popularly understood, the reject-
ion of Cbristianity! Alas, how summarily are the receiver. of Swedenbol'l ejected ftom
the pale oC the Church; for while we hold most cordially to the doc'ri,." 11&",.."• •bow
mentioned as scripturally affirmed, we do most strenuously repudiate the prevalent CM-
lbwtiotN of those doctrines which have obtained throughout the grt;'ater part or Christen-
dom. Yet without subscribing to the 'ymbolical fonnula the case with UI is hopel. . !
With all this Dr. Pond evidently apees, as he shows DO indications that the standards CaD.
by any possibility inculcate the least error on the points in question, or that any thing
opposed to them can be aught but error. Happily the adjudication waits a higher uilt••
nal than the bar of Princeton, Andover, or Bangor.
A. a specimen of the P,ofeaseor's mode of dealing with his ofFending brother, we giY8
the following, from which our readers will peroeive that 10 far at Dr. Bu.shnell approach••
SWed.enborg just so far Dr. Pond {ecedes from Dr. DumneD. 11 Our author'e Dat pOIhion la.
that there is • some my8terious corre.pOttdtf&Ct or aftGlogr,' diviflCl, cOfIItittltetl, aud which
lhemindtl4twall,. i• •ti"d, perceive., by which terms from the outer world C are prepar-
ed U lip. or ~ehfcJea oCspiritual things to be upreued' (p. 26). Apin, • the whole
 JIO [March, 1848.
UDiwne ora.tare is .I"f-I...... oC the wbole unlYer18 of tboulht or spirit.' Theee
~.. are eallloient CO eet forth our author's theory of laDlUap. O~ 4rst remark iD re-
prdto it ill, that it ie falMNll, ..ft1watlM. Be,oDd queetioD there is a su..flk,iea.t l'e8em.
blaDce or analogy between certain e%&emal and iDternal objectl, to lay a foundation for the
ue oCmetaphon. comparilODI aDd other 1lgures of speech. No one has eftr doubted thi..
Bot to .y that there is a uDivenal aDd divinol, inltituted·oorrespondenoe between the
wor1cll ormatter aDd of mind; that every object in externa! nature is a type of IOmethin. ia
the lOul; and that the lOul is 80 coDstituted as to perceive the resemblance aDd 10 base UPOIl
it the lopage of thought,-this is carry iD, the matter quite too far• We could .. SOOQ ac-
.pt the Swedenborlian doctrine oC oorrespondenoes." ~o also on another page j le We_.,
then that Dr. Buahnell'. theory of correspondences, like that or Swedenborg, has more in
It of lancy than oC facL It has DO solid foundation in truth." So much for Dr Pond's tee-
dmoD1 to the value of the science of correspondences. As it is stark naught in Sweden-
boIl, it is next door to absolutely worthless in Dr. Bushnell. But what are his reaaons for
this oracular neptive. ReGlOtll, indeed j at if a Professor of theology ever thought oC
living rlGlOU for his di888nt from the Irand positions of the New Chunh r The ratio IMf-
~ on this head is, tluu Swedenborg does ndt echo the catechism. This js the inex-
piable offence whioh makes him unworthy of being reasoned with, and the contagion of
wJ,loh tainta ever1 eentiment and every theory that bears the lealt resemblance to his system.
We leam that the Rev. Mt. StQrteftnt of Providence, R. I., has .ought and obtaiDed a
dtllDiuioD from his pastoral charge in that plaee and is just about taking his leave Cor
CalUbmla. -

OBITUARY.
Jl~ ELIZ4BBTB GAJIJILJ: departed this life at the residence of her IOn Jacob Gamble, iD
Indiana County, PenD. on the 23d January last, aged seventy-nine years. She.u the
daughter of Thomas Doyle, of Lancaster County, and niece of Major John Doy1e, who
W8I tn the lel'Vice of his country during the entire petiod of the RevolutionalJ war. &Dd
loet aD ann at the storming of the redoubts oC Yorktown, Virginia. She had a brotbel'
who was a Captain in the same seTVice, and was promoted to the rank of Major in the late
war with Great Britain. Through the instrumentality of one of her sons .hl' beea me~
about two years ago, an ardent.and sincere recipient of the Doctrines of the New Jerusalem
Church, which were a source of joy and CODSOlation to the last moment of ber departllre
for the world of Ipirits. She bad kind friends among her neighbol"S, who were mostly of
the Methodist, Lutheran, and Calvinistic persuasion, and, as is common in the neighbo~­
hood where she lived, frequented the house of mourning and sicmess, with the view of ez.
tending their sympathy, kind offices, and religious consolation. In conrlOOtion Wilb the Hol,.
Word, ebe exacted frequent reading, by those preeent. previou8 to her death, fralD the
'Works entitled. U Heaven and Hell," U True Christian Religion," 11 Noble's Appal" and
.. De Charm's Discourses." Tbe number of people that visited her house every day duri. .
her short illness was about fifty. Some were much &atoundfld with the new view8 of Trut.h
thus pleleDced to them; otbers again expressed a conscious belief of the Truth of the
Doctrines, and of their Heavenly tendency upon the mind, but could form 110 rational con-
ception of the Cl modu9 operandi·' in which they were given to mankind, und tome looked
dUbiously at each other, occasionally proposing questions which were answered with
-.h penpicuity by her SODS, and iD 10 much excellence of spirit and truthfulness 01.
mumer. that a contes~ arose alnongthem, about who should have the first perusal ofthe books.
Though this aged sis~r suffered much from her disease, she yet preserved a lllerenity or
mind and her wonted cheerfulness of !pirits to the lalL On being gently chided by ber
_.,hter-in-law on this account, sbe replied thut she felt no gloom, nor terror in view of
her rut approaching diuolution. Thus departed thill life, ODe, who in her better health, t().
pther with her IODS were sneeringly pitied, 81 insane, and stigmatized. U infidels, not
because of their departure (rom tbe paths of moral rectitude and religion; but by re&IOll of
their rejection of the prevailing dogmas of tbe preeent day, which proved inadequate to
tbeir moral waDtI aDd spiritual weU-}»eing, for Doctrines, which pve them a higher esti-
mate of the liviDl and eternal Truths oC the Holy Word, aftbrded them hilber views of the
Majesty, the Goodneu and Wildom of ita Author, aDd of their dutJ'1O Him aDd theh
DetsJlbor.
 THE

NEW CHURCH REPOSITORY

AND

MONTHLY REVIElW.

'.1. 11. 10. f.

oRIG I NALP APE RS.

ARTlCI.E I.

AN ESSAY ON THE HUMAN FORM.

IT i.~ a trite observation tllat while the fonns of matter are contin-
ually chauging 'or perishing, the matter itself is ~persistent in its
nature. The chemical elements of our bodies ~xisted before the crea-
tion of man, and will probably enter again at some future period, into
cornbinations of vegetable or animal structure. But the spiritual
form which vivifies our organization has never before been connect-
ed with matter, and never will be again after the dissolution of its
present tie. It is itself an organized substance which will exist forever
in its appropriate sphere, never to be decomposed into simpler ele-
ments. During its brief sojourn in the lowest plane of nature, it con-
structs for itselt out of the crude materials without and below it, and
appropriates to its own uses, the wonderful organization we propose'
to consider. The mechanism of the human body has been carefully
and successfully prosecuted, and its Physiology or the interpretation
of its Anatomy, is at present the most interesting an~ the most pro-
gressive of the physical sciences. But there must necessarily be a
terminus to the discoveries of the dissecting knife and the microscope.
There is a plane or part of our being which the natural eye can never
detect, and which natural instruments can never investigate. This
spiritual element must correspond to its natural medium, and a
knowledge of the human soul must confirm, modify, or extend our
conceptions of the human body. Swedenborg has supplied us with this
desideratum, and, as he avers, from personal experience during a spe-
cial intromission into the spiritual world. On his Psychology then and
its accordance with Human Physiology depends much of the credibi-
lity of his mission. This Psychology is directly derived from a cODsid-
eration of the true nature of the Supreme Being. He does not shrink
vos- u. 10
152 An E.,ay on the Human Form. [April,
from an explanation of what the Biblical records mean when they
assert that man was created in the image and likeness of God.
When the Creator and his last and highest work are viewed in the
proper light, a distinct outline of this resemblance should be clearly
traced. Theologians have been involved in many inconsisteDci~sand
led to many false conclusions by applying analogically to the Divine
nature the attributes of our human natnre perverted and fallen as i.
its present condition. Swedenborg b~gins at the right extremity of
the question and having made us acquainted with the Creator, he
shows us his true reflection in 'the spiritual and natural \vorlds, in the
human spirit and iJ1 the human body.
It is a fundamental axiom of New Church theology, that tb.
Divine Essence is Infinite Love and Infinite Wisdom conjoined.
Love is the motor and Wisdom the determining or directing power in
the work of creation. l\lo~t narrow and superficial is the view that
God created the universe in a definite space of time, and left its sub-
sequent managemen~ to certain Laws of matter upon which he
had impressed an outward momentum. That influx of spirit into
matter which causes the evolution of every form is perpetual.
Moreover it is progressive, and the budding of a flower or the birth of
a new being is more wonderful than the fixing of the sun in his cen-
tral position, and ranging the planets in their orbits. The spiritual
world is an outbirth, projection, or spiritual proceeding from the Di-
vine Essence-and is not an ethereal expanse or an ideal phantom-
land but an actual, infinite, and eternal substance organized into 1\8
endless variety of forms. This is the plane or sphere in which all
forcps originate, all forms are developed, all sensations are experien-
ced, and all the phenomena of life are presented. That these things
seem to occur in the natural \vorld is an appearance ooly-& specir.8
of optical delusion. Matter in itself has no form, no substance, no
force, no life. It is an inert basis which is moulded into transitory
organization by .virtue of correspondence with spiritual forms.
Every object we see is a spiritual-natural substance; such is the
human body. All of these spiritual-natural organisms are receptive
of Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, and derive their animation in
the natural world therefrom. Thus God alone is the source of life i
he alone is life. All things exist from him and represent him. They
represent him more accurately and truthfully according as their struc-
tures or forms are more fully adapted to the reception of Divine Love
and Divine Wisdom. The human spirit is most fully adapted to such
reception, and accordingly it is the highest of forms and the image of
God. Premising thus much we proceed to the consideration of the
hwnan body, and for greater clearness we will divide our remarks
into separate captions.
1. Of the Hutnan Body as receptive of Divine Love and Divine
Wisdom.
The gradual passage of matter from the gaseous to the liquid, and
from this to the solid condition, was alluded to in a previous commu-
nication, and the orderly evolution of specific forms pointed out. But
the Divine Life flowing into inert materials imprints also the duality
 1848.] 118
or its natore upon thHe, aDd we find accordingly a grand law of
symmetrical development. St. Pierre, a fanciful but gifted writer,
suggests that the original formsof the,two continents of our globe, the
Eastem and Western, were perfectly symmetrical, and that traces of
this wonderful symmetry are still visible amid the changes which
violent disturbing causes have effected. This curious speculation
may provoke tlte anger or contempt of the critics, but it shows how
deeply the author was impressed with a sense of the all-pervading
character of this law of symmetry. The remarkable forms of crystals
have been long admired and the elementary substances, the pure
metals for instance, crystalize in the simplest, most regular, and sym-
metrical manner. But it is only when we study the development of
the organic germ, that we see the duality of organization in its true
light. The three laminm of the embryonio ovule to which we for-
merly referred, produce the same organs on the two sides of a median
line, each side being a perfect repetition of the other. This symme.
try in the vegeta.tive or nutritive layer which contains the stomach,
liver, spleen, intestines, &c., is nearly obliterated at a subsequent
period by the disproportionate growth of other organs and the super-
vention of functional changes. Its primitive occurence, however, is
fully established by microscopic investigation. In the second or vas-
cular layer the law of symmetry is much more fully sustained, bot
nevertheless, there are occasional but generally unimportant devia-
tions. In the third ornervous layer, in which the animality ofthe organ-
ism peculiarly resides, the duality of structure is beautifully presented.
If we draw a line between the hemispheres of the cerebrum and cer-
• ebellum, through the centre of the lips and tongue, down the middle
of the spinal column to its termination, we divide the body into two
halves, of which the nerves, muscles, and bones are precisely iden-
tical in shape, size, position and peculiarities. In connection with
this astonishing fact, Cruveilhier, the distinguished anatomist ot Paris,
remarks, that he has examined many deviations from this symmetrical
development, particularly of the cranium, a.nd that such deviations
were invaria.bly found in idiots and lunatics. The cause of such
idioey or lunacy is readily percaived when we remember that the
manifestation of influx is determined by the form into which the in-
flux is received. 1\D unsymmetricallens will distort all objectl5 we
survey through it, and in the same manner the WiJJ and the Under-
standing acting through perverted media will produce phenomena
which we characterize as idiocy or lunacy. But the principle of
duality is not lost sight of here. We reserve the consideration of it,
as displayed in the se:re" for a future communication. In the forma-
tion and arrangement of the great organs of the body which ~xecl1te
the main functions of natural life we detect the agency of the same
principle. Influx can only take place into organic forms prepared for
and corresponding to it. The Divine Love and DiVine Wisdom
must have corresponding "organs in each of the three planes of ani-
mal life, in and by which they may animate, sustain, renovate, and
perpetuate the living body. Accordingly we find in each of the
three lallliDm we have described, tlDO organs of prime importance. In
1~ An Euay on the HuflUlft FDrIII. LApril,

the nervous system we have the cerebrum and cerebellum. Al-

though composed of the same nervous tissue they differ BO much in
anatomical character, that is, inform without reference to chemical
nature, that they might be readily supposed to execute different
functions. All physiologists agree in a'Jsigning the seat of the under-
standing to the cerebrum. About the functions of the cerebellum·
there has been more discrepancy of opinion. Some consider it the
organ of the Will as distinguished from every other principle; others
give it a harmonizing or con.tensualizing control over the emotions of
the body; while a third party commits to it exclusive jurisdiction over
the sexual feeling. All concur, however, in connecting its offices with
the "motor and emotional in opposition to the perceptive or reflective
part of man. The Divine Lo\ye and Divine Wisdom animate the ner-
vous system through the cerebrum and cerebellum, and the reac.tion or
product of this animation appears to us under the forms of will and
understanding. This occurs in the sensory plane of our nature.
The heart and lungs represent or correspond to these Divine prin-
cipl~s in the second or middle plane of life-the heart to the Love or
Will-and the lungs to the Wisdom or Understanding. Swedenborg
has dwelt particularly and emphatically on this correspondence, be-
cause it maintains the simultaneous connection of man with the
spiritual and natural worlds. The heart and lungs can continue their
functions witHout the aid of cerebrum or cerebellum, 8S is seen in brain-
less monsters, but when either circulation or respiration is perma-
nently arrested the result is death, and the spiritual organism is re-
moved forever from the natural sphere. Correspondently to this, the
heart and lungs form the connecting link between the animal and •
vegetative parts of the human system. The heart is the motor or
propulsi"e power which drives the blood elaborated in the nutritive
o~ vegetative apparatus, through the body. The lungs purify that
blood for the proper discharge of' its functions and particularly for its
adaptation to the necessities of the nervous system. Popular lan..
guage has universally pointed to the heart as the seat of the passions,
and the emotions of the mind certainly have a powerfully exhilarat-
ing or depressing effect upon the movemtnts of that organ. None of
the prevailing dogmas of Physiology offer 8, satisfactory solution of
the enigma. The connection between the lungs and understanding
is not so obvious. Swedenborg says that the life of the understand-
ing purifies the life of the Will as the air of the lungs purifies the
blood which has been transmitted from the heart. The natural man
perceives here an analogy more or less vivid according to his powers
of perception, but he requires aD argument more tangible-more phy-
sical than a mere analogy. What relationship then exists between
sensation and respiration 1 In the first place there can be no sensa-
tion without respiration. This is sometimes seen in cases of swoons
and trances, when the individual lies insensible with scarcely percep-
tible respiration, although the heart continues to beat. It is better
marked during the long period of f<Etal life when the lungs are in a
dormant state. Respiration and sensation -are both excited by ex-
ternal stimuli; the motory powen of the heart by internal stimuli.
1849.] 165
The connection oC the vocal apparatos, the medium of thought with
the pulmonary, should not be overlooked. The stomach and liver in
the lowest plane of animal life correspond to the heart and lungs in
the next above it, although as we descend from the fountain head of
the forces of life. the analogies between their media or organs of
reception become more remote. The stomach is a motory organ for
dissolving and triturating the food and propelling it forward into the
intestines. The liver is a gland, divided into lobes, and exceedingly
vascular, like the lungs. The stomach is commonly considered as
the seat of the mere appetites, and its intimate sympathies \vith the
heart and brain are proverbial. The function of the liver is very
analogous to that of the lungs, eliminating the superfluous and nox-
ious carbon from the blood, and purifying and renovating that fluid
for th~ continued wants of the system. In animals whose lungs are
deficient, small, or dormant, the liver by a process of substitution is
unusually developed. A pathological obscurity of long standing, viz.
the occurrence of diseases of the liver after injuries of the head,
presents a curious point of connection between these distant parts of
the body. The relations between these wonderful organs thus ap-
pearing in pairs OD the three planes of Hfet demand further investiga
tion and will reward the inquiry.
On a superficial view it appears singular that affection should pre-
cede thought in an act of the mind, when to appearance a determina-
tion of the Will or Love is subsequent to an effort of the understand-
ing. Metaphysicians, not receivers of New Church doctrines, have
sustained this order of mental action on psychological grounds, but
we think it is also borne out by physiological analogy. In the embryo,
the organ of the Will is developed before that of the understanding-
the cerebellum before the cerebrum-the heart before the lung&-
the stomach before the liver. In the fulfilment of function, the
stomach precedes the liver; in point of time, the heart precedes the
lungs. Analogically the cerebellum fulfils its function before the
cerebrum, but the rapidity of nervous action will always make the
interval inappreciable to our senses. We ,vould refer again to the
median line dividing the body symmetrically as a proof of the uni-
versality of the laws of orgftnization. The sun's axis and the earth's
axis of rotation are analogous centres. The axis of an atom-the
poles of an atom-are familiar phrases in chemical speculations, and
their existence may he almost said to be more than hypothetical-
even probable. Dr. Kane, in some remarks on crystallography, warns
os from considering the axes of crystals as a geometrical fiction, and
declares them to be" real centres of at.traction around which the
crystalline particles arrange themselves symmetrically." And the
botanist teaches us that the regular arrangement of flowers on a
Item or branch is governed by beautiful and uniform laws--and tha.t
lOch a stem or branch is called an cuis of inflorelcence. Now the
median line of the cerebro-spinal axis is a similar centre, round which
the organs of the body are arranged and through which their fUDC-
tions are maintained by the influent forces of life.
 166 [April,
2. or the Human Fortn as representative of the constitution of
the spiritual world.
The incredulity with which the teachings of Swedenborg have
been received is not surprising when we consider how entirely his
account of the spiritual world conflicts with the preconceived opin-
ions of mankind. That spirit is substance and not idfta is denounced
as sheer materialism, while they who believe that some curious me-
tamorphose will change the decayed structures of a natural body
into a spiritual body, are considered free from the charge of such
awful heresy. That an angel has the form, functions, and sensations
of a man; that angels are distributed into societies according to their
affections and thoughts, and experience a kind of community of I

being, and that there are three heavens, each of which is composed of I

many major and minor societies--appear to the natural eye vastly

improbable. But when Swedenborg says that he saw and addressed
a whole society, consisting of thousands of angels under the form
of a single individual, and that the whole heavens appear to the Lord
as one Grand Man-our opponents cry aloud against the folly, yea
the lunacy of such representations. We need not refer to the scrip-
tural account of the man from whose mouth many devils answered
a question in the singular number, "My name is Legion for we are
many." Clarke, Henry, Benson, &c. have explained that or left it
unexplained equally to the satisfaction of the multitude. We need
Dot refer to Mesmeric experiments thoroughly attested for examples
of transference of thought, con:munity of thought, identity of sensa-
tion, and many other mental phenomena. The science which opens
a· fairer field for spiritual discovery than any other is a disqualified
witness before hearers who have prejudged the question. But accept-
ing the connection which Swedenborg has established between the
natural and the spiritual worlds, accepting also provisionally the
.constitution of the heavenly societies he has taught, we are entitled i

to expect that certain phenomena, as correspondents to these, ,,"ill be

found in the material pJanf! of nature. Our space allows us to illus-
trate this correspondence but in a single point. 1'aking then the !

angel-the society-the heaven-as the three types, we conclude that

there are units of three degrees-first, second, and third. The
planet or globe is a unit of the solar system; an atom, spherical or
~llipsoid (let crystaJIographers decide), is 8. unit of the mineral king-
dom; the physiological cell is the unit of the living organism, vegeta-
ble or animal. These are units of the first degree. Crystals are
aggregations of atoms; some plants of inferior type are combinations
of cells with scarcely more connection than that of juxtaposition;
some animals are formed by the cohesion of segmentary rings, each
one of which is endowed with a distinct vitality. 1'hese are units of
the second degree. A tree, a bird, a man-aggregates of specific
organs compound in their own nature-iHustrate the third and highest
degree. If this unity of organization pervade the philosophy of na-
ture, in the human form of course we must look for its most perfect
exhibition. And we cannot turn to a portion of the human body,
however apparently unimportant, without finding the truth of the pro-
J849.] 167

position full)· exemplified. The organic cell is not a physiological

fiction invented for the plausible explanation of phenomena. It is a
positive entity-an individual-which is born, grows, fulfils its rune-
bOO, reproduces its species, and dies. We recollect with what surprise
we onc~ heard a distinguished professor in Philadelphia 8ay-" Man
is an aggregate of myriads of minor individuals," yet 8uch is the
common definition which the human body at present receives at the
hands of Physiology. The arrangement of these cells produces the
various organs of the body, ju.~t as the definite arra~gement of in-
organic atoms or molecules produces a crystal-and each organ is an
independent unity with respect to the rest of the economy. The
combination of these organs into apparatus and the establishment of
appropriate connections between these last is the crowning work of
development which prepares the anatomical structure for the in-
dwelling of the spiritual body. Notwithstanding all differences of
form and function this unity of three degrees can be traced in every
tissue. A muscle has its specific action to which every portion of its
SIlbstance contributes. But every muscle is a· composite body-an
assemblage of many fasciculi or bundles, which in their turn are
aggregatioDS of many ultimate fibres or filaments. This ultimate
fibre is the unit of the first degree in the muscular system. The lame
structure is repeated in the nervous system, the glandular system, the
O88eOQ8 system, &c. Every air-vesicle is a little lung-every biliary
cell is a little liver. Every nervous spherule on th~ surface of the
cerebrum is a miniature braiD~ These fapts have been long appre-
ciated, but this grouping of them is peculiar to Swedenborg. Men,
whose ideas of Anatomy and Physiology are drawn from professional
treatises alone, may consider our remarks as presenting a disto~ted
view of common facts, and pronounce our spiritual and natural ana-
logies eotirely unwarranted. But to those who have received the
revelations of Swedenbor,r: as embodying the genuine philosophy of
nature, they will be full of confirmation. They will not be surprised
to read of the spirits which inhabit the province of the eye, of the
heart, of the spleen, of the feet, &c. nor of a society which dwells
within or without another, above or below another. Reflections of
tbis kind give us clearer ideas of the infinity of the human form. And
by such unflinching and universal applicatiob of his theories to all
science does the great philosopher so secure our confidence, that at
all times we are readier to acknowledge the dullness of our own per-
ceptions than to question the infallibility of our commissioned teacher.
3. Of the Human Form as the type of all forms and the aggregate
of all uses. .
Having briefly considered the human form as an image of God,
and a representative of heaven, \\Te descend into the third and
IOW8.4Jt plane of its significance to point out succinctly the relations it .
sustains to the objects or forms in the material world around it. It is
composed of the same substances, which in th~ir passage from the
bosom of inorganic nature-yea, from the primordial matter of thf\
world-have been subject to the same laws. The traository connection
oC these inert elements with the receptacles of Divine Life, impresse~
no new character OD their constitution, and they return again to lhe
168 [April,
sources whence they were drawn to renew a.gain their courses of
perpetual change. But if we could trace and interpret the successive
relations which the elementary substances of chemistry bear to each
other during their combination in the human body, from the concep-
tion of the embryo to the death of the adult, we would have the
philosophy of life condensed into the magic circle. All the forceR of
nature are at play in the human organism. Gravitation, cohesioD,
attraction, repulsion, chemical affinities, electric and magnetic exci-
tation, and all the vibratory phenomena which produce light, hea.t,
sound, &c., are there displayed in their most interesting phases. The
functions of a large portion of the human s)·stem are precisely analo-
gous to those of vegetables. Simple imbibition, endormose, capil-
lary attraction, absorption by vessels analogous to roots, and all the
motions which vivify the plant, are constantly repeated in the hum-
bler plane of our life-that which connects the superior and more
important part of our being with the inorganic world which is the
basis of all. In a higher plane the hum~n form presents the greatest
wonders of animal life, realized in the least possible amonnt ofspace.
The mechanical beauty and perfection of the skeleton, the hydraulic
powers of the circulatory organs, the intric8c)", extreme delicacy, and
yet harmony of the acoustic apparatus, the marvellous adjustment of
the numerous pieces of the eye for optical PUrp08~S, the numberless
modifications of the voice, have all been expatiated upon by natural
theologians as mODuments of the wisdom and glory of God.
In a previous communication· we pointed out the fact that the
phases of embryonic development are typical of all the lower forms
which had successively filled up the arena of life. Volumes have al-
ready been written on this subject, and the future micr08copist will
find his richest treasures to lie in this field of investigation. As a
representative or type of form, the human body may be dissected with
the knife and cOlnpared with other forms, but as an aggregate of uses
it must be studied as a book, 88 the divinest of all books except the
Bible, for it is a physical commentary on the Bible. This aspect of
the value of anatomy the present age is scarcely prepared to appre-
ciate. On the subject of the humftD form we cite the words of an
eminent New Churchman: "Its anatomy is the conglomeration of
schools, in which the advan~ement of learning may be carried on in
many ways, either directly or indirectly. For the physician, it is 8
theatre of health and disease, or of genera) sensations, according to
which therapeutics proceeds. For the mechan.ic, it is mechanical;
for the geometrician, geometrical; for the philosopher, philosophical.
For the moralist it is full of moral rules and instructions. For the
economist it is the highest instance of economy. For the statesman
it is the truest example of power and gentleness, winding wa)as, and
direct forces, action and equilibration, subordination and co-ordina-
tion, government and constitution. In short, for all classes it is the
best analogical piece of physics that can be imagined, or indeed, that
can exist."
4. Peculiarities of the Human Form.
The human form being the master-work of organization must pre-
sent fea~ures ~hich distinguish it from all other forms, and indicate its
1849.] :An E81ay on tAe Human Form. 159

superiority. These have been long noted by physiologists, but we

will pass some of them briefly in review.
Q. The erect attitude. The head is 80 articulated with the neck,
and the extremities with the trunk ofthe body, that the erect position
is natural to man. No other animal can pretend to share this advan-
tage with him, and ,ye involuntarily associate the full possession of it
with superiority and nobility of mind. In the language of corres-
pondence to be erect is to be celestial, and 8.8 the human spirit is the
only form capable of being made celestial, so the human body is the
only form to which the upright position is a normal state.
b. Size of the Brain. In the size of the cerebral hemispheres, in
the complexity and development of their internal· parts, and in the
depth and number of their convolutions, the human brain far exceeds
that of all animals-even of those which most resemble man-the
ape and ourang-outang. It is ,here indeed that we should anticipate
a great difference, as tbe brain is the medium of menta.l manifest-
ation.
c. Relation of the Cranium and Face. The facial angle which
expre~es this relation is a tolerably fair index of mental power. An
appreciation of this fact lies couched in the common opinion that a
bold, high forehead is a mark of intellect. The facial angle of the
European averages eighty degrees, that of the Malay or Asiatic seven-
ty-five, that of the African seventy. The Greek sculptors understood
the significance of this feature, for they made their statues of J npiter
Tonans with the forehead protuberant even beyond the level of the face.
Now in theadnlt chimpanzee t which of all the monkey tribe approaches
nearest to man, the facial angle is only thirty-five degrees, and in the
ourang-ontang it is no more than thirt,. ~Jn other animals it is still
less. It has been remarked that the facial aspect of the young ape,is
strikingly similar to that of the human infant. This resemblance de-
Cft'ASeS with the advance of growth; one animal retains forever the
stamp of the brute, the other, in' the interior of whose being a spiritual
plane is opened, acquires the unique and expressive .physiognomy of
man.
d. ne 8tructure of the Hond. The celebrated Sir Charles Bell
wrote a work on the human hand as an evidence of creative design,
and he defines that instrument as aD organ belonging exclusively.to
man. Carpenter asserts that the structure of the whole frame must
conform to that of the band, and must act in reference to it~ "That,"
says Cnvier, "which constitutes the hand, properly so calJed, is the
faculty of opposing the thumb to the other fingers so as to seize the
most minute objects." This is the faculty which acting as a laborer •
under the guiding mind has enabled man to build the pyramid and
eonstroct the microscope, to fell the forest and to rear the city. The
hand is worthy of the signification of POWER which it bears in the
seience of corre8ponden~es.
e. P0I8e88i01l of S~ech. The varied expressions of which the coon-
tence of man is capable, are representative of emotions aDd tbOllghts
which occur in the soul. But this method of mental communication
is comparatively ineffectual in the present condition of the human
race. Accordingly we find an apparatus connected with the organs
 160 An Euay on tIN BUtAtIfI Form. [April,
of respiration for the production of BOund. The innumeral vocal
utterances of the lower animals appear to be excited by their instinc-
tive or emotional states, but another element enters into the constitu-
tion of man. He id capable of reflection, and articulate language is
representative of his thought. Affection may prodace a sound, but
thought is required to modify and modulate it into a part of speech
expressive of an idea. Many prior and superior phenomena, spiritual
and physical, are involved in the pronunciation of a single word.
There are many other characteristics whicb would enter largely into
the natural history of man, all of them confirmatory of Swedenborg's
psychology, which we have not the space to particularize.
5. Relation of Astronomy to Microscopic AnatoDly.
This caption may appear fantastic or even absurd to those who are
unfamiliar with the all-embracing character ofSwedenborg's philoso-
phy. But a theory which propounds the real connection between the
na.tural and spiritual worlds, while it analyzes the minutest fibres ofthe
body must not shrink from the consideration of the starry heavens.
Notwithstanding the telescope has revealed to U8 75,000,000 of suns,
we are restless under limits which our imperfections impo!W on our
vision, and would pierce beyond the Ultima Tbule of discovery to
acquire some idea of the size, shape, and structure of the universe.
Swedenborg left nothing recorded OD this subjeot which ~e can con·
strue into a positive assertion, but his disciples have taken up the
thread of speculation and pursued it with ingenuity. One of the
most talented and useful of these, the author of the" Letters to a Man
of the World," has broached a theory, that the whole material uni verse
when aggregated is precisely in the human form. His train of argu-
ment we briefly recapitulate. The Jlataral body corresponds to the
spiritual body and precisely resembles it in form. The natural world
oorresponds to the spiritual world as the body does to the soul. The
form of the spiritual world is that of God-Man; therefore, tbe form
of the natural world must be the same; for form is a spiritual sub-
stance, and when it beoomes ultimated it is recognized by our natural
perceptions under the conditions of size, shape, and structure. His
physical arguments in support of this hypothesis are necessarily
limited. He enlarges upon the infinity, or rather, the indefiniteness
of space, to show that the aggregate of solar systems visible through
our instruments, is scarcely a molecule in the great mass of crAation.
He then supposes·an ultimate molecule to exist in the human body
similar in structure to a solar system. In defence of this, he urge!
the porosity of matter and the universality of interstitial spaces be-
, tween its particles, and brings forward a speculation of a French
philosopher. that the atoms of matter revolve around each other in "
manner analogous to that of the planets around the sun. From this
view we are obliged to dissent, and we think upon cODclusive grounds.
The material ,vorld is the continent or basis into \vhich spiritual
forms are inserted or infused for the production of uses. Every form
is determined and limited by its use. An animal, 8, plant, a crystal,
a world, have different uses and different corresponding forms. The
low~st use in the spiritual world is first ultimated in the natural
world, aDd appears to us as an immense globe of matter for the me-
,
 An E,MY 011 the Human Fonn. 161

cuDical support of all things elaborated from ifs bosom. We cannot

conceive how its .use can even be changed, and of course its form will
be persistent. It has a.ttained its maximum of development. But
other forms proceed to higher degrees, all, however, inferior to the
highest degree occupied by the human body. When a use can no
longer be fulfilled or is no longer required, its corresponding form
perishes. Many species of plants and animals have become extinct,
bat man and the earth which sustains him will exist forever. We be- •
lieve that no aggregation of matter, microscopic or infinite, can possi-
bly take the human form unless it is animated. by the human soul,
and executes the functions of humanity. The last clause could not
conceivably be predicated of a Grand Material Man, alone and un-
sustained in the midst of space, for we are now reasoning of space,
and must reason from it. For this reason God is not the soul of the
universe in the sense inculcated by Spiuoza and others. For this
reason also, when Jehovah would come into contact with the lower
planes of nature, he was obliged to assume the form of the man
Christ Jesus. But Swedenborg expressly declares that no ~xtension
can be given without a tendency of that extension to assume the hu-
man form. Some relation then must exist between astronomy and
human anatomy. The microscope has certainly established no such
positive analogy as that which M. Gendrin's theory proposes. The
universality of interstitial spaces establishes not~ing. If the mole-
cules of the human body do not perfOrm the functions of a solar sys-
tem, we Ree no reason for their presenting the relative arrangement
of the sun and planetary orbs. Where then is the relation to be
foond 1 We think it is to be found in the unity of material deve-
lopment which we pointed out in a pre\9ious essay. We there
showed that organization always begins at the same point, and pro-
ceeds through the same phases. Every cell or nucleus of material
substance is a centre of action-in other words, a centre of influx.
The DiviDe Love is the motor, and the Divine Wisdom the trtodifying
power in every case. Under one condition a planet, under another
a crystal, under a third an organized being is produced. None but
the very earliest stages of embryogeny can re'geal any analogy be-
tween the solar system and microscopic anatomy. The human body
and the solar system in their present del-eloped condition seem to
have no more relationship than this, that they are formed of the
same material, governed by the same physical laws, and possess a
general cellular or globular structure. With regard to the material
universe we believe that our solar system is the unit or type of that
universe, and that all systems have emanated from and revolve
around some great centre.
Swedenborg's doctrine of the human form which we have thus
briefty canvassed may be called the central point of his philosophy.
It is & subject of much ridicule among those who from ignorance or
interest are prejudiced against the system. One of its corollaries-
the denial of & resurrection of the material body-is particularl)9 ob-
Doxious to the so-called orthodox denominations. Their doctrinal
works, their exegetical labors, their funeral discourses, their mODU-
 162 TAe Pre.ent the EpocA of LApril,
mental inscriptions· are all redolent with prophecies of our fotore
anastasis. They cry out that we tear from them all that is sacred
in their recollections of the dead when we deny the cherished dogma
of a material resurrection. But we feel assured when we consign
dust to dust that the spirit returns to God who gave it, never to be
shackled with the fetters of earth again. Nor does this reflection
cloud our bright anticipations of a spiritual state of existence, when
we shall see each other, not as in a glass darkly, but face to face.
And there the study of the human form will be the highest employ·
ment of intellectual power, for every advance \\yUl improve our con-
ceptions of the Maker and Preserver of all.
W.B.H.

" I
ARTICLE n.
THE PRESENT THE EPOCH OF THE LORD'S SECOND ADVENT.
( ContinUld.)
WE have stated that one of the sources on which we should rely
to 8uppor~ our position, that at or about the present time the Second
Advent may be looked for, was the existing state of the church and
the world; and first of the Church : -
Is there not now needed some new manifestation, some deeper re-
velation of the true spirit and theory of Christianity, to meet the
• wants of the age 1 Is it not evident that the rational faculties of men
have outgrown th~ theological dogmas of the day? And is it not
equa.lIy evident that an attempt to restrict them to those dogmas will
be followed by the same consequences tha.t ensue when the discipline
of childhood is unwisely applied to youth and new-born manhood 1
We rejoice to know and believe that in many unsophisticated
minds, in all the churches, the undoubted truths of the Bible, the great
truths which enforce the necessity of a regenerate and holy life, are
treasured up as the richest inheritance, and conformed to in unques-
tioning obedience. But is it not true that the doctrines of religion as
. presented by the churches of our day-that view of Christianity
which addresses us as rational reasoning beings-wholly fails to
meet the intellectual wa.nts of the age 1 Do we not feel that the
logic, the principles of investigation, the rules of justice and equity,
which Wfl apply to other subjects, in full confidence of the~r substan-
tial soundness, would, if applied to what passes for orthodox theology,
prove it to be an absurdity, an insult to reason and justice 1 Ougbt
thisto be so T Is there not in the mind of every reflecting man the deep-
est consciousness, that if he possesses anything which allies him to
the source of all \visdom and goodness, it is his faculty to reason npon
the fitness of things, to discriminate differences, to judge of the moral
qualities and tendencies of creeds and systems T Do we not feel that
a revelation which overlooks or does violence to our reasoning powers
1849·1 tbe Lord'8 Second Advent. 163

canDot be addressed to us 1 True it is, that our reason and judgment

may be warped and blinded by evil affections, and a wicked life, and
our first duty is to know and rid ourselves of these destroying influen-
ces. Still, the abuse of a faculty can never disprove the use for
which it was originally designed. As surely as the eye was given for
sight, and the ear for hearing-though both these senses ma~" be im-
paired or perverted-so surely were the rational powers of man in-
tended to enable him to judge of intellectual subjects, to discriminate
between truth and error in all matters, religion not excepted. In no
censorious or irreverent spirit, we appeal to intelligent and conscien-
tious persons if the popular doctrines of the tri-personality ofGod, the
atonement, the imputed righteousness of Christ, justification by faith
alone, and instantaneous conversion, cnn be made to appear either
rational or just, by the same principles of reasoning which they feel
to be legitimate and safe when applied to other moral and intellectual
qnestions 1
It is undoubtedly true, that much of our happiness depends on the
purity and strength of our affections; but it is also true, that
much likewise depends upon the healthful and free exercise of our
reasoning powers. The harmonious action and exercise of both
affection and intellect are what constitute a man. That theology,
therefore, which either violates reason, or requires it to be held in
abeyance, may safely be pronounced inadequate to the wants of the
human mind.
Many have hoped and believed that the spirit which gave birth to
,the Protestant Reformation would renew the world. By reviving the
primitive forms of Christianity, they' have hoped that the primitive
spirit, which 80 powerfully operated to mould tht' chaos of the early
ages, and to avert the dangers which st'emed to threaten the very
extinction of the human race, would also be revived. Has this hope
been realized 1 Alas! no. The forms may be and have been- reviv-
ed; but they are dead forms. The spirit that should re-animate
them will not come at our bidding. The past is never repeated, it
has often been said, and history proves its truth. The Reformation
DOW begins to be understood. The lapse of ages had permitted
many abuses to develope themselves in the Catholic Church, and
it W88 well that these should be thoroughly corrected. The
original import of symbols once significant had been perverted
and lost, and it was well that their mockery should cease.
Bat the fundamental doctrines of that church, those now called
the essentials, if compared with those adopted by the Reformers
and their successors, even down to the present day, will be found to
differ in no essential particular. The Protestant Reformation was
an administrative reform. It re-asserted and established the self-evi-
dent right of individual freedom in matters of fait~ and opinion,
which the tyranny of the Roman Church had well nigh crushed. For
this conquest we are deeply indebted to the reformers ; and we best
bonor their memory by efforts to enlarge and perpetuate the legacy
they have bequeathed us, which sectarian zeal too often tramples
beneath its feet. But while we bonor the Reformation for what it is,
 164 [April,
and has done, we cannot fail to see what it is not, and cannot do. It
is not a revival of the primiti\pe doctrines and life of Christianity, and
it is powerless to avert the evils that Rre now impending. Material-
ism and fatalism envelope the world. Men attend church. and pro-
fess ,,'ith their lips to belie\"e in the immortality of the soul, but in their
hearts there is no belief: They profess to believe in the freedom of
the ,,'ill, but their lives betray the interior conviction that all things
are controlled b)" circumstance. Says an eloquent French writer :-.
K One-s heart stagnates to filld that, in the universal progress, morality has
not gailled power. The idea of free-will and of moral respollsibility becomes
daily fainter. ~trange! in proportion as the old fatalism of climates and of
races, which weighed ufon antiq~e man, lessens and fades away, there suc-
ceeds and grows up as i a fatalism of ideas. You cannot look out IU the win-
dow without beholding this lava of fatalism. Vainly do the symbolism of
Vico and of Herder, the natural pantheism of Schelling, the historic pantheism
of Begel, the history of races and the history of ideas, which have done 80
much hOllor to France, differ in every thing else; against liberty they are all
agreed. The artist even, the poet, who is bound to no system, but \\"ho re-
flects the idea of his age, has, with his pen of bronze, inscribed on the old
cathedral this sinister word, .A4.4'Y.", & Necessity.'
" So wavers the poor, small light of moral liberty. And yet the tempest of
opinions, the wind of passion, blow from the four quarters of the world. The
light burns, wido,ved, and solitary; each day, each hour, it sheds a ,veaker
gleam. So feebly does it glimmer, that there are moments ,vhen, like him
, 108t ill the catacombs, I think I already feel darknes8, and the cold night.
Can it go out 1 Never! never!" &c_

We have now considered the state of the church and of religious

ideas. We propose next to speak of the present state of the world.
And here the most careless ohserver cannot fail to perceive that the
social and political relations of the people of Christendom are rapidly
approaching a crisis. The earth has not ceased to, be a bountiful
mother. The fields still yield an abundant harvest, and the waters
furnish their supply. More than sufficient is produced, more than
sufficient is fabricated, to supply the wants of all. And yet, in the
midst of \\"ealth and abundance, so unequal is the distribution, that
perpetual hostility is generated, because the few riot in profusion,
and the many have not the means to sustain life. While the millions
claim the inalienable right to a subsistence from the proceeds of their
labor, the legal principle of free competition, the right to get all we
can, and to hold all we get, is more loudly than ever asserted, and is
reducing the masses to the most abject misery. Selfishness arrays
every man in opposition to his neighbor; and in such a conflict, the
Yictory is sure to accrue to the crafty and the strong. What then is
to prevent the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few to such a
degree, as to make endurance no longer possible to the masses t
What can associations. and combinations, and trade-unions do to
avert this catastrophe? Nothing. Prudent men already foresee that
no change of administration, no repeal of corn-laws caD do more than
delay it for a time. This is the problem which none can solve. The
wise men of England, of France, of America, stand aghast and furnish
• Michelec le Histoire de France."
1849.] 165

no solution. In this connection we may be permited to quote a few

paragraphs from a late French review:*'
"Can we not already foresee," says the writer, "..by what is passing
in manufacturing countries, what is soon to happen 1 Even should
there be no new invention, the development of existing industrial
power would suffice to glut the markets of the ,vorld; but ever)" year
brings us inventions by hundreds, and improvements by thousands.
And let it be well remarked, it will be henceforth impossible to arrest
the progressive development of industry; too many interests would
be compromised. Dragged, like Phaeton, upon a car which it is in-
capable of directing,-industry, no longer able to arrest itself or
retrace its steps, will be forcibly thrust into paths unknown.
"In view of so perilous a position, what, in a few yeRrs, will be-
come of all the other questions \vhich have hitherto occupied the minds
of men 1 Will they not be all absorbed by the alarming question of
pauperism invading all the states of Europe in consequence of this
development of industry 1 What importance will political or inter-
national questions then have, ,vhen the dimmest eyes shall at length
see suspended o''''er the head of society this new sword of Damocles 1
In vain wiJl philanthropy multiply its efforts. What can it do, in the
face of this cODstantly enlarging Colossus T The time will come, and
that time is not distant, when all "rho cling to the existence of a
social state will regard the religious principle as the only anchor of
safety," &c. .
The late lamented Dr. Channing has also left some rema.rks on this
subject well worthy of attention: "Alarming as the truth is," he
writes, "it should be told, that outward institutions cannot now secure
us. Mightier powers than institutions have come into play among
us, the judgment, the opinions, the feelings of the mal\Y ; and all hopes
of stability which do not rest on the progress of the many must
~~~ -
And again: "The present civilization of the Christian world pre-
sents much to awaken doubt and apprehension. It stands in direct
hostility to the great ideas of Christianity. It is selfish, mercenary,
sensual. Such a civilization cannot, must not endure forever. How
it is to be supplanted, I know not. I hope, however, that it is not
doomed, like the old Roman civilization, to be quenched in blood. I
trust that the works of ages are not to be laid low by violence, rapine,
and the all-devouring sword. I trust that the existing social state
contains in its bosom something better than it has yet unfolded. I
trust that a brighter future is to come, not from the desolation, but
from gradual meliorating changes of the present," &c.
Many schemes for reorganizing society have been presented, and
some of them have points of great merit; but it may be said of them
all, taat a moral regeneration of man is an indispensable preliminary
to their successful operation. To expect that men, selfish at heart,
will aoywhere live in harmony, and labor each for the benefit of the
whole, is a sad delusion; and to expect that favorable external cir-
• cc La NOl1vene Jeruealem.'t
186 Etymology cf the tera Heawn. [April,
cnmstances will of themselves create love and disinterestedness, is to
mistake the effect for the cause. All human works, all social har-
mOD}·, all I a,,'" 8, institutions, and customs, are but types or representa-
tions of previous existences in the mind of man. They exist from
the mind, as from their archetype or cause, and by an invariable law,
their degree of perfection must always be an exact image of that of
the original. As well might we expect to reap where we have not
sown, or to gather grapes where we have.planted thistles, as to hope
for perfect social relations where no corresponding sentiments exist
in the mind of man, or for disinterestedness and love from hearts
steeped in selfishness. Social Reformers have indeed presented us
with a body, beautiful and oC fair proportions, but where is the soul
that shall give it the breath of life 1 .
Thus far we have endeavored to make good the position, that at or
about the present age of the world the period designated as the
second advent may be looked for. Let us briefly sum up the ground
we have already gone over. .
We have endeavored to show that the destiny of man is one of pro-
gressive improvement; that this progress is effected by revelations of
the Divine will; that a series of revelations may be expected before
this work is complete't. We have also endeavored to show that pre-
valent opinion points to t~is age as the commencement of a new era;
that the actual state of the church and the world confirms this opi-
nion; and that a crisis in human affairs is rapidly approaching,
which can only be averted by superhuman power.
We do not presume to say we have conclusively proved any or
these positions. Numberless objecti.ons may be and have been made
to each and all of them, which we have not attempted to answer.
Our limits, of course, would not permit it. An argument of proba-
bility is all we proposed. We have attempted to show that the posi-
tions may be true-that there is no improbability involved in suppos-
ing them true. We are quite confident, however. that they are all
susceptible of proof by anyone who has time and ability to devote to
the task. '
J. L.J.
(To be eonrJud«l.)

ARTICLE Ill.

HEAVEN.
BTYMOLOGY OP TRB TERM.

"IN the Hebrew, the equivalent word for our English" heaven" is
tI~~1D lhama-yim, which we are unable to trace to any living root in
that tongue. But in the cognate Arabic the word anama signifies to
be high or lifted up, and to this root lexicographers do not hesitate to
refer the Hebrew term, as denoting an object or locality that is higl,
]848.J Bi61_~. 18'7

lofty, 6ublinte.The Greek word ""''s, AetJt1eR, is of more doubtful

origin. Philologists are greatly divided in regard to it. By perhapI
the greater part of thflm it is traced to 'fHlW, to He, as referring to the
f7irible ~ce which stretches into infinity on every side of us. The
Latin COJlU11I is derive~ not from the foregoing Greek term ""."'" but
from another word in that language, ••c.,A. lailon, signif}·ing AollOUJ.
In this sense it imports, of course, that aspect of coneavity which
strikes us on looking up to. the blue ethereal vault. Our English
tenn "heaven," is traced back by etymologists to the verb" heave,"
of which the past teDse ,,"as anciently "hove," and the participle
"hOVt'D," just as from" help" came formerly" holp" and" holpen,"
instead of" helped." The word therefore strictly implies-that wbich
is Itea~ up, con'picuolUlg elevated; the original form of" haven"
being afterwards, in the process of tbe chang~s which are continually
coming over language, softened to "heaven." The term, therefore,
in EDgli8b, is very nearly allied in import with its Hebrew equival~nt.
G. B.

---------
ARTICLE IV.

BIBLICAL EXPOSITIONS.

Ill.
MATI'HJ:W VI. 2.
Il Therefore, when thou doe8t thine almll, do Dot Bound. trumpet before
thee, 88 the hypocrites do, in the synagogues, and in the streets, that the,
may have glory of men. Verily, I say unto you, They have their reward."

THB original of the latter clause is nIX""'" ".. ,.,do. ..",..., which
Mr. Granville llenn in his translation of the New TeRtllment, entitled
"The New Covenant," labors hard and with some plausibility, to
sbo\v, should be rendered, as it is by him "they are far from their
reward." Knatchbull in his "Annotations" had preceded him in the
suggestion. The following is the substance of his note on the passage:
"terily 1 6ay unto you they have, or receive their reward. So the
generality of interpreters; or to that effect. But in the preceding
vprse, it is distinctly said, ' If ye do your alms before meo, to be seen
by tbemy ye lull:e no reward,' &c., which is a positive denial; 80 th~
the following import would be mor~ consist.ent., if those who so give
their alms were said, 'not to have,' rather than to have their re,,'ard.
To remedy this incongruity, I would certainly render the word with
this difference; V eri1~ I tell you, they prevent or ke~p away their
reward. By accepting praise from men, they pevenl praise from
God; from whom they will not obtain it, if the~r bestow their alms
before men, in order to be seen by ,them. I am well aware, that the
VOLe 11. 11
,
118 [April,

former sense may, as 1OID8 think, be maintained by an applicable

...tinction, namely, That they 1&avtJ a worldly and frail reward ;
though Dot a IOlid and heavenly one. But, what need ia thete for a
foreign and mystic sense; what need, I ask, is there for 8 distinction
which is manifestly forCfd, and when the seDse is direct without any
distinetioD, and such 88 the common use of the words import 1 No,,·,
we find in all the lexicographers, that aMC"', acx.., ',.-od-,.,. sigDify the
same thiog (se. tlJ hinder, keep back, ob.truct)," &c.
Mr. Peno, in his "Supplemental Annotations," goes largely into the
Greek usage, both sacred and profane, to confirm this interpretation,
by adducing proof that the genuine primitive sense of the verb "'x'"
is to 1"'1 ClIDllY. to keep at Cl di.'tntee, to deprive 01&6'6 .elf of, and that
consequently the real import of the expression here is, that those who
perform their alms with a view to human notice aDd eclat, lose the
reward which they seek. 'rbe word is compounded of can, .(row&, and
,,,... to haw, and in the strictness of the letter may be conceived as
implying having atOtly, i. e. not having, and yet 88 usage does affix
the positive sense of having to the word in some connections, we may
recognise the twofold sense of having and not having-of gaining and
lo6ing-as couched under one and the same term. By obtaining the
reward of human applause they Jose the reward of heavenly grace.
We give in the connection Swedenborg's exposition of the passage,
which contains substantially the same idea, where he says that the
" delight of glory, which in the world appears to them as heaven,
after death is turned or converted into lrell!' The one is the reward
which they have, and the other the reward which they have Dot. "By
alms, in a universal sense, is signified all the good which a man wills
and does, and by praying, in the same sense, is signified all the troth
which a man thinks and speaks: th~y who do these things that they
may be 88l8II, that is, that they may appear, do them for the sake of
themselves and the world, because for the sake of glory, whieh is the
delight of their-love, and \vhich they receive from the world; inas-
much as the reward of such persons is the delight of glory, it is said I

that they have their reward; howbeit the delight of glory, which iD
the world appears to them as heaven, after their departure out of the
world is changed into hell, but they who do good and speak truth, I

not for the sake of theJI18elves sod the world, but for the sake of good
itself and truth itsel~ are understood by those who do their alms in
secret, and who pray in secret, for tJuch act and pray for love or at
fection, thus from tbe Lord, and this is to love good and truth for the
lake of good and truth: concerning these therefore it is said, that their
Father in the heavens will reward them in what is manifest; wherE-
fore to be in goods and truths from love and affection, \vhich is the same
thing as to be in them from the Lord, is reward, inasmuch as h~aven
is therein, and all the blessings and satisfaction of heaven. That by
reward is signified salvation, consequently heaven, may appear \vith-
out explication; but inasmuch as few know \vhat is properJ)· under-
stood by r6\vard, it shall be explained: by reward is properly under-
stood that delight, satisfaetioD, and blessedness, which is contained in
the love or affection of good and truth, for that love or that affection
 18&8.] 188
has in itself all tbe joy I,f heut, which i. called beaveDIy joy, and al.
heaven; the reason is, because the Lord is in that love or in that at,.
fection, and with the Lom is also heaven; this joy therefore, or this
deHght, 8atisfaetion, and blessedness, is what is properly understood
by the rewani which they shall receive who do good and speak truth
from the love and aWect.ion of good and truth, thus from the Lord, am
by no means from themselves; and "'hereas they act and speak from
the Lord, and not from themselves, therefore the re\vard is not of merit
bot of grace; from these considerations it may appear, that he who ·
knows what heavenly joy is, may know also what reward is."-A. E.
695.

IV.
HER. 1.2.
,
Hath ill tbese last days spoken unto us by his SOD, whom he bath appoint-
&I
ed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds."
\

On these words Mr. Barncs, in his commentary, distinctly intimates

that Christ was the i1Utrumenlfll CflfUB of creation, oP, 88 he otherwise
expresses it, by whose agency God created the ,vorlds. The id~a of an
irutrtlJ7lt!ntal Creator is one that bids defiance to the power of the
human mind. If Jesus Christ created tbe universe, it must have been
by virtue of his attributes as originally and essentually divine, a view
which is utterly inconsistent with the idea of anything like in8t,."mea-
tality or delegation. A delE'gated omnipotence is the first-born of ab-
surdities. 1·he fact undoubtedly is, that the word" worldtt" in this eo.-
neetion has nothing to do with the modern astronomical sense ofthe t.,rm.
This is a sense in which the word never occurs in the saered writers.
Its genuine import is that of age, di8prn,atiOfl, worldly order of tiring..
To attempt to affix opon it the sense of a planelary globe, is to do
downright violenee to the language of holy writ, in order to make it
speak what we in our foolish wisdom tbink it onght to speak. Mr. 8-
appears to be aware that the matter is attended with some doubt, &8
he remarks that the only perfectly clear use of the word in this
IeDse in the New Testament is, Heb. xi. 8, "1'hrough faith we under.
stand that the UJOrld8, eC·OJNf. were made by the \vord of God," &a.
But this passage is as far (rOID proving it 8S any other. The far more
obvious sense is, that tAB agu. the tli.,en,a'iom, the Adamio, the Ante-
diluvian, the Patriarchal, the Mosaic, &c., were appointtd, co1Utiluktl,
adjlUted, by the word or efficacious will of God.- So here the real
purport of the language is undoubtedly that suggested by Grotiu&,
and which Mr. B. says may be the true one, to ,vit, that the vario118
ag~•• dUpen8utiatu, or religimu economie., were ordered in refereaee
to (I.l) Christ. He \\ as the grand prominent object had in view
from beginning to end of all the divine dispenSlitioDs. We are 0DIy
IUrprised that this obvious and l~gitimate sense of the word ••.,
tlJlWld, did Dot at once direct Mr. B. to the true construction of die
cfJlHlected phrase-I. by whom he made." If the term al."., . . .
Dot 8ignify flUJlerial fIJOrlth, tben i ....,. does Dot signify die crNtitnl of
110 [Apft~

_ch worlds, aDd consequently la'.. cannot properly be renderN " by

whom." The verb has the import of COIUtituted, appointed, and the
preposition conveys the Ien8e of for or in rifere"ce to, as it does in
multitudes of otber cases. Time and a deeper research into the
inner sensfl of revelation will doubtless evince, that the absolute veri-
ties of the pAy,iNI universe are much )el8 frequently alluded to by the
Dcred writen than is generally supposed.

v.
REV. XXI. 22, 23.
"And I saw no temple therein ; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb
~ tbe temple of it. And the city had no need of the suo, neither of the
mOOD, to 8hine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the
light thereof. n

Upon the phrase" glory of God," Swedenborg thus comments (A.

E. 1306); "8y the glory of God is signified the Word in its di,"ine
light; by the light therf!ofis signified the divine truth therein, for that is
meant by light in the Word. By the words, therefore, is described
their understanding of the Word who are in the doctrine of the ~ew
Jerusalem, and in a life agreeing with it ; with such the Word shines
88 it were when it is read; it shines froDl the Lord by means of the
.piritual sense, because the Lord is tile Word, and the spiritu& I sense
i. in the light of heav~n which proceeds from the Lord as a suo. and
tbe light which proceeds from the Lord, as a Hun, is in its er
IleOO8 the divine trut.h of His divine wisdom. That by the glory
of God is meant the Word iD its divine light, mal' appear from the
following pauages: 'The Word was made flesh, and we saw his
glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father' (John i. 14);
that by glory is meant the glory of the Word or divine truth in Him,
is evident because it is ~aid, the Word was made flesh: the same is
meant by glory in what follows, where it is said, 'th~ gJor)9 ~f God
did lighten it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb' (vertie 23). The
aame is meant by , the glory in which they shall see the Son of )180
when He shall come in the clouds of heaven' (Matt. :xxiv. 30; Mark
xiii. 25) ; nor is anything else meant by 'the throne of glory upon
which the Lord will sit when He shall come to the last Judgment'
(Matt. xxv. 81) i because lIe ,viiI judge everyone according to the
truths of the Word, wherefore it is also said, that He will come in his
.Iory."
We areoften surprised at the confidflllce with which the impugners
of our Lord's sl1preme divinity den)· the existence of any ~criptural
.testimony OD this head whatever. What then do they make of the
obvious import of thilit language 1 What caD be plain~r than the al-
sertion in the above passage of an identity between the Lord God AI·
mighty and the Lamb \\'hich cannot, \\rithout shocking every senti-
ment of reason and religion, be concei \·00 as existing between a
created being, however exalted, and the infinite and eternal Jehovlth t
Now the Lamb is cooft'Jlledly Jesus Christ the Saviour: "Behold the
Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." Yet here the
lINt.] 1'71

Lamb is J-.,presented as constituting with the,Most High God himself

the temple of the New JemsaJem, and as being emphatically the
Light or Luminary of the Celestial City. But if there should be any
possible evasion on this head, what can be offered to countervail the
force of the testimony with which the following passage is laden t
Tbe prophet is speaking of the same mystical city as that described
by John in the Apocalyp~e. "The sun shall bA no more thy light by
day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee; but
the Lord shall be unto thee an ~verlasting light, and thy God thy
glory. Thy sun shall no more go do\vn; neither shall thy moon
withdra\v itself; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the
days of thy mourning shall be ended" (Is. Ix. 19, 20). The original
for" Lord" bere is " Jehovab," and how the evidence can be resisted
that the Lord and the Lamb are one and the same being, and that
being Jehovah, we are unable to conjecture. It can be done, we
think, only by dt'nying the authority either of Isaiah or John. But
again. we have an express allusion to this glorious city in the closing
chapter and verse of Ez~kieJ, ch. xlviii. 35, "And the name of the
city from that day shall be, The Lord is there (Jehovah Shammah).'"
As by name in the Word is signified distinguishing quality or char-
acter, the import is that the acknowledgment of the Lord, that is,
of Jesus Christ as the Lord or Jehovah, sha.ll be the grand and ruling
feature of that dispensation. Accordingly we read in Jer. Hi. 17, " At
that time they shall can Jerusalem (i. e. th6 New Jerusalem) the
throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to
the 'Jame of the L07·d Jehovah, to Jerusalem." He who is the Light and
Glory of the New Jerusalem of course gives it its name, and this, as
we have seen, is the Lamb. Once more we cite in this connection
the follo\ving :-" And ther~ came unto me one of the seven angels
which bad the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked
with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb"s
,vife" (Rev. xxi. 9). Compare this \vith Isaiah liv. 4, 5, "Fear not,
for thou shalt Dot be ashamed; neither be thou confounded; for thou
shalt Dot be put to shame; for thou shalt forget the 'shame of thy
youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy wido,vhood any
more. For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his nsme ;-
and thy I~edeemer the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole
earth shall he be called." Can there be then any doubt as to who is
tbe true husband of the Church T If this title be given both to Jeho-
and the Lamb, hOlY caD the inference be for Qne moment questioned
that Jebovah and the Lamb are ODe and the same T Do the Unita-
rians believe the Apocalypse to be a portion of the inspired Scriptures
which are to be appealed to with the other sacred books in proof of
the doctrines of Christianity 1
VI"
Mal: x. 21, 22.
U Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thin. tftOll
lack-est; go thy way, sell whatsoever thou has~ and give to the pOOl, aDd thou
 [Apfil,
....It b aye treuare in heaven j and come, take up the crou, and follow me•
.lad be was sad at that sayiDg, and went away grieved; Cor be had great
p088esaions." .

But why was this apparently zealous aspirant for the blessings of
eternal life commanded by the Lord to sell all that he had, previously
to gi,"ing it away to the poor 1 Could he not have imparted his pos-
lessions imm~diately to the poor and needy without the preliminary
process ofselling them t The spiritual sen~e helps us to the solution
of the query. To sell. Swedenborg informs us, denotes alienation,
as its counterpa.rt to buy signifies appropriation. In the present case
the young man was commanded to divest himself of ,vhat he valued
as his highest riches, or, in other words, to reject the raises which
were the doctrines of the Jewish nation, and receive the doctrine of
truth from the Lord. Selling, therefore. in the spiritual sense, implies
simply alienation without involving the idea of a price or an equiva-
lent. Consequently the giving bis possessions to the poor \\'ag itself
the selling enjoined by the Lord. This is confirmecl by the parallel
IUlage in rega.rd to buy, which denotes appropriation without the ex-
change or quid pro quo which enters into the ordinary or exterllal
sense of the term. Cl To buy signifies to procure for one's self and
thereby to appropriate; procuration and appropriation is effected
Ipiritually by good and truth." Accordingly \ve read in the prophet,
(IL Iv. 1)," Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and
he that bath no money; come )Te, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wilU:
and milk without money and without price." A buying \vithout pay-
ing an equivalent. is a very different kind of buying from that which
is known in the merchandize of the world. But the idea becomes
quite intelligible by the aid of the spiritual sense. "That the wine
and milk here mentioned, which were to be bought without money
and without price, signify things purely spiritual to which they corres-
pond. must be obvious to every on~; vvherefore by wine is signified
Bpiritual good; which in its essence is ,truth, and by milk the good of
that truth. That these are given grati, by t~e Lord to ,uch al are in
ignorance of trut/" and good, but U'/w neve,.thelesa are ill the de.ire
thereof, is signified by their being invited to come, to buy, and to eat
without money."
. G. B.

EXTRACT.

liThe spirit. of man 11 not a substance separate from the viscera, orpD. and memben
of a man, but adheres conjoined to them. for a spiritual prin~iple accompanies all their
"mina (rom the outerrrlost to the inmost, and thence also all the stamina and every ftbre
of the ~e!,rt antll~~g~, ~her~fo~e when the con~ectio~ i. dissolved between man'. bod,.
and SpUIt, the Spirit 18 ID a Similar form to that ID which the man was before; it is only
eeparation of a spiritual lubstaDce from wbat i~ material. and hence it is, that the spirit
ha. a heart and lungs as the man had in the world. wherefore also it has similar lenses
aDd similar motions, and likewise it haa speech. yet senses, and motions, and speech. are
Dot liven witbout heart aDd lungs; spirits also have atmospheres. but spiritual; how
peatly thereCo", are they mistaken, who asaign to tbe soul a peouliar place in any part of
the body. whether in the brain or in the heart, sinae the 80ul of man, which is to live after
d.eath, i. his spirit."-CORe,",. Div. Wi•. vii. 2.
I
JfW8.] ~. 171

SELECTIONS.
LUTHERJAN GEMS.

No. 3.
CONCERNING ~D VVOBKL

~ood works do Dot make a good man, but a good ml\n makes good work&.
Evil works do not make an evil man.. but an evil man makes evil works. It
if' needful, therefore, that the suhject, or the person himself, be good before
there be any good works, and then from the good person the good works wilt
follow and proceed.-O,l. Tom. i. 469, Q. ..
He that would work to effect must begin, not from working, but frOlll be-
lieving; for nothing but faitb makes the peraon good, aad nothing but UI1~
lie! makes it eviI.-ld. TOfR. i. 469, 8.
The good works which (allow justification 8erve merely ae teetimonies of
this faith and please Gad, not simply for their own sake, but on acooWlt of
the person exercising faith.-Id. Tom. i. 75, G.

eoSC.KING TIll: CBalSTlA.N.

A Christian, if properly and accurately defined, i8 a Bon of graee and of the

remission of siu, \vho has DO law, but is above law, lin, death, aDd hell.-I'"
X.... iv.. 64, G.
~ pio118 man by doing nothing does all things, and by doing all tlUap
does nothing.-Id. Tom. iv. 471, Cl.

It is impossible that any 80n of God should sin j at the aame time it i. oe.
venbeless true that he does sin, but inasmuch as he is forgiven, therefore it
is properly to be said that the sinner does Dot sin.-Id. Tom. 305, 6.
Christian sanctity or holiness is not an active but a passive holiDeu.-LL
Tom. iv. 5, b.
I became in the first place· clearly convinced that there was indispensable
need of a gratuitouA gift in order to the attaining of celestial light and life, and
labored 8edulou~ly and anxiously to gain an understanding of the declaration
in Rom. cb. i., that U the righteousness of God is revealed from heaven," in the
Go8pel. I stuck here for a long time seeking and knocking. The great dUB-
eulty was in the pllase' righteousness of God," which is usually thus d~6nedf
_c. The righteousness of God is divine virtue in consequence of which he i.
fonnally just aDd damns the sinner.n Thus all the doctors, with thE: excep-
tion of 411gustin, has interpreted it; the righteousne88 of God is in effect the
Roger of God. As often as ] read this passage I could but wish that God bad
never revealed the Gospel; for \vho could Jove a wrathful, jndging, and
damning GoJ' And so it 'VDS until, under the il1uminating influence of the
Holy Spirit, [ had thoroughly weighed the words of Habakkuk, u The jU8t shall
live by faith." I thence gathered that life should exist from faith, and referring
the abstract to the concrete, the whole Scripture and heaven itself was opened
to me.-lci. Tom. i. 67, b.
Let U8 Btand by this; that there is no other word of God than tbat which
every Chri8tian is commanded to proclaim-that there is no other baptism than
what every Christian is authorized to administer-that there is DO other eelebra-
174 &ledioru. [April,
tion oftbe Lord's Snpperthan what every Christian can officiate in accordin,to
Christ's own institutlon-that there is no sin but what every Christian can bwd
and 1008e- that there is no other sacrifice than the body of every Christian-that
there is no prayers except by the Christian only-and no judging of doctrines
except by the Christian. These are his priestly and kingly prerogativea.-Id.
Tom. ii. 485, Cl.

LETTER OF REV. JOHN CLOWES.

The followingletler from the Rev. Jobn Clowes, of Mancbe.ter. England, first appear"
ed, we believe, in the le New Jerusalem Record." for 1820, published in Philadelphia. 118
intrin.ic interest fully entitles it to re-production in Ollr page~, as the " Record" had <Ki-
siDal1, but a limited circulation. aDd has now become esceed!D811: fCarce~

DE"" A.ND aUPJ:CTEJ) SIJl, MANCBZ8TJ:A, Janu~ry li~ "1820.

The account which you give of the infancy of the New Chllrch in Ameri-
ca, is to me most interesting, because it is a convincing proof that the Child is
born i and though at present he may be in his ,waddling dotha, yet who doth
Dot know, that this is a necessary state of introduction to an age of nlaturer
growth, and finally to manhood 1 Who doth not also know, that at the ti018
of the Lord's first advent, the Church was small in its beginning, slow like-
wise in the progress of its formation, and never attained to anything like per-
fection of being, but by passing gradually through numberles8 successive
atages of life and activity! The same is troe too, respecting the creation of
an individual church, or the regeneration of every individual man, which, as
experience testifies, begins from a gra.in of Inust8rd seed, or the first insemina-
tion of truth, and never becomes a fuU-grown tree, until this seed first begios to
expand itself in the eanh, afterwards puts fonh shoots above grouod, then
grows into a trunk with branches and leaves, next produces blossoms, and
lastly brings forth the fruits of heavenl~ love, charity; and use. \\'e are not,
then, to expect that the New Church wlll be established here on earth, accord-
iug,to any other law than this providential aud eternal one, of progress from a
point of almost imperceptible diminntivttne88, throllgh various ullseen grada-
tions, until what was at first compamtively as nothing. or 8S the Scripture ex-
presses it, ttJitJaoutfM'1R ant111Oid, becomes something, and through indefinite and
astonishing revolutions ofllights and days, advances to\vards, and finally attains
the end of its creation, when it is prononnced by the Creator to be "try good.
Convinced that the Almi~hty bath again said in these latter days, Let tJ,n-t lJ.
light, and that this light has now begun to dawn npon the earth, Bud is advanc-
ing insensibly towards its meridian sptendor, I am no longer concenled about
the present numller, or even rank, of its recipients, being well assured t that,
through the Divine Providence, it will be imparted to all who are in a state to
profit by it. My only concern therefore is, 'that every one wbo is admitted to
the high honor and happiness of beholdin~ the glory of this light with the in-
tellectual eyes, Dlay see and perceive the blessed end to which it will conduct
him, aud may 110t be so dazzled with the brilliancy of the light, as to mistake
it for the nld, which is love and charity. Let no one, therefore, (as an elllight-
ened writer cantions,) mttUurt himself by his morning shadow, {or this shadow
will lead him into an erroneoos judgment, respecting his real size and growth.
Rather Jet him a\vait the 8un's ascent to his meridian altitude, Bud then mea.
aure himself by tbe conjunction oC heat and light, in which case, possibly, the
shadow of himself win be diminished, but his diminution \\~HI be amply repaid
by observing, that the measure of the Lord, and of hi8 mercy and loviug kind-
ness, win be proportionably increased. For as John the Baptist made a glori-
ous confession respecting the Great Saviour, when he said he JDust increase
but I muat decrease, John Hi. 30, in like manner every devout receiver oC the
heavenly doctrine of the New Jerusalem \vill estimate his spiritual advance-
ment, Dot by the reception of that doctriue in his ulltUrato.nding only, \\' hich
I
lee.] Beleetieru.
will bot 8well him up with conceited ideas ofbis own superiority aboye others,
but by its reception in hi. wiU, or low, thus in bis life, by virtue of which, dis-
cerning his natural vileoeu, pollution, ignorance, and misery, he will with
iaeeMant gratitude ascribe the kingdom. the power, and the glory, to his re-
deeming and regenerating Lord.
As to pe~onal knowledge of our enlightened author, it was never my happi-
ness to enjoy it, having never heard of him, or seen any of bis writiugs, until
the fear after his entrance ioto the 8piritual world. I have, however, had the
gratification ofseeing and conversing with his intimate friend Haf'tl,y, the traoa-
lator of the treatise on Heaven and Hell, aod also with another gentlemaD,
who bad, both of them, the honor of his acql1aintance, and were frequently
admitted to a88ociatioD with him, and from each of them I have received the
most satisfactory information conoeming him. .
It is rematkable of the latter gentleman, tbat he had frequently seen Count
Zinzendorf, the founder of the sect of Moravians, and conv.ersing one day
with Swedenborg, he was led to inquire whether he (Swedenborg) had ever
seen the Count 1 to which question SwedeDborg replied, "N e~er in the body,
botin the spiritltal world frequently.''! The gentleman then proposed several
questions to Swedenborg, respecting the Count, his aspect. manner, opinion8,
Itc., &tc., to wbich Swedenborg gave 8uch auswers, as convinced the gende-
man that he must have seen the Count, otherwise he never could have de-
scribed him 80 minutely and exactly.
I cannot concluda my long letter without giving yOD some account of what
is passing here, ill regard to the New Dispensation, particularly in our Man-
chester &ociety! for you will receive g~neral information from the Intellectual
Repository. Allow me then to state, that we art! at present o(~cupied in a new
uanslation oC the Gospel according to L:tke, which is intended to be publish-
ed like the Gospels according to Matthew and John, \vith explanatory extracts
from Ol1r author, &c., &c. We are also proceeding with the Scripture Hiltoriu,
having already begun the eighteenth part, which will contain the hi8to~ of
Lot and bis family. Concerning this work, I wish to acquaint you, if you have
never seen any of its parts, that it is designe~ as an abridgment of the .J1.. C.
for the use of those who cannot. spare money for purchasing the original, nor
time for perusing it. We have also a new work preparing for publication, en-
titled Oppoatu, aud intended to show their origin and use, by proving, that,
without them, man could have DO free will; cODsequently, could Dot be a mao,
and capable of happiness. Yours, &c.,
J. CLOwa.

PROGRESS OF RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT IN HOLLAND.

A No. of the" Christian Union and Religious Memorial," devoted to the interests of
the American Evangelical Alliance, has recently come into our hands containing a brief
sketch oC the preaenl condition oC the Protestant churches in Holland, their number.,
IeCtI, lentimente, &0. The fonowing i. an estraol from a letter from the pen oC 'be Rel'.
J. DeLiefde addressed to tbe Editor of the E.ft"lical ClariltftldMn. The Editors of tbe
"Union" considered the article as one to be read with cc painful interest" al sbo\vinl •
_d decline in the churches of Holland from the good old ways of early Prote8tanti~1
when the doctriDeI of Dort beld unquestioned away. To the New Churchman, however.
the interest of perusal will be anytbiDI but painful. unlee.1 indeed be may be pained at
De id. oC a bod, of reli,ioniets approsimating 10 near to the truths of Ibe New JerualelD.
&lid yet failing to reaoh them in their full integrity. The writer i. 8ketching the history
or a number of Separatist churches-whose memhera bad outgrown the dimensions oCthe
Calvinistic Creed. in which they had been reared.

Such was the etate of circumstances, when, about the year 1837, some
theologians of Groningen, with two professors of that university, Mr. Hol-
17• [Aplil,
. . . . de Gtoot aaci Mr. PaN811, at their head, .Dd aNliBted Ity several clever
preachers, Be Mr. Rutgen vu. der Laei; Itc... be«an to :publish a quarterl,
review., entided Tr.tA in.l..oet. The finat Du.berl of th. periodical work,
breathing deep respect for the uappeariDI of Chrilt." aad uqiDg, above aD,
c'love to his plTlOn," besides avoiding the dry recommetadation of the mere
IloctriRe of the Go&pel, which wu the chief object of the ftUtrBriDg theology,
&lid being written iD a very agreeable, popular atyle, met Boon with the ap-
p.vu of innumerable persoos, &Ddrejoiced eepeci&lly1.be minds of the or-
thodox with mOllt happy expectatioDS. It is true, the authon of the articles
which occurred iD that paper, did noteKpreu their opiaiooa about the fUDda·
m&Dtal cioctri.nes themselves, aud weDt on steadily, moving in a sphere of
deYotiollal admiration of God'. loy.e in Christ iD general, as weM as of deeply
deploriug man's corruption; and it struck. maoy that, altho8g8 they read M
much about the importance of C.brist'8 pet8onality, aud abollt the necessity of
ltanding in the connexion of perlonal love towards Him.. yet they did not
meet with any distinct explanation or definition of Christ's very pel'8o~ except
of his humanity, which was everywhere made promil1ent. But the fint
numbers were generally cODsidered a8 being merely preparatory. and promis-
ill« more definite developments in future, and every ODe inclined to soppose
that be should lOon learn what they were about. So ODe or two years lJacl
elapsed in deep silence, when grad nally it beeame knoWJl that the scholars of
that Groningen school diffused a most dangerous doctrine from their pulpi..,
and at the same time the authors of die review, Truth in Low, began to de-
velope. or rather to betray, their dogmatic OpillioDS, in a more po.tive and
undisguised maDoer. The orthodox and all the friends of Jesus Jehovah, aDd
among these above the rest, Mr. Capadose aod Mr. da Costa, felt deeply
Iuuck with sadness on ob8erviD~ at leugth how tbe matter stood, and the
mOle 80, indeed. u they could not but acknowledge that the doctrine of the
Gronwgen school had already got numerous friends among the preachen, aDd
bad rooted itself deeply in the heart of a great many of the people.
The 'nul& which this IChool tried to diffulle in l&ut!, was, alas! the truth of
natural human understanding, and 110t of scriptme. It ,vas, however, and is
still more than most, difficult to·poiot out their real aystem,- the varions opin-
iODs being disper8ed througb the numerous volumes of that periodical work.
and not Leing expressed by one single allthor, but by di1ferent authors. But
happily we are atl~Dgth ellabled to see the dispersed members of that theolo-
gical theory united together into one body by the ProCessor& Hofstede de Groot
and Pareau, in their Manual of Christian Dogmatics and Apotogetics, which
is written in the Lat.in language, and of which a second editlon was published
in the year 1845. Mr. A. des Amorie Vall der Hoeven t jun., a young pastor
of the Arminian Church at Utrech~ and a most learned theologian, gave a
critical account of this Manual in 1846, in which he pointed out many of its
inconsistencies; but its heresies are put in the clearest light by !tiro da Costa.
in hi~ article entitled :-Some Observahon, about the tnu Ch.aracter of the Gronift-
"n Tluological 8r1uJol according to tI", Latin Ma·nual of Ch"i8tian Dogmatic tlful
Apologetie of M,.,.,. Pereau and HofBt,de de Groot, whIch article ",·a8 published
ill the C/a.,.i8tian Monthly R,tJUtD of January, 1847. It may be deemed most in.
teresting to give here a short account of Mr. da Costa's remarks with respect
to the chi~f points of faith. .
cc The Groningen theologians," says Mr. da Costa, U have .nl\vays adopted
and defended the doctrine oC Christ'8 pr' ,zi.,tenu. The question, however,
was hitherto not resolved, ,vhat they understood by that word pre-existenee.
But DOW it is made evident that they assert, that Christ pre-exieting was a
D;"i.. Being, (the word divine, however, signifies bere in their language ~,.
human, tJlTy confo,.med to God, and because of this conformity! 'tighlg lot«i.b,
God,) who had no definite relation either to God or to the world; a being
without any certain name or mnk among the creatures of God; a human being
of whom \lye are not allowed to form any idea, except such an one 88 may be
drawn by analogy from our knowledge of that human being while living on
earth." According to this theory, they often call Christ by the indefinite title
JM9.] 177
of 7Tw iftM6i,." of lirnm. Cbrilt is in their eyes BD Utd 1IIa"'.4ft, who
exiBIed in heaven before Adam the first man was created, and came down from

ans venture to etate the opinion, that tberehBS been a "'0.;1,

heayea in order to be an .111--.oa. Coueeqneady, tbe Grooingell theologi-
before Adam; a humanity iadepeDd~llt of Adam! Who can piewre 10 him-
in heaven
aelf the abBDI'dity of such a monstrous auertion, and" who mUlt Dot allow,"
_,.. Mr. cia Costa, "that this is IONa an uulimi1ed anthropo-8potheosis ...
neYel ha Leen performed in the sphere of theological philosophy, nor caR
be performed. any more." The key to the whole system lies in tbe followiDg
WGl'ds of the professor's dopoatical statement :-
U The human nature of Jesus Christ is so little repngnant to his aivine

nature, that He may be laid to have manifested bis divinity in the most human
manlier, and to be quite a divine man. For every man i8 divine by bis in-
t.eUigeoee, and bulDatl nature can be cultivated, in suob a high degree, to
ualimited perfection, that it. becomes, u to ita kind, similar to God, if Dot
llere OD earth, at leut in life everlasting."
As to the aalvation and forgiveness of sin8 in Christ, the Manual giyes a
declaration, which constantly circles round the doctrine of satisfaotioD and
propitiation, without touching it. I cannot do better than h'aDslate the word.
which .Hr. da Costa 'D8e8 in the review just mentioned: .c The doctrine of rhe
professors," says Mr. da Costa, "teaches us that God forgives our sins, not,
however, /or CAm!', . " bat through Christ, and eapecially through his
death. Tbey point out that Palll and John, speaking in figures derived from
the ceremonie8 of the Old Testament, call the covering of sins a fWopititJtiOA
f .. • r . . . tbrongh tbe death of Christ. He being, a it "", a mOlt holy
Tidim, (Dot t_~ but ~ victima sanctiuima.) Thia death of Chriat i.
the pealest proof of God's forgiving love, but it was not properly intended
by God for a ransom or a propitiation, or satisfaction to the claim of the Jaw."
Well, then, what after all, is thie death 1 How can it be a proof of God'.
forgiving love t To this question the profeesors give nn answer at aU. Aa-
aeniog that Christ's death is not tbe meritoriolts or procnring cause or the for-
giveoess of ains, they venture to appeal merely to the forgivenes8 wbich
Chriat bimself imparted before He died, and which the believers of the Old
Teetament enjoyed; or they point out that in the parable of the prodigal son,
DO mention is made of any intercession between the father and his reppnting
ehi1d. On which ill-founded argument, Mr. van der Hoeven cannot refrain
from reluarking, tbat by such reasoning the whole mediatorship of Christ
might be reasoned away, the parable keeping a deep silence with respect to
dlis truth likewiae, although it is ackoowledged br the Groningen theologians.
According to scripture, Christ'8 death is the deciding point in the whole work,
reconciliog man's deadly guilt, Bnd rest.orirlg him to God; according to the
GroDingen 8chool, on tbe contrary, Cbrist'"s death is merely 80mething ao-
ceMOry to that work of our re-union \vith God.
And how doe8 the Groningen 8chool deal with the doctrine of the Trinity I
After its usual maDoer, it states, instead of a unity of Father, SOil, and Holy
Gh08t, a mere eonju,,,;tion (conjunctio). And what idea do they picture to
themselves of that conjunction' "Goel," 80 they say, U has a certain COD-
junction with all the other natures which are the offspring of His, and this
conjul1ctioll is the more strict, ,the more these natures are reJated, or homo-
geneous with tbe Deity. Con8equently the nature of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost is only somewhat more related and homogeneous with that of the
Father"8 than ours is." III order to prove their 8tatement, they remark, "that
if Christ had made himself equal with God, He should have called God his
brother, and not his Father," and in order to defend their opinion with the
more success. they borrow their arms from a certain Dutch theologian of the
last century, H. A. Roill, who publicly and lIDdisguisedJy attacked the doc-
trine of the eternal generation or tbe Bon. Most singular too is their definition
of predestination. "Tt is the counee} of God to lead men, and decidedly all
men to the highest degree ofbJessednes8." And having remarked, that U God'.
love, 88 beiDljwt, cannot possibly love one man with the disadvantage (eua
178 ~. [April,
cllnflO) of anotber," they proceed to the conclalioD, "that, therefore, the doo-
trine of propitiation, by satisfaction and substitution in the death of Christ, is
to be rejected." We have to acknowledge that we do not understand bow
this conclusion can be derived from luch a previous statement; for the Gron-
ingen theologiaua, though rejecting the doctriue Qf propitiation by satisfaction,
yet preach a love of God which has ble88ed U8 to tbe disadvantage of bi.
SoD. Not less pitiable is the assertioll of the prOfe880rB that, if Christ's death
were the pTiu of our salvation, neither would the forgiveness be givenfreel"
Dor the salvation out of mne low. Indeed, we do Dot undentand how the
professors can get rid of that one ,vord of Scripture: "y, fIT, bouglt.;u. Cl
priu 1"
'fhe Groningen school are not willing to be called PI/Gp". Yet the pro-
fesson describe boman nature by the figure of a cenain statute of the god
Glaucus, which Plato speaks of, and whicb, havin, heeu dra\vn up out of the
sea, was 80 polluted aud covered with weeds and mud, that it was not at aJI
to be known again: but having been washed and purified, it showed the
most beautiful form and countenance. Well, if this is not Pelagianis ID, what
is it' And is it not q oite intelligible, that after such a description, the pro-
lessors, though they do not flatly cootradict the doctrine of original sin, yet
pot it aside as a doctrine" which is not to be derived from the knowledge of
Christ's person and history 1"
Tbe morality which the GroniDgen schoc-I derives from these principles
has, it is true, tbe appearance of beiog quite Christian-like. Its wntillg8 aod
lerm008 abound in commanding love towards Christ and our neighbon, and
the element of active Christian life they propole to excite, is to expreaa the
Ipirit of Christ in all our words and actions. However, if yOIl ask hOlY man
can participate iu that spirit, they answer, U He must behold Cbrist's person.
look 00 his behavior and conduct in all the circumstances of his life; listen
to his words, and to the words of those who have already imbibed his spirit
in a high measure, as the apostles." But if you theo go on Bsking what this
Ipirit of Christ is, you find that they understand by the word nothing else but
a mere influenu (injluz 1). Just as the spirit of Socrates came upon Plato and
Xenophon, so-but of course in a still more perfect manner-the spirit of
Christ rests upon those who behold his person and study his convenation.
For Christ himselfis the perfect Man, and we are not so perfect, and even far Ieee
perfect than He is. But carrying within liS by nature the nature of God aDd
the vital spark of God's own life, we ooly need to look upon auch a perfect
man and converse with Him, and then spontaneously, as it were. that hidden
principle of divine life begins to develope itself. This is the spirit of Christ.
or, which is the same, the Holy Ghost, and these are its (I may not say hi.)
effects! The systelD of the Gronillgeo school 1188 been called by many of ita
antagonists a mixture or Schleier-macherianism and Platonical llalltheism.
And, indeed, after such facts, I do Dot koow what could be said In reply to
this charge.

From the ensaing parqraph oC tbe letter it .ppean that a oon8iderable body or tbia
people have already emigrated to America, and that others are ~xpected to follow. 11
would seem to be desirable that th~y should be put in the way ofbeiDg made acqllainted.
with the teachings of the New Church.

In spite of the laudable activity of the Separatists to uphold their com-

munities, and to improve both their spiritnal and material condition, this
young and tender plant would Dot thrive, and remaioed constaotly in a state
of languor, as if it had been infected by some hidden disease from its birth.
Financial difficulties on the oue hand, and contenlpt from the side of their
different antagonists on the other, made them tP'8dualIy look Ollt for some op-
~ortullity to escape from this tryiug situation. So nobody can be surprised.
that they began at length to think seriously on emigrating to America. Some
few of them made the first uial in the years 1843, 1844, and as their letters
18G.] Mi6Celltlny. 1'0
eoutained eneonraging inteJligenee, the preacher van R8alte set off for the
new world at the head of a large flock in 1845. In the same year the preach.
ers 8ehoJte and Brummelkamp founded a society for promoting emigration to
America, in which many Separatists participated; they bought large pieceI'
of land in Wisconsin and Iowa, and in 1847 Mr. ~holte emigrated with a
peat Dumber of them to their new conntry. The la8t intelligence T have
!leant of ~oDtain8 good news. They experience many kind privileges from the
American government, and are now bnilding a city, which is called Pella.
The emigrants, however, are but a very small pan of the Dutch Separatists.
but it is to be expected that a great many'of the rest will follow them after a
short time.

MIS CELLANY.
ToE (onawing letter was reecived some time since frOln one who was then and isetiU
a stranger to the editor. It evinces a strong appreciation of the force of. certain kind oC
nidftnce in behalf oC the doctrines of the New Church, although we do not relish the
term 'da~CltIC"' in ~ny kind of application to Swedenborg. With this abatement the ·
letter ..Rt be found one of interest to our readers. To what extent the writer has since
become a receiver of the Heavenly Doctrines we do not know.

DBAll SIB.,
I take the liberty to ask yoor attention to a few suggestions-of course,
for the sake of the 8uggestions themselves, and Dot for aoy personal consider-..
tioD-beioM an entire stranger. I have read your book on the u Resurrection"
also your hSwedeuborg Library," as far as published. The subjects CJf which
JOI1 treat are inteusely interesting to the thougbtful. Living, as we do, many
hUDdred years after miracles whIch were done in Egypt and in Judea, wbat
have we but faith to satisfy U8 even that the man, the thinking being, the
5001, survives the dissolution of the body 1 If Swedenb'org'8 disclosures are
tme (and I will add, even jf many of the well atte8ted facts in Mesmerism are
true), then indeed \ve have demonstration 8uperadded to our faith; and how-
ever strong the faith of anyone may be, eertaiu it is, that it falls far short of
demonstration. I

Bot I have made bold to address you for the 8ake of this one idea, viz. AI
you are exhibiting before the pnblic the disclo8ures of Swedenborg, and their
claims to the consideration of the wise and good, would it not be well to take
)'0111' departure from existing proofs of some oue or more oC his actual achieve-
ments in what I must denol1!inate rlainJO'gtJ'Ilu 1 Becau8e, if you call prove sa-
tisfactorily, for instance, that he actl1ally saw and was cognIzant of the fire at
Stockholm \vhile he himself was at Gottenberg-its commencement-its pro-
gress, and its termination-then all" or nearly all obstacles to a fnll belief of his
disclosures 88 to other u earths of the Universe" and as to the spiritual world,
are removed. Certain it is that atl who shall become satisfied of one such
(act, will regard every word he tias written as of the most i!1tense and absorb..
io8 interellL. and will eagerly hasten to explore the vast and interminable field
which be Ita8 opened before U8. Is it Ulle then, that he was endowed with
me ,,·ouderful faculty of a distant percep iOll of objects and beings so entirely
beyond the reach of the natnral powers and senses of humanity 1 To prove
this 1 should take tbe case of the fire at Stockbolm iD preference to auy other,
because, as the accounts are, there were fifteen credible witnesses to them,
besides the Governor and others, and the facts were faithfully investigated by
180 MUeeIM,.!!. [April,
Profes8or Kant. This traIlsaeCioD is nearly contemporat')' with ue and it would
seem that &uy deception or mistake in the matter could net fail to have been
exposed. Pray, Sir, has there ever been any cootradietion of tHt moat eitra.
ordinary account 9cept the contradiction of mere incredulity'
Has any ODe ever published 6 detection of any enor in tbe statements of
ICan" If this tzanlaction had rested upon falsehood, or mistake, or delusion.
of any kind, would it not have been instantly expo8ed and expioded on the
pnblicatlon of Kant's letter! How 800n after was that letter made public'
Du there ever been Bny such exposure or explosion 1 Where is the record
of it l For if there have been no such refutatioD, I mOBt coondeatly contend
t.hat we mwl believe the facts, or we must reject all human testimony as to
any fact not demonstrated to our own sellses. Is there any other reason why
we should reject the testimony of these fifteen or twenty reputable aud credibl,
witnesses, except tu on, f'ealOtl that it applies to thillgS which contravene all
our experience 1 But have W~ Rot ourselves witnessed thinrs (especially iD
the history of Mesm~rism) which were equally contrary to all ollrexperieuce'
and therefore is Dot this Oft, and 001,,, Teason taken away 1 aDd does there
ftOtD remain allY good reason for rejecting testimony ill relation to this trans-
action, which we could by BO possibility reject, if applied to a matter \vbich
we regard as pOEosible and probable in itselfl If the fact that any matter is
against all experience, is of itself a good Bud sufficient reason for disbelieving
it upon the testimouy of others, how are we able to believe in the separate aud
independent existence of the soul after the death of the body 1 Is not this
also again~t all experience 1 Let 118 at least be consistent with ourselves.
I ask again, is it true that the extraordinary man (EmaDoel Swedenborg).
actually saw and was cognizant of the beginning, progre88 and ending of the
fire at 8tockholm while he was hinlself at Gottellberg, a distance of 200 or 300
miles 1 If this question can be answered ill the affirmative, theu are all the
hindrances and obstructions to the belief of his other disclosures removed.
Although the tact of his perception of objects on other planets~ and in the
8piritual world is not susceptible of demoDstrative proof, yet the two cases
are 80 similar in ch8l'acter, that if either one i8 demonstrated and proved, we
8ball have no difficulty in believing the other, especially as they are botb con-
irmed by the 801emn asseveratious of the same man, and he a person whose
eharacter for truth, candor, integrity, sioceritx and lata"",
was far above and
beyond all Dlanner of suspicion or doubL There would remain only this
qualification of our credellce, viz. That as, while animal life remained, the
connection between the inner and"the outer man WRe but panially and im-
perfectly dissolved, 80 it would be reasonable to conclude, that his perceptioll
of things spiritual alld beyond the reach of the natural se118es, were also par-
tial and imperfect-sometimes more and sometimes les8 to be depended upon
-but in the main true-true to a degree which would surely bring all man-
kind into such nearness of communion with the inhabitants of that world to
which we go, as could not fail to make us both holy and happy. This would
iadeed be the Willing of tlae Kingdom of CAri".
Perhaps you will say that the doctrines of 8weclenborg bear 8uch intrinsic
evidence of truth tbat it cannot be necessary, and at least is not expedient, to
confirm them hy any such extraordinary proofs, as the learned and the power-
ful would be likely to reject without examination. But I still insist that the
transaction (the case of the fire, and perhaps some others like it) is 80 decisive
of all controversy, on the subject, that it is worth the establishment of a Com-
miaBioD to be composed of the ablest and the wisest of men, to be located both
at Stockholm and at Gouenberg as & perpetual tribunal until either the truth or
the falsehood of the matter shall be fully established; for if that one thing be not
tl'Ue, then are the foJlowe1'8 of Swedenborg a deluded people-but if it be
uDe, it is GodJs trl1th-aDd is the measure I propose lOO much for man to do ill
ifS behalf 1*

• 'fheee, I Ittppese you wHl SIl,. are _OIl Itfl'itwr. But bear in mind that tbe cases of
puceplMm of fiJ.l&D&- object. 00 otlr OWD planet, aro capable of proof and demonstratioD.
1Nl.] 181
It 8hould be remembered that a large portion of mankind (probably a large
majority) are 80 carnally minded that they carmot be approached except
through the medium pI the external senses, and all internal evidence of any
new, abstract, moral troth is to them DO otbf!r than a mere manifestatiun of
morbitlsensibility. The pride of learning apd of talent is, for the most ~Ilrt,
a coat of mail which each trDtbe can never penetrate by their own unaided,
inherent power.
ThotJ«h a 8tra11ger, allow me to subscribe myself
Your friend and well-wisber.

The eosning commonication, which discloses in a striking manner the early mental
conilictl oC one who has since divestEd himself fully of the bonds which bound him to ill.
church in which be was reared, and in which he ministered, ia Crom a clergyman BOW
succeeafuU,laboriDI in the church of the New Jerusalem.

BEV. AND DEAR 81lt t

Permit me to introduce mrse1f to yOll as a minister orthe - - church. I write
for the pUrp088 of 801tcitlng some information in reference to the lA New
Church." Till quite recently I had supposed Swedenborg to have been a vis-
ioaary enthueiast, and that his pretended revelations were undeserving of th~
least attention from any 8ensible man. I am astonished and mortified that I
haTe liyed in such deplorable ignorance of what I now see to be a subject of
~e most moment01J8 importance. And yet I CM now see that God in his
mercy has been gradnally preparing' my mind for the reception of these im-
portaDt truths, which have at length burst upon me like a flood of light from
the heavenly world.
Bnt a question of great difficulty now presses upon my mind. Can I con.
I.tentl, remain in the ministry of the - - chureh 1 I have endeavored to ex
amine this question earnestly and :prayerfully. III my otdioation vow&, I pr~
mised that I would U always 80 minister the doctrines and eacraments of the
Churcb, as the Lord hath commanded, and tU" thi, CAUTrA hat", rtui",d tle lath,."
Anti yet I find in the Articles and Offices and other standard authorities of my
church maDY tbinp which from my heart I cannot believe, that is, I eannot
believe them in the . . . in .kid tAeg wr, tnGftifutly itttentUd to be under«oltL I
k1K)w there is a way in which many of my brethren are accustomed to dispose
of loch scruples as these, that is, by merging their own private opinion iD the
authority of the Church. But ClJrist has taught me to obey God rather than
IDaD-tbat one is my Master even Christ,-and that it i:a in 'Y1Lin to attempt to
lerve him by teaching for doctrines the cmnmandmeotB of men.
It would perhaps be premature to attenlpt to predict what my future coun.
will be. Sincerely do I pray that the Lord may lustain me aDd enable me to
follolV troth and ditty, evell though my name should be cast out as evil, and
a flood of reproach and CeD8ure should be poured upon me.
May I ask you, my dear sir, to act as alY friend in this matter 1 I am ...
peciallyaDXioul to obtain some information in reference to the New Ch1ll'cb,
lis ministry, &c.-I have no means at hand by which I can obtain any RutheD..
tie iBformatioD on these subjeets. If I Ihould become convinced that it ia my
duty to enter the miuistry of the New Cuurcht and should the Cbveh feel will
iDg to aceept eo poor an offering, will not you be kind enough to aot a8 my

lot 80 as to objects on another planet or in the s'pirit1llat world, althougb die two oasel
at'e. at to their inbernt probability, nearly on the same feoting. 80 much 10 that trtbe
IDnoer be proved .e.1I bave DO great difJicolty ia believing the latter UPOD the teltl•
.-oa, of SwedetlborR himaelf. If tbe farmer be d~~d, tRll as to the hatter we .lIIt
IM GGepeI. Aa the revelatioDS of Swedenborg, flU' .Ilr,..
r.a ....k .poD our faith alORe, unaided by a11ueh teatimonT.& we have ef tbe Ir1IU
evideQce upon which they rest becomes exceedingly im porlanf.
.c
tho.. of &he QcJepel. ...
lit .~. LApriJ.
pide and friead' It will be Dee~ for me to move in thi. matter, with the
utmost prudeoce Bnd caution. I am unwilling to do the least thing that will
make me uoneee88arily a 811bject of notoriety, or that will in aoy way disturb
the peace of a church which I have long and ardently loved, and which I shall
never cease to remember with the tenderest affection. From tbe lips of that em-
inent servant of God - - , I learoed those heavenly truths which led me to em-
brace Christ &8 my Saviour. From his haud I received the sacred rite of bap-
tism. I have still reason to believe that he indulges for me the most atfection-
ate regard, and tbere is no circumstance connected with my contemplated,
probable, separation frolD the Church more painful than to know that 1 must
necessarily incur his displeasure and severely wound his feelings. But I ULuae
obey Go~ rather than man. Most sincerely, and truly, .
Your brother in ChrIst.

The 1"oUowing Is from one who is now an established receiver of the doctrines whieh
were tbus unexpectedly brought before him, and his pen has farnished BOme of the most
v.luable articles to tile Cormer NOI. of the .Repository.

DBAR SIB.,
I trust you will excuse me for trespassing somewhat upon yoltr attention aDd
your time. Throngh the Divine Providence, I am much your debtor "inee
your labon have been a link in a series of causes which have brought to my
notice aud attention the writings of EmRDuel S\vedellborg. About. one rear
ago I saw a notice of the U Animal Kingdoln," accompanied with a part 0 tbe
Translator'S introductory remarks, which greatly excited my attention and cu-
riosity respecting the writings and character of that most remarkable man,
8wedenborg. Soon arter that I flS'V a notice of the u 8wedenborg Library,"
edited by yourself. I immediately sel1t for a number of the work, in oRler
that I mIght, if p088ible, form some opinion or its merits. ThiA I received,
and witb whatavidity, surprise, and delight I perused it, no eye saw save that
of the Infinite One. Without dehiy I ordered the continuance or the work j
and now I can say that at last I have found, what I have during the last six-
teen years been ardently tleeking and sincerely praying for,-a religion, the
doctrines of which should harmonize Revelation and Reason, and commend
themeelves to the deepest affections of tbe pure in heart, and the intelligent
in mind. . During tbat time I have stood aloof from all the sectarian ohurches j
have examined creed after creed; prayed over the Word, seeking light; ex-
plored oue system at theology after another; and been all anxious and steady
listener to the preaching of ~the daX, that 1 might find a U True Christian Hell-
lion." From a source unimagined, Bod least anticipBted, a light ha! beamed
upon my mind, and a warmiug radiance sent a life-thriU throngh my heart. I
am a new creatute.
All my leisl1re time is occupied in reading the writings of the" Illuminated
S,vede." I have read with uudiminished interest, "Heaven and Hell," "An-
gelic Wisdom concerning Divine Providence," U Earths in our Solar System,"
and am now reading" The True Christian Religion," "The Apocalyp@e Re-
vealed," and have purchased tbe U Animal Kingdom," and shall commence
reading it al soon 88 I find time. I have also read Swedenborg's Life. In early
life I "'88 ea-oogly impressed with a seoee of duty to devote my life and my
little taleot to teaching and preaching rhe Word of Life, and did for 80m~
ears intend 80 to do, but when I arrived at the age or eighteen or nineteen,
l was not satisfied with the 8ystem of doctrines I bad been taught (Metho-
dism)-I commeueed readiug and thinking for myself. Thus I continued to
do until [ arrived at the age of twenty-four years, 8till determined to devote
my life as stated after I should have found a system of doctrines satisfactory
&0 my Inind. At last 1 almost despaired of 60cJingsuclt a system, and through
the persuasion of friends commenced tile study of law, which studie8 I com..
pleted, and have been practi8illg iD this place three years nearly. Oftentimea
1"] 188
flat impreMlon of duty would retum ~ me with a double force. 8tiIl1
foand an exc11I8 in the unaetded state of my mind. Those impresaioDS Itill
abide 'With me ; and I have determined to prepare m~lf as soon as may be
aad devote the remainder of my life U) the service of Good and Truth. Will
you have the kindneu to advise a coone of reading for me Ri preparatory to
the duti. of an humble follower and teacher of the Gospel of our Lord. Those
who have authority.in the New Church may not deem me with all preparation
qualified for thoae high duties. Yet I cannot do 1888 than o1£er to do what I
may, by DiviDe auistance, be able.
Very truly, YOUlI, &0.

1'Jaaa the writer or the followiDI we haft DOC MUd spin. In refeleDce to what iI
_WlD the cJoee or the quotation from Mada.. D'Alibert, we caD onl,. .,. we bow ~
DD authoritr Cor it acept the :foDowiDa. wbich occurs in aD aDODJIIIOlll FreDoh wom
eadded •• Abrip del Ouvrape d'EID. Sweclenboqr," publlabed at Stockholm. In 1'788.
It pro. . . . to contain a 'ketch oC the dootriDea or the New JerulBlem. preoeded bJ •
preItJ 1081 prelhniaary dilC01IrI8. ill which the writer coDliden the liCe &Dd hiIto.., of
_ aatlaor, the pIliu oC hi. writinp, and their relation to the Pre88Dt time. Of the
. . . . . cbancter or the wort we Imow but little. thOUlh we obl8ne that Del GU1l
l,..
.,.a of it alighti. . At tbe 01018 ~C the introdoctol'J' diICoane ocean a D018 OOIltaba.
laB th1t pazacraph ;-'c To thia aueatation (viz. or tlae Sbeanmitba) we add, hariDe !f-
eel.... 1& ft'om perIODS _tided to eredit, that a Cew U1l Wore 8wedeD~.death . .
IaIiDaaIle rrieDd .id to him. C In the name oC God betbIe whom JOU are Ibortl, to appear,
iD tbe lI&Dle of Cri8lldahlp. declare to me whether what "011 haft written la 1Ddeed the
. . , truth.' 8wedenbors replied to him; • My doctrine le tme; it ha beeD ......
ID me ; uulln eightr rean It will be widel, dluemlDatBd." t
We bow oC nothiDc et. OD whioh thi' ICMSaDed predictiOll I8ItL The authority"
It la cloabd. . apocryphal, .. BODe of the EIlIUIh biopaph181 or oar author aIlade 10 it.
Dd pt as 8wedeDbo1l died In EnBlaDd aDd all the circa........ or hia d_th wou1cl
DataIaIIy be WJrf lDiDutelJ iIlqubecl Into b,. hi' dilcdpl.. at the time aDd .ublequeDdJ•
. . . . . DO m_don or &DJ IUCh .yiDs oC hil appean to haft come to their ean, the pe-
IaIIlpdoo fa that DOth1DB oC the tiDd wu uttered by him. StW. the pl8Cllotion. wbetbR
......tio or DOt, . . . . l1bIy to be fb1IUed accord.iDI to ita term.. whioh merely aD-
acace .. wide bat b,. 110 mean. a 1IIlivenal cWrulon of the doo&riDel oC the New Dl.-
.....d-. Aa to the Id-. of the mthuliudo lad,. who.. iD the celestial JenaaIeIa
" ' y the Dew eocial order mID which hum&Dity mUlt ellter. and who oomequeDd,.
-...Id raID .tilt 8wedenbcq . . .impl, the herald oC a Dew lOCialql&em, dUI we npaI
.. a balIacmall. whloh will be eDtel'tailled by thOle oal, who bOW' little or DOthbII
. ,... doccr1De8 as cloctrme. 01 life. Not bot that the aDlftral prevaleaae oC New
Ouuah priaoiplea will SO ~dJ to ~ and re-eolla1nlct the Prelellt older oC 1OC1ecr;
baI daa& the, will ever work oot the realization of mch .. eocial Cabrio .. chat cIeftIope4
.J Poari., la aD . . . .ptloD which &bOle will mainWD wJao belieft le, Ulcl" 1riIl
. . , wIIo shiDk It wonJa whUe. whiola we do DOt.

noma,
80aae three ~ since I heard, for Dearly the ant time in m,
life, die
IIIIIDe of Swedetlborg~inlJI then pined for the first time an~ like
a j1Ult idea of the Docuin. proma1pted by hia BpDCf,-by maklDlr die aa-
qaaiIltaDce of a leC8iver of theee doctrines. Clairvoyance had pnrio~
~t me to reprd IDUl U IOmetbiDI more than mere ~ 6IoOil GfttI . . .
(-.m. beeD • materialiat), ,et notwitbataDdiDa the cbaDg81 had been UDable
to adopt tile ort.bodoz DoCioD8 OD tile TriDity lUllAtonement. I \VU udeAdl ia
. . . IL 11 . -
184 (April.
search or the trutl!, wheD I cen in with this New Clmrchman. Gladly theD did
I, and do I, embrace those heav~nly truths, satisfying as they do the bead and
the heart, as I am enabled progressi'Yely to uDderstani them. I am reading
Swedenborg as time and opportunity offer, with the hope of being enabled ~
Jive the Doctrines to the extent permitted by the present unholy 80cial atmos-
phere. I have just read also Y00l wOlk on the RelatiGu of Mesmerism to the
Doctrines of Hwedenborg, which has been cheering indeed.
I am reluctantly impelled thus to trespass vpon your preeiou8 time from aD
ardent desire to know the tnlt~ of the follo\ving quotation from an article en-
titled U The New Jeru8al~m and the Pllalanstery," from the Fren~h Qf Madame
D'Alibert published in Brook Farm Harbinger of 15 and 22 Nov. 1845. (n
speaking of the attempts ofosherstoexplain the Apocalypse, she _Y8: UBut_
wh..\ the fBthen of the church had attempte(l, SwedeDborg accomplished.
III possession of the key of symbols he ))as written that treDMndOU8 para-
phrase of the inspired book, before which the imagination and the intellect
recede in awe. That horse mounted by death is the correspondence of the
human intellect which bears within it the germ of its own desfl'nction. The
luJDinaries of heaven whic~ fall and are e:l:tinguiahed, represent the extinction
of every moralligbt, the proi01Jl1d darkness that aUlTounds 08. The tribula-
tion of the elect, the affiictiODS of believers, the political catutrophies of our
epoch, everything is described with the ~reateit exactness in that paraphrase
written a century lince, and ,vhich e'Yerythillg testifies \1nder our eyes. But if
heaven has permitted the triumph of tile abyss. it has also foreseen \vhat limits
were to be placed to it. These 8ball be shortened, Jesus has said, for the sal-
vation of many. Open the twenty-first chapter of the Apocalypse and see the
New Jerusalem, desuend radiant as a bride adorned to meet her Ilusbanet.
Admire the luxury of oriel1tal images accumulated by the Seer of PabD08~
and then demand from the tongue of nature the sense of these 8Ile~oricalIDY&­
teries. The celestial Jerusalem is the new 8o~ial order into which Humanity
must enter. The old earth, wllich must disappear, is tl1e state ef violence and
~118tice in which we live. The kingdom of God on earth is man's obeying
the divine will, docile to the voice of nature. Delicious fruits, precious stones,
and virtues. felicity, abunclanee, the inheritaace of regeneratetl man. These
are powerful images, and alone ca~able of depicting worthily the future de-
lights reserved to Humanity reconciled with its God. Such prophecies have
nothing doubtful, nothing ambiguous; they are realized alreaay ln part under
our eyes, and eacll one can verify them. In short to take a\vay all doubt, if
any remained, Swedenborg has fixed the eigbtieth year after hie death, 8.8
that in which the prophecy contained in the twenty-fint chapter was to com-
mence being accomplished, and has annoueed that every tbing would be
fulfilled before the hundredth year, Ihat is to say, before 1872."
When looking around and seeing the thousand reformatol'J movements,.
especially the Associative, J have sometimes been almost persuaded that I
co,uld descry already t.he roseate tints of the coming morn, the auroral beams
of Univenal Unity. How else can I now believe since reading your book, than
that the Bun of a glorious Future for Humanity GD earth has already appeared
above the horizon!
I have seen but few Ne,v Churchmen sinee reading this from MadaJDe
J)tAHbert, (as there are but few within many miles) and Jlone who have read or
heard of the last sentence of the quotation. I' is for information that I trou-
ble you with this. The time seems inadequate-it seems u too good to be
true." 0 that I could believe it true-believe it to have been uttered .y the
Swedish Seer I
If you can live me any light on this point, and deem it properz and com-
pltible with lour weighty dU\ies, I shall be most happy and tnantNl to
leceive it. You~ for truth.
 1MB.] I8I
REV. Kll. BARRETT'S MISSIONARY VISIT TO LOUISVILI,B. )[Y.

TIle eaniDloommunicatlon win be read with 11\'81y 1Iltef88t. From other sources we
buD how highly valued was thIs brier sojoum of oar brother in a neighboring State, and
coW mGeh anxiety exists lor its being repeated whenever circumstances win admit.

CinciAfWJei, April 24, 1849•.

~.llL 'JlILOTllD,
Knowing that it is 'your wish -to make ·t1Je Repository the vehicle of com-
mUDicating from time to time such items of intelligence concerning the pro-
gress and state of the church in difterent parts of our ~ountry and of the world,
umay be of general interest,·I Bend you asbort.account of a late visit I made
to Louisville, Ky., and of the prospects of the church in that city.
At the solicitation of some of the receivers of the heavenly doctrines in
Low8ville, I visited tnat place for the first time on the 8th of this month, and
nmained there ten days, during which time I delivered nine public lectures on
the doctrines of the New Church, preached twice, baptized six persons (two
adults and four children), and administered the Holr Supper. I lectured three
times ia one gf the Baptist churches of Louisville, .once in the Universalisr.
four times in1be Unitarian, and once in the MethoQist Church at Middletowu,
aamall villaIre about twelve mites from that place. The weather was favo,.
able moat ofthe time, though the season of the year was not. The lecturea
were attended by a larger number of perSODS than I had reason to expect, the
number of steadr listener8 ranging from about seventy-five to ODe hundred
and nCqr, according to circumstanoes of weather, place, subject, &0. But OD
Sabbath afternoon and evening the audience was considerablY larger, beinl
Dot far from three hundred.
The lectures generally were adapted to the state8 of those who were unae-
quainted with -the New TbeQlogy, being upon such subjects as the Character
and Claims of Swedenborg, Miracles. the Nature of the Second Advent, the
Spiritual Sense ..f the Scripture, the Science of COl'respondencel!J the Reaur-
rection, Last Judgment, &c. And it seemed to be the opinion ot our friendt
there, that not only a favorable but a pretty strong impre88ion was made UpOD
a number of minds. I had the satisfaction of bearing some, to whom the
heavenly doctrines were unknewn before, exprest' great delight at what theJ
had heard, and their intention to pursue the iDqU~ still further. What the
.esult may be cannot, of course, be foreseen; but the steadiness in the attend· -
ance, and the apparent respect aud patience (for my lectures were generally
from aD hour.and a quarter to two hoors in length) enoourage the hope that my
labors wella Dot wholly ill vain. On the evening of the last lecture a collection
(which had been allllounced the-evening previous) was taken up for the pur-
pose of obtaining a library of New Church bOQks, for the benefit of all who
wiahed to investigate the New Theology; and sufficient was contributed to
p_Drchase about thirt;y :volumes Gf the smaller works of the church, such as
Heaven and Hell, CHssoId's Letter, Documents concerning SwedenborlJ, Atha-
naaian Creed, Doctrine of Life, Dootzine concerning the &cled ScriptureI &c.
This was thought to be quite an auspicious begi.n.o.ing.
I aust Dot omit to mention here the important use which ont brother FultOD
of Louiaville, 8eems to be performing in the way of disseminating the doctriaes,
and tb.e maDDer in which he is d~ing it. Mr. F. is a jeweller, and was former-
. 11 a member of the Methodist church i but having become an ardent receiver
of the New Chureh doctrines, he withdrew from the Alethodist communioD, I
think about a year ago. His principal object in ,vithdrawing was, that h.
might be in greater freedom tQ keep New Church bo.Gks on sale or loan-there
being then DO New Church library in Louisville, and no place where tbe
works could be pnrchased. Within about a year or less, Mr. Fulton by pUl'-
chased at his own expense upwards of three hundrea dollars worth of the'
works of the church, for which he advanced the money. These work. be
~ 1oaDa, or pve. away, acoordiD& to cireumstaD0e8, or &8 maJ beet . . . . .
 [April.
iDoliDaeion or thOle 10'&0 can for them. Het keep. a slaDdiag adV8ftllemeDt 01
these workllt and the place where they can be had, in one of the city papers.
for which he pa~ DOt far frem twenty dollars per annum. The coneequence
ia, that be has sold, ain_Jut Augult, some fiftY or sixty dollars worth o~ th•.
works, haa loaned upwude of two hundred volumes within the year, and gIvea
away, I know not hour Dumy. This showS wllat a single individual, with a
amall amount of means, may do, when his beart is really in the cause. And
as lame evidence tJiIft his ~lforta are producing good reeults, I may mention
the fact, that while in Louisville I became acqainted with, or heald o~ indi..
vidual. connected 'tti!h the EpiscGpal, Baptist, llet&odist, .Presbyterian, Uni-
tarian, and Uoivenaliat chnrehea, who are reading' the Heavenly Doctrine.
with more or 1888 of interest; 8everal of them are "ftnderstood to be full receivers,
and are known to- be 4uite active in circulating· the books and ttactl amo~ I'

their friends. I clicl' not undentand th.a any of these persorra thought of with-
drawing fnm1 their" ~8pectiv8 aommunioh8 at present; nor is that, in my
9PiDioD, at all neceesatr, ot even desirable under the circulDltance8. t think
i~ may be IDore· uefa', both to t1remselv!s'and to others, for them to remain
iD the cburctlee where they 8mr belong for some time to come, ~ecially if
they are permitted to eenvetse ffeety vpOD the new dootrine8, and loan books
to wllomsoe.er they will, as, I believe, 18 the case with m08t if not all of them.
ID this way old friendships are not severed, but remain; and their brethren
and acquaintance are much more ready to grant a listening ear to what they
have to l8y about the New Theology; much more ready to receive truth from
them, than they would be if these rerson8 should separate them.sel yes from
their IOcietr or cburch by a forma act of withdrawal. Besides, the New
Church &cillly in Louisville is very small, and having no suitable place of wor-
ebip, either public or private, they do Dot lit present hold meetmgs for 'Wor-
ship on the Sabbath. Now I think it better-far better-for New Church peo-
ple to attend what is commonly called an Old Church meeting on the Sabbath
than DO meetiDI at all ; for there are few men who can cast off the- outward
£0l'1li8 of religifJll, and neglect tire- ordin&!y modes of wOlthip on the Sabbath,
without great peril to their ~ty--witllout great risk t)f losing the inward
~irit and life of religion. I f1iDk the disposition amon« receivers to eitladra.
fiom their formercburch and 8I8ociates unmediately on becoming interested
iD the Heavenly Doctrines, and this whether tbete be a New Church 80ciety
in their neigtlborhood or not, has hitherto received too much encouragement
amOD, u. I think it i. not in accordance with the temper of heaven, or with
the teachinr of the Heavenly Doctrines, though circumstances may, and
often do. em. sufficient to justify such withdrawal. The reception ofa purer
faith ought certainly to draw!l8 8pirit1%aUy nearer to the Lord; and we can-
Dot be draWD nearer to Him: witllout feeling an increased desire to draw
others Dear8r to U8, a dUng which we are Dot very likely to do by a tomud
act of withdrawal from their society. -
leeides the books loaued, 8old, or given away by Mr. Folton, aUwho'become
iD&erested in the Doctrines are furnished with a libend supply of our tracts to
lead to luch of their friends as can be induced to read them. And in this way
.v~ intereated reader becomes at once a kind oC mi.iGnary-a real laborer
la the vineyard j and 80 'the good seed is being sown by a cGDtinually inere...
. . Dumber of hande.
hue IOU 8ee the-.GOd C&uaeia adnncing in Louiaville; and, if the inereue
iD the _e and loan of the books and tracts, and in tile number of interested
readers is to be taken as a fair teat ofprogreur-advancing, I might 8&1, fater
~ iD many placea where there i. a mum larger New Chareh ~, and
wliere, from the greater numerical increue, there might GppetJ., to be a more
~id IfOwth ofthe church.
Two or three facta of a more particular nature, which C8ID8 to m'1 knowl-
e4ae while in LouisviUe, may be worth recording. .
. r made the acquaintance of an inteUigent lady, Mn. -----, who, althoatrh
Gtemally connect,ed with the Methodi8t chorc~ is an ardent receiver of the
. . " Ql1lroh doctriael, IIDd acti••, ....... iD diMelDiDatiDl them . . . . .
. . ~ The clocfrbaee were lrat iBtrodlloecl to her DOtice in the
IolloWlllg maaner. III health,4l the inclemency of the weather (I .do Dot re-
member whic1a) prevented her .from attending church ODe Sabbath.; and the
lady with whom she boarded having DO book, as she saill, but what elle had
..read, sent to a lady frieud to .borrow a fiQlDa. Tile husband of the friend to
whom she sent, being a New Churchman, direete.d his wife to send NoWeI• .A.,.
I«Jl instead of a novel, which aoeordingly was done. The lady was . by De
means incliDed to read ""' a novel: and immediately on opening it laid it
aside. Whereupon Mrs. ------.6took. it up, and on turniQIJ it over came aoroM
a chapter that interested and im:pressed her very much. .She read more of the
JI8D18 work, and with iBcr.euec1 Interest; an d from that time s11e has felt litde
or no interest in any other.than the New Theology, and laaa beeD in8&rameutal
in drawing the attention of some others of her church to.the Heavenly Doc-
trines. A short time ainee her class-leader in the .Methodist ChlUCh told her
that he had 'no obje~on to her reading and believing the writings of Swedeu-
borg IwrNlj, but that .he hoped she would nQt pass .round those little books
(referriDg to the tracts) among other members of the church. Whereupoll
Mrs. - - , in a day 01' two after, made a cb,gice selection of the tracts, 8.IMl
lMnt them to her clB88-1eader, accompanied by a polite Dote in which she le-
quested him to examine carefully the works she had sent him., and be good.
enough to point out such things as be might discover in them which be
~ought it would be injurious to the members DC tbe Metbodist church.DeI'-
ally &0 read. I confess that the gentlene8s, wisdom, and iugenuity
in tb.is mode of proceeding, pleased me mOOR lRore than a positive
:=ed to
comply- with her class-leader's request.
..A.nother excellent lady, B member oftbe lTe.~ytelianehurch and. teacher
in one of the public schools oC Louisville, who had pleviousl'.lead some of
our doctriDea, began attending my lectures and expressed a high degree of
.satisfaction and interest in what she Mud. Whereupon she was visited b,
her minister, and on account of the representations (milrepresentatioDl of
course) of tbe1CbamCtez both of SwedenbOl"g and his writings which the min-
ieter made in the presence of her mother (the lady is yet a minor), the moth.
positively f«bid ber daughter attend.ing any more Swedenborgiau lecturel or
reading any more Swedenborgian books! A most excellent way this-muab.
better, probably, than .eitJaer mother or mini8fJer had any idea of-to A+ the
young lady into the New Chuz.eh, if sbe needed any help. For woe know the
things 01 heaven never appear more beautiful, attractiv~ or.desirable, tban
when seen in contrast with their oppo8ite. The lady yielded to .the maternal
mandate 80 far as to cease attending the lecture.: but she is Gld enough.to
bow that neither her mother nor her minister can think far If., upon .religious
.•abject&, any more than they can repent/or Mr,.or shun evilsfor kr; and she
u wise enough. I trust, w' select 60r her readinfr auch religious books as she al-
.ready koows will open to her mind the highest, .brigbtest, and most eonsoliDg
views of the Lord and h2aven, aDd aid ber most in her progl'e88 thither.
The following ia somewhat amusing. .Before my visit 10 Louisville, our
friends applied for tbe use of one Df. the Metbodist cbut=ehes daring my stay theJ18
and the request was granted by the societr· without maell di8cu88i~D. But
after the vote to al1ew us the use of their .church on week.-day evenmga had
been taken, one member arose and entered a demorrer tQ the grant, statin,
.dJat Swedenborg taught, among ot.b.er strange things, that. .the A.lmighty firet
nsh
:tri«l 11:" laftd upon a in the \\1Ork oC creation, and finding that He 8ucceed-
ed pretty well at that, He afterwards attempted more difficult tas~re de-
licate and. complicated strDctllMS-until at leogth, after sufficient e~ in
the work of creation, He 8ucceeded in making maD. The member then~aat
down. Whereupon a motion ~ immediately made to reconsider their Jor·
mer vote, after which a motion ftOt to allow us the 11se of their church ~888ed
.... eon. This was stated to one of our friends in Louisville by a member of
the Methodist church who was present when this amusing incident transpire"
I give U aubatantially as I heard it, thinking it too good to be lost.
At the request of our friend Mr. Beynroth, who resides at Middletown, a
small wo_e about·tw.elve miles from LouiBville, I viaited that place. 8'peu&
the night there, and ~ve one lecture. We obtained the use C1fthtJ MetbOtlilC
church for the evening; and although I did not arrive there until aftemoon,.
t

and no notice of the meeting had been given previous to my anival, there
was quite a good attendance, ~robabty more than a hundred present. I lec-
tured upon the New DispensatIon generally, giving a brief view of several of
the leading doctrines of the New Church, and showing. wherein they differ
from the doctrines of the fonner churcb. The people of. this village were, for
the most part, qnite' ighorant of our doctrines, never ha.ing enjoyed an oppor-
tunity of becoming acqUainted with them. Neverthelesl they listened to the
lecture with much apparent interest; and some of them, as I learned after-
wards, were- considerably impressed with' what they heard. After the lecture
two or three individualtr came forward and purchased six or eight of the
smaller treatises, with which I had'tllken care to provide myself i and the next
morning an intelligent phflJican of !be place, who happened to be present at
the lecture, came to see and converse with me upon the New Theology, and
parchased a few of the smaller work8, such &s the treatise on InfllU, Athan--
asian Creed, Divine Love and Wisdom, Brief Exposition of the Heavenly Doc-
trines, &tc. Upon the whole, my visit to Midrlletown was very satisfactolY,
and I shall be disappointed if the worke of the church .hieh I left there should
not, sooner or later, prove instrumental in opening the eyes of some who'
have hitherto sat in darkness. I am becoming more and more eonvinced that
publiC'lectnres on the Heavenly Doctrines, in order to be in the highest degree'
useful, should al\vays be followed by well selected works of the church. In-
deed it is deubtful whether the Jectures do much good \vithout the boeu.
And I think as a general thing, it is far better that people should purcluut the
books than that they should receive them gratis. They are then more likely
to prize them, and to read and' preserve them with eare. When lectures are
delavered in a place where our doctrines are unknown, and a single individual
is 8ufficiently interested to purchase a single book, thongh it be never 80
small a one, I always feel as if seed had been left behind which will not fail
in due time to spring up and bring forth fruit, thirty, sixty, or a hundred
fold.
I ou~ht not to omit to nlent.ion bere the exceedinwtindne88 which I received
from tne Rev. Mr. Hayward, pastor of the UnitaPian society at Louisville,
whom I had formerly known ,vhen in the Divinity &hooll\t Cambridge. Mr,,·
Hayward \vas out of to\vn 011 my arrival in LouiRvitle, hut immediately on his
return called to see me, and not only gave up his pulpit to me OR Sabbath
evening, but quite urged me to occupy it. He also attended my lectures very
regularly, and could hardly have been expected to manife8t more kindness or
a livelier interest, had he been himself a receiver of the Heavenly Doctrines.
Such a truly catholic spirit as Mr. Hayward exhibited, is as beautiful as it is
rare among clergymen. I conversed with him some upon our doctrines; he'
eeemed to feel not the least opposition to them, but frankly stated some of hi9
difficulties, particularly in regard to the doctrine of the Lord-difficulties
which one who has ever been n Unitarian ,vill know how to appreciate.
Mr. Hayward is much beloved (de~ervedly so I should think) not only by his
own society, but by all denominations in Louisville; and his-iDfl~ence upon
that community, I should jl1dge, is both powerflll and salutary.
I had intended to make some remntks upon the progress ef emancipation
m Kentucky; but have not time now to do more than simply to' say that the
emancipation party in the state is said to be 8teadily increasing ill numbel'll
and in ~tretlgth j and the friends of ftee labor are full of hope that the time is
drawing neal'\Vnen Kentucky will be a free State. They now hold meetings
in variol1! parts of the State to discuss the question of emancipation~ which
they do with earnestnp.~s and without molestation; and most of their lending
minds-men like Henry Clay, CassiU8 M. Clay, Judge Tompkins, Jodge Gra-
!Jam, Rev. R.J. 'Breckenridge, are zealous advocateEl for gradual emancipation.
There can be little doubt, therefore, judging from the present aspect orthiD~
that Kentucky, before many years at farthest, will be reckoned among the
Don-slave-holding States.
,
 _.] 189
f had .1~o ifttended te 'Say something of the eh'Greh in Cincinnati, and the
State of Ohio generally, bwt my letter haa already extended considerably be-
yond the bonnds I had 'prescribed to myself; and therefore I must po~tpoDe
• to another time, what I kave to say of the progress of the church in our o~
Stale.
Very truly, Y'0nrs,
. B. F. BABRETI'.

nSTRACT OF THE PROCEEDINGS or THE SEVENTH ANNUAL MEET-

ING OF THE M.ICHIGAN AND NORTHERN INDIANA ASSOCIATION
OF THE NEW CHURCH. I

HllaI:S, Friday, Pe1JnI4rg 2, 1849.

Agreeably to appointment by the Acting Committee, the AS80ciation met
this day in Niles, and assembled at ten o'clock, A. K., at the Odd Fellow"
Hall.
The meeting was called to order by the presiding minister, Rev. G. Field.
The Dames of those in attendance ~re then reael, amounting to thirty or
forty.
The proceedings of the meetin~ were commenced with reading the Word,
and prayer by the pr~8idjng minister.
A committee of arrangements was appointed, cOllsisting of A. Silver, R. B.
Murray, and R. N. Thielsen. Their report being prepared at once, was sub-
mitted to the meeting, adopted, and the meetings for worship, &te., regulated
accordingly.
The presiding minister then presented and read his report, which wu
a~ptea.
(This report we here insert.)
..... DKl'IIJUDf,
Apia it is our happy privilege to assemble together from the varioDS
parts of our associated limits-some of us to meet friends and brethren in the
eam.e Heavenly Doctrines, members of the Lord's last and best dispensation
of Divine Trllth, whom we have never seen before; and others to meet again,
after long intervals, each to congratulate the other, on the progress of the
lArd'. tru~ church on earth. Seasons of spiritual refreshment like these, give
DeW ze~ replenish with. Dew powers, and serve to bring into a nearer fellow-
alaip all the receivers of these doctrines of faith anti life, and unite them in a1Fec-
boB, as well as in. thought, into one family, as a band of brethren.
Slowly, yet steadil, is the growth of 'the New Jerusalem. It comes not in
the thunder nor in the storm-it comet.h not with observation-but all tID-
seen, it flows down from heaven to man, through means 80 varied and mul-
tiplied, tllat almost every day is manifesting the opening of these seeds of life,
in 80me new and living vessel. During the past year, another laborer hu
been adtled to our vineyard,80 that now we have three ministen constantly
officiating in the Association; Mr. Henry Weller having been ordained into
the first degree of the ministry (by the Rev. J. R. IUbbard), who is now offi-
ciating to large and attentive audiences at Grand Rapids, and there are few
plaees, if allY, where the prospects are more favorable for a large and fiollrish·
mg 8ocie~. The recent expulsion of Dr. Westlake from the Methodist church
in that vl1lage, for his reception of the doctrines of the New JemsaJem, and
Ilia ~ublished defence, have created no small sensation there, and will doubt-
less have the effect, as 8uch proceedings always have, to draw the favorable
attention of many to the Lord's New Church. Since our last annual meeting,
the Rev. H. N. Strong has removed from Edwardsburgh to Jacksoo, having
been appointed chaplain of the prison there, by the State Legislature.
But as you willreoeive reports from these places, containing full informa-
tion in regard to everything of interest to the Church, I beg to refer you to
them. ID the vicinity of ..4l1lUml (Lapeer county,) iD this State. I have recent1 r
180 [April,
.
uoertaiDed that there are about twelve ac1ult receiY8I8, mOlldy.from Ioodand,
one-half of whom oame there the past year. They have meetiDp every 8uIl-
clay moming, at which time one of tJieir number readl a eermoa, or IOme
New Church writinp. They have also a pretty exteuaive libl'BJ'f of Ne..
Church works. At Flat RoeI, also, there ha recently aprong up, a it were,
quite a little colony of New Church ~oplet eight of whom are membera of the
church. Tbeee are mostly from England. I delivered two 88rm0D8 here a
few monthl since occasioned by the departure to the Ipirima11Vorld of Km_
Children.
In Detroit, we have pursued the even tenor of our way. We instituted and
orpnized a society heft' about a year alO, conai8ting of twelve members, and
we DOW nomber twenty-eight; in addition to which there are nearly al many
more, who are more or le88 receivers, amODIf whom are at least four members
of the Baptist church, the minister of which, about two years ago, made 80
'Violent an attack upon U8. Regular meeti~gs for wonhip are held every
Lord's day moming, and occasional 80cial and society meetings are held in
the afternoon; but for want of a place to meet in, no public lectures have
been given in the evenings, and for the same reason, we have not yet been
enabled to commence a Sunday school. This difficulty, it is hoped, will be
obviated before our next annual meeting. The reports you will receive from
other places in the AS80ciation will present many pleasant illustrations of the
lteady increase of our Heavenly Doctrines.
There are DOW five New Church societies, and three ministers amonl U8,
etill we may say, U what are they among 80 many 1" During the past year
there has been a steady sale of New Church books, and an increased number
of periodicals taken. There has aIlIo been commenced, as you perhaps all
bow, a semi-monthly paper, called the Medi.", edited by the Rev. B. N.
Strong, and published at Jsckson, in this State.
Since my last Annual Report, I have baptized in all thirty-six 'personl (six.
teen adults and twenty children), and Mr. Strong five or six, making in all thia
fear fony-one or fony-two persons. The Holy Supper has also been rep-
lady administered to the members of the Detroit aociety, at each quarterly
meeting_
I have also officiated at one maniage, and seven funerallt, besides which we
hav. to record the departure to the spiritual world of two worthJ and estimable
m~.mben of our Association, Mr. JustUl Dubbin (latterly of Baule Creek,) and
Mr. S. S. Ward (of this village), whom many of 118 will remember to have
IMD at our last meeting in Detroit. The,. will both, ere this, have found their
ecemal home in lome society of the spintual world where they will have {or
their CODstant aasoeiates and friends, none but thole in a COIlllDOD faith and
life, and from whom the influences of the New Jerusalem will descend to
earth with iDcreued power and virtue.
That we who remalD, may stilt press onward in the knowledge and life of
the New Jerusalem, and that every blessing may be multiplied upon you, and
that you may ever co-operate with the Lord in every elon made by Him for
lOur regeneration and salvation, is the conltant prayer of your friend and bro-
ther in the Lord's New Chumb..
GEORGE FIELD.

Friday ..4ftmaOOtle
The Auociation met agreeably to adjournment.
The committee on the uses and duties of an Association of the NewChurch.
prelented their report, which was read.
On motion, said report was accepted, the committee continued, and their
request granted.
The report of the majority of the Special Committee, on lectures and licenses,
was next presented, read and received.
Rev. H. -N. Stron" being called to the chair, Rev. G. Field read, by consent,
the report of the mmority of the same committee, which was a1ao received.
lea] 181
OD .-10.. the faItMr eGIIIidera&ioD 0I*- 18~'" poatpoDed to &be
foDowiDg momiD.&'.
a. B. Munar, oJrered the fonowing, which was adopted :
Raalwtl, That all miDiatem who are connected with thia AIBociation be, aDd.
~ an herebY', Je9ueatecl to report each yeu the number of baptilma ~
have pDformed, with the date thereof, the names of the recipients and their
.... 'When known, and that for the pmpoee of record, they inClude in the fint
ntpol18, a full statement, BB far as practicable, of all baptisms confmred by
them since the commencement of their labon in the A.uociation.
The followil18 resolutioDs were then presented and adopted; the first with-
out oppoeition, the second after a ahort discussion:
RaolWtl, That we coDgratulate our brethren in the State of Ohio, on having
ehanged their ecclesiastical organization and constitution, from that of a Cl Wea-
tern Convention," to the U Ohio Association;" believinR this to be iD aocord-
ance with facts, and that uses can thus be more efficiently accomplished.
Also,
Re.lwtl, That while we BiDcerely rejoice in the reception of the Ohio A8Ioci-
alion by the general Convention, we cannot but hope that such order will iD.
due time be provided, u will place all memben of the Convention OD BD
equal footiD,. '
A reaolution recommending the ordination of Remy Weller, into the second
grade of the ministry, was then introduced, but after a short diecuuioD was
withdrawn at his own instance.
Adjourned to nine O'clock to-morrow morning.

&turtltq MomiAB, P,1mIGrr 8.

The reports from the Special Committee on Lectures and LioeDl88 were
BUt taken up, and, by order of the meetUw, again read.
On motioD, the majority report wu formally adopted, by a vote of tweIltJ-
fou to five.
Adjoumed to two o'clock, •• M.

~NtrmotJn.
AMociation met agreeably to adjournment.
Rev. B. N. Strong, presented a report composed chiefly of extractl from hia
oIicial report as chaplain of the Penitentiary, which was read and aocept-
eel • as was also a communication from the Marshall Society. .
i. H. M1U'IIlY oIered the (ollowing preamble and resolution, which W818
ad~~: .
Whereas, me minority of the committee on Lectures and Licenses has etated
that his report was prel?ared without timely knowledge of all the p08itioDa
lU.l!ported·llY the majonty, therefore,- .
RaolWtl, That said minority be authorized to amend his report for publica-
tion, 80 B8 to meet any points in the majority report, for which he wu not
prepared; and that the majority have a similar privilege of noticing in con-
DectioD with their published report, any new mat.ter introduced by the mi-
nority;,
On motion of A. Silver, the vote on the adoption of the majority report of the
committee OD Lectures and Licenses was reconsidered.
John AlIen oftered the following preamble, aDd resolution, which were
adopted, by a .mall majority.
Whereas, the reports from the committee of Lectures and Licenses, relate to
a subject of very great importance, on which full reSectioD and deliberation
mould be bestowed previou8 to decisive actioD- '
RldWtl, That the whole lubject be referred back to the lame committee
for funher coDlideratioD, aDd to report to the Bext umual meetill. of the »-
lOCiatiOD.
J8D [April,
JIIbes Pa, ~ . NMtl1ltlon Nepeetibg tile lOIemb~.tIGD of marriage,
which being amended was adopted, as follows:
Whereas, in the New Church it is conMdered important tlaat maniage8 be
.eolemnized by a religious ceremony, aDd wlleleas. the ecaU8ftMl cGDdition of
members and leCeivera throughout the State, reDder it ineoa.venient and efcen
bDlJl8cticable to obtain tile .rvices of a minister of the 8eeond gnute,
llaolwd, That this A..saooiation regard the solemnisation of matl'ilDOllY, . . a
euitable aDd proper funotion of ministers of the first grade, within its limits.,
and that the concurrence of tbe General Conv8Rbon be requested herein.
C. L. Merriman offered a resolution inviting Rev. J. R. Hibbard to officiate -
ordaining minister, &e., as occasion might arise, within this Association, but
such invitation being opposed as unnecessary, it was not adopted.
Voted, That three hundred copies of the proceedings of this meeting be
printed for the use of tbe Association, and that the Committee on communica-
tions be directed to make a suitable distribution of the same to the members.
and to other co-ordinate bodies of the Church.
Yotld, That an absrract of the proceedings be prepared by the Secretary for
publication in die New JeruaaleJD Magazine, New Church Repository, and
Medium.
H. Thielaen moved the following preamble and Ye801ntioD, which, after a
short discussion, were adopted:
Whereas, the following suggestions have, in the Journ.l of the General
Convention, been communicated to the different AssociatioDS and Societies in
the United States, viz :
cc 1st. That the title of this Convention be altered to that of the General Con-
ference of the New Jemsalem Church in the United States;
U id. That immediate steps be taken to form a Triennial Conference;
" 3d. That this Conference, based upon charity and neighborly love, shall
be of an advisory character;
u 4th. That each Association be left in freedom to regulate its own con·
Gems;"
Raolwd, That this Association views the changes therein contemplated
with approbation, and hopes that a general concurrence may soon warrant
their adoption.
On motIon of L Lyon, Raolwd, That this Association welcome with pleasure
the publication of the Medium in our midst, and cordially commend it to the
8Upport of the New Church.
A re8olution offered by R. Children, to the effect that application be made
for the ordination of an ordaining minister for this Association, was, OB
motiol1, laid upon the table.
The meeting then proceeded to the election of officers, the result of which
was announc'ed as follows :-
Praiding Miftut'T, H. N. STRONG,
&eording Secretary, R. H.MURRAY,
Corrapoiuling Secretary, ABIEL SILVER,
n-euuTIr, H. TtnEL8EIf,

~
E. M. CRntBDLADlt
Bal. of Acting Ccnnmitt". JABU Fo~
LUClt18 LTOlf.
No other business oftering, the meeting adjourned.
The bee of the New Baptist Meeting HOllse having been obtained, Mr.
Field preached on Friday evening, Mr. Alien lectured on Saturday evening,
Mr. Strong preached on Sunday morning, and Mr. Weller in the evening',
followed by Mr. Field in concluding remarks.
Tae audiences were large, and on 811Dday both morning and evening, the
,houl8 was crowded.
On Sunday afternoon the members and friends of the Ne.. Church assem-
bled in the same Hall where their previous meetings had been held. The
aacrament of Baptism wu admiDiatered by the Rev. H. N. 8troag to the infan&
 J8tt_j 111
11. . . . . fJf R. M. Bad Rlebe €halllberJaill, ... of Bau ad KIleR TbieI8e,
The Lord'. Su~ was alao administered, aad panaken by about forty per-
80118. After wliieh dae marriage ceremony wu perfOllned by Mr. Stroq,
UDitiD~ Mr. L. B. Lawrence to Miss E. E. Copley. .
The meetiDg then continued.. a social meetiD" daring which ah.a
addreuea were by Meaers. Field, Silver, .Fox, Merrim., Allen and
. Well8l', chiefly iD givin« accounts of their effol18 and SUeb8U in the apreacIiDg
of the tmlh. These weN exceedingly intereetiog and gratifying, anel evinced,.
in very 8tmDg light, a remarkable atate of prepaiation iA the public mind for
die tnItIMJ of the New Chumb-tbat utile harvest troly ~ plenteous, but dae ~
laboren are few." KOBT. H. MURRAY, &,'y_
We conclude our utI8ct8 with the following report of Rev. ReDly Well."
• Grand Rapids.
GU5D RUIDs.. JaRfJ4ry 30, 1849.
U&a J1Id1)a, .
Since my ordination into the first grade of the New Church ministry, which
was on the 31st of Ju11 last, I have delivered, as nearly as I can call to mind,.
between 'to and 80 lectures and discourses. In Goshen, Miaha\vaka, CUBa-
polis, and Nile-, about 26, and about 50 in Grand Rapids and its vicinity. Aa
you will doubtless receive a report from the Goshen Society, I need only say
that the good people of that place always lend a r~ady ear to New Church
lectures: the attendance is invariably large {or the size of the village; and the
attention and interest very great. 1 have ever been received by the friends
with cordial &frection, and, without any 8olicitation eo my part, they have
contributed liberally to'Wards paying my expenses. In Mishawaka, where I
lectured six evenings, and wllich was the first time of my visiting that place,
there was a large audience all the time. The leading members of the different
denominations attended, and the apparent effect was to remove their pre-
judices, and induce a favorable view of N. C. doctrines. It was in con-
templation to establish aNew Church library, but whether it was carried into
effect, I have not learned. Cassopolis furnishes a few steady hearers, but at
Niles we have yet failed to arouse the attention of tbe people.
In the beginning of October, I came to Grand Rapids. Having before paid
two visits, delivering at each time a long course of lectures, which had been
the means of leading many to read and receive the Heavenly Doctrines, I
fQUDd a field of usefulness opening up to me, oC no common magnitude. The
people of this village are generally more intelligent than the general class of
the inhabitants of western villages; and although a regular church-going
people, yet the preachillg of the old doctrines failed to satisfy them. At the
time of my first visit a tremendous excitement was attempted to be got llP by
a reYivalist preacher. Many of the Blast intelligent had tnrned away with
disgust at the proceedings, and as their minds were excited on the 8ubject of
religion, they were prepared to listen to the still small voice of Troth, and
gnadnally, ever since, the way has been opening. Two years ago a few books
were sent OD to this place, by our friend, Lucius Lyon; this was the beginning,
and now we may say a general interest in the doctrines is manifested through-
out the community. Our meetings for public worship are held in the Court
House, twice on the Sabbath, mornings taod evenings, and I have preached
regularly since the beginning of October, beside8 occasional lectures in the
week at a lecture loom and school house in the vicinity. So far from anr
abatement in the interest, it is constantly growing, so that at this moment It
almost amounts to an excitement. The new Church is tlu topic of general
eonveftlation. Nor must we omit here our acknowledgments to tho88 who
have atreDuoully opposed the pro.reu of the cause. Dr. Pond haa been
industriously circulated, and he has performed his mission. The tenors of
excommunication have been resorted to, and they have done their work. Our
brother, Dr. Westlake, was excluded from the M. E. Church, and he has pnb-
liahed their charge and proceediDp, with his vindicatiOD, whicll iI read eagerly .
lM N.-.",".
ad ia o ~ _, many of Ihe ep8 whiah .... bIiDcl. GaIbled eDnctIel
"8cortatory Love," have been hawked about, but it has oalJ prodbced a de-
mand for the bd itlflf, and the holy 1lame of conjugiallove destrof8 the vile,
calumnies of the enemy. Not only N. C. doctrinee, but N. C.life, la strongly
maoifeated here. We have many who aN dailf aDd homy pl8acbiDg the
regenerating truths of the Word-" living epiat1ea JmoWll ad lead of all men.":
We do Dot judge of the interest by the mere attendance at our public meet- I

IDp j a large Dumber are reading and seeking, who do Dot feel prepared yet'
CO mBke aDy public demonstration. Our momiug meetings Dumber from about
.aty to 8eventy, and our evening meetings must average over one hundred I
and fifty. We have just commenced to form an Asaociation of Readers aud!
Receivers, and others interested iD the heavenly doctrines, for the purpose ofl
permanently establishing New Church worship, and other means of di8semi-
nating the doctrines j 'and also for the purposes of 80cial intAJlC01U'5e. We, 1

have thirty-five Dames subscribed, and nearly u many more we hope in duel
time to enroll. We deem this step of coming into a lleDeral iDformalAssocia-:
POD, u a prelimi~ary measun:, .most suitable to our ~ireulD8tanee8-keeping I

in yiew the comJng together mto the closer eommumoD. of a regular SocIety,
as the minds of the Receivers become prepared. I

We hope to be able to build a suitabre place of worship during the ensuing I

summer. We have a public New Church library, both Fhilo8ophical and I

theological, held in abares; the demand for shares and books Inereasmg. Have:
comTJienced a Sabbath School; from ten to twelve children attend. Hold a I

regular Bible Clus meeting one evening in tile week, and we have a good I

choir of singers. 1

On ,he whole we have abundant cause of thankfulness. We feel thata

foundation is laid, in one of the most important portions of the State, for an 1

efllcient New Church Society, which may tie the medium of imparting healing,
health and joy, to the diseased and witliering bnmches of the human family.
Your affectionate Brother
in the Lord'8 New Church,
HENRY WELLEJL

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

l.-A REPLY TO TBI: RDI.lBII . .rJaGtiagfrom'8t.1tIarg'- C~ OIt:Ott, • N..

bU'. Appeal iA bIh4lf of tIa8 Doetriftu of 8vHtdmborg. By Me .bY. AVQVITVI
CLII80LD, M.A. LoKDOlf, W. Newbery, 184:9, pp. 102. .
This able pamphlet has just come to hand. To those acquainted with )fr.
Clisaold's mode of dealing with the opponents of the New Church, it would be
a matter of course to expect the moat thoiough di88CU88ion of the topics in
question from their fundamental grounds-the preuiDc into 1J.ia eerrice Ul 81·
tensive array of citatioM, showing a complete Maetery of aU the literature of
the subject--a powerful bearing down upon the adversary with authorities
which he cannot deny and of inferences which he cannot resist" till he .taDds i

confounded by the many "etlUt:lio', that are tumed against him as 80 much 10- I
gical artillery that he cannot escape-and all urged in a spirit of Christian cour·
I

teaf and mildness that does perhaps quite as much execution as the invincible I
course of IllWDent. These mum are clearly DWked ill the pn&eDt prodao- i
ilia] IN
. . , wIdaIa la drawa GIlt by the Bemab; we p. .ame of lOIDe Prolaeor 01
:he Roman Catholio College at Oseott, on the doctrines of Swedenborg as pre-
IPJlted in Noble's A.ppeal, for the writer come.88 that be hu read nothing
. . OIl the sabject. Rot haviDg seen a copy of the "Remarb,n we can 011I,
pea.. from Mr. Cliuold'l reply the scope of the objections, but we are happily
fDmiahed by Mr. C. himself with a compettd of the argument on both aides.
It it taken for granted that the reader il fImiliar with these RaaorL; it maJ,
however, be 11Ieml to observe that they arJUe, that Catholics Be in posaeliioD
of a re1UriOD which they know to be true; it being established by ClnUt
hjmMI4 Cle1ivered by him to th. apoltles, l)~ these to theit Ittcce880f8, and
heDee through succeeding ages to the present time. That Dot only were
lbe doctrines thus delivered propounded by ~ but that He himself establish-
ed the church to wlUch they weie delivered, and that the oral and written
WOM of God testify that thia chureh is intallible and indefectible, and as such
that ita authori~ is supreme. That thil church is therefore already in po8888e
lion of the tradl, and knows the truth; consequendy, that when an appeal iI
made to its members coDcerning certain views of die etetnal world and atate,
and certain doctrines of faith and life, it is their duty, first of all, to ucertain
whether thoee views &Dd doctrines coincide with what they know to be true,
aamel" the catholic doctrine taught by the church. That upon examinatiOll
and by the admiaaiOD of the A~ the)' do Dot coincide, and that this is suf-
ficient reason fot Catholics to teject without formally disproving them.
That the church, being infaIliblta., not only are her doctrines true, bat her
mode of promulgating thoee doctrines ICriptOral i that the mode of promulIU-
iD« the doctrines of the alleged New ChUClCh is quite different, and as such
IDUlCriptwal. That the appeal to the reflectingauumes the right of private
judpDimt, whereas the church, bem, infallible, admit.a only the judgment of
the church. That in . .~ the nght of private judgment a:ppeal ia made
to reMOa, whereas the Cathohc church appiaJI to faith; that falth is a diviDe
~ but, aecordinR to Mr. Noble, is a mere complement of rational investiga-
tion. or 1'e8IOa. . .tisfied (p. l7)t hence that it is rapreeented by him as a pure-
ly hllllUUl, natural act (p.I'1), 110 that the system of Swedenborg is a purel,
ratiooalistic SYltem.
Tba& there are only two ways (p. 16) iD which all seJlaratecl coIDIDUDitiea
~Jl to cenify the due promulgation of their religious creed, namely,
aD . and an external. That of the intemal there is a threefold aspect.
First, a lR1~maturallight enjoyed by the individualt according to which DO
Btemal o~eet is required, to which the heaYEy illumination should be ap-
plied, .. it 18 at once the efticient cause and object of the belief. Secondly, a
_~ lilht and the powers of reuon i for \Vhi~ an adequate external
object ia preeuppoeed, viz., the ICripturee. But (p. 77) that there is no in1lu
of ..~ light into reason i the two being distinct and nomingled.
IIeDe8 that sapematurallight remams lupematurallight alone, the evidence
or wIUch is proper to the individual aud caDDot be communicated to oth~
ad NIUIOD remaiDs pore rationalism. AccorcliDalYt that the d1ircl metbocl
(p. 21), IIUIlely, the liaht of pure reUOD, is equally obJectionable.
Tba& the ..... aMumee the ICripturee to be the aole depository of truth,
. . . . . dley -daellUl81ves teltify that they are DOt j that it BDDOllDCes that SW8-
cIeaboar ia me herald of a new di8peDAtiOIlt but he bu perIOaaUy DODe of
the qwlliicatiODS for that office.
riDallYt that if divine illumination alODe will Dot IlUIlce, nor divine illumiDa-
tioa ad I'e8IOD toaetber, nor pure reUOD alone, ODe other method only remaius.
Yiz., faith in the supreme authority of aD exiltmg and visible church.
Bach • • y~ aeneral view of the arpment in me RtMra, iD the 8DIIIiD-
ItioIl of which it will be deairable to coaaider ita leading feature8 rather tbaIl
to enter into the ftl'ieties of detail; and in 80 doing to sbow that, althou~ iD
the COIIIIDUDioll of Home dwe ia a catholic ltalelDent of dOCUiDe, dleIe 18 DO
 118 [April,
eathoJic interpmtation of 4oetrine; that dootliul . . , .. . . . . iiler iD the
church of Rome from each other, aod aometimea so widely from the catholic
statement, that scarcely a particle of the original docuine remains; that with
regard to faith and reason, Suarez, as cited in the lUmarb, is Dot opposed to
Swedenborg; neverthless that the distinctioDs at~pted to be established be-
tween fai'h and reaaon have DO foundation either' in the nature of Christianity
or the right constitution of the human mind; that writer. of acknowledged
authority in the Roman conununion have themselves admitted sufficient to
justify the line of argument adopted in Mr. Noble's.A.ppetJl j that the Remoril
have inadvertently fallen into a vicious circle of argument in regard to the
Scriptures, tradition and reasoD, as well 8S into numerous ineoosisr.eDcies;
that the design of the observations on miracles in the Appeal has been misap-
prehended; that the argument from tradition is of DO avail; that the objections
to Swedenborg, as a messenger of the Lord, founded npon a comparison of his
personal character with that of the saints of the Roman calendar. a8 describ~
by Butler and Faber, are unfollnded, and have actually DO weight with a large
proportion of Roman Catholics in this country; consequently, that the Ie8.$ons
urged in the Remarkl against listening to the Appeal, or examining the writings
of Swedenborg, are of no value, and that, as such, Mr. Noble's Appeal COD-
tinues in .all its force. Such is a very general outline of the arguments pur-
sued in the ensuing pages.
The pamphlet of Mr. C. is perhaps of too abstruse and rigidly logical cha-
racter to be aJapted to popular purposes, e\1.en in the New Church, but to one
who likes to be refreshed by a specimen of sound and irrefragable argument,
there will be no disappointment in reading this work.
I

!.-!J:NUICDCE 0 .. DESIGN in.tJu Pf"oolma of Evil tJindiUJt«l1ry tJ&. La. of Ca....

lion in tJu Physical Construction of Matter. By G JDv••nlLUl. NJnr-¥oax:
Luvrrr, Taow & Co. 1849, 12mo. pp. 213.

This curious work the author denominates the "Tenth Bridgewater Treatise,"
\ probably on his own responsibility, and possibly as an indication Qf his Ol\~
idea of its value and importance. We doubt, however, whether the Duke's
premium would have been awarded to the U Journeyman's" job as here ex.'
ecuted, unless upoQ the ground of its surpassing self-confidence in the tone of
ita lL88umptions. The professed· aim of the work, as indicated by its titJe, is
BOon lost sight -of by the reader, however the case may have been with the

s.
writer, and in the third chapter headed" Dynamical Phy8iology," we ue thus
down at the true starting point of causation.

1& The discu8sion of the dar&est problem of life muat needs involve the COD-
slderation of its cause, and carry U8 back over a period of uDkDown centuries,
to a time, when the Father and the Son enterea into a consultation on the
Datnre and COD8tructive tendencies of the great law of "niwnal aaUlfltiml, and
bound themselves by a covenant transmitted to us through M08e8y in wlUch
the Father himself was to preside over the general law, while the SoD COD-·
sented to the support of its special acts."-P.46.

After a good deal of discoursing about the separate provinces and antici-
pative eoonomies of these two "Sovereigns of the universe," as the author
terms them, he comes to the coDclusion that the great dyoamical agent eIIl-
ployed by them in the manifold phenomena of the universe is orygm gtUJ the
lM·l 1.,
&1st tJI88I p-p8II:J 01 which i8 ,....,.., ..,.". aDd the
~ n elasticity
.""'e,
lie .,.,
Md permanent elastioity is the difference betwi:a:t a finite
and infinite power. It is, therefore, U a force fitted to the mechanism: of the .
universe, with power to sustain its ponderous machinery in perpetual motion."
Oxygen gas, according to our anthor, is the generating cause of matter, the
cause of attraction, of light, heat, and electricity, and by the time we have
run the fnll round of all its potencies we are ready to ask what occasion for
any other Deity than this omnipotent gaS. The following sentences have a
ltraDge sound to the ears of a New Churchman, U There "ill be a time wben
the.attractive force of this globe will begin to give way, and the central
pes of its motive power win dissolve it with liquid fire."-" We are to trace
en.-
OIlt the successive steps of our psycho-moral and mental structure from ODe
md the l8Dle caose, that forms, unfolds, and sustains all other ",,,nw, whether
the matter be organic or unorganic."-u The reLaurrection of life, however
plainly it may be taught in the Bible, is to receive its demonstration ouly in
the law of matter." This will suffice for the "jonrneyman."

EDITORIA.L IT11I8.

IT is paiDfol to meet with such paragraphs as the following from the cc Christian la-
quirer" (Unitarian) of May 26. u The doctriD~ of the incarnation of God is one which
may be said to become yearly lC1is credible, as the idea of the Divine Nature expanda
under the revelations of science. The telescope is continually bringing new consteUa-
tione of worlds into view, all the oreation and domain of the Infinite ·leho~ah. The earth
it wh~led along its orbit At the rate of many miles a seconJ, ond objects on ita surface
aze made 10 change their relative po!ition once in twelve bours, so that what is now
ascending to heaven, before another day shall have elapsed, will be relatively debCendins
10 the infemal regions, if there be sucb a place. Tile idea, then, that the Infinite leho-
vah, to whose immensity the orbit of our earth, vast as it may seem to us, is no more
than a grain of sand to our a1obe, became incarnate in the body of an unborn infant, and
was borne iD the mother's arms, besides being subjected to the diurnal and anoual revolu-
tions of lhe eanh, liecomes so wholly repugnant to reverence, as well aI reason, that the
proposition has only to be made to be rejected, as extravagant as '\\-ell as incredible. The
mythologies of Asia caD scarcely furnish a l)arallel to the proposition that lehovah lived
three and thirty years on earth, in tbe most familiar intercourse with hi. creatarea! We
DJ at oace, tbat there m~" be some mistake. Those who make loch assertions, canDot
feel &ho import of &be language they use. The idea of the incarnation of God maylinpr
awhile IoDpr in the creeds oC sects, aDd in the faith of the unthinkiJ)I, but it will BnM1ual-
If aod imperceptibly be abandoned, under the advanciDsli,ht oC 80ieDce and the illQlDja-
alion of the human mind."
]1 the doctrine of the Incamatlon is destined to le ),eeome Jess and Je~s eredible evert
-,ear' and after &C lingering awhile longer in the creeds of sects, is to be gradually ud
impeIaepaiblr abaDdoDed uDder the adftDOinl light oC IOleDCB and the iUtuDioation of
1he balD8ll mind," we hIIltate DOt to .y tbat it ",W be beo_" Wpm''''''_
 [A.priI, ......
...... . . . . . . . ,........... UMl atledy JaJ1aIeI .... 11 flIl die DtriII8
Word. It wm be, IDcncmtr. beoaue tbe ad. t of that ~ clauala.... Hew
J.-uaIe•• whOle . . , oomer-lIOne ie thle pr~t peer1ela, aad. ioeapapable cnath of
tile lDoamatiOQ oC Jehovah is eta"'-ia. mid oareer, when DOhritbatudiDl we-...... &he
pJedpd proml.. aud p1llpOl8 oC the Immatable, that this heaftD-deeoeDdecl Chuch
Iha1lUDiYenalJ, preftil. Wh, do not the upholden oC UnitarianilDl peroelve that the
trUe poaud oC debate la in regard to lbe ..tLwit. which the od'endiDf teIlet pIead.I k
ItIe1C' IJ the doctrine taupt by the rair aDd legitimate interpfetatiOQ of tIae lupbecl
volalDe, or Dot I cc There ....., be 80me lIliltake. ThOle who mate lach .-rtiou
-..mol feel the haport oC tMlanpBP they 1IIe.'t Bat the laDpap i. not theirs, bat :le-
Jaonh'.. Hie DIIme. that ie, hie nature, was to be cc Immanuel," which iI Gofj..,...,
..cl wha& need we more . . . warraDt Cor the doctrine oC the lnoaraatiOD ,
The peDDiJII of the above paragraph reminde lie oC the item DOW tlaftlJ.bac the IGUMIa
of tile reupoDl papen. that the ftnt National Catholio Coant-i1hU 18C8Ddy beeD laeld. at
BUtbDcn, in which we leam dlat the holy fathen ueembled determiDed to pra, the BolT
Padaer (not UI8IIlblecl) to~. tU • • article o(,_ill tle ~ COIICqIt_. We . .
"rtIDDoh inoliDed to uD.ite ill thie petition, Cor we baYe peat ouriOlitr to lee what JdDd.
of deftn1dOD would. be giYell of the doctrine b, the infallible oracle at Rome, provided, iD-
deed. Ilia HoUn. .'. chaiJ' In the VatiClLll i. Dot RiU emptrwhen the petitloa. ~l... w.
eoDfela too to a great desire to lee the same doctrine d.e8ned RI held by all the ProteItaDt
aDd. Orthodox bocllee of Chrill8Ddom. Blit It I. probably the lut thing that &he le . . . .
IIl&D" wiD . . ID the preeent world, Cor the cla)" oC theological cleftnitlOlll OD the part oL
Popea aDd C01lDCilI has e6ctuU, rone by. aDd thoop. the heretica in all the .ell will be
lIem1y arraiped for their errors, yet wben ther demand lpeoUloadonl bued 1IpoIl tile
IlatUte· book or the eec, that ie to .)", ita creed, ther are I18Yer fortb.colllmg. bat he 18
bome down by obloqUl' u contravening what everybody know. to be the truth, tboach
nobody cares to take the responsibilitt of mowing where it 11 to be Cound recordecL The

low a IUflictent degree or uDity for the authoritatlft enuDaiadon oC a 11.

fact le, there ie too much mental freedom at this da, among all the d.enolll1DatloDl to al-
doctriae of
Christ1anitJ. and least oC all oC each a doctriae .. that of the KiraculoDl CoDceptJoa.
Thil it the comer atone of all 1l1lpirecl I88Ching respecting Christ and redemption, and It
ooald IIOt be touched without opening the whole subject oC the Lord'e iDCamatlOD, aad
of ooane, of hie eupretne Deity, aDd thie ia a point which the whole Cbrildall ~rId,
Popl~ ad Pro&elbUlt, are eqoaUy aY8J'18 to look fttll in the Cace. The, will • 10 the
death ID d.efence of the Tripenonal Trinity. but put once the question-le I . .e 0Iar1ll
tU true aad ",itable Jehovah 1-whlch Decessarn, precludee the Idea oC hie . . . .
lDerely the .coacl perIOD of the Godhead,-and they are .track damb at ODOe. Tbla Is •
.,lew 01 the eubjeor whJohtakeathea whoU, uDawaree. Until rellliDdecl oCit, the, . . .
llttllrly uDCODIClou oC aD)" _pecial mom_t in the q1leltiOD, why a mlracaloDl oo~
wu neceeeiuy-why the Dot having of. hamfUl fa.er wu .. iruUipe~bleto the .heIM
ofnclemption .. the having ora halll&lllDother. Theqll_loD, Iaowever. baI pi tlD be
IIUW8IeC1, tU article oC Caith pt to be cldDed.

A .... Jut IeaetftCl &om Dr. TaCellDfonns UI dlat be la at ~t emp1oJe4 ID pub-

lItIbiaI tile ~am.o.e bad. of 8wedenbol'l Dc ....... or O ~ , . .... of
wlllola .... IbaIlIpeak more pardoaladJ ID oar DaL
The ~ or Eueem CoDftDtloa. oC the New CIluoh . . . . at Pa11adeIpbJa, . . die
IIOOIMl Wecla....' oC J. . (13th).lM8.
'ftae Di8aoane OIl .. Lite,- deUftred IOID8 . .ths . . by" Editor otthe BepoIltaIJ
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 THE

NEW CHURCH REPOSITORY

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MONTHLY REVIEW.
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ORIGINAL PAPERS.
AJl.T1CLB I.

THE PRESENT THE EPOCH OF THE LORD'S SECOND ADVENT.

(COfIdutlld.)

AIm now what opinions are prevalent as to the nature of this Se-
eond Advent1 It would not be easy to enumerate the various shades
of belief: A large class of intelligent penons find themselves utterly
unable to form aay opinion respecting it. The language of Dr. Adam
Clarke in relation to the Apocalypse-a book wholly devoted to this
peat event and its accompanying circumstances-may with propriety
be asserted to represent the views of this class of persoDS conceming
the whole subject of what is termed unfulfilled prophecy: " I re-
peat it," says Dr. Clarke, "I do not understand the book; &Dd I &ID
satisfied that no one who has written on the subject knows an~
more of it than myself: I leave it to God, or to those events which
ahall point out· the prophecy; and then, and probably not till theu,
will the sense of these visions be explained." The greater portion of
Protestant Christians, however, are inclined to one or the other of
these two hypotheses :
First, That the Millennium will not be characterized by the ~.
sonal coming of the Lord, but by an extraonlinary outpouring of his
Spirit, which will eventually accomplish the conversion of the world
aDd the subjugation of evil i and that this bli88ful state is to be mime-
cliately IUCCeeded by the advent of the Saviour, the general judgment,
and the destruction ofthe earth by fire.
The second hypothesis, and far the most popular one at present,
is, that the Millennium, now near at hand, will be ushered in by the
personal advent of the Lord, the resurrection of deceased saints, the
VOL. D. 18
 [May,
destruction of the wicked, and, sooner or later, the CODftagratioD or
renewal of the earth.
It will be Been that both partiel are agreed in this: That the Se-
cond Advent, come when it may, will be an outward, visible mani-
testation, evident to the senses,-something which the corporeal erf!18
may see, and the bodily ears may hear. May they not be mistaken iD
tbi8 ! May they not be right as to the tact itlel~ but wrollg 88 CO the
manner of the fact' Precisely such an error was committed by the
Jews in relation to the First Advent,-they supposing its design to be
their deliverance from extemal political bondage, whereas its true
intent was, to free them from the bondage of their own intemal eYils
and sins. It is at least possible that a similar mistake has been com-
mitted in our own day. Meantime a still small 'Yoice, gradually
gaining s.trength, has been proclaiming for nearly a century that the
epoch of the second advent is past. That event it asserts to have
occurred in the middle of the last century. It asserts that the second
coming of Christ is" spiritual coming; that it is a .coming to the hearts
and minds· of meD, to quicken and warm them with the light and liCe
of truth and good; that it is a coming to unlock the hitherto COD-
cealed mysteries-so deeply important for us to know-contained in
the word of God. This, we say, hBIJ been asserted, and by a man
who, we are bold to affirm, is, by every consideration, entitled to a
more respectful hearing U~D this subject than anyone who has
~ken of it for the last eighteen hundred years. That man was
Emanue1 Swedenborg. Listen to his own declaration :-
" S-mce the Lord CaDDot manifeat himself in persOD, as has been aho'WDt and
let he has foretold that he would come and establish aNew Church, whieh it
the New Jerusalem, it follows that he is to do it bY' means of a man, who la
able not only to receive the doctrines of this churCh with his underatandia«,
but also to pnblish them bI the press. That the Lord has manifested himself
before me, ml servant, ana seDt me OD thia offi.oe, and that, after this, he opea-
ed the light of my spirit, and thus Jet me into the spiritual world, and gave me
to see the heavens and the hells, and also to speak with angels and spiries.
and this now continually for many years, I testify in truth· and also that, from
the first day of that call, I have Dot received any t,hing which pertaiDa to the
doctrinea of that Church from any IUlpl, but from the Lord alOD8t while I read
the Wold."
,
And again :_U I can sacredly and solemnly declare, that the Lord himeeIf
haa been seen of me, and that he has sent me to do what I do, and for 8uch
r UlpOl8 has opened the interior part of my soul, which is my spirit, 80 that
can see what is in the spiritual world, and tho88 that are therem; and this
privileae has now been continued to me for twenty-two yean. But in the preaent
state of infidelity, can the most solemn oath make such a thing credible, or to
be believed by any 1 Yet such u have received tme Christian light aDd U1l-
delltanding, will be convinced of the truth contained in my writings. Who
indeed llas hitherto known anything of consideration of the true .piritnal
sense and meaning of the word of God, the apiricual world, or of heaven and
hen, the attire or the life of IIl8D, aDd the ltate ofsouls after the deceue of the
body' la it to be Iuppoaed that tb_e and other dIi.Dp of a like COlUMKl1lellce
are to be etemally hidden from ChriauaD8 1"

And now who makes these declaratioDs , Who was Baron Swe-
denborg 1 A man delCeDded from ancest018 of singular intelfity and
J-l
piety; educated in all the learning of his age i the companion &Dd
friend of princes and Dobles; of a spotless purity of life that even the
breath of ,ltmder has not dared" to sully. His splendid geoiDS and
his prof01Uld aequirements have compelled those who are not his dis-
ciples to give him the first rank among such names as Newton, Bacou,
Leibnitz, Laplace, and Cuvier. Nor was his learniog of that descrip-
tion which serves only te nourish vain pride &Dd contempt for his fel-
low-men. In all hiS investigations,-and they extended to nearly
every branch of human knowledge-he had but one object in view,
which he p11l81led with a devout humpity of which there is DO other
example; &Dd that was, to discover God in nature, and the relatiOD
of the soul to God.' It is this man, whose whole life reHeated the
calmness of the deepest wisdom and sanity, whoae whole writings
are & constant appeal to man's highest rationality and deepest COD-
sciousness-it is tJiis man who has been pronounced, by thole who have
Diver candidly examined his writin~ a monomaniac, & deluded
faDatic, a babbler ofvaiD dreams-the victim of a distempered fancy-
Is it iDdeed so 1 •
The aimple biography of Swedenborg will convince any candid
mind that be was neither deceived himself nor capable of deceiving
others. Let anyone read the Divina Commedia of Dante, the gn,at-
est name in Italian literature, or the Paradise Lost of Milton, whOle
sublimity has never been surpassed, and afterwards peruse the Hea-
VeD and Hell of Swedenborg, and he will see who is ratioD&1 and BaDe,
-who treats of matters of fact, seen, heard, attested,-and who gives
vent to the ravings of delirium, or pictures the images of a glowing
imagination. But then these poets, it may be said, do not profe18 to
speak of realities, but give us their fancies or i..magiDiDp merely 88
sUch-merely as probabilities, which do not grossly violate current
opinion, or the truth of nature. While Swedenborg, on the contrary,
profesSes to speak of facts, independent of beliefs or pr-uudices, and •
therefore cannot be judged by the atandards to which an avowed Ic-
tion is amenable, but mUBt be brought to the tribunal of Scripture,
reason, and conscience. Even 80. Precisely this diJrerence will hA
found in their works. He accepts, nay, he invites, precisely such. &
test. At this tribunal, and at this alone, let him stand or fall.
It is not within the limits of our design to dwell upon the character
or wria. of Swedenborg. We cannot, however, refrain from ex-
pressing our uDshaken belief-a belief that has gradually been ma-
~ in perfect freedom from all preconceived views or interested
m9tives, and in opposition to long and conflnned skepticism concern-
ing the most vital truths of Christianity,-a beliefthat has been formed
1IDder the influence of earnest prayer for the Divine guidance, and the
consciousness of having given to our reasoning faculties their full, and
fair, and unbiased inlluence,-we cannot, we repeat, refrain from ex-
pressing our deep-seated conviction that Emanuel Swedenborg was
commissioned by God himself to reveal to man truths which could not
be reached by any effort of reason. And we believe those truths to be
of the very higheat implrtance. We believe they have power to re-
IfJIIerate &be world. They are oaloulated to decllDUl iD all his re-
.J02 ne Prutmt ,. EpocA of LMay,
lations, &Dd to touch the most secret springs of action. They give a
reality tp the concems of a future life before which the avarice, and
ambitioD, and sensuality which now 80 captivate the minds of men
must shrink into paltry insignificance. They appeal so strongly to
man's higher nature, that they mUlt move every heart in which the
faintest spark of humanity lingers.
Little do the statesmen, and economists, and refonners, who are
consuming their days and nights in anxious efforts to devise the means
of arresting the social and political anarchy which every day seems
more inevitable-little do they imagine that the revelations of the re-
puted Swedish maniac are silently but surely perfonning the task to
which their united efforts are all unequal. Little does the world
dream that the humanizing spirit that for the last seventy years has
been gradnally infused into legislation, the liberalizing spirit that has
pervaded theology, and the predominance over materialism that has
characterized philosophy, ma.yall be traced to the writings of Eman-
uel Swedenborg, and to the influence of that great event of which he
was the commissioned herald. That such, however, is the indisput-
able fact, that to the influence of the truths he has revealed these be-
nign influences may all be traced, those who have carefully examined
his writings are most firmly persuaded. They are firmly persuaded
that the doctrines and principles revealed by him are destIned to gain
a permanent ascendency over the minds of men; that they must and
will eventually triumph over all opposition and prejudice. They are
firmly persuaded that these doctrines and principles, and these alone,
are capable of giving to civilization that onward and upward impulse
it must either now receive, or be deluged beneath the stormy sea so
rapidly advancing to meet it. All other means are confessedly inad-
equate. All other schemes have failed to secure more than a tran-
sient confidence, or to inspire more tha.n a fallacious hope. If this
too fail, we are indeed but the worthless insects of a day, or the fore-
doomed victims of an inexorable fate.
cc ICthls fail,
The pillar'd Irmament i. rottenneae,
And earth's bue built on stubble."

But this subject has individual relations which more nearly concern
us. "Whence am I? What am I 1 and what is before me T" are
questions which every human being puts to himself; and though the
pleasures and engrossing pursuits of the world seem at times almost
to extinguish the voice of the soul, or so to materialize its desires and
affections as to make them forever revolve, by a law of mutual at-
traction, within the sphere of the earth, still. in spite of art or medi-
cine, in spite of precaution and care, the evil days will come, and the
years draw nigh, in which we exclaim, "I have no pleasure in them !"
Then springs up that urgent and solemn demand for light, that anxious
desire to transcend the bounds of time and sense, 80 beautifully and
forcibly expressed in the Book oC Job:-
1& I'or there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and
the WAder bl'Ulch thereof will not ceaae. Though the root thereof wu old
1849.]
in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the grolmd i· yet through 'the scent of
n.ter it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a p ant. But man dietb, and
nstetb away; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he' As.the wa-
lem fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up; 80 man lieth
down, and riset.h not: till the heavens be no more, they &haIr not awake, nor
be raised oot of their sleep. Oh that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that
thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest
appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live
again '" .
And that question nothing but a revelation from God can solve.
Let us DOt be told that the desire to penetrate the mysteries of the
world of spirits, to wring from it the hidden secTet so darkly veiled
by the material universe, to bridge the chasm that forever
between the finite and the infinite, is profane and unhallowe curi-
lawns
osity. God hims~If has inspired the desire, and his love to man has"
furnished the means to satisfy it. Innumerable Rre the works that
have been written-fancy and irnagination have been tasked to their
utmost capacity-to realize in some faint degree the manner of the
soul's existence after the life of the body. .
And herein is an internal evidenee of the truth of the mission of
Swedenborg. His writings open to our astonished vision the world
of spirits. They vividly depict, and give life and reality to those
!Cene&, of which, in our hours of sorrow, when the friends of our
heart, the parents of our love, the infant la.mbs that we have cherish-
ed in our bosom, are rudely thrust away to rot beneath the damp
earth, we mourn in agony of 80ul to catch the fa.intest glimpse.
The great confirmation of Swedenborg's claims to be ranked as "
true prophet, like that which the wisest and best men ha.ve affirmed
to be the strong ground on which Christianity rests, will be found,
however, in the internal evidence that springs from the troths he hu
revealed. He ~·ho exan1ines his writings with a simple heart will
find them exactly adapted to his wants and needs; adapted to dispel
his doubts, to support his faith, and to diffuse through his mind a
calm confidence reposing on the Rock of Ages. He will see his own
character and frailties reflected like the natural face of a man in a
glass. He will discover the source of all his sorrows, and be shown
within his reach the Balm of Gilead that will heal them. We would
by DO means disguise or underrate the immense demand which the
assertions of Swedenborg, in their full literal signification, make
upon what may be considered either the faith or the credolity of men
to wham they are addressed. We should have little respect for either
the bead or heart of anyone, in whom the first full and confiding
aeknowledgment 8Dd reception of the glorious tmths of the New
Jemsalem did not constitute pre-eminently the most stupendous epoch
of his existence. An adequate conception of that intellectual and
moral revolution which takes place in every mind that has experi-
enced the transition from the low, materialistic, sensuous theology
and philosophy of the present day, to the pure, rational, and liCe-in-
spiring theology of the New Chnrch, can hanlly be expressed in
words. And yet, strange as it may seem, the most difficult obstacle
to be lUI1Dounted in accrediting the herald of the Second Advent, con-
 204 TAl Pre.nt tAs E]Jocla of tluJ Lord'. &ctmd Ad.",. [Ma.y,
silts in the a~mpt fully to realize and believe a fact which Christians
ean hardly persuade themselves they have ever doubted. That the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were communicated to
those by whom they have been recorded, by an opening of the spirit-
ual visioD, by intromission into the spiritual world, is 80 self-evident,
it we admit the Divine origin of the Scriptures, that few theologians
would venture to- dispute the fact. And yet, the great stumbling-
block in the way of acknowledging the assertions 01 Swedenborg,
whetheT openly admitted or not, consists in the demand to credit the
intrinsic p088ibility of this opening of his spirUual visioD-the PM.-
hility of a communication from God to man in the only way in which
itu possible. He who approaches this obstacle, and 8ndeavors to
aarmount it, will be painfully convinced of the very superficial aDd
11DSUbstantial nature of the faith in which he has formerly reposed.
This difficulty once fairly overcome, however, let the mind once be
fully saturated with a conviction of the truth of a fact upon which
the genuineness of all r~velation from God reposes--the fact of the
intrinsic possibility of communicating a revelation-and the entrance
to the New Church is plain and euy. The internal evidence of the
truth. communicated cannot fail to beget a confidence in their divine
origin, in every mind that has once fairly surmounted this preliminary
.obstacle. It will at once be seen that the mission of Swedenborg is
but another link in the great ohain of revelation-that it but adds
another and no UDWorthy name to the noble company of prophets
and evangelists. I

In the remarks we have offered, we have aimed Rther to excite

than to satisfy curiosity. To present a summary, however brie~
of the great truths revealed by Swedenborg, is a task which we
are not called on to perform. Nor is there need that we shoald
attempt it. The work has been ably done by others, and the result
. of their labors is easily accessible. l"he little attention we have been
~rmitted to bestow upon his writings, has convinced us, however,
that we hazard Dothing in saying, that they contain a theology far
superior to all others known among men, and the most profound
system of philosophy that the world has ·ever beheld. Seriously and
earnestly do we recommend the perusal of his works to every in-
quiring mind. Every noble motive by which men are actuated '\\ill
jastify us in listening to this great teacher. Do we wish to cultivate
and improve our mental faculti~s to the highest point which our time
and means will permit 1 In his writings will be found the ooly true
pinciples of intellectual culture. Would we comprehend the limits
of all the systems of philosophy that have been so painfully elabor-
ated, from the days of Plato to our own 1 In his writings will be
found the stand-point that overlooks them all, the system that includes
them all. In them will also be found a confinnation of that great
truth proclaimed by our Saviour:-" My doctrine is Dot mine, but
his that Bent me. If any n'lan will do his will, he shall know of the
doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak. of myself."
H 0 how unlike the complex work oC man.
HeaveD'S ea.y, artlell, uDobaulive plan !
1&18.)
No lIMftItrIaioal ....,. to begu"
No tonip onLUDenta to 0101 the pile;
From ostentation 81 from weakness free,
It stands like the cerulean arch we lee,
Majeatia ill ita OWIllimpliclty.
-
Juoribed above the portal from .rar,
Conspiouous as the brightness oC a atar, .
Le,ible only by the light they give,
&land the eoul-qaickeDiq wordl, • BaLmn: AJID Lift It --0...",..
J. L. J.

THE NEW CHRISTIAN DISPENSATION.

I.. is a common opinion in the world that we regard SwedeDborg

as having made a new revelation, and that we suppose it supersedes
the Word,as revealed through the prophets and evangelists. No id~
could be more erroneous. No writer, ancient, or modem, has done
more to elevate the Word, in the estimation of intelligent and rational
minde. He makes the Word the chief oomer-stone of the Chri.a...
religion-the basil and continent of all spiritual truth. In other
words, it is the Divine Truth itself: By means of it, man has COD-
junetion with heaven, and with angels. Without it he could have
DO knowledge of God, of heaven, of hell, or of the life after death.
The commandments of God, and the truths of heaven, are revealed
in the Word, and all who look to it for light to guide them in the
strait and Darrow way, with the sincere desire to conform to its
p~cepts, will have their minds illuminated by its light. In the p~
portion that man is capable ofreceiving and applying them to life, the
Church is with him. .. That which constitutes heaven with maD,"
says Swedenborg, 4' constitutes the church." "Where the Lord it
acknowledged, and where the Word is, there the church i. said to
be; for the essentials of the church are love to, and faith in, the Lord
from the Lord; and the Word teaches how man is to live, in older
that be may receive love and faith from the Lord."
Just in proportion, therefore, 88 man's airectioDs and life are
grounded in the precepts of the Word, is he a member of the Lord'.
intemal church. In proportion also as his airectionl are ceDtred
upon enemal things as an end, does he cease to be a member of the
Lord's Church, whatever may be his external relatioDS with regard
to church membership. "The internal of the church is charity to-
wards the neighbor in willing, and from willing in acting, ad hea.
faith in perceiving." Without these principlea constantly alive aDd
acting in man, be is diS80Ciated from the church, and the augeIs 01
heaven withdraw from him. '
- It was beC&uee the minds of men were withdrawn hm these prin-
ciples in thought and action, that old ohurches came to an eDd.
Their minds became so immerSed in speculative opinions, and mere
Corms, that they lost sight of the Divine truths of the Word. In their
efforts to form creeds, and to establish them as a test for all true fol-
lowers, they separated religion from the church. The ignorance or
Roman Catholics as to a life of religion, Swedenborg attri~utes to
the fact that they " rarely approach God our Saviour, but instead of
Him, the Pope as His Vicar, and likewise the Saints" (B. E. 20). The
faith of the Catholics and Protestants was essentially the same, as re-
tained by the leading Reformers, with the exception of justification
by faith, which they contended was of saving efficacy without charity
or good works; or, in other words, justification by faith alone. Thus
the faith of the two great churches of Christendom in Swedenborg·s
day was this-A trinity of persons in the Godhead-Original siD-
The imputation of the merit of Christ; and justification by faith;
Of, as the Protestants had it, ,e by faith alone." This faith, it will be
seen, has nothing to do with the Word. It hardly appeals to it for
confirmation. It is the product of man's brain, and is merely 8pecu~
lative. It has nothing to do with the commandments of the Deea-
logue, or the teachings of charity, of repentance, or of good works.
The propositions are· mere abstractions, having within them no life.
and no teac1ainga teAich lead 10 life. Hence a church which is really
based upon them, can be no church, for the reason that the proposi-
tions teach falsities instead of troths. Doctrinals are of no use, ex-
cept in 10 far as they teach how man should live. Doctrinals, accord-
ing to Swedenborg, do not even distinguish churches before the Lord.
As an instance of the character of mere doctrinals, the five -points oC
Calvinism afford a striking example. They maintain-
1st. That God chose a certain number of the human race, called
the elect, to be saved. The balance were left to perdition.
2d. That by the sacrifice of Christ the law was satisfied, and these
elect were thus redeemed.
. ad. That all mankind are totally depraved.
4th. That all who have been predestined from eternity unto life,
will be eWectually called. And,
5th. That all who have been thus eft'ectually called, shall not finally
taU from a state ofgrace.
It will be observed that not one of these propositions is based
upon the idea of man's following the Lord in the regeneration-of a
life according to the Commandments, of repentance, and love tOW~8
the neighbor. These, if taken into the account at all, are merely iB-
cidental, and the mind which is confirmed in the one, loses sigJat oC
the other. They are thus wholly divested of a practical character.
The leading doctrine of the Reformed Church was justification by -
.. faith alone." They made little account in their teachings of life, of
oharity, or of the virtues of a -moral life, which are in themselves good
works, becaUle they supposed they contributed nothing to salvation.
Inasmuch as S1lch doctrines are at variance with the truths of the
Word, the two cannot be conjoined. They merely represent a con-
"mmated church.
J848.]
Such was the state of theology, and of religious teachiug, at the
time Swedenborg commenced writiog upon the subject; and such the
I8CeS8ity of a Dew dispensation ofreligioas truth.
The objeot of the New Dispensation is not therefore to supersede
the Word, as some suppose, but to re-a~ iU heavenly trutb, and to
"""'"1 a leey to it, interpretation. "God, by his omnipotence, estab-
lished the cliuroh," says Swedenborg, "and revealed the laws of its
Older in his Word; and when it totallyfell, he assumed the Humanity
and restored it." He informs 118 that it the Lord in his mercy had
not provided for this New Dispensation of his truth to man, tlie bu.
man race must have perished. This averment must be self-evident
to all who take pains to consider all the facts which bear upon the
subject. At this time a judgment took place in the spiritual world,
and a Dew angelic heaven was formed" of such as believe in the
Lord God, the Saviour, and approach Him immediately" (T. C. It
108). From that time a new spirit has dawned upon the earth. It is
a striking fact that historians have fixed upon this period as marking
an era of remarkable changes tending to the improvement of society.
The New Jerusalem is descending from God out of heaven, and draw-
iDg Dearer and nearer to earth. All are aJfected by its descent,
though few appreciate the cause.
It is the high p!ivilege of those who acknowledge the heavenly
doet!iDes of tho New Jerusalem to be receptive of its influx, and to
have a perception of the power and operation of a merciful Providence
in thU8 drawing the world Bearer to himself. Its effect is to neutral-
ize and to modify the teaching of all existing sects. The doctrines
which were taught with 80 much zeal in past times, are now so re-
pugnant to the moral sense of Christendom, that they cannot be toler-
ated without great modification. The" minds of men are every day
breaking away from these old dogmas, and are yearning for a know-
ledge of the inward world, and for the truths which belong to their
spiritual nature.
This state of things imposes upon the New Churchman most high
and responsible duties. It so happens, in the order of providence. that
receiven of the doctrines have always been much soattered through-
out the world. They have never,like other Christians, been collected
in large nombers, in anyone locality. For what reason is this, un-
less that each one may be a miHSionary in the sphere in which he is
placed 1 that he may look round and see who is hungry, in order to
be a medium in dispensing the Lord's goods and truths to all who will
receive 1
Man is created to be a world in its least fomi, and thus to live a
life of happiness ill heaven. For this purpose his Creator has givelL
him the germ of certain faculties which are to be developed and per-
fected as a me8Ds to this end. He is born into the ultimate or lowest
degree oC the natural world, with an exterior and interior mind. The
natural, or exterior, is opened by knowledges of worldly things; and
the interior, or spiritual, by knowledges of heavenly things. He is
elevated by sciences to the second degree; and when by means of
sciences he perfects his understanding, he is elevated to the third de-
108 ne NeVJ Cia"" ~ . [Kay,
gree and becomes rational. This rational faculty is the \first recep-
tacle of spiritual truths. It is the faculty by which we understaDd
truths and detect raises, as well as goods and thence eTilL ~ means
of it, man has illumination, and thence conjanetion with heaven.
It is this progressive state of the rational mind, whicb is signified by
the propnet Isaiah where it is said, "In that day shall there be a
highway out of Egypt to A~a." The importance ofits cultivation
and development can hardly be over estimated.. According to Mr.
Clissold, • man cannot have a key to the real inferpretation of the
Word of God, without also having a key to the interpretation of the
works of God." "For when the natural mind is void aDd empty ~
reason of i~orance, i~ has no ideas in which spiritual tratlis can be
represented." .
All men are bom into the world with the germ of these faculties
ready for a new birth; and if society was in a state oftrue order, they
would receive their full development. Indeed, the condition of society
is just 80 far removed from a state of true order, as it stands in the
way of a full and healthy development of these faculties among its
members.
A state or nation, which places obstacles in the way of the deve-
lopment of the rational mind of its members, of whatever race or
color, by organic laws and penal enactments, assumes the fearfbl
position, as it seems to me, spoken of in the Book of Revelation. • If
any man shall takeaway from the words of the book ofthis propheey,
GOd shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the
holy ci~, an4 from the things which are written in this book.." It is
~he end ofthe New Dispensation, 88 I understand it, to restore things
to this state of true order; and "We become its disciples in the propor-
tion that we acknowledge its teachings, and co-operate in the effort
to give them efficiency in our own life, and the lives of others.
We are all children of the same Father, and, as such, owe duties to
all as brethren. If one has gifts that another has not, they are con-
secrated to the Lord by freely imparting what has been freely recei~.
With society at the present time, in all parts of the world, there seems
but little else than commotion and discontent. This arises from
many causes. Prominent among them, is the great inequality of COil-
dition among the various classes, as regards education, and tlie means
of subsistence. Knowledge is power, and the power which knowl-
edge gives has been in the hands of the few, particularly in the old
world, and has been used to multiply their own privileges, instead of
aiding the rest of God's children to share their advantages with them.
Although the natural bounties ofprovidence are Sllfficient for all, they
are so distributed as to be, in a ~eat degree, within the control of the
few, while the many have to struggle from year to year for the bare
means of subsistence. As an instancE', it is stated that England aDd
Ireland. with a population oftwenty-four millions, have sixteen mil·
lions who sWfer for want of the means of natural subsistence. A
'recent London publication afirma that there are five million English-
men who cannot read, and eight million who cannot write: that one
married man in every three, and one married woman iD. every two,
1849.]
\

sign the register with a mark. Hence the distinctibn and aversion of
classes, and of the ~r against the rich. In France, in 1844., with a
population of thirty-four and a half millions, about seventeen millions
were unable to reit.d and write; '1,097,000 were able to read but Dot
to write ; 6,968,000 were able to read and write imperfectly; 2.480,000
were able to read and write correctly; 735,000 posselsed the ele-
ments of a classical education, and but 815,000 have a complete clas-
sical education.
In view of such facts, who can wonder at the difficulty of establish-
ing a government depending for its support upon the sympathi. and
intelligence ofits peopl~ 1 The rational mind of the nation is ,et iD
its infancy, and can hardlY' be developed before a system 0 tree
schools has been established, and a long time in successful operation.
What is tme oC France, is true also of all the countries of the old
world. Even in Great Britain, the amount expended for public
schools is less than that of the single city of BOston! The conae-
quence is, that large classes are growing up with minds nearly
~losed to the light of knowledge, with faculties limited and impairea
tor application to uses. and with the sentiment of hope nearly extiD·
JI1ished. Their tendency seems, therefore. downward towards &,
state of brutality, rather than upwards towards the angelic state;
and ~iety is taxed to put the machinery of prisons and bayoneta in
requisition to keep them in order.
Knowledge and wealth, which were intended, by the Giver of all
things. to promote the happiness of all, are the JK:)ssession of the few;
while ignorance and want seem to be the lot of the many. Does not
! ~is state of things indicate a sad deficiency in the institutions of the
civilized world 1 Have they anything in the way of amelioration to
pre-.sent to their subjects tiut despair 1 Were the Lord present in
them in His Divine Humanity, I see not how ignorance and famine
could be the lot of so large a portion of His children. Hence I infer
that the civil govemments of the W'orldare cODSlHDmated, a8 well as ita
churches; and that the revolutions and commotions now going on, are
permitted to prepare the way for subsequent changes, which are to
result in fu~lling the prophecy, "Behold I create all things new." It
seems as though we were approaching the period spoken of by tlle
prophet Ezekiel, "I will overturn, overturn it, until he come whose .
right it is, and I will give it him.tt The selfish dynasties which have
80 long ruled with a rod of iron must give place to principles of j1J8a
nee and humanity.
When the princi~les of the New Dispensation shall have sway in
civil governments, then will they have the sympathy of willing hearta
for their support; and under the reign of this sphere, the nations of
the earth will begin to blossom as the rose.
As the New Heaven comes down from God out of heaven, and its
principles are received into the hearts of men. it will be seen that the
law of kindness, of doing unto others as we would have them do unto
us, is the only basis of a successful and permanent prosperity. True
charitr in a parent promp~s him to so c~tivate t~e faculti.es of his
child, that he may be qualified to take his part ~m fulfillmg some
110
!
ne NeID CAMitm DUpetutztitm. - LMay,
among the numerous uses in society. He can then sustain himsel(
while serving others. So with all civil communities. A community
which allows its members to grow up without the means of provid-
ing for themselves, by reason of ignorance, is recreant to the high
duty imposed upon all of God's children. Who, therefore, that has a
heart to feel for ignorant and suffering humanity, can fail to feel an
interest in all practical means to elevate the condition, natural and
spiritual, of the human race 1 The feet of society are disea.~ed, and
unless the disease can be arrested, it threatens the health of the body
politic. .. The world," says WilkinsoD, c'is now learning, by severe
practical experience, that great and neW truth announced by Sweden-
borg, that the world is the foundation of heaven, and that heaven
rests upon it as a basis. The practical unity of things is becoming
obvious to the most unobservant. The human race is like the hu-
man body. There is no such thing as a pain so confined to one part, .
that the whole man does not feel it. All disease invades the subject
integrally, however it may appear otherwise, from the intensity of its
attack upon a part or member. And hence it is, that there must be a
wholeness in remedies, a wholeness in truths, a wholeness in our cha-
rities." '"
The remedy must consist in a new creation-a new application or
the truths of the Word to the life of man; which involves an organi-
zation of industry upon principles of equity, and a more thorough ap-
plication of the laws of charity in our social relations.
In the Ancient Church, and on the planet Jupiter, Swedenborg in-
forms us, the~ had no desires beyond the necessaries of life-they ac-
counted nothing useful bat so far as it was necessary-no one covet-
ed another's property-it never entered their minds to desire the
possessions oC- another, stUlless to obtain them fraudulently, and least
of .all to extort them by violence. It was a thing altogether 'un-
known for one person to enrich himself at the expense of another, or
to aspire at dominion from a principle of self-love. On this acconnt
the ancient times, and especially the most ancient, were more ac-
ceptable to the Lord than succeeding times. Then every one rejoiced
in his own, and not less in his neighbor's good. But in succeeding
times this scene was changed, and totally reversed, when the lust
of dominion and of large possessions invaded the mind; then man-
k.ind, for the sake of self-defence, collected themselves into kingdoms
and empires; and·' inasmuch as the laws of charity and conscience,
wnich were inscribed on the hea.rts, ceased to operate, it became
necessary to enact external laws to restrain violence, &c. (E. u: 49).
When we contrast this state with the sphere of the world in oar
da.y, all must be struclt with the remoteness of the New Dispensation
from our midst. Let no one, however, be discouraged at the magni-
tude of the work to be done. EvC(ry individual forms a link in the
grand chain of humanity, and can do something towards hastening
its d~"cent from God out of heaven.
Our Lord said, when upon earth, "The foxes have holes, and the
~irds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay
his head" There was room on the earth for'man's self-derived pru-
 211

dence, and for his intellectttals, which are sigtlified by foxes and birds,
but Dot for the goods and truths of the Word. Tlie Lord stands at
the door and knocks, and it is in the power of every one to open the
door of his mind. As he does this, the Son of man will have where
to lay his head, and the New Dispensation will draw near. We have
a work to do in following the Lord in the regeneration, similar to His
while upon the earth. He visited the sick, the lame, halt, blind, Iuna- '
tic, and healed them all. It was these who were the objects of his
mercy, instead of those who were able, in retlllllt " to do good to us
again." In short, he came to save that which was lost. His true
disciples will seek to be mediums of his spirit in a similar manner.
The church and society, as they have existed, seem ignorant of the
power of doing good which is open to them in this direction.
The little that is known with regard to the successful manner of
treating insane persons, consists in applying thelrinciples of charity,
and in making them feel that they are men an women, with duties
and responsibilities to be regularly observed. When this is felt, and
they are disposed to devote themselves to regular uses, their restora-
tion to reason is almost ·sure to follow. One great cause why so
many lose their balance of mind, is because the rational mind has
not been properly educated and developed. As an important remedial
agent, the Board of Visitors of the Hanwell Lunatic Asylum in
England have established male and female schools for the instruction
or patients. Their object is, as stated in their report, "the awaken-
ing and improving the intellectual state of the imbecile and idiotic,
for the cultivation and gratification-by instruction in natural history,
geography, and general knowledge-of those patients who are al-
ready partially edu~ated and instructed, and so as to excite, relieve,
and recreate, as well as inform their minds." (Jour. 18. p. 6, 1848.)
In the case of idiocy also, it has been ascertained by the results of
an active philanthropy, that the light of spiritual day may be let into
the minds of those who have been heretofore left to themselves, in a
state of almost total darkness. Schools have been started in France
and Switzerland, and the result is, that "the fact is now clearly estab-
lished that idiots may be educated, that the reflective power exists
within them, and may be awakened by a proper system of instruction;
that they may be raised from the filth in which they grovel. to the
attitude of men; that they may be taught different arts which will
enable them to gain an honest livelihood." Experience shows that
these poor creatures-the most wretched that are born into the world
-who are usually abandoned to a life of brutishness, and who can
never, of themselves, step upon the platform of humanity, can be
saved. Instances could be adduced which would gladden the heart
of humanity, did time suffice. " Patience," said one of th.. teachers
in this noble work, "and the desire to do good, are all that are neces-
sary." Is not this realizing the command of the Lord to His disciples,
to go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel 7 His command
was also to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out
devils; freely ye have received, freely give.
By thus commencing in the c888pools of society-in the Nazareth
or the natural world-the work will be begun in the low_ ultimatel.
III
It must 8tart from this ~int before IOCiety CaD be reatorecl to a heal-
thy state, and heaven be brought down to earth. It is from this point
that the flood-rates or evil must be stayed, and the tide rolled back.
Whoever lends his sympathies in this direction, if not his active ex-
ertions, like him who gives & cup of cold water only to a disciple,
will receive his reward. It strengthens, and gives warmth and life
to the moral faculties. '
There is no pleasure 10 healthful in its influence as the pleasure
of doing good to others. The State of Massachusetts has already
taken the lead in this noble work. She has just started a school for
educating the poor idiot ; and & reform school for boys, just commen-
cing a career of crime.
It seems to be the peculiar province of the disciples of the New
Dispensation, to arouse the moral feelings of this community to their
duties in these respects; to encourage and help its members to stand
upon their own feet, with the ability and disposition to perform uses
tU of tAe_elvea.
'the cost of educating the rising generations, and the care of the
sick and imbecile, is small, when contrasted with the cost of the vast
machinery of war. Could the two hundred millions of dollars ex·-
pended by our government in the effort to conquer a 'peace with her
neighbor, have been dispensed upon the principles I have attempted
to illustrate, how different the result!
Instead of laying waste cities, towns, and villages, and carrying
BOrrow to the hearts of bereaved parents and widows, who have done
us DO wrong, it might have aided to develop the resources of both
nations, stimulated their moral and educational efforts for the ~ oC
the race, and carried comfort to the children of want, wherever tound.
The war establishments of the world, with their vast machinery
for destroying brethren, are altogether disproportioned to the machine-
ry for lifting humanity upwards. Of the money raised for the sup-
port of governments, the amount devoted to keeping alive and per-
fecting the machinery of war, dwarfs that of all other uses combined.
Take our own government as an example. Of the whole amount
expended, even in a time of peace, for the administration of justice,
our relations with foreign nations, light-houses, internal improve-
ments, and all other uses, eighty dollars out of every hundred has
been devoted to the support of tlie war and naval establishments. It
is thus that the bounties which God has given us for the good of His
children, are now dispensed. ,
Let it be the duty, as well as the pleasure, of the disciples of the
N8'f Ohurch, to enlighten public sentiment on these points. This
may be done b1 scattering broadcast the seeds of truth, and insinuat-
ing the goods of chari~ towards the neighbor.
With a healthy publIC sentiment, the bounties of Providence will
be dispensed more in accordance with the principles of the New Die,-
pensation. Schools, or standing armies, are the necessary appen-
dages of all civil governments. One helps to raise its members to-
wards the angelic state; the other to depress them towards a state of
brutish ignorance. The community is Deginning to realize the uath,
 ~.]

dtat a gGV8I'IlID8Ilt oC praaticallove to the nel«hbor is the cheapest-

that it is cheaper to prevent crime than to. punish it-cheaper to
educate and develop the capaci~ to be good citizens, than .to support
them alter graduating in the schools of indolence and hatred-to say
IIOthiagof the etemal impress which is left upon the soul, by a life
of good or evil. ·
Four churches have existed since the creation, viz., the Adamic, the
Noahatic, the Israelitish, and the Christian.' Each has passed
through four succeB8ive states, or periods, corresponding with morn-
big, nooo, evening, and night. The tint state, or moming, was the
appeariDg ofthe Lord Jehovab, and redemption; the secondvas its in-
IItnlctiou, and day of progre88ion; the thUd its declension, which is ita
eveniDgor vastation; and the fourth its night, or cODsummation. After
eoDS11IDDl&tiOD the Lord appe~ separates the good from the evil;
elevates the good to Himself; and removes the evil.
And after the C80811IDmation of these churches He formed another,
which is called the New Jerusalem. All are members of this church
who acknowledge the truths of the Word, and follow the Lord in the
regeneration, and who do the work which he commands. What
these duties are, I have endeavored very briefiy to set forth.
We are in danger of being satisfied with merely p:elding 8898nt to
important truths, and extemal ordinances. It will be well for us to
beu'in mind, that the kingdom of heaven is given to thOle only who
briDg forth the fruits thereof:
Our Lord commanded His disciples to "go into all the world, and
preach the Gospel to every_ creature. The Gospel denotes annuncia-
tion conceming the Lord, His coming, the things which are from Him,
aDd thus the whole Word. We preach it, when we acknowledge its
teachings and apply them to life.
In the Ancient Church it was one of their works of charity to in-
struct each other in doctrines, and in matters ofopinion.
Let it be our duty also to strive to accomplish ~ similar work, and
toarrive at similar states, and the reward will then be \\ith us.
o. c.

A.RTlCLE ID.

WATER A.S AN ELEMENTARY CORRESPONDENCE OF TRUTH.

GoD in creating can only express, in the different spheres and gra-
dations of the stellar, planetary, humant animal, vegetable, mineral,
and elementary e~tence, those principles which coD8titute his own
being, thus rendering the universe a mirror reflecting his infinite per-
fections. In like maDDer man, created in the image of God, a mioro-
cosm within the macrocomn, ftncls in the world around him, in bia
ciroumambiellt sphere, innumerable reftectioDl of the elements of his
 214 'Water tU an me.mtary Correaptmderace of 2l1dA. [May,
inner and onter life. In the present paper we purpose to Ulustrate the
general position by offering an interpretation of one of nature's hiero-
glyphics, by the aid of the key which Swedenborg has furnished. Tak-
ing for granted the soundness of the principle, that water corresponds
to truth, we may traoe the analogy in the following particulars. III
the ,ASSIVB QUALITIES of water we observe : -
1st. Trcuuparency. Pure water disgtrlses nothing, but allows ob-
jects to be seen through it truthfully, in their natural size, form, and
color. Thus, too, with truth. It shuns concealment-it courts inves-
tigation-it abhors prevarication-it loves to be seen through. So the
state of the mind most favorable to profound contemplation is one in
which the sonl seems to repose in a hallowed calm, like Home inland
lake. A truthful internal state is one in which external objects and
characters are clearly transmitted by the aqueous, vitreous, and crys-
talline humors of 'the spiritual eye. Such was the state of intuition
sought by the ancient prophets and poets, by the gymDOIOphists and
sages of eastern climes, who retired to the wilderness for solitary
self-communion and fasting, in order to obtain this organic transpa-
rency, and to initiate the spirit into larger and deeper views of the
wonders of its own in-world, and of the nature mirrored there.
Artificial assistance in determining this state is also procured .by
magnetism, especially when its procedures are directed upon the
., epigastrium and solar plexus, the organic fountain of InflUX for the
spiritual life in man, to which the voluntary life of intellection and
motion is only an appendage. The hydropathic process of packing
with the wet slteet induces in a lesser degree a similar state of orga-
Dic calm and transparency. ·
2d. IncDmp'·el,ibility. Rather than suffer compression of its bulk,
water has been forced through the pores of a globe of" solid gold.
Thus the upright man will endure tortures rather than diminish aught
of what he knows to be true, or prove unfaithful to his convictioDs.
Truth is in its essence absolute, and incompressible into anything less
than itsel£ Whatever a man has been led aerionsly to believe is a
truth to him, and cannot be compressed by force from without, but
must be freed from its crudities by a process of evolution from within.
This spiritual law condemns that whole system of education which
consists in using the memory of the child like a forcing-pump to flood
his mind with dirty water, with knowledges 1Vhich, if not false iD
themselves, as is the case very often, are false relatively to the mind
which has not yet been led to desire them throngh the correspondence
of their uses, as is the case in the natural order, where practice pre-
cedes theory, and the necessity for knowledge, in order to accomplish
certain ends, prompts to the acquisition of that knowledge in such
forms or methods as are specifically adapted to the individual mind.
We must not then try to impose ourselves, our thoughts, methods,
.and knowledges on otherR, and especially we ought to respect aDd
reverence childhood, which is at once nearer to the celestial life of
8pontaoeoas intuition than we are, and by its inexperieDc~trustful·
ness more at the mercy of all impreaiODS from without, whether good
or evil.
1848.] \ W,.,. IU on EleJllBfttary CorrelpOfttl~e of Tnal. ~16

The pod method of education which respects this principle of in-

compressibility is the Socratio. Socrates. never dogmatized, but ex-
ercised the powers of his pupils, and caused them to evolve all from
within themselves, by questions judiciously connected, and opening
step by step on the truth under discussion. T~ application of this
principle in our schools' would, for the youngest classes, connect the
alphabet, spelling, reading, grammar, -and composition or self.expres-
aioD, in one exercise upon the black-board or slate; the ehildren form-
iDg, writiDg. and appearing to create everything from themselves 88
they proceed, assisted by the example of the teacher, and in emula-
tion with each other. From this point, each study would be a theme
or thesis for discussion and eompositions, and the text-books and in-
Itnlctions of the teacher would furnish matter of reference from which
each pupil would evolve a body of science in the form suggested by
JUs own individual mind. His labors might then be reviBed in works
of his own composition.
4. DivUitm. When subdivided into its minute particles, though
each. globule retains its essential identity, the mass loses its normal
appearance "nd properties. Thus in clouds or 8DOW it becomes
opake, compressible, produces optical illusions in its reflections, as the
jata ...garaa iD whi~- ships seem to be sailing amid clouds cw
aaniee marching among the mists of the mountain side. It also loses
ita speeific gravity by its mixture with air aDd. consequent expansion
ofsmface. \
Thus, analogically, when a truth is-divided into its oomponent ele-
ments and still more when we subdivide these into more limited and
~ truths, the exclusive assertion of aoy one of these becomes a
ood, involves in obscurity the 8Ubj~ct of which it is asserted,
aDd leads into practical errors aad evils.
This is epacity, illusion ofthe intellect or eye ofthe soul, which re·
sIons its true medium of vision only by combining the partial truths
or fragments of truth, and compressing them into the original proposi-
tioa or intregal truth to which they belong. For example, A faces
the edge of a door and B the side of the same door. A describes the
door from his point of view correctly as a narrow strip of wood, 8
feet high by one inch thiok. B as a fiat sorfaoe,. 6 feet high by three
feet wide. Both of these may give a partial. truth, but yet a· false
description of the doo~whic4 can only be rendered integral or true
by combining both statements or partial truths in one.
John, William and Thomas go to see a chameleon. John says it is
8N8D, William that it is yellow, and Thomas that it is brown--each
true for the time that he HaW it, but tall false in regard to the em..
meleon until their statements are combined and reconciled in the one
real truth, that the chameleon rapidly changes its calor.
6. UnUm witA caloric. Without this oo.ion water cannot retain
and present its jWJt properties, but is converted into snow or ide.
Thus the love principle, or spiritual heat, must evermore vivify troth
iD order to coaserve its troe nature. Truth,. confined solely to the in-
tellectual sphere, is, as it were, dead or congealed. It can be felt
cmly by tae mauifestatioD of its properties through marriage with it.l
vw.." De 14
 118 (l[ar,
corresponding aifeetlon. -If reason," says Constant, In his bea1ltifa1
legend of the despairing philosopher, cc Ifreason i.like a lamp, love Is
Its Same; if reason is ~e eye of our soul, love is its strength and its
Bre. A great intellect without Jove is a beautiful eye dead, a lamp
richly chiseled, but cold and extinct."
Viewed in itl AOTIQ QUALmJIII, water is the priDoipallOlY8Dt ill
the material world, penetrating and cleansing bOdies, as truth pene-
trates the 80ul aDd washes out errors and the evil dispositiODI prompt.
iag them. This is not effected suddenly either in die physical or tile
lpiritual world. The first effeot of dissolving dirt only ca1Ul88 it &0
8how ~ore plainly. Th. first effect of the water-C11rft often eu.oer-
·bates diIeueI, revives old symptoms, and causes the organio foaln. . to
llaow itllelf in hideoll8 boils and eruptions, with grave fanctiolULl dis-
turbances, before washing it out entirely in excretion! of horrible
fetor, from the skin, and mucous memb1'&lleB, and preeentiag ia
pas or globules the merc~ and other mineral poisoDS which ha'Ye
iufeoted the organism, but which were causes of organio evil becauae
~ falfilled DO true relation in the tissues. Thus of truth in ita fin&
action on the lOul, either of the individual or the masa. Before it
ean organize itself in action, it must ftnt conquer and extirpate the
fa1le habits of action rooted in preconceived ideaaI, or detenDiIled
by ciroumltanoe 'and sphere. Hence arise tears and lObe, and not
unfrequently the organism sinks, unable to 8118t&in the straggle. We
.hall be much deceived if we suppose that a trnth onoe fairly &eoep&-
eel by the mind is inactive bec&1l88 the oonduct or practice of life ill iD
direct contradiction to the opinions of an individual or a society. It
ja oDly the shivering from tile first shook of the moral shower-bath
which is followed in due season by & higher organic tone.
The most vicio1l8 institutions are perverstoDs of very high traths
ad goods. The Inquisition, for instance, asserts the IUpremacyof the
llpirituallife Bince it tortures the body in order to save the soul, and
it teaohes the unity of the race and hiDte at the connection of iDdivid-
. aal destinies in a oolleotiye destiny, since it is Dot willing that eaeh of
. . mould be BaTed or"claDmed on his own account, but holds men re-
aponsible for each other. lsabella of Castile was DO fteod, bat •
Boble aDd tender woman, and if she authorized tortures and proseeu.-
tioDs it was only, 88 she supposed, to act the part of a BUrgeOn'"
cauterizes an ulcer or amputates a mortifled limb, to prevent the ex-
" o n of the miaolUe£
As water and truth are the eaential prinoiples of orgallic fGl'Jlla-
tioD, 10 they are ofregeneration. Water is the instrament of orp.Die
regeneration, 88 the reception of trath is of the spiritual regeneratioD•
.This is recognized by our Lord in his choice of it as the emblem or
~ regeneratioD iD baptilm, aD institution rendered practical
ia Eastern COlIDtries by the daily use of the bath 81 a rite of reJilioua
~Ile. The Amerioan Indians, the RUllians, and the laled. . of
die South Pacific, fiDd in it their sovereign restorative, and modem.
~~c'" oomplete this experience in the celebrated water-eare to
which we have .already allacleel. The oharacteriltio prinai~ of
water-oure is its abIolute reliance OD the iDternallife principle Whoee
~.] 11'
leaC?ti~e powen ODe8 hDerated accomplish every oure. It aims ....
ply to remove obstracUODS 10 that life may be manifested in itl 0 . .
organio ~ Thus it is the very' opposite of that drug-praotiae
which introduces into the system agents that invariably diaturb __
chaDge its organic type, whether in health or in diIeue, and -of thea
aystem o( f&lle stimulation which oheats man out of hia nataral ener-
BY by penmadiDg him continually to borrow, to beg, or to lean 011
crutChes. The same prillciple of vital reaction is the (oundatiOD of
Rommopathy, which aims, in the preparation oC ita remedies, to Dea-
tralize diBeue, without disturbing the organic type of life, by ~
IeIlting to it its oorrespondence or medicine capable of inducing tile
ame.
Water constantly seeks its level, as truth rises in all miDda 'opeD to

i.
receiTe it, seeking a spiritual level over all the earth in charactera
of a parallel intellectu&1 development, either limUar or dissimilar ill
tute8, temperaments, and other qualities. Thus in the promulgatioa
or doctrines, eaoh has ita sect already prepared, 7:.000 whi"
progress ia imp_ble, because it cannot ri8e higher the inte1li-
pace which produced it, and O8Ilnot remain lower while cbNlllela of
communication exist.
The level-seekiag properties or water reveal to 118 the true law la
tegard to the presentation of truth. We have nothing to do ....e tie
remove obstractioDllt that the fountain may swell up into the miDcI
prepared to receive it, and thia must be done gently 10 as not to mudd,
the water. In a certain transcendent 01; potential88IU1e, you can 0Dl,
give othen what they have already. You can only introduce them
to themselves. Thus Emerson imputes the delight we take in the
great characters of history or in the highest works of art, ~ a IeCr8&
consciousness that these things and the- power to accompliah them
pre-exist in ourselves, whether they be or be not evolved from the
potential germ into the actual incarnation or organic structure during
such or such a term of individual life. He tells us to consider g&Di_
u a travellinr geologist, who shows US good marl or gypnm, or may-
be a vein of preoious ores, OD our own estate.
In the composition of water we have already obIerved the CCDn8-
pondence of the small particles, 88 in mist or fog, with partial
truths or tragments of truth, which obscure the intellectual atlDoe-
phere by prejudices, 8U~erstitioDS, &0. We 1lnd another hieroglyphie
ID iIB chemical synthems. .
Here we recognize two elements. Oxygen, the chief aodve prha-
ciple of nature, the great supporter of combt18tioD, disintegrator or
IDlDerals, and transformer of vegetable and animal tissues; aad ~1.
drogen, which is in all these aspects a passive principle, a combultible
itself instead of a supporter of combustion, and an elleDtial COIDpo-
Dent or organic structures instead of destroying or tranBformillg dMim.
Every integral truth must in like manner be compoUDded of 88leDOll
and offorce, of being and of doing. The living body, chief coDere~
~ or truth, represents the passive element in its viscera and gang-
lionic Dervo. system, sustaining and nourishing its acti~e aide iD die
cerebro-lpiDal IIJItem aDd locomotive orgaDl, bdelleetio- aDd . . .
 ward acts or external relationL If the o:q-gen element gains the as-
cendant, then doing becomes the ma~ one of being, and the
claims of external relations drain an~ despoil us, 80 that we become
equally worthless to ounelves and to others, and pave the road to hell
with our good intentions. If the element of being gains the ascend-
ant there is &pin no truth, as there oan be DO water except by a
definite proportion of 2 to 1 in volome-l to 8 iD specific gravity, be-
tween oxygen and hydrogen. We have here the c;haracter falsified
by a 80rt of transcendantalism which lifts itsel(like the balloon filled
with hydrogen into the upper regions of the atmosphere, quite remoT-
eel from all prs'Ctical relations with human affairs, aDd this dreamy
selfishness at last becomes as irksome to the individual as it is futile
for the race.
The poise or eqailibrium of.these two principles, may be eiFected
in the individual character when the lymphatic temperament is COil-
nected with the nervous sanguine or nervous billious 80 as to sustain
their funotions of active external relations by its functions of sleep
and full nutrition, so that our strength is periodically renewed and the
op~te tendencies to motion and to rest, to impart and to receive,
divide the regency of life, and do not struggle against each ()ther in
the same province. Thus we attain health or organic harmony aDd
8&Dity. Life becomes sweet and rich, honoringGod in itselfand bless-
ing, like the rose, by its pure emanations, or strong and elastic in its
external reactions so that our repose becomes persuasive and our
movement efficient.
M.E.L.

ARTICLE IV.

THE JEWISH TABERNACLE VIEWED IN ITS SPIRITUAL IMPORT.

IT is well known to the intelligent reader of the Old Testament,
that the Jewish worship was concentrated first in the Tabernacle,
and secondly in the Temple, each of which was constructed in con-
formity with adivine model or pattern, and was replete with a spirit-
ual significency. We say that these structures were fashioned ac-
cording to a pattern divinely given, ahhough of course nothing of the
nature of a miniature model in wood or stoDe is to be understood by
&he tenn. The "pattern shown in the mount" was a "i81-07IIIrY are
~ or a qiritual re~e.e1ltative of the building, with its furniture
and appendages, which Moses was commanded to make. "Let them
make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to
all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pat-
tem of all the instruments thereo~ even 10 shall 1_e make it." This is
. laid of the Tabernacle; .\11 like manner of the Temple it is said that
Jl140.] ne Jm.A Ta6moade ......4 in iu Bf"""",Zltnporl. 210
• Dam gave to Solomon hi. son the pattern (~talmdA) oC lhe
porch, and of the houses tberco~ and of tbe treasures thereof, and of
t.h. uf-per chambers tbereof, and of the inner parlora thereof, and oC
the p ace of tbe mercy-seat, and the patkrn of all M had by the ~
and of the coDJ'tB of the hoose of the Lord," &e. (1 Chron. uvfu. 11,
)2). The pattern thuII had by David" by the spirit" was doubtJess a
spiritual repreeentative made to his mind of tbe form in which the
Temple was to be built, and this he waa enabled, in some way, to
communicate to Solomon. So when Moses was called np with
Aaron Md the elders to tbe hallowed mount, and the God of Israel
appeared to them, he wu doubtless made to behold, with the
spiritual seUS63. tbe representative, prototype, or et.empla.r of the
Tabernacle and its VariOWl appacatus, and we bve the testimony of
the apoatle Paul in the epistle to the Hebrews that he faithfully fol-
lowed the pattem with which he was furniRhed.
Having had oceaaion I50me years since. in preparing several vol-
umes of Notea on the books of MOlllC8, to go into a pretty elaborate
investigation of the Jewish ritual, considered in the 8eD86 of the letter.
and having enliated the aid of pictorial illustration in our attempbl to
convey a correct idea of the forms, uses, and ends of the various ob-
jects ordered to be constructed, we have thougl;l.t it might serve a use-
ful pUl'pOSe to avail ourselvf.'s both of the explanations and illustrations
contained. in the work above mentioned, and to graft upon them the
Ipiritual sense which Swodenborg assigns to the various ltems.
Beginning with the Tabernaole itl!lel~ the accompanying cut will
aBOrd a very competent idea of ita frame work.

The fabric properly called the Tabemacle having moveable wall.

o( board, was of a more substantial character than a tent; but it is
right to regard it tu! a tent, its general appearance and arrange.meut
being the same. and its more substantial fabrio being probably OD ac-
conllt of the weight of its several envelopes which required stronger
IUpport8 than are usually necOMAI'J". It was of an oblong figure.
any-five (eet in length. by eighteen feet in breadth and heigbL Ita
length atended Crom eut to weet, the entrance being at th~ eMt
 110 ne JeUJid T~ - . 4 in iu $pirilul .IJpm. [liar.
end. The two sides aDd west end conlisted ot a frame work or
boards, of which there were twenty OD eacb side and eight at the we8t
end. The manner in whioh these boards were joined to each oth..
110 as to form a wall which might be easily taken down and let up
agaib, may be illustrated in some degree by reference to the window-
shutters of an extensive shop; but the boards of the Tabemaele did
BOt slide in grooves, but each was farnillbed at the bottom with two
_o~ which were received into sockets iD the bases or solid Iilver;
and to give the whole greater seeority, the boards were furnished each
with five rings or staples of gold, by means of which they were lUG-
oessively run up to their proper places on horizontal poles or ban,
which served as the ribs ofthe fabric, binding ita parts together. The
boards as well as the bars were of shittim wood, overlaid with thin
plates of gold. The east end, being the entrance, had no boards, bat
was furnished with five pillars of shittim wood, overlaid with gold,
and each standing on a socket of brass. Four similar pillars within
the Tabemacle, towards the west or further end, supported a rich
hanging, which divided the interior into. two apartments. oC which the
outer was called "the holy place," and the innermost and smallest
was "the most holy place," or the" Holy of Holies," in which the
presence of the Lord was more immediately manifested. The sep-
arating hanging was called, by way of eminence," the vail j" and
hence the expression "within" or "without the vaiI" is sometimes
used to distinguish the most holy from the holy place. The people
Were never admitted into the interior of the tabemacle. None but
the priests might (0 even into the outer chamber or holy plue, aIMI
into the inner chamber the high-priest alone was alloweif to enter,
and that only once in the yea..., on the great day of atonement. To
this, however, there was a necessary exception when the Tabernacle
was to be taken dow~ or set up. The outer chamber was only ell-
tered in the morning to offer incense on the altar which stood there,
and to estinguish the lamps, and again in the evening to light them.
On the Sabbath also the old sbew-bread was taken away and replac-
ed with new. These were all the services for which the attendance
of the priests was necessary within the Tabernacle, all the sacrifices
being made in the open space in front of the Tabernacle, where stood
the brazen altar for burnt oWerings. It will be useful to observe, that
the most holy place contained only the ark with its l.ontents; that the
outer apartment contained the altar of incense, the table of shew-
bread, and the great golden candlestick; while the open area in front
of the Tabernacle contained the brazen laver for the ablutions of the
priests, and the brazen altar for burnt offerings.
The above description will be sufficient to give an idea of the ap-
pearance, arrangement, and substantial structure, of the Tabernacle,
or Tent, as is more especially denoted by the original word 1"D'J.
fIIuhkan, from the root -pm, to dlHll, to inAabit, to dtDell tmt-vMe.
This mode of habitation prevailed among the earliest generations of
men, or the Most Ancient Church, and whatever external wonhip
they then had was performed in their tents. Hence Swedenborg in-
forms us that the term tent is employed in the W OM to represent the
eeIeItiaI &Dd holy thinp or love, " inasmuch as iD. ancient times they
performed the sacred rites of worship in their tents. When, however,
they began to profane tenD by uDholy worship, the tabemacle was
bailt, and afterWards the temple, and therefore tents represented all
daat was subsequently denoted first by the tabernacle and after-
wards by the temple. A holy man was also denominated a
a tabernacle, and a temple oC the Lord. That a tent, a taber-
ten"
Jl8CIe, &Dd temple have the same signification, is evident from what
is written in David: 'One thing have I desired of J ehovah, that win
I seek after ; that I may dwell in the Amue of Jebovah all the daya
of my life, to behold tbe beauty of Jehovah, and to inquire in his tem-
P!'; for in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his tllbemacle; in
the secret of his tent shall he hide me; he s hall set me upon a rock.
And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round
about me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices of shouting' (P'8. xxvii.
4, 5, 6). In the supreme sense the ~ord, as to Ius human essence, le
a tent, a tabernacle, and a temple; hence every celestial man is so
denominated, and l1ence also every thing celestial and holy. Now &8
the Most Ancient Church was better beloved of the Lord than any
which succeeded, and as men at ~hat time lived alone, or each with
his own family, and celebrated holy worship in their tents, therefore
tents were accounted more holy than the temple, which was profaned.
In remembrance ofthis practice the feast of the tabernacles or oC the
tents was iDstituted, at the period when theT gathered in the produce
of the earth, and it was ordained that at th18 feast they should dwell
iD tabernacles, like the people of the Most Ancient Church (Lev~
uili. 39-44; Deut-xvi. 13; Hos. xii. g)."-A. C. 414.
Again he remarks, that" in consequence of that Church being loved
above the rest, and the Lord dwelling with them in tents. therefore
ill memory thereof the tabernacle or tent of the cODgregation W8I
coD8trDcted with the Jewish nation wherein was exercised the holy
principle of worship."-A. C. 10,545.
The choice of this peculiar kind of structure, therefore, &8 the seat
of the Jewish worship, was oC a commemorative bearing, pointing
backwards to a purer and more halcyon and heavenly state enjoyed
by the men of the MOlt Ancient Church, who accordingly are repre-.
IeDted as 'dwelling in tents when seen by Swedenborg in the other
life. The sacred tent also as a place of meeting denoted the princi-
ple or the fact aCholy union, "inasmuch as love is the essential prin-
ciple of uaion, and for the people of Israel to meet the Lord at the tent
or tabernacle denote. to be united from holy love." So much for the
general spiritual drift and design oC the Tabernacle. But as a great-
er fulnese of import pertains to it viewed in its details and as connect-
ed with the various other items of the Jewish ritual, we shall endeavor
to aufold its interior signiftcancy still f~er in our next.
G. B.
(To be Ccmtinald.)
.. &let!titwu• [May,

SE LE CTIONS.

The {ollowing notice of Des Guars' Letters we find in an editorial of the Cl CbriltiaD
'Inquirer" of June 23. As we copied in our last a paragraph from that paper on the I.
carnation to which we took very decided objections, so we gladly transfer to our pages &Il
article breathing, in the main, 80 liberal and kindly a spirit towards the great human
teacher of the New Chlll'Ch. We are alwall grateful fOl any evidenoe coming belore u.
that the attention of intelligent men is turned to the writings of our Cburch, especially to
&hOle of Swedenborg himself. Every WON of commendatioD, like those thst Callow.
does IOmething towards lessening the load of obloquy that rests so undeservedly on the
name of SwedE'nbor" and redeeming the truths that he taught from reproach. It is doubc-
1881 becoming more and more common to meet with eulogistic epithets applied to our
author. Ht' is conceded to have been a philosopher of a high order; he is quoted with
respect as an expouDder of physical, physiological, and anatomiealscience j he is even re-
cognized as one gifted with a remarkable spiritual intuition j he is called cc the wonderful
Swedish theosophist;" he is spoken oras one-cc who, in some respects, ataDWi by himself
among theologians." But we almost in'f'ariably read, at the same time, some I8.ving
~1ause in which the writer would have it distinctly understood that Swedcnborg's pro-
teued disclosures of hea'f'en and hell are no more than dnam. (though be U\IU .. B gloriou.
dreamer)," and that he is iD no danger of 6flievittg itl Ais dottri.e., as heaven forbid that
he should jeopard his reputation for sanity by accepting tlnam. for divine oracles. And
thUl9lt ""ill no doubt continue to be tiJl men shall feel the pressure oCthe argument that rem
upon the character and the amount of truth imparted by this illuminated mind to theworld.
It requires only that a certain degree of acquaintance be formed with his writings to gift
rlae in a candid inquirer, to the question, 1& Whence bath thi. man this wisdom." The
impression cannot well be resisted of a supernatural air diffused 0Tel' his pages. The.
tmth. which he declares, while they are perceived to be truths, are yet oC a character 80
amazingly profound and 80 utterly unlike any other system of traths originating in the
lDere intelleet of man, that it is exceedingly difficult not to assent to the remark of one.
who was recently brought over from rank infidelity by the perusal of Swedeoborg od
his expounders, that he was perfectly latie1led tbat our author might have exerciled his
"It Dative power. for five hundred year. uDasaiated, and yet never haw been able to pro-
duce ODe of the theological works be has now written. In this verdict we f1lUy concur, and
equally are we assured that the Editor of the Inquirer would eoucor, provided he cou1cl
bepersuaded to bestow upon the subject the requisite examination. And why abooldhe
Bot' I. Dot a professed revelation fiom heaven worthy of beiD, as intenil8l1lJy rejeoted
.. l' i. intellipnt1y received by multitudes of whom this writer himaelf 8ay. I - I t It 11
are to flDd suoh peJ'8ODS without being obliged to accord to them emineDt intellecaaal
perceptloDl aDd moral elentioo." What can be more reasonable than the followiDg •
mark. of the London N. C. Quarterly in bringing to a close ita review of • work OD the
RecognitioDs or the Spiritual World :-" We could Dot close this article with mOd .ppro-
, prlate and more truthful remark. than &hese from the author's pen; but the relection it
only the more painful that he and thousands like him, equany capable Bud earnest in t»
ca_le 01 religion, continue to do lhma.lues the injustice of neglecting the revela.tioDl made
through Swedenborg. The indifference, prejudice, whatever it may be, which acts a8 a
.tumbling block, appears I passing 8trange,' when we refiect that a few octavo volumes
eontain solutionl of the deepest mysteries of our being-oC problems which have oc·
cupied the master Ipirig of the world in every ase-and aboat whiQh me most iporaD&
1,..]
-
. . WeD .. the JDOI& uaompliMeclmea al8 ••n caYil1iDl.. Why willllot Chrlltian miD;-
. . . . , above all meD, uadentaDd that Swedenborg'. writibp claim to be zeoeived u a
DeW revelation oC the Lord Himself to hie benighted olUlroh ; and that it is a mocbrJ
aDd a ecom of Providence to reject them without the trouble of an euminatloa."
I •

DES GUAYS'LETTERS ON SWEDENBORG.

The French are certainly the coiners of intellectual ore into current money.
Whatever nation starts an idea or system, France is very sure to be the first to
give it currency. English Deism was almost a dead letter, until the French
ISChool took it up, and Voltaire and his fellows dealt it out in a new and popu-
lar garb, presenting its dry lLbstractioDs in all thet»iquancy and personality of
coDversationalstyle. CQusin has interpreted Kant and Schelling to the Euro.
~ and American readers, outside of the German cliques. Now Swedenborg
has been seized upon, and Des Guays has given by far the most lucid and in-
teresting exhibition of his intricate system that has ever, in our knowledge,
been presented. His book, now translated by Murdock, and revised by Bush,
CODSists of a Series of Letters on the tme system of religious philosophy to a
JDaD of the world. It is the best introduction to the study of the wonderful
Swedish theosophist. ..
We might say much of its merits and failiags. but aim now only to direct ..
the attention of those readers who would know more of the man, who, in some
nspects stands by himselfamong theologians. Swedenborg's System is a kind
of U Vestiges of Creatio~' Platonized-its material forces all spirituatized, its
existences all filled with a spirit derived from the great central essence. Say
what we may of its details, it is a 811blime vision of the universe. and no man
can study i~ views without a deeper sens80f his own spiritual nature, and of
the reality and supremacy of spiritual things. Des Guays has made some
points clear to us that were befor~ unintelligible, and although we are very far
from saying that we are near being eonverted to his doctrines, we are sure that
we ne'\-er understood Swedenborg's meaning so well as after reading the..
pages. The most difficult part, however, is but begun. The system is well
presented. The proof is only entered upon, and its sequel is reserved for su~
aequeut letters. f

The Swedenborgian school is in many respects doing good service to re-

ligion, especiallr by giving to many minds of a sceptical tendency ,vhat seems
to them a scientIfic basis for religious faith. We are not disposed to anticipate
any great increase ofthe New Jerusalem Church, as a distinct organization; yet
nothing is more obvious than the increase of valoable thinkers in every com-
m1lJlity who are somewhat inclined to Swedenborgian views of ChristiaDity,
Nature, and Life. It is rare to find such persons without being obliged to ac-
cord to them eminent intellectual perceptions and moral elevation.
Des Guays' acuteneu of statement and aptness of illustration are sometimes
liDgularly shown in hiding a weak point as well as in.clearing up an obscure pas-
sage. Thus he disentangles his master's speculations on the earths and hea..
YellS of the universe, and shows how the great dreamer (~) in his own viaiolL
evolved the natural views and systems from the great spiritual luminary. But
analogy would seem to require that as the euential world has a central orb,
80 should the natural worla. He endeavolB to save the doctrine that the uni.
verse is in the form of man, by showing that there would be no use in having
a eentralsUD whose rays do not reach the planetary systems, and can have no
influence over the solar hosts. We might well ask him of what use is it that
the visible universe should take the fotID of man, and why should SODS and
planets be ranged in the shape of hands and feet, &e., when there is no earth
for this Grand Man to tread with hie feet, no matter external to himself to move
with his hands. We al»prehend that the expounder takes a far more literal and
D8llOW view of the subject than the original.
In conclusion let us say, that from considerable reading of Swedenbor"8
-oduIt we never derived any proof that he ever had BD idea of forming a di&-
daet Chmch O~tioD. Wbathis WOIdI . . . . . . . . Jail ~1.1ItiIl . . .
fayora. Be attended the Church of his co1lDtrJ, aDd OB his clea&h-b8d recei• •
the communion from a Luthena mjniater.

MISCELLANY.
I'orthe N. c. BepGlltorJ.
DBAa 8IB,
Will you be kind enough to show me in what way my remarks onActs viii•
.. ubetray a philQ,logical error," as I confess myself at a loss to see it, &om.
your present oriticism. I have stated that there are geDeral1.z two words, both
m ~e Greek and Latin Testaments, which are given in the EDgliah version by
the one word U preaching;" and that the Latin word IUl8wering to the Greek
. . . . ie F'-eo, which is literally what we mean by prltltAing, and is uaed
10 denote 0.. addreuiftg of tJ large .umIMr of pITIOfU, eitJWr .. tIuJ ~ , .
nm,u, or IM opm air.
Whatever force there may be in your objection, eeema to be conveyed ia
the assertion that the original Greek word "'""'" ,& is not fairly represented
by the English word prearJ&." On this, I would remark, that I believe in every
cue where the word " ekerusse" is used in the Greek Teatamen~ its synonym
In the Latin is prelieD, 2'"edil:Gm, &te. I preSume, therefore, that It will be ad-
mitted, that MiruaI is fairly repreeented in the Latin tongue by predico ea ita
equivalent.
And Dot only from 8uch authorities 88 I have at hand does it appear that
·the English word U preacb," is synonymo1l8 with the Latin f1N!!iuJ and the
Greek '"""'" but that the meaning given in each language 18 the same; . .
confirmed ~y the constant use of this word in th~ New Te8tament in the 88JIle
sense as given by myself, and as defined by LexIcographers, and admitted by
,ou.
In the London EDcyclo~ia this word is thus defined, " POACH-French,
"...,.Jtn:; Latin, Falico j to deliver a public diacotuBe upon _creel subjects ;
to proclaim j publish; iDculcate:-a preacher is one who discourses pub-
licly OD religion. • . • 'There is Dot 8D~ing publicly notified, but we may
properly sar it i8 ~.'-HooJ&.r.n Worcester defines it thus, "PaILlCB-
QIr_ieo, Lati.Jl-fl"CAIr, Fr.] To diacoalsepublicly on the Gospel, &c.; to
pronounce a public diaco1U8e upon a sacred subject:" also, Cl to proclaim or
publish in relIgious oratioDa or sermoDs; to inculcate publicly; to teach.n
And Webst.er, in strict agreement with the above, 8ays, it is to "pronounce a
publio diaco11l8e on a religious subject, or from a text of Scripture. To dill-
C01ll8e on the Go8pel war of salvation, and exhort to repentance. To pro-
claim; to publish m religloll8 discounes," &e.
If you win compare these definitions with the ODe giyen by myself 88 the
meaning of eIm&aN and prlldico, I think you must admit that they agree pre-
cisely; nothing is said of the ltmgtA of time used in preaching; whether it be
an hour, half an hour, or fifteen minutes; but that the preachers were the pub-
lic heralds of the Lord'8 advent; speaking by authority, 88 a herald should.
And 10 far as I can find, in every place where the Lord. was thu publicly
proclaimed, it was by a eommiuioned preacher, and in every instance where
It is recorded, the Greek word used i8 . . . ., which is anewered in the Latin
by"..uco. Thus when John prltJti&«l in the wildemeu (Mark i. 4), "There
went outlUlk) him all the laDd of I.de&, and they of JeraaaleDlt" Iic.: ~ he
JNI.]
~ the NIDiIIioD 01 .... aDd Rid, Cl there aometh .... IDiPti. tbua It
after me, the latchet of whOle shoes I am DOt worthy to stoop down and un-
10018." I. And He laid unto them, Let us 10 into the Dext towne that I ma,
.,..cl there also. And He ~ in their synagogues throughout all Galilee,"
Mark i. 38, It. And Jeeua ,.~ in the lIJDagogDee of Galilee," Luke iv. 44.
-
ADd Saw",..ud Chriat in tfae lI)'IlagoP-I Acta m.
to. Peter allO aye, tba&
dle Lord commaDded him "to prearA unto lb. people," .lotl x. 4i.
In all these ~lacee the Greek word is the eame ("""'), aDd the meanm,
coincides prec18ely with that given above of prlGt:1iAg. How long time thq
preached, 18 Dot mown. It il Dot probable that in any case all the words
they uttered are recorded, or but little more than the subject of their dis-
course. Tbua upon one occuion in the 8JDagoroe when the Lord took a test
from the prophet laaiah, le The Spirit of the Lord is upon me," &c., Dd "the
q . of all them that were in the 8~agogoe were futened OD Him. ADd Be
began to say unto them, This day is the SCripture fulfined in your ears. And an d

bare Him witneu and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out
of His mouth," Luke iv.-thole divine words which produced fhia astonished
feeling do not aP'Pear to be recorded at all.
I cannot but think also that your author (CamJ?beU> muat be wrong in say-
ing that this word (,""",,> was "adopted WIth equal propriety, whether
the subject were sacred or Qivil." Is it ever used in the New Testament to
p!oelaim merely etvil news 1 It seems to me to contain too much of the name
of the Lord (hriOll in it, to admit of its "being properly used for any other pur-
pM8 than to announce His advent; i. e. a coming in the name of the Lord ;-
proclaiming by authority and dogmatic teaching ms coming to redeem and
.ve-crying that name in the wilderneu, and publishing it abroad in all the
earth. Thus prlGt:1i"g is tmly a PUblic annunciation of the Lord, and the con-
ditions of salvation, to collect auaiencesJ whether at His first or second advent j
whilst ftang,zizing was properly the more private act of telling it to individua18
or families. in a conversational, or 80citl capacity; as when it is written
that Philip prlGCMtl to the Enunch, the word UNCi is not ....., but , . .
~. wish to be right in every point, OD thIa subject as well as others, I
have endeavored to be 80 j but if you in any particular show me truly where
I err, I shall be thankful for the information, and will endeavor to profit by it.
But pennit me to say a word more in conclusion; I think you have hardly
beeti just in making it appear that the weight of my objection to the infer-
ence drawnlfrom the narrative in Acts viii. 4, depended upon what you have
termed a "~hilological error," as it appears to me to be refuted without the
verbal criticIsm which I offered.
With sincere regard for y011l zeal in the cause of tbe New Jerusalem,
J rem aiD, very truly" yours,
GEORGE FIELD.
Devil, MicA., 1849.

The pound upon which we employed the phrue Cl philolOlical error," iD reference to
Mr. Field's report, was what we deemed the WaDe of a due dilcrimination in regard to
the Scriptule uap of the terms generally rendered in our version to ".",a, and the buUd.
in, all important conclusion upon a translation instead of appealing dilectly and mainll
10 the ori(final. He says, for example, in the pas. ge quoted, Iba t, Cl both iD &he Greet
aDd IA.tin there azetwo dUFereut words used for that whioh is rendered in English by thi'
ODe word, pr.ad&i.g. In the Latin, our word is pr.dieo, whioh illlterally what we meaD
by precdiflg, and i. uaed to denote the addreuiDg oC a larp Dumber of penonl either iD
the Synagogue, the Temple, or the open air." Now it is plain that this Is interpretln,
Ihe Greek from the Latin-whereas, &he I8V8rI8 i. the true proe..-and leading the Eq-
liah reacler to IUPPoee that prelico in Latin, and pr,ad in EJlIllIh ~ perfect equlft1eDta
 -
and with this Tiew we quoted, at some length, from Campbell, a paaeage going to prove
[lIay,
to . . . . . in Greek. This we atte.xnpted. to show, in regard to the latter, Is not the case,

that \he leading idea conveyed by the Greek kawao, £rom kerN, a ""'" or luraltl, is Dot
iWly lep1'8sen&ed by the leading idea inTOlved in the Engliah WON " . , . , which ia de-
&ed by Jobo8Oll aDd by Mr. Field'. anthorltiee, cc to pronounce a public di8001IJ'I8 apoa
.acred subjects." The scope of our brother'. argument is to evince that the fuctiOll iD-
dicated by the term translated prt4C1& was not properly to be pel10rmed by laymen, a1-
~ though the offioe denoted bl ft1(JAgdizo (Crom IOG.gao., eNta,.ilt) might be discharged
by them. le Those who evangelized were not performiDg the proper functions of a priest
or publicly preaching, bat mch as by private inltruction aadedlortadon, went &om.
place to place." Now, to ss.,. nothing of the implication iD these words., that public
preaching was a part of the priest's office, whereas his duty was solely 10 offer sacrifices
and minister at the altar, the function of prlGc1&i.g, according to the genuine purport 01
the original word, was as open to what are considered the lait, as that denoted i»y the
term for tt1angtliziflg. As it implies, in ita dominant import, simplyatltlOlMltiAg, "...
.ifftitag, pu/llUhi_g, (W a«i.g tlat P'Jr1 0/ 41&m&1tl or criIr, every ODe who had himself re-
ceived the message of the Gospel, was at liberty to "I.ItMaOt6ftC' or promwpte"it to others.
As Campbell in his preliminary wssertations hallone most elaborately into the usage
of the New Testament writers in respect to this whole class of words having relation to
what i. usually undentood. by pnacAitag, -I shall again draw upon his paps in this
connection.
Cl Further, I must take notice, tllatihougb announcing publicly1he reign of the Messiah

bOrne! always under the denomination, ,"""Itif', no moral instruotions, 01' doctrinal expla-
nations, given either by our Lord, or by hi. apostles, are eve~, either in the Gospels or
in the Acta, 10 denominated. Thus, that molt instruotive dilCODNe of our Lord, the lODgest
.that is recorded in the Gospel, oommonly named his sermon oa the mount, i8 called tmelt-
i_, by the evangelist, both in introducing it, and aner the conclusion (MatL v. 2., vii. 28,
19). C Opening his moath, 1&e tavgM thtm, saying: and, when Jeaus had ended these say-
Ings, the people were astonished, at Ai. doctr.t&I,' his manner of teaching. It is added,
• for h. taught thtm. as one having authority, and not a8 the Scribes.' He iswd to have
heen employed in teaching (Matt. xiii. 54, Mark Ti. 2, Luke vi. 15, 22) when the wisdom,
which shone forth in his diICOUfS8S, excited the astonishment of all who heard him. In
I1ke manner, the instructions he gave by parables, are called teaching the people, Dot
preaohing to them (Mark iv. 1, 2) and those given in private to his apostle., are in the
.me way styled (Mark viii. 31) teaching, never preaching. And if teaching and preach-
iDg be found sometimes coupled together, the reason appears to be, because their teach-
ing, in the beginning of this new dispensation, must have been 1i'equently introduced by
announcing the Messiah, which alone was preaohing. The explanations, admonitions,
arguments and motives, that followed, came under the denomination oC teaching. Nor
does anything elae spoken by our Lord and his disciples, in his lifetime, appear to have
been called preaching, but this single sentence, C Repent, for the kingdom oCheaven is at
hand.' In the Acts oCthe Apostles, the difference of meaning in the two words is carefa1ly
observed. The former is always a general and open declaration of the Messiah's reign,
called emphatieally the good news, or Gospel; or, which amounts to the lame, the an-
nouncing of the great foundation of our hope, the Messiah's resurrection; the latter com-
prehends every kind of instruction, pl1blic or private, that is necessary for illustrating the
nature and la\\'s of this kingdom, for cOllfuting gainsayers, persuading the hearers, for
confirming and comforting believers. The proper subjeet for each is fitly expressed in
the conclusion of this book (Acts xxviii. 31), where, speaking of Paul, then confined at
Rome in a hired house, the author tella UI that he received all who came to him,' prmcA-
18f8.]
. . the kiDplom of God, and u.i.,
the t1UDp 00DC8IIliDI1Iae Lord JII1II Christ.' AD.
DOODCiDg to them the nip oC God, and iDltnloUnl them in everythiq that related to
Ibe Lord JeIUI ChrilL"
la a l1lb8equent pampapb he thu800mDieDta OD the LauD traDtlation oC the ori-
FnaJ.:-
N ID. reprd to thellWlll8l wherein this word has beeD translated, with which I Ihall

hiah what relates peculiarly to it, we may obl8rve thatlWtalimr" used in the Vulgate.
aud in all the Latin version!, oorresponds entirely to the Greek word in ita primiti.,.,
meaaiDlt aDd .ignUlea to liTe pubUo notice by proclamation. In thi. eeue it had. been
ued by the Latin olallicl. 1°111 before the Latin translation of the Bible into their tongue.
Bu&prelitan, having been employed uniformly in rendering icntari., not only iD the
~ry. but in the Epistlee, has derived from the latter use a signification dUfereDt and
much more limited than it has in profane authors. Now, this additional or acquired
lipilcation 1. that which has principally obtained amongst ecclesiaatics; and hence
hae arisen the lO1e meaning in modem languaps ascribed to the Word, whe~by the,
commonly render the Greek lcmNIo. The Latin word ia manifestly that from which the.
ltalianprelicart, the Frenchpreaclur, and the Engllah to pr.ch., are derived. Yet th. .
three words correspond to the Latin only in the laat mentioDed and ecclesiastical Ien.,
DOt in the primitive and classical, which is also the Scripturaleense in the Gospel aDd
Acta. ThUl the learned Academiciana della Cru8Ca. in their Vocabulary, interpret the
I&alian".,ic.,." not by the Latin",..tlican, ita etymon. but by conciollAri, cOllCiotlan ha-
'-:re; terms certaiDly much nearer than the other to the import of the word need iD the
acher two laDlUapl mentioned, though by no means adapted to exprell the I8D88 of
ienuIri- in the historical books. This i8 another evidence of what was ob.erved in a for-
mer di.aertadon, that a mistake, ocoaaioned by supposing the word in the original, euct-
17 correspondent to the term in the common version, by whioh it i8 usually rendered, la
aCten confirmed, instead ofbeing corrected by recurring to translatioDs into other modem
toopes, inasmuch as from the same, or similar cau_, the like deviation from the origl-
D&1 import, has been produced in thele !aDgu.ps, as iD our own.'·
From all this we may perhaps deem ourselves warranted in applying the phrase U phi-
10kJBical error" to the remarks of Mr. Field on the import; of, the original word fOI
".CGd&~. In reprd to the peculiar meaning of tvatlgelizo, erHJftgelo" as denoting ~
imputation of good news, our friend is no doubt correct, but when he would make it a
distinction 'between this term and klrUllO, that the one denoted a"function which none Dut
the clergy could properly perform, while the other fell within the sphere of laieal uses,
we 8.18 obliged to dissent from his position altogether. And it is worthy of notice thd
while in Acta viii. 4, 5. we read that when cc they were acattered abroad and went evel7
whme preaching (tf1a.gelliztJfltu) the word, then Phillip went down to the city of
Samaria. and ~ d (eke,...) Chrbt unto them ;" yet in v. 12, of the lame chapter we
aDd the phrueology varied; cc But when they believed PhillippreatAi.g (etJa.gtQuOtrletlO)
Ibe thi.op concemios the Kingdom of God," &0. Indeed as a Newchurchman we pro-
1lUD8 Mr. Field will appreciate the following note of Mr. Clowea on Luke viii. 1, Cl And
j& came to p. . af&erward, that he went throughout every city and village, ".eacl&i.,
(.",...) and tlctltJrMg ,IN "" 'itli.p (IOCI.,elluOIINIIO') of the kingdom of God." cc A
UtiDclioD," aays Mr. Clowe&, "ie bere made between prlGCh•• (Gr. kcl'n6llO) aDd tic·
c:Mritll.tAe " " ,idittgl of (ft1dgelluOtfNftOl); ",eat.'.g having more respect to the aJrec..
don oC.divine and heaveoly good in the will, whllat d,clari.g tIN gl4d tid." of, hae
.en . .peet co the illamiDaliOll of the divine aDd heavenly truth iD. the ttJWlInt4ttdi.,.
Thu.botb apretaiolUl rombiDed. have reference to and mazk the diviDe and heavenl,
..map of pocland 'mth, widl whiab the wbole Word i. repleDilhed!' If lbia be well
- ...,.,.thaD"""'"
"ded, th. It wcdd . . . tlIat"""'" lather dncMa dud -tn...-
_don oC good" whloh 8"'borg aDoW'l to tIY8rf member or.. ChulCh. while he appa-
I8Dd)' restricts the cc insinuation oC trath" to the If teaehiDa miDiater.·
"e iDl8!t,1n cODclallon, an atlact hm. le CoDder'a PIoteItaDt N'on-OoaforlDftr:' a
..,. able work cratiq oC the fDDdam.tal prlne!pl. or eaoIeIIucioal poUa,. It la IIGl
the work of a NewchlllChmu, bat It OODtalDs ideu very much 1IlllCOOrdaDae with New
Church principles. aDd for ounelwe we reprd the CoJlowiDs utlaot .. deaidedlf ottbat
character.
"Truth, by whollllCMm)r It 11 promu1ptecl, cannot bat poue. the lIUIle iDtriDsIo au-
thority. The fact that aD indiYidual does or does not preach the truth oC Chrbt, caDIlot
be made to depend upon aDY hypothesis respecting his haYlDg,orhianot haring, the rtsht
to preach it. If he preaches the GoIpeI, the Cact is plaoed beyond dispute that he i. COID-
peteDt to the exercise of ~e Chrlatlan minimy, aDd what Is there that can be Interpc.ecl
between the competence aDd the right' Were our aaent required to thiJ pOSitioD, that
It lB not enry one who ehooaee to aaume the ministerial tbnctlon that la [oompeteDt 10
d1Icharp it with fidelity and efIlcacy, there would be no di1Bculty In oomlng to an ......
ment; but the advocates of eccleaiutical restrlctiona, proceed upon the mpposldon that
the I8lf-eonatltuted teacher it posseued of the requisite mowledge, the moral competency ;
• thing wry cWrerent from mere choice; neverthelell, hll richt and hia authority are re-
presented as de~ndent on human appointmenL IC, however, u we belteve, this author-
Ity il of a purely spiritual Dature, and the preaching of the Gospel i. ODe or thoee relfaioas
actions, which are not lubject to magisterial control, while we den)' that aDy man --7
pteaOh merely beeauM he cb.ootel, we affirm that hi. choice, which ma, pollibly sprIDg
from a leose oC duty, i. a su1llcieDt reuon in the sight o(maD. A per80D cannot be _Id ID
Wieve becaul8 he clloola to believe; he does not understand &hat whioh he preach. be-
oaUI8 he cAoota to understand it. The will 18 not itaelfthe adequate caul8 of such volun-
tary actions. If there i. any truth In the Scripture declaration, that ' the natural man re-
oelveth not the things or the Spirit of God, neither can he know them, becaue they are
IplrituaU, diecemed, but he &hat la spiritual judgeth all thfnp,'--tben, we mUlt admit
that a capacity Cor preaching the Goapel with intelligence, fs not a matter dependent
eJther on human fancy on the one hand, or on political regulatloDl OIl the other. The
llraurpation of the sacred o81oe by Incompetent persona, la an evil which the interpolldoa
or ecclealudcal reltrlctlODl 11 ill adapted to mitigate.
" But further : fI'IerJ individual has a natural right to the free Ul8rtiOl1 and arpm.ta-
dYe mamtenanOG of hi. OWD opinions, provided thOle optnlou are not aubwrslft oflOClal
Older. Irno objection lies ap1Dat the nature ofbi. eentlments, DO crimioality OaD aauh to
the most unreeened exprealoD of them. It would be indeed BtraDp that this natIU'aI ripe
mould be l8I88Ded la proportion to the certain truth aDd sapreme ImportaDC8 orwhat be
-..ch.. Yet thOle who would restrict the ex8lOiIeI or the Chriltian minimr, ...1 their
arpmentl on thb conl1deration, that It is the Gospel whioh 11 preached. The objectlca
la taken, DOt aplnlt the truth of what i8 taught, but apiut the aathority or the teacher,
u tlbi. natural1ieedom In I81p8Ct otthe -..ertion of what he bOWl to be true, aDd ....
ID be lDInltel)' oolll8Clueatlal, 1IDdenreDt some mJ8t8riou mocWleatiOll, wh. the tIIlcM
which he1abora to propagate relate to the al.-don of the IOUL • Maater,' aid the 4II8DI.
ptea to our Lord, 'we aw one cudng out demon. ID thy name uad we forbade him, be-
oaue be foUoweth not with 1ILt Our Lord'. reply .....da OD ftOOrd as a reproof of die cd-
010U11 . . ofthOl8 who, iD a dmilar spirit orworlcD, wl8dom and I80tarlaD poIlq. waa14
tmpoee JaWI OD the Ch1llCh whloll Ohrilt hu DOt impoeed..... _lade &om die .......,
thole whom be ha not exoIuded :-' Porbicl him DOt; for 1le that 11 DOt .., . .
111.'-- Wherefore I 11ft JIO'I to . . . . . . . .,• •,. 8t. Paal. "Ma ueadar 01
I"']
a; 'aaI ....... fIlM . . . tW....., of tile CIatuaIa, 'that ao __ 1pIa1dDc b, ...
Bpidt or God, caIIecb J _ . .. - l , aDd that DO IIIUl . . _., dial 1_, ia &be Lord
-
h t by the BoI., GhoIt. TheJe are dlftnities or operadoa. bat It 11 the IUIle God, whlola,
.CIIkeIh aIllD all.' Neither the rlaht, theD, to exem1le the mlntaterlal ftmcdOD, nOl the &11-
~9 IIDDU8ClIO It, orJainat81lll the will, or la d.epeDdent upon the appo1DtmeDt. or mu.
• • • oC• the GoIpe1,
cc EftIJ' Caithftal preacher
• In• fbl1llUq ••• • • •
the wm oC Chrilt, olalm.'to be
...-deIed• iaftllecl with a DeO-.rJ' .ifailtriGl.1ItMrit,; aD authority .Impl, and _.
dnIy NnldDg rrom the m...... which he prom1l1ptel and the ooDUll&Dd which he fbl-
. . ; an authoritr UDder whioh the Chri.ti.... evanplilt goes Corth to exente a commit-
aiaD exteDding to all nations. and to every individual of 8Yery nation uDder heaven ; a
. . . . or rather Ipbitual authority. diatinot from the putoral jurildictioD, which rem
1IpCID puticular ze1atioD8 orJainatiDl iD appointment &Dd choice; diat.iDol from wha. .
8'IU hu fill mIlme iD the will of man; an~ attachiDs to whomeoever, u the bearer oC cb•
..,..elicalme.ap, we may mprd as cbe organ of Chriat. The mlDiaay i. or n8C*lltr
. . ID ldDc1 ; It moat, therefore, .. regards the dilOharp of It by a1 lndlYidaal, be
either that or' the Spirit of truth.' or of c the Spirit of error;' It I. either elllcient, as the
pseaeb'. or Christ, or it i. Wholly ineftlcteDt and unauthoril8d. Oftloial delipatioD,
eccJeeiutical dignity, can make no di1ferenoe in the character of the mlniltry aercbed b.,
. .,. man in the Ohurch of Christ. The bumbleet .C-eoutitutad teacher, who u polleD-
. . oC tU appropriate credeDtiaII of the miDilterial charaoter. iD the parity oC hia doG-
. . . . , the ..coeII ofhia !abora. IU1d the unblemiahed tenor olhia liCe. 11 iDYeItec1 with aD
~ to wblch DO ciJoum.taDtlal additlUDeDU of human appointment are requialte to
baput ftliditr; it requiJel DO IUlctlon 1iom mu. for with man le doee Dot or~
.a. p~her maJ be undeniably defioiene iD some of thoae mblidlary quali1lcatiou wblob .
....cltatB a .., ~... for the 0 . 8 oC teacher ; but the oapacity for preaohlDa tU
Indh or Ohrbt, to laW &he pa.rpoeel or the Ohri.ltiao miDistry. U, let it Dner be
. . . . . . . a aplritnaleapacity; aDd where thiI i. JK*e8Ied. ie 1. iD vabl, ud worM thaa
la -iD. b IU to withhold Olll reoopitiOD of the ee. .tial oharacter and authority or tM
CJIIrWdea mlDi"r .. aUdDI In that IDdiYidaal, how Juunble 808Y81" hiellad. or hia
....tnrm.ata. With the lltlDOle PJOpriety IUch • man .a, appeal to thOle 10 wbole
. . . .1. . . he has been oommeDded by the etBcacy of hi. piou.labon: 'ItI be DOt •
abaI. . • 1IDtO otben. Jet dollbtl_ I am to you; for &he aeal of mT mbUatry • are re Ja
. . lad! "-Prel. N--e.t Yal. I. p. 186-1'14.

LETTER FROM DR. TAFEL.

T. . . . . g~1B48.
I&UlID,
• • • • •
At present I am occupie~ with the publication of the p08thum0118 work 1),.
•
biwJ (Conunam~ eM Boul), of which the Swedenborg Association at London
neeived fifty coptea. I am rejoiced to hear from you Cl that there is a pr.
~ tbat generous and munificent benefaotors to the eaul8 are delCined. to
ariIe in the midst of you, who will," 88 you aaYt 1& supply tile lack of 88mce of
odler&" to~ the contiD~t?-on or the publications orE. $~deDborN::D't.D"
IGIipte, eapecially the remlWllDl volumes of the Adversana · &Dd I you
Jaeartily for your care in this cause., The very unsettled ~il8 in GermanJ,
and the great financial embarra88D1ent, had also thia oo~ce, that the moN
leIIlote receivers could not be present at oar general eo ce and the lab-
lIq1IeDt apecial ones, beca1l88 they aN '00 poor for auoh traftla ; whentfcn i&
. . . Deal•• U'J to })'Rbliah &he lecIIUU whiCh were held ~ J OB fIYtq
tIamllllGldL W. hope dial DOW ill CODIequence of tile CIwCa of dI8
 180 [)(ay,
Germans, and especially those articles which give fall liberty of the pr. . aDd
of religion, also the New Church will increase more and more; but we fear
tile princes are in general so blinded bT their absolutism that there will be pre-
viously an intemal war, and other trials, for which, however, we must also
thank the Lord, 88 the suHerings he pennits are tbe means to internal increase.
By commission of the General Conference, J am also occupied to publish our
religious system proved by Scripture and reason in which J have alway8 a
regard for tbe history of the dogmas, but especiady for that of Trinity. An
abridgment of it is given in my lectures. I had often occasion to prove that
angels and similar middle beings, as created spirits, to whom belong also a
Son of God, as taught in the Old Church, are quite impossible, but such a proof
, I never found in the writings of E. Swedenborg; only the statement that all
angels were previously mell; but such a proof is contained in the work n.
.Anima, p. 198, where he shows that without an animus, which is connected
with a material body, we would have no "affirmativum et negativum," nor
"liberam electionem," as you can already see from the inclosed paper.
As I remember, I wished also to read natatila instead of fl,otabila already in
editing the Diary, No. 3066, but it was so written. and as I had then not yet the
index, I could not change it; but now there is no question that No. 3066 was
a lapsw calami of E. Swedenborg, and we must read natGtila also there.
EMANUEL TAFEL.
Of the work oC Swedenborg above mentioned. Dc ~"iffl4, we do not recollect previousl,
to ha...e heard, Dor are we even now acquainted with its peculiar 1C0pe and cbancter.
The .peclmen accompanying Dr. Tafel'sletter 18 a single leaf, papd 16'1, 158, and bay-
bag as a running caption on one .ide ~.... BOf&i ,t Mali (Low of Good tIfId Eril), and
OD the other .AJlnuti.... et Negatif1Wll.. As the matter appears to beinterestiDg. we lift
a traDllation of the substance of the two pages :_CI Wisdom i1:le1f cannot but be conjoin-
ed with love, and beeanee all low is oonnate we cannot be wIse from ourselves, but ODly &olD
the influx of true good; and in order that this influx may take place we are endowed with
the libertr of bending the mind to this or that determination. n.th. thereCore constitute
the ......'tJIMli.g. which is the larger in proportion u our principle. approach to abeo-
lute truths and extricate themselves from the shade oC probabilities ; and in order that
oar rational mind may be moat intelligent. 1& is nece88&ry &hat it know univenal tmtb.a
after the manner of the pure fnteUectory and the lOul itself, to the perCectiona oC which it
I&riftl to appIOsimate. GootlI, on &he other band, constitute tllildOfll J to love wildom is
to love intelligence which d.evelopes the nature of goodnesa, aDd to 10ft the true pod
itself is to be .118; whereCore the mind a1wafl aspirea to the hilheet good, concerniDl
which it abounds in debate~, for everyone assumes probable good for the high.
good. Bricft,ee is Dot intelligence, neither is it wisdom, but it I, a mediate eaul8 of inte1-
lipDce, or its instrumental cause, wherefore all science ia acquired either through the
proper experience of the senses. or the intuition and esploration oC onet 8 own mind, or
through the experience, scieQce, and doctrines of others. Where there is natural intelli-
gence, there also is science, for the ono SUPPOIOl the other; but then Icienoe does not ap-
pear in that case &I any thing continpnt. but &8 something necessary, because it is the
vel'J nature of the .ubject to know. Science. for the most part, is conversant with the
objeo&a of gooda-. KflOtIJl«lge (copitio) is a medlate ea1lle by which science is obtaill-
eel, whence result doctriftC and dilciplifN.
ff The rational never of itself loves good, but it judpa oODceming good and evil, aDd

whin it embracea one in preference to the other, it 11 said to love, because it admftl one
and uoludea the other. The miDd (__) admits whatever is delilbtful, delicious, and
IOOthlDs to che:8DbD11I aDd the ~, or &0 the loves oC the animu-thia I . , \he miDd
adadt8 or eau. . to iD-floW' Into ltle~ the Idea of ",hioh occupies it and expela the idea of
lb. oontrary. The mind 11 then·l&id " love, beoa1ll8 it calls d1at good, bUlla.. cID·. .
1NL] 881
. . . . . tois j abey aN wba& low iD. In like maDDer wbeD the mind (....) ucl1lu.1be
"dons of the animal, and tb.. admits 8uperior love8, it then calls tbOle things good,
aad i. _id to love tbem, beeaule il is eDlroued by the id. of them. Thus tbe ratioDal
miDd i. be.et or besieged by inftlleut loves. while still itself ia destitute of proprtalloY..
daoa,h they are called proprial because they flow in and occupy ltlldea.
cc ne 4#muJtiw aM NegtJtiw. That the mind (Ill,..,) has power to a1Brm and deDy
it a clear indicatioD that i~ is placed between two kinds oC loves which flow in from
. .h aide, giving it thi. power oC choice which is the grand diltiDlUishing property of
me ....., without Which it could neither exist nor subsi.. Of eY81Y thing e1l8 iD the
aai.ers3.1 body, not one can affirm or deny; the animu! itself canDot do it of ill8U". be.
cause it i. aJrected according to tho harmony lubsistin, between itself aDd the object
_led to ill oat1l1e. The eye (ror inltance) can neither affirm nor deny, but ia affected
ICOOI'diDalO the harmony and mixture of color8 among which there is. Datural order, ..
in the rainbow. Even the intellect itseIC(int,U,ctoriufII) and the lOul are Doable to aJBrm
or dea" but tbey are gratefully affected by every thing that ia perfect in itself, bat DIl"
gratefully by every thing that is the reverse, yet ltill according to the natare oC the 1001 it-
ae1t. Thus the soul only loves &hi; or hates that, but to aftlrm or deny is not ita province,

ill.Iie
bllt 1OIe11 that of tb, rational mind. Truths themselvett are engrafted into tbe 8Oul. bat
in itself is what loves or hates truths, 10 that it can by DO means now love what it
oace hated, but that it should put on a .tale enabling it &q do this can onl, be e1£8Ot-
eel in the present life, and indeed through the rational mind, whioh oan aftlrm and den,.
and choose one thing in preference to another. In order therefore that the rational miJUI
may pouess • free choice, there must be a will (volUtttcu), and thus a power or faoulty oC
dirlDing or denyinl, to which DO propriate lovet are granted, for iCthere were, ita a(..
lnaatin and negative function would altogether cea• ." •
The remark of Dr. Tarel iD &he closing paragraph of his letter is eugeated by a verbal
criticism OD a passage in the Spiritual Diary which we lome time since mbmiued to hJ8
OpiDioa. It occur. in No. 3066, where, in speaking ofa choir of the Chinese in the other
world, he aUudes to the manDer of tbe formation of their 11 notable cities'· (not.bile. wla).
OD consulting the Index of the Bp. Diary under the head of" Gentes," 6ft&tilu, we obeeryecl
daat the reading was .tatila wb,,, jl04tiflg cit;'.. and we propoeed the question to Dr.
Tafe1 whether the latter were Dot probably the oorreot readiDI in both c..............10Il
..Idoh it appears ha hi. applOftl.

t.aer from aa ooouional oorr.poDdeat.

NKWUK, OHIO, May 80th. 1849.

DaAIl 81"
Knowing that it will be interesting to the friends of the New Church to
hear of new societies forming, and of any increase of interest in the truths
of the New Dispen9atioD, [ have thought it proper to inform IUch of oar
(riends as are readers of the Repository of the progress of the New Church
here.
About two years ago a 80ciety was formed in this place called the u SW8-
denborg Association," for which its members procured nearly all the theolo-
gical works of our author then publish.ed; thi~ was a s~ciety formed merel,
for reading purposes, and aJthough t1ns was Its only object at the time, yet
there were but few of its members who gave any attention to the works after
they were purchased, but it has performed ita uses, aod bu certainly laid tbe
fouodation for the J>errnanent establilhment of the NIS"" Church doctri....
ben. Several both In and out of thia lociety have read thOle writiDp witia
YOL. IL. 16
 -
much interest, and a Dumber have become foll receiyen. AD inereuiDg in-
LU.,.,
terest is certainly manife8ting itself here in relatioll to them, there beinl a
eootinual increase of readen, sucb as are anxiou8 t.o learn something of thOle
trutbs for themselves rather than remain conteut with the malignant misN-
presentatiOlJ8 of'those whose evil affeotions would lead them to hate and re-
Ject the New Church doctrines, even if they really knew them. On the 15th
of February last a New Church 80ciety was formed bere, adopting a constitu-
tion for its external govemment; eleven have already joined the f.ociety.
There is however a much larger number than this outside of the society who
are more or leu interested' in the doctrines, some of whom may already be
called receiven although Dot attached to the society. The society, through
the auistance of some kiud friends, not panicuJarly interested in such maltem.
has been enabled to procure the services of aNew Church minister (the Rey.
Mr. Hough), one third of the time for the ensuing year; thus it is that in a
~l.ce where three years ago the writings of Swedenborg were Dot kDOWD,
there ue now intere8ting numbers.
I regret very much that your efforts in cODtinuing the publication of the
"Repo8itory" for the present year have not met with that heany co-operation
&om the old subscribers, that one might have expected, for it must certainly be
evid~Dt to every New Churcholan that a work of this character is needed and
ought to be sustained; BB 8ueh a work is certainly calculated to perform a
peat use, and if those ,vho receive the truths of the New Church Pbil080phy
have a desire! as they should have, to propagate them, wily not 8ustain all
proper and just efforts tending to this end, ,vhenever their means will permit
without material injury to themselves' Readers of the New Church writings
are rapidly increasing, and if the helping hand be extended to sustain a
periodIcal of the character of the "Repository" in its infancyto there eau be
DO dou~ of its ultimate 8unceS8 and important u8e; and these remarks are
Dot intended to apply merely to this one publication but to othen tending to
advapce the cause of those great a.nd important truthsJ the reception of which
into the understanding aud eEections is so well calculated to make the
human race happier and better. Wishing you 80cceS8 in all your eftoi1s, I re-
main, very respectfully, Your obedient servant,
..J.A.MES WHITE.

The fonowingl! from one who has .Inee become Dot 0Dl, aD .""",eel and cordial . .~
oeiver bu' a public teacher of the doctrines of the New Jenualem

.BY. AND DEAB. SIR,

For three or four years past the course of my reading, and reflection has led
me to be a firm behever ID many maUen which ODr modem philO8Opby N-
. ject8-8uch as presentiments, dreams, apparitions, clairvoyance. liavm,
within the last year met with accounts of Swedenborg's doctrines, it has stnfck
me strongly that they reduce all these under a few general principles, aud, ..
it ie a character of truth to ha~monize scattered facts, and to unite reports from
iDdepeodeDt sources,-many of his revelations concerning the invisible world
have to me an aspect of much probability. On the other hand, they seem CO
me liable to very grave objectiolls. In this state of things I am willing to in-
qoire, and, God giving me courage, dare follow what shall appear to me the
truth. Thi8 will probably appear a sufficient apology for addressing you OD
this lubject, without menuoni!lK our ~light a~quain~811ce years ago.
It luikes me that the obJectJoll agalDst the doctrules of Swedenborg, when
stated in its general form, is, that it does away with the authority oC scripture
in ita plain aod common sense meaning, in wbich, surely, it was designed to
be taken. If you would recomJIlend to me alJY work which considers this
in
point, elpeciaUy ita bearinl OD the doctrine of the Trinity, 81ld of the Atone-
ment, and above all give me the impre&sioDS of JOur own mwd OD the 8ubjecl,
I woulcl esteem it a great favor. '
 Aakiag of 10D the farther favor to keep this application priftte, beean. . .
eomiDg known il would prejudice me, and my present persuasion is not 8Uall
u compels me to inour 'be reproach of "8wedenborgianiam" for cODaCi._
like, .
-
I remain, with great respect,
Your obedient leIftIlt.

NOTICE S OF BOOKS.

1. AlITtCIDIIT. or, t~ Spirit of Stet tJftd &lti"", I!J JOHJI W. NJ:VJlf, 'P,.itllttltf
JlarMall College, Mercerl6urg, Pa. New-York, JQhn S. Taylor, 1848.

Having met incidentally with this work: of which we bad previously knoWll-
nothing, ,ye were agreeably surprised, on perusal, to find that the author had
broached a view of Christi8Diay which brings him much nearer to the New
Church than he is probably aware of. Bis grand position is that the eseenoe
of Christianitj is rather in the perlCm than in the fDOTi .of Christ. Consequently
he makes much more of the In~arDation than is usually done by Protestant
divines. The following extracte will serve as a specimell of the work.
Christianity is not simply a divine doctTiM. It does not cODsist in this, that
a certain system of truths, made known by extraordinary reyelation, has come
to be embraced and professed openly by a body of people styling themselves
the Church, '\\~ho are at the same tinle more or less influenced by 8ueh faithin
their character and life. The religion of Christ does indeed include doctrine.,
vast and momentous as eternity itself, such as the world has had no knowled,.
ofnnder any other form of reyelation; but these, after all, do not constitute Its
primary distinctive character. It is deeper than all doctrine.
Christianity again is Dot simply atdivine law. It does not consist iD this, that
by means of the gospel, a body of people Myling themselves the Church, have
come to a clearer apprehension than the world p-ver had before, of the moral
relation in which men stand to oue another and to God, aud of tbe duties that
grow properly ou t of these relatiol1s. The religion of Christ is indeed a per-
fect system of etbiC8 in this view; but this is not in the end its fundamental
dj,tinction. It is broader and deeper than any cODception of this kind. .
Christianity is Dot mere doctriue for the understanding, or mere law for the
will, but a power wbich is formed to lay hold of the inmost cODBciousneu of
&he world as the principle of a new ereatioll.
All begins in the mystery of the Incarnation. The whole Gospel is enun-
ciated in that overwhelming declaration, The Word becam., fluA. The declara·
'lion is not, itstalf, however, the Gospel. This meets us primarily in the living
person of our Lord aud Saviour Jesus Christ, in which is comprehended for all
time, the actual reality of the great mystery IJO\V named. He stood amoDI
men Dot as the proclaimer simply of truth and life, but as the very priuciple of
both in his own person. He was not the prophetical organ ooly of the evan-
gelical revelation, but the sum and substance of this revelation itflelf. As the
constitution of the world, in its first form, served not merely to herald the name
of God, but was itself all act of self-revelation, by which he came, to a certain
extent, into actual view, so also t.he nlystery of the incarnation is to be regard-
ed, Dot as the medium simply of divine grace ill its highest character, but as
the very form under which this grace was brought to light. The person of
Christ forma the lut and most perfect act of self-revelatioll on th~ part of God,
•

- N--ofBooU. [May,
bf which the prOoeR of all preYiooa 18yelation became complete, aDd the deep-
-'

eat idea of the universe pueed over from shadow to reality, itl the actual, in-
ward, and full .nion of the divine nature ,vith the hum.u, as one and the .. me
life. The life of God, in the penon of the incarnate Word, incorporated iUJeIf
with the life of the human race, and became, in this way, the priuciple and
fountain of a DeW creatioll for the world at large. This act itself brought
righteou8ness and salvation, life and immortality, into the spbere of our fallen
bumanity ; for it was Dot possible that the divine element, thus u Dlade ftesb,"
shoold not in the end triumph over sin and hell, and thus accompli~h all the
grand and glorious results that are comprehended in the idea of the Gospel.
Christianity, the whole vast mystery of the Church, the Dew heavens and the
new earth replete with righteo118Desa, all rest originally included as a single
fact in the mystery of the incarnatioll. Christ is himself the ligh t and life of the
world. The last ground of its salvation is his person, not his work. All re-
IOlvel itself into what he is, and Dot 8implr what be does. Tbe great truths
ef the Gospel bold only in-tbe new order '0 life, which is constituted aDd un-
folded by the fact of the incarnation itself, and beyond this they have no reali-
~ whatever. The resurrection aod immortality which Christ proclaims spriDg
forth directly from the power of his o\vulife. The atonement finds all its \·alue
in the theanthropic mystery with \vhich it is supported from behind. The
ultimate, specific tlistinction of Christianity, as compared \vith all other sys-
tem. of religion, is neither the doctrine nor the work of Christ, but the econo-
!Dy of his person).as the indispensable basis of both. It is constituted here,
ouce forever, by the perfect, everlasting union of the human nature with the
di~e. The/att, apprehended and appropriated in the way of faith (wbieh
in such case is die e0l1SCloOSnes8 of a true life-union with the Saviour himself),
carries along with it, to the end of time, the whole force and vall1e of lhe
Christian redemption.

Dr. Ne'Yin entitles 'his work cC"Antichrist." His object is to lasten the just
odium of tbis denominatioll upon every sfstem that refuses to acknowledp
that 11 Jesus Chri8t has come in the flesh," in the exalted sense for which he
contends. His pages are accordingly occupied in the main with specifYiDa
cM marks of this anticbriltian spirit. The following is the second.

AJitichrist undervalues the mystery of Christ's ptr8Oft. Not, of course, pro-

feaeedly, and in a direct way, but Indirectly and in fact, by sinking it Into
comparative insignificance in the work of redemption. It .night seem, in-
deed, in one view, 88 jf the heresy were inclined to make too much of
Christ's pel'lon; carrring it wholly into the clouds, and counting it too high to
come into any real connection with the world whatever. The Gnostic Christ
i. altogether supernatural 'and transcendental, and owns no fel1owshi{l at all
with oor natural humanity, in its common mortal rorlll. But for thIS very
reasoD, he stands shom of aB personal importance for the actual human
world. His person, as such, is not the meditun of salvation, not the main
thiog, therefore, in Chr~stiaDity. Not by what he is, according to this system,
bot by what he speaks and does, are we redeemed and brought near to God.
The proper contents of the Saviour'8 persollnlity are Dot discerned; their
unutterably momentous import is not felt; tbe fact is not apprehended as
real, but in place of it the fantastic figment of a Christ is made to swim in
the mind, having no more reality or power finally than a mere idea or
thought; 80 that all hangs, not upon the constitution of the real historical
Christ at all, but only upon the truth and po,ver revealed through hi.
nrioistry.
The Sect-liCe in the church is always infected, more or ~ess clearly, with
dais way of thinking; bears upon itself al WDJs, more or h!88 plainly legible,
tbia mark of Antichrist. All sectarian, scnismatic Christianity has a tendency
to make Chriat'. actual perIOD ~f lIDal1 accouDc, as compared with his doe-
 1849.]
trine and work. It dectl to magnify, it may be, the mediatorial functioDs of
die Redeemer; but sees not the proper and necessary root of all these in the
.'
rudi4torial lif,; as that wbich goes before all, and incl udes all, in the form of
a diyiDe~ historical, and perpetual fact. Its christology is! after all, the oot-
I

ward apparatus of its tbeory of redemption, the divine machinery of salve-

tio1l radler than the very substance and process of this salvation itself. It
9

'ails always to bring the ract of the incarnation to its fqll right and weight.
The fact itself is admitted; bnt the necessity of it is by no means clear. One
caonotsee plainly, after an, 8S the case stands, why precisely the redemption
of the e'ospel must be just in this form, and not in another; why it was absolutely
needful for the Word to become flesh at all; why the ends or redemption
might not have been about as well reached, if the whole gospel history bad
been a mere theophany, or a revelation of God'8 truth and love by some other
medium altogether. For even where the evangelical salvation is made to go
beyond the idea of doctrine merely or authority, tJo as to include the notion of
a direct divine influence npon the soul, secured through the Saviour Christ, It
is 8till only the work of Christ externally considered, that opens the way for
such grace; 80 that, for aught that appears ill the theory itself, the same end
might have been fairly reached, if the same work had been accomplished in
aome other form entirely; by an atonement, for instance, in the spiritual world,
had it so pleased God, or under some other mode of existence than our com·
mon humanity, instead of that earthly sacrifice which actually took place for
this purpose, when Christ died upon Calvary. The incarnatIon is viewed at
best as the erection of the outward altar simply, on \vhich this holocaust (or
the Bins of the world might be made to ascend in sacred fire towards God;
the platform of the \vork of salvatiol1; the artificial theatre, '\\·onderfolly COft·
triwd by Heaven, on which should be enacted the vast scene of man~s redemp-
tion. All is felt to be, at last, more or les8 shado\vy, visionary, and fantastio ;
all tends to s\vim into the form of distant, dim, ideal abstraction. Invariably it
will be found. the sectarian Christ lacks the charactE'r of true realness for me
mind, RDd wears, on the contrary, a more or les8 magical, mon-like aspect, in
which the gospel seems to look down upon us always only from the clouds. ,.
The work is to us interesting a8 it presents 8 Dew phue of theological dil-
cussion which will probably lead to U results for record." The PrincetoD
school has taken its stand against Dr. Nevjn, as undervaluing the crucifixion
and the atonement, but our readers will have little hesitation in saying that the
argument of the autbor of Cl Antichrist" will remain unshaken by any assault
from that quarter and on that ground.

i. Till: NIGHT SIDE 0., NATURE:or Gl&oItI and Ghost Seer,. By Cj,TIIDDIII
CaowE, 2 vols. 12 mo. London, 1849.
The lady author of this work is somewhat widely known to the readiDg
pnblic as the translator from the German of the Ca Seere8S of Prevorst." In the
present volumes she follows up the Bame vein ot discussion and inquiry. It
is a bolel knocking at the door of the spiritual world with a vie", to elicit all
possible information respecting its inmates. This is very well with those who
do not know that this door has actually been opened in the revelatioD8 of the
New Church, and the fullest developments made of the arcana of the world of
loul8. We much admire the free and fearJessspirit \vith \vhich Mrs t C. wiel.
the array of facts 80 industriously collected, challenging credence from skepti-
cism, and arraigning science for its indifference to the most astounding phe..
Domena. Bel iot.rodDCtory chapter is a masterpiece of eloqDent proteata&iOD
- Rna of BooiI. [M.,.,
. .,ainlt the light and contemptuoas estimate which is often Cormed of all eft-
dence bearing upon such facts as she details, and of the recreaney to all 801104
logic which is evinced by the reasoninR8 resorted to to stave off unwelcome
oonclusions. We annex a few pllftlllllphs.
To minds which can admit nothing but what can be ex~lained and demon-
.....ted, an investigation of this son must appear perfectly Idle; for whilst, OD
the oue hand, the most acute intellect or the most powerful logic call throw
little light on the subject, it is at the lame time-though I have a conndent
.hope that this will Dot always be the case-equally irreducible within the llre-
eent bOl1nds oC science; mean,vhile experience, observatiQD, and iutuitlOD,
must be our principal if Dot our onlr guides. Because, in the seventeenth
08ntury, credulity outran reason aud discretion; the eighteenth century, by a
aatura} re-action, threw itself hlto an opposite extreme. Whoever closely ob-
serves the sigos of the times, will be aware that another change is approach-
iDg. The contemptuol1s scepticiFm of the last age is yieldiug to a more hum-
ble spirit of inquiry; and there is a large clu8 of pt:rsoD8 amongst the m08t
enlightened of the present, who are beginning to beliflve, that much which
lItey had been taught to reject 88 fable, has been ill reality ill-understood
&mth. Somewhat of the myslery of our own being, and of the mysteries that
oompa8s us about, are begioniug to loom upon us-as yet, it is U'ue, but ob-
ecurely i and in the eDdeavor to follow out tile clue they offer, \\·e have but &
feeble light to guide U8. We must grope our way through the dim path be-
fore 118, ever in danger of being led into error, whilst we may confidently
reckon on being pursued by the shafts of ridicule-that weapon so easy to
wield, so parent to the weak, so weak to the wise-which has delayed the
hirths of so many truths, but never stifled one. The pharisaical scepticism
which denies wIthout investigation, is quite as perilous, and much more COD-
te-mptible, than the blind credulity which accepts all thot it is taught without
inquiry j it is, indeed, but another form of ignorance assuming to lJe know-
ledge. And by inWltigation 1 do Dot mean the hasty, captions, angry llotice of
an unwelcome fact, that too frequently claims the right of pronouncing on a
question; but tbe slow, mo(lest, pains-taking examinatioll, that is content to
wait upon nature, and bumbly follow out her disclosures, however opposed to
pre-col1~eived theories or mortifying to human pride. If scientific men could
but comprehend how they discredit the science they profess, by t~eir despotic
arropn.ce aod exclusive sceptici@m, they would surely, for the sake of that
",ery science they love, affect more liberality and candor. This reflection,
however, naturally 8uggests another, namely, do they really love science, or
is it not too fre~uently with them but the means to an end 1 Were the love
of l'cience genUIne, I suspect it would produce very different fruits to that
which we see bonle by the tree of kno,vleJge, as it flourishes at present; and
this suspicion is exceedingly strengthened by the recollectioll, tbat amonpt
the numerous 8tudents and professors of science I have at different times en-
countered, the real worshipers BIU] genuine lovers of it, for its own sake,
have all been men oC the most single, candid, unprejndiced, and inqlliriug
minds, williDR to listen to all new 8U~Jle8tions, and investigate all new facts i
Dot bold nnd self-sufficient, but hl1lnble and reverent suitors, who, aware 01
their own ignorance and unworthiness, and conscious that they are yet but
in the primer of nature's works, do not permit themselves to pronounee upon
her disclosures, or set limits to ber decrees. They are content to admit that
Ihinga new and unsuspected may yet be true; that their own knowledge of
facts being extremely circumscribed, the systems attempted to be established
on such uncertain data, mUtlt needs be very imperfect, and frequently alto-
gether erroneous; and that it is therefore their duty, 8S it ought to be their
pleasure, to welcome as a stranger every gleam of light that appears in the
horizon, let it loom from ,*hatever quarter it may. .
The belief in a God, and in the immortality of wbat we call the BOul, is
common to all nations; but our own intellect does not enable us to form BDJ
 coaceptiOD of either ODe or the other. All tbe information .e have o~ theee
subjects is comprised in such hiut8 as the Scriptures here and there give U8·
whatever other conr,lusions we draw, must be the result of obeervation and
experience. Unle8s founded upon these, the opinion of the most learned
theologian, or the most profound sttldent of science that ever li ved, is worth
DO more than that of any other person. They know nothing whatever about
theae mysteries; and all a ,nori leaeoning on them is utterly valueleu. The
oDly way, therefore, oC attaining any glimpses of the truth in an inquiry of
this Dature, where our intellect can serve us so little, is to enrer on it with the
conviction that, knowing nothing, we are not entitled to reject any evidence
that may be offered to us, till it has been thoroughly sifted, and proved to be
fallacious. That the facts presented to our notice appear to us absurd, and
altogether inconsistent with the notioDs our intellects would have enabled us
to form, should have no weight whatever in the investigation. Our intellecC&
are DO measure of God Almighty's designs; and I must say that I do think.
one of the most irreverent, dangerons, and sinful things man or woman can be
guilty of, is to reject with sconl and laughter any intimation which, however
Itraogely it may strike npon our minds, and however advene it may be to
our opinion&, may possiblr be dhowing us the way to one oC God" uutba.
Not knowing all the condItions, aDd wanting 10 many link. of the chain, i'is
impossible for us to pronounce on what ia pl'Obable and cODsisteDI, and what
is not; and this being the case, I think the time ia ripe for drawing attelluOIl
to cenain pheoomena, whi~h, UDder whatever upect we may coneider tb•••
are beyond doubt exceedingly interesting and curious; whilst, if the vie..
many persoDl are disposed to take of them be the conect ODe, they are maab
mOh than this.

With respect to the lubjectsl am bere going to treat of, it is Dot simply the
. .uh of my own reflections aDd convictions that I am about to offer. 011 the
contrary" I iotend to fortify my position by the opinions of many other write... ;
&he chief of whom ,viII, for the reasons above giveil. name1l' that it ia they
who have principally attended to the question, be Germans. am fuUy aware
that in this COllOU'Y a very considerable number oC persona lean to lome of
dlese opinions, and I think I might venture to assert that I have the majority
on my Side, as far 88 regards 8'holts-for it ia beyond a doubt that man}' more
are disposed to believe than to confe88-and those who do cOl1fesl are Dot
few. The deep interest with which any narration of spiritual appearances
bearirag the stamp, or apparent stamp. of authenticity is listened to in every
eociety! is one proof that, though the fear 01 ridicule may .uppress, it can.o.ot
extinguish that intuitive persuasion, of which almost eyery one is more or
lees conacioua.
I avow that, in writing this book, I have a higher aim than merely to afrom
amusement. I wish to engage the eJlrnest attention of my readers; becallM
I am sati86ed that the opinions J am about to advocate, seriously entertained,
would produce very beneficial results. We are all educated in the belief of
a future state, but how vague and ineffective this belief ia with the majority
of persona, we too well kno\v; for although, as I have aaid above, tbe num-
ber of those who are wbat is called believers in gh08ts~ and similar phenomena,
is very large; it is a belief that they allow to sit e:atremely light on their
minds. They feel that the evidence from within and from without il too
.uong to be altogether set aside, but they have never permitted themselves to
weigh the significance of the facts. They are afraid of that bo,bear, Super-
atition-a title of opprobrium which it is very convenieut to attach 40
whatever we do DOt believe ourselves. They forget that nobody has a right
to call any belieC supemtitioua, till he can prove that it is unfounded. Now,.
DO 0 De that livea can auert Lhat the re-appearance of the dead il impo&8ible ;
all he ba. a right to say ia that he doea not believe it; and the interrogatioD
that sbould immediately follow this declaration is, U Have you devoted your
life to sifting all the evidence "that has been adduced on the other side from
the earlieat perioda of hiatorj' ad tradition 1" aDd evea though the &IlIW.
 [lIay,
were in the aIBrmative, and that the investigation had been oonaeientionsly
pursued, it would be still a bold inquirer that would think himself entitled 10
..y, the question was po longer open. But the ra8hness aDd levity with \vhieh
mankind make proCessions of believing and disbelieving, are, all things consi-
dered, phenomena much more extraordinary than the most extraordilJary
ghost-story that was ever related. The truth is, that not one person in •
thousand, in the proper sense of the word, believes anything; they only fancy
they believe, because they have never seriously considered the meaning of the
word and all that it invol\·es. That which the human mind cannot conceive
o~ is apt to slip from its grasp like water from the hand; and life ont of !be
flesh falls under -this category. The observation of any phenomena, there-
fore, which ellables us to master the idea must necessarily be extremely be-
neficial; and it must be remembered, that Ol1e single thoroughly welt-estab-
lished instance of the re-appearance ofa deceased person would not only have
this etrect, but that it would afford a demonstrative proof of the deepest of all
our intuitiona, namely, that a future life awaits us.
La Place laya, in hiB U E8say on Probabilities," that "any cue, however
_yparentl Y incredible, ifit be a recurrent case, is as moch entitled under the la••
o Induction to a fair valuation as if it bad been more probable before hand."
Now no ODe will deny that the case in question possesses thia elaim to invea-
tiption. Detennined sceptics may, indeed deny that there exists allY weD-
a1lthenticated iOltance of an apparitiou; bot that, at present, can ouly be a
mere matter of opinion; since many persons as competent to judge u them·
.Ivel maintain the contrary; and in the mean time, I arraign their right to
make this objection tiJl they have qualified themselves to do 80 by a 10111'
course of patient .and honest inquiry; al\\'ays remembering ,tbat every in-
stance of error or imposition di8covered and adduced J has no positive value
whatever in the argument, bot as regards that single in8tance; though it may
enforce upon UI the necessity of strong evidence ancl careful investigation.
With respect to the evidence, past and present, I must be allowed here 10 re-
mark on the extr~e difficulty of producing it. Not to mentiol) the acknow-
ledged carelessness of observers, and tbe alleged incapacity of persons to dis-
tingnish betwixt reality and illusion, there is an exceeding ahyneAS in moat
people, ,vho either have seen, or fancied they have seen, an apparition, to
speak of it at all except to some intimate friend; so that 011e gets mOdt of the
ltories second-hand; whilst even those who are les8 chary of their communi-
cations, are imperative against their name aud authority being given to the
pablic. Besides this, there is a great tendency in most people, after the im-
pression is over, to think tbey may have been deceived ; and where there is
no communication or other circumstance rendering this cODviction impossible,
it is not difficult to acquire it, or at least so much of it &1 leave8 the case
valueless. The seer is glad to fiud this refuge from the unpleasant feelinp
engendered; whilst surrounding friends, sometimes from geouine scepticism
and sOlnethnes from good-natnre, almost invariably lean to this explanation
of the mystery.' In consequence of these difficulties, and those attending the
very nature of the phenomena, I freely admit that the facts I sball adduce, as
they !lOW stand, can have DO scientific value; they cannot, in short, enter into
the region of science at aH, still less into that of philosophy. \\'batever con-
clusions ,ve may be led to form, cannot be founded on pure induction. We
mu!t confine ourselves wholly within the region 'of oplltion; if we venture
beyond which we shall assuredl!: founder. In the beginning, all sciences
have been but a cpl1ection of facts, afterwards to be examined, compared, and
weighed by intelligent minds. To t.he vulgar, who do not see the ullivemal
law which governs the universe, everythiug out of the ordinary course of'
events is a prod igy; but to tbe enlightened mind there are no prodigies; for
it perceives that both in th~ moral and the physical world, there is a chain of
11Dinterrupted connexion i aod that the most strange and even apparently COD-
tradictory or 8upernatural fact or e\f'eut will be found. on due investigarioo. to
be .triedy dependent 011 ita anteeedeut8. It is pouible that tbere may be a

I
IN.] N.-V"·
liak waotiD«, and that oar iDYeatiptioD8 may consequendy be frUit1e!8; bat
die link is assuredly there, although our imperfect knowledge aud limited
vision cannot find it.
-
And it is here the proper place to observe, that, in undertaking to treat of
the phenomena in questioD, I do not propose to consider them as supernatural;
OD the contrary, I am persuaded that the time will come, when they will be
reduced stricdy within the bounds of science. It \vas the teodency of the lut
age to reject and lUny everything they did not understand; I hope it is 'he
RlOwiog tendency of the present one, to examine what \ve do not lIoderstaad.
Eqoally disposed with our predecessors or tbe eighteenth century to reject
the supernatural, and to believe the order or natore inviolable, we are disposed
to extend the bounds of nature and science, till they comprise withio their
limits all the phenomena, ordinary and extraordinary, by which we are ear·
rounded. Scarcely a month passes, that \ve do not hear of some new and im-
portant discovery in science; it is a domain in which nothing is stable; and
every year ovenhrows some of the basty and premature theories of the pre-
ceding ones; and this will continue to be the case as long as scientific men
oecnpy themselves each with his own subject, without 8tndying the great aad
primal truths-what the French callu. t1bitt. mirts-which link the wbole
together. Meantime, there is a continual unsettling. Truth, jf it do Dot eman-
ate from an acknowledged authority, is generally rejected; and error, if it do,
i. as often accepted; whilst, whoever disputes the received theory, whate. .
it be-we mean especially that adopted by the professors of colleges-doea it
at his perit. But there is a day yet brooding in the bosom of time, when die
sciences will be no longer iAoJated ; when we shall no longer deny, but be able
toaecount for phenomena apparently prodigious; or have the modesty, if we
cannot explain them, to admit that the difficulty arises solely from onr O\VO in-
capacity. The system of centralization ill statistics seems to be of doubtfral
advantage, but a greater degree of centralization appears to be ve:y mucb '
needed in the domain of science. Some improvement in this respect mitrht
do wonders, panicularly if reinforced with a slight infusion of patience and
humility into tbe minds of scientific men; together with the recollection mat
facts and phenomena wb.ich do not depend on our ,viII, must be waited for-
that we must be at their command, for they will not be at oars.

Of the narrative portions or the work the following may serve as a specie
men. We select it almost at randotn, as the variety oC subjects treated ia
very great, embracing, The Dweller in the Temple,-Waking and SleepiDI,
and how the Dweller in the Temple sometimes looks abroad,-AlIegorical
Dreams, Presentiments, &c.,-Warnings,-Double Dreaming and Trance,
Wraiths, &c.,-Doppe)gangers, or Doubles,-Apparitions,-The Future that
awaits us,-The power of Will,-Troubled Spirits,-Haunted Houses,-Spec-
tral Lights and Apparitions attached to certain Families,-ApparitioDs seeking
the Prayers of the J... iving,-The Poltergeist of the Germans, and Possession,
-}fiscellaneous Phenomena. &c.
Between the railway running from Newcastle-an-Tyne to North Shields, and
the river Tyne, tb~re bes ill a hollow some few cottages, a parsonage, and a
mill BUel a miller's house. These constitute the hamlet of WilJington. JUBt
above these the railway is carried across the valley oo'-lofty archet=, and from
it you look do'vn on the luill and cottages, lying at a cOllsiderable depth
below. The Dlill is a large steam flour-mill, like a factory. and the miller's
houle stands Ilear it, but not adjoining it. None of the cottages ,vhich lie
between these premises and the rail way, either, are in contact with them.
The ho~e stands on a 80rt of little promontory, round ,vhich roDS the channel
of a water-course, which appears to fill and empty with the tides. 011 ODe
Aide of the mill and house, slopes away, upwards, a field to a cOD8iderable
 [lIay,
diatance, where it is tenninated by other encloauree; OD the other atan" a
&ollsiderable e1tent of ball88t-hill, i. I., one of the numerous hills 011 the banb
of the Tyue, Dlade by the deposit of ballast from the vessels trading thi~.
At a distance, tbe top of the mill seems about Jevel with the country around
it. Tbe place lies about half-way between Newcastle and Nortb Shields.
This mill is, I believe, the propertf of, and is worked by Messrs. Ullthank
and Procter. Mr. Joseph Procter resIdes OD the spot in the house just by the
mill, Il8 already stated. He is a member of the Society of Friend., a gellde-
man ill the very prime of life; and his wife, an intelligent lady, is of a family
of Friends in Carlisle. They have several young children. This very respect-
able and well-informed family, b~longiDg to a sect which of all others is most
accu8tomed to conlrol~ to regulate, and to put down even tba imagination;
the last people in the world, as it would appear, in fa~t, to be affected by any
mere imaginary terrors or impressions, have for years been per8ecuted by the
most extraordinary Doises and apparitions.
The hOllse is not an old house, as will appear; it was built about the year
1800. It has no panicular spectral look about it. Seeing it in passing, or
within, ignorant of its real character, one should by no Ineans say that it was
a place likely to have the reputation of being balloted. Yet looking doWn
from the railway, and seeing it and the mill lying in a deep hole, one might
imagine various strange noises likely to be heard in luch a place iD the night,
from vessels 00 the river, from winds sweeping and howling down the gnlly
in whicb it stands, from engines ill the neigbborbood connected with coal
mines, one of wbich I could not teU where, was making, at the time I W88
talere, a wild sighing ooise. as [ stood on the bill above. There is Dot aDY
p888age, however, known of under the house by which subterralleoDs DOiee&
oould be heard, nor are they merely noises that are heard i distinct apparitioDl
are declared to be seen.
Spite of tbe un willingness of Mr. Procter that these mysterious cireom-
.tances should become quite public, and aver8e as he is to make kno'\Vn him-
aelfthese strange visitations, they were oC such a nature that they 800n became
rumored over tbe whole neighborhood. Numbers of people hurried to the
place to inquire into the tnlth of them, and at length a remarkable occurrence
brought thelQ into print. What this occurrence WRS, the pamphlet which ap-
-peared, and \vhich was afterwards reprinted in U The Local Hlstorian':8 Table-
Book," ~ubli8hed by Mr. M. A. Richardson, of Ne"'castle, aod which I here
, oopy, Will explain. It will be seen that the writer of this article has the fullest
faith in the reality of what he relates, as indeed vast numbers of the best in- '
formed inhabitants of the neighborhood have.
* • * * • * • • • •
"We have visited the house in question, which is \VeIl known to many of
our readers as being near a large steam corn-mill, in fu 11 vie\v of \\'illington
viaduct, on the Newcastle and Shields raihvay: and it may not be irrelevant
to mention that it is quite detached from the mill, or any other premises, and
has no cellaring UDder it. The proprietor of the house, who lives in it, declinea
to make public the panicnlars of the disturbance to which he has been subject·
ed, .and it must be understood that the account of the visit we are abollt to Jay
before our readers is derived from a friend to ,vhom Dr. Drury presented a copy
of his correspondence on the subject, with power to make such use of it as he
thought proper. We learned that the house had been reputed, at least one
room in it, to have beeu haunted forty years ago, and had afterwards been uo·
dilturb('d for a long period, during. some years of which quietude the preseDt
'Occupant lived in it unmolested. We are also informed, that about the time
that the premises were building, viz. in 1800 or 1801, there were reports ofsome
deed of darkness having been committed br some ol1e employed about them.
We should extend this account beyond the limits ,,·e have set to ourselves, did
we now enter upon a full account of the strange things which have been seeD
and heard about the place by several of the neighbors, as well as those which
1848.] NDIice, of Boolu. 241
are reported to have been Been, heard, and felt by the inmate8, whpse servants
ba.e been changed on that account many times. We proceed, therefore, to giv~
tile ro.llowin~ letters which have been passed between individuals of undoubt-
ed veracity i leaving the reader to draw his own conclusions on the 8ubject.

" (COPY, No. 1.)

1& To Mr. Procter, 17th of June, 1840.
cc Sl~-Havjng heard from indisputable authority, viz. that of my excellent
friend. Mr. Davison, of Low Willington, farmer, that you and your family are
disturbed by most unaccountable Doises at night, I beg leave to tell you that I
hav~ read attentively Wesley·. account of such things, but with, I must conleS&,
no great belief; but an account of this report coming from one of your sect, which
I admire for caudor and simplicitr, my curiosity is excited to a hlgb pitch, which
I would fain satisfy. My desire IS to remain alone in the house all night with
DO companion but my own watch.dog, in which, as far as courage aud fidelity
are eoncerlled., I place much more reliance than UyOD any three young gentle- \
men I know of. And it is also my hope, that jf have a fair trial, I shall be
able to unravel this mystery. Mr. Davison will give you every satisfaction if
yoo take the trouble to inql1ire of him concerning me.
• " I am, Sir,
U Yours, most respectfully,
,& EDW••D Davay.
II At C. C. Embleton's, Surgeon,
" No. 10, Church Street, Sunderland.
Cl (COPY, No. 2.)
cc Joseph Procter's respects to Edward Drury, \vhose note he received a few
days ago, expressing a wish to pass a night in his house, at Willington. .Aa
the family is going from home on the 23d instant. and ODe of Unthank and
Procter's men wiU sleep in the house, if E. D. feels inclined to come on or after
the 24th to spend a night in it, he is at liberty 80 to do, with or without his
faithful dog., wbich, by the bye, can be of no possible U8e, except 88 company.
At the same time, J. P. thinks it hest to inform him, that particular disturban-
ces are far froDl frequellt at present, being ooly occasional, and quite un-
certain, and therefore the satisfaction of E. D.'s curiosity must be cOlleidered
as problematical. The best chance will be afforded by his sitting up alone iD
the third story, till it be fairly daylight, say two or three: A. M.
I ' WiIlingtoD, 6 moo 21st, 1840.

"J. P. will leave word with T. Maun, foreman, to admi'E. D.

't. Mr. Procter left home with his family on the 23d of Junet and got an old ·
servant, who was then out of place in cOllseq uence of ill.health, to take charge
of the house duri1lg their absence. Mr. P. returned alone on account of busi-
ueu, 011 the third of July, 011 the evening of \vbich day Mr. Drury and his com-
panion also unexpectedly arrived. After the house had been locked up, every
corner of it was minutely examined. The room O\1t of which the apparition
issued is too shallow to cOlltain any person. Mr. Drury and his friend had
lights by them, and were satisfied that there was no one in the house beeid.
Yr. P., the servant, and themselves.
u (COPY, No. 3.)
AI Monday Morning, July S, 1840.
"To Mr. Procter,
U DIUR SI&!-I am sorry I was Dot at home to receive you yesterday, who

yon kindly called to inqUire for me. I am happy to atate that I am really
priMd tbat I have been 10 liUl. UFected .. I am, after that horrid ud IDOI&
.Dr-
awfol a1fair. The only bad effect that I feel is a heavy dumeas in ODe of l'Dy
ears, the right oue. I call it heavy dulness, because I not only do Dot hear
distinctly, but feel in it a constant noise. This I never was affected \vith before ;
but I doubt not it will go off. I am persuaded that 110 one went to your house
at any time more di,believing in raped to .eting anything peculiar; no\v 110 one
can be more satisfied than myself. I will, in the course of a few days, send ",
you a fLlU detail of all I saw and heard. Mr. Spel1ce and two other gentlemen
came down to my hOURe in tbe afternoon, to hear my detail; but, sir, could I
accoullt tor these noises from natural causes, yet, so firmly am I per:luaded of
the horrid apparition, that I \vould affirm that what I saw ,vith my eyes was
a punishment to me for my scoffing and nubelief; that I am assured that, as
far as the horror is concerned, they are happy that believe and have not seeD.
Let me trouble you, sir, to give me the address of your sister, from Cumberland,
who was alarmed, and also of your brother. I would feel a satisfaction in
having a line from them; and, above all things, it ,viII be a great cause of joy
to me, if you never allow your young family to he iD that horrid house again..
Hoping yOIl will writf.' a few lines at your leisure,
U I remain, dear sir,

"Yours, very troll'

U EDWAllD Davay.

&& (CoPY, No. 4.)

c, WillingtoD, 7 moo 9, 18~.
,c Respected Friend, E. Drury,
h Having been at Sunderland, I did Dot receive thine of the 6th till yesterday
morning. I am glad to hear thou art getting well over the effects of thy 11D-
looked-for visitation. I hold in respect thy bold aod manly assertion of the
truth in the face of that ridicnle and ignorant conceit with which that which is
called the supernatural, in the present day, is u8ually assailed.
, " I tlhall be glad to receive thy detail, in which it ,viII be needful to be very
particular in flhowing tbat thou couJdst not be asleep, or attacked by night-
mare, or mistake a refiection of the candle, as some sagaciously suppose.
U I remain, respectfully,

" Thy friend,

U JOSH. P:aOCTEJl.
U P.S.-I have about thirty witnesses to various things which cannot be sa-
tisfactorily accounted for on any other principle than that of spiritual BKency.
U (COPY, No. 5.)

"Sunderland, July 13, 1840.

u DEAR. SI1l,-I hereby according to promise in my last letter, forward you a
true account of what I bearc1 aud saw at your house, in which I was led to pass
the night from various rumors circulated by most respectable parties, parti-
cularly from an account by my esteemed friend Mr. Davison, whose name I
mentioned to yon in a former letter. Having received your sanction to visit
your mysteriolls dwelling, I went all the 3rd of Ju)y, accompanied by: a friend
of mine, T. Hudson. 1'his was not according to promise, uor in accordance
with my first intent, as I ,vrote you r would come alone ;. but I felt gratified at
your kindness in not alluding to the liberty I had taken, as it ultimately prov-
ed for the best. 1 must here mention that, not expecting you at home, I had in
my pocket a brace of pistols, determining in my mind to let one of them drop
before the miller, as if by accident, for fear he should presume to play tricks
upon me; but after my intervie\v with you, I felt thp.re was no occasion for
weapons, and did not load them, a{tllr you had allowed us to inspect as min-
utely R!! we pleased every portion of the house. I sat down on the third stofT
lauding, fully expecting to account for any noises that I might hear, in a phi-
losophical nlanner. Tbis was about eleven o'clock, P. M. About tell minutes
to twelve we both beard a. noise, as if a Dumber of people were pattering with
their bare feet upon the floor; and yet, 80 singalar was the noise, that I oould
18C1.] NtIIieu of BooIu. 10
not minutely determine from whence it proceeded. A few minutes afterwards
. . beard a noise, as if SOIDe ooe was knocking with his knuckles amoDI
OlD" (eet ; this was followed by ahoHow cough from the very room from which
the apparition proceeded. The only noise after this, was as if a person was
rustling against the wall in coming 11 p stairs. At a quaner to one I told my
friend that reeling a little cold, I would like to go to bed, as we mig~t hear the
noise equally well there f" he replied that he would not. go to bed till daylight.
I took up a note whieh had accidently dropped and began to read it, after
which I ,took out my watch to ascertain the time, and found that it wanted ten
minutes to one. In taking my eyes from the watch, they became riveted upon
a closet door, which 1 distinctly saw opeD, and saw also the figure of a female
attired in grayish garments, with the head inclining downwards, and one hand
pressed upon the chest, as if in pain, and the other, viz., the right-hand, extended
towards tbe floor, with the index finger pointing downwards. It advanced with
an apparently cautiou8 step across the floor towards me; immediately BB i'
approached my friend, who was slumbering, its right hand was exteoded to-
wards him . I then rushed at it, giving, as Mr. Procter states, a most awful yell,
but, instead of grasping it, I fell upon my friend, and I recollected nothing dis-
tinctly for nearly three hours afterwards. I have since learllt that I was carried
down stairs in an agony of fear and terror.
t& I hereby certify .that the above account is strictly true and correct in every
respect. EDWAaD Dav&y.
1& North Shields.

" The following more recent case of an a:pparition seen in the window of
the same house from the outside, by four credible witnesses who had the op-
portunity of scrutinizing it for more than ten minotes, is given on most tlnquee-
QoDable authority. One ofthes8 witnesses is a young lady, a near connection of
the family, who, for obvious reasoDs, did not sleep in tbe house: another, a
respectable man who has been many years employed in, and is foreman of, the
manDfacto~; his daughter, aged about seventeen; and his wife who fint
saw the object, and called out the others to view it. The appearance present-
ed was that of a bareheaded man, in a flowing robe like a surplice, who glided
backwards and forwards about three feet from the floor, or level with the bot-
tom of the second ltory window, seeming to eDter the wall on each side, and
dma present a side view in passing. It then stood still in the window, and a
put of the figure came through both the blinds, which were close down, and
me window, as its luminous body intercepted the view of the fnmework of the
window. It W88 semitransparent, and as bright 88 a star, diffusing a radiance
all aronnd. As it grew more dim, it 888umed a blue tinge, and gradually faded
away from the head downwards" The foreman puaed twice close to the
boa8e under the window, and also went to inform the family, but found the
bouse locked up; there was no moonlight, nor a ray of light visible anywhere
about, and no person near. Had any magic lantern been used it could not
possibly have escaped detection j and it is obviouf' nothing of that kind could
have been employed on the inside, 88 in that case, the light could only have
been thrown upon the blind, aud not so as to intereeft the view both of the
blind and of the window from without. The owner 0 the hou8e slept in that
rooJq, and must have entered it shamy aCter this figure had disappeared.
'~Ji mar well be supposed what a sensation thE! report of the visit of Mr.
Drury, and its result must have created. It flew far and ,vide, and ~hen it ap-
peared in print, still wider; and what was not a little singular Mr. Procter re-
ceived, in coDseque,nce, a great Dumber of letters from individuals of different
rankl and circumstances, including individual. of large property, informing hilD
that their residences were, and had been for years, subject to aDDoyancea Qf
precisely a similar character.
&I So the ghosts and the haunting& are not gone after all ! We have turned
our backs on them, and, in the pride of our philosophy, have refused to be-
lieve iD them; but they have peraiated iD remaiDiDl. IlOtwithstandiDc 1-
 Oar Dotiee of the preeen' work mul of aeoeeeit, be limited. It coDeiata 01 a
vat accumulation oC facts bearing opon spiritual phenomena, aDd all iotereatq
to the Ne,vchurchman, not. because they are novel to him, but because they in-
dicate the yearnings and gropings of the spirit of tbe age in a Dew direction.
They show precisely the quarter from which and to which the wind of public
interest is blowing. The movement is that which the Ne\vchurchman is taugbt
to expect. He knows that the spiritual world has been opened to those who are
able to re~eive it, and,he 8ee8 every reasoll to believe that the divine Provi·
dence designs to work, OD a large scale aod by gradual developments, an eI-
~nde4 assurance of the existence of such a world and its intimate and indis-
soluble connection with the nature-world in which we now live and move.
Aa this conviction bean down more and more upon the general mind ofCbris-
tendom, the way will be constantly paving for the admission of the truths of
the New Di8p~nsatioD, to w~ich every thing of this nature is wholly and eD-
tirely &ubordiDate(

IDITORIIL 1'1'1.8.
The fo11owinl curious speculation occurs in a work not IODlliDce published in EnglaDd.
aDd. the title of "The Earth aDd Stare." Our uotice of it 11 taken from an exohan..
paper. The autbor takes for hi. startiog point the followln, facti of natural pbilolOph, ;
1. A ray of light. at any distance from an object whioh reSect. it, hu the property of
painting on the retina the form and color of that object.
2. In pUling through that distance it occupiel a ce.rtain definite time.
3. By means of the teleacope the pencil of raYI, cominl from the most distant object,
can be brought into the eye at aoch an angle as to live the object the magnitude of. .
cloee at hand. The most powerful of our preeeDt teleecopel bring tlte moon to within.
few mil~s of the eartb. But there il no objection in theory to an indefinite inereue 01
thi. magnifying power. In theory it is possible to construct an instrument which sbaD
brin, all' .tar, however remote, to withi n a few m ilea, or a few yards, of the earth.
From these limple Cacti it Dlay be deduced that accordiDI to phylical soience.... per. .
dytDI on this earth might by the Creator be Immediatel, placed in a new bod" OD •
distant world, in luch a manDer thst ," fflipt _ ",it. lit 0. . ,,~. tM ",101, of i .. , . .
Jut life / Let the 10111, for example. at death. be re-embodied OD a planet, at such a di..
taDoe that the light i. seventy years in Passilll to it from our earth. and it is evident thal
the ant ray which reaobea it there left the earth leventy years before. That il. in it.l Dew
bcMI,. it ma, tee its own birtb.,oath, manhood, aDd., in it. former body-reTiew HJ
. . . in its palt cflreer-be pretent at tbe commiaian oC put .in...... die youthflll aM.
bmocent face beooming dark with bad passions, the clear eye dulled with pollating .iDl.
Here may be a terrible fulfllmen~ of tbe Judgment-the books are opened. and each ODe
oaD see, with his own eyes. the actoal performance of everyone orbil past liDS.
Nor I, this all. At aDy period oC our exL.tence we may be made to behold again the
commJDioD of aDf past lin. A thou.Dd yean hence we have oDI, to be pla~d OIl •
liar ~ distant tbat itsltlht is a thousand rean in coming to as, and the lin commined.
tbou!and years ago Is again present, again viaible. Now, througb Lonl Ron l gt'ftlt Re-
IeclOr. Debut. are visible 10 remote, that their lilh& i. ret'kODed to have been leveral
millioDI oCyearaoD ita wa,_
IMB·l
JDa,_
.All Ibis ~ _la .. It i8. to a oertaia cia. 01 minch, wbOle concept'OM of the
.... Ii.fe ale f.ahioDed after the pattern oC the prevailiDlsystems of theology, from whlall
pIIiIosopb1 aDd lCieDC8 ha'Ye lQaroel, dared to deviate. But the idea oC a 80ul re-em.
boclied OD • distant planet is the exueme oC IroMDese to ODe instructed in lhfl truths of
the New DispeDlBtion. Cl A body hut thou prepared me,·' ';'oy every 80ul exclaim upoa
iIa first emergence from the houee oC clay, a spiritual body fitted to dwell in a spiritual
wodd, aDd oue tbat ha. no senses for the perception of mere material acts or objects. It
would be of litde account simply to behold, al matten of fact, our pa.tlives or pa.t .181
uIesa they were looked at in a di1ferent light Ctom that of the stars. As it is, our life , , , .
_If with unerring accuracy and a man does not confront hi. lins a thou_Dd mile. off;
they are U upon him," as the Philistine. were upon Samson, and h~ may as easily outnm
1UI own shadow as get aliead of them.

We were struck OD recently casting our eyes on the cover of an old New Church perlo-
dieal published in Philadelphia, 181?"and cbserving the prices of the (ollowing cata-
logue of Swedenbor(1 works as compared with the prices of the same works at the
preleDt day, .s indicated on Mr. ClapP'slisi As it will probably interest our readel'l
IOIDeWhat .. it did us, we give the catalogue with the prices of 1817 and 1849 in parallel
oolumo&

1817. 1849.
Arcana CQ,lestia, 12 vols.8vo. • $37 50 • '15 00
Indt'% to ditto, 2 50 1 25
Apocalypse Esplained, 6 vols. - 18 00 '1 50
Apocatypee Revealed, 2 vola. 11 6 25 2 00
Conjugial Love, • 2 00 1 50
Divine Provi(lence, 2 00 621
Divine Love and Wisdom, 1 '75 621
HeayeD and Hell, 2 376 - '75
True Chri,'ian Religion, 2 vols. 4 25 2 00
Coronia to ditto, 871 - 44-
Earths in the Universe, 75 44-
DocuiDe oC the Lord, 3'6 126
Doctrine of Life, 376 • 10
Doctrine of the Sacred Scriptures, 376 • 15
Doctrine of Faith, 31~ • 6!
Treader. OD Inftux, 3'1' • 8!
Wbite Horee in ilie RevelatioD, 26 6!
Laat Judgment, 626 «-
Continuation of ditto, 31~ • 25
HeaveDly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, 62' • 10
Ditto, with Extracts, 1 25 '75
Internal Sense of tbe Prophets and Psalms, '15 25
Small Treatise on Divine Love and Wisdom, 626 • 50

TIUa will be seen to be OD the whole a vaat reduction, although, Cor IOme 1888OJl, DOt
proportional OD all the works. But it i. matter of unfeirnecl rejoicing that the receive.
oldle heavenly dooninel can now suppl, themselves with the writings of the chwola.
_ per ceot cbeaper, on an averap, than could our predecol8Orl in 1817, wben COID-
paradvely few oC tbe work. had been reprinted in thie country, and the English editioU
were D~l&riJy burdened with a heavy duty. It is to be hoped that the reduciDI pro-
. . will still go OD, like that of the Bible, to the lowest possible point, 10 that every indi-
.Idual wbo vlllues the treasuree embodied in theee writings may be able to furnish him-
.U whh them at aligbt expense. Thil consummation would be expedited were there
more _11Gb spirits in tbe church al those of whom mention is made in the follo\ving ite1D8
of a Report for 1817, of the" Arnerican Society for Disseminating the Doctrines of the
New Jer~m Church," which we And in the pamphlet above referred to 1_-
 [May, 1848.
4& Tbut within the Jalt two Y8ars Mr. WiDlarn &cblalter. a member or the cha"', bat

p.bli8bed at hi, ind ividual expeue, for grattJi'otJI IIillribWiota, one tbOQlaIld copies of
&be Doctrine concerning tbe Lord; fin hundred copies of the DoctriD8 of Life, whh lI.e
J,lopapby oC Sw~enbor. annexed; .,ven hundred and fifty copies of the Doctrine orthe
Seared Scripture; two hundred and finy oopies oC PlOud'. Sermon OD the Second AdYeDl r
with Dr. Berer's memorial to the king oC Sweden; and 'wo hundred aDd fift;y copies of
8lble1'8 Sermon on the Resurrection, with two letten b, Mr. Clowes--
It That Mr. lohnson Taylor, anotber member, within the aame period, allo publiJbed,

a' hi. own expense, for gratvitOtu diltrihtiott, one thousaDd copie. oC a Seat upon the
Lips, written by Robert Hindmarsh."
The lallt number of the London Intellectual Repository received in this COUDtry, 008-
lains an article beaded, le Swedenborg's Discovery of the Law of Magnetic InteDsity COD-
Irmed by the celebrated Humboldt." Tbia writer, in his able work entitled le C.".OI,"
claims to have been the first wbp gave to science the law of tla, itKrCGtC of fIIGfutit: i.·
...." tofDtJrd. tlu pole.. Hc admits that it had been reeognized by the companion of
r.. PerouRe in or about 1785, but adds, ., it did not, I conceive, acquire an exUlence in
lOience until the p~blicatioD oC my observatioDs (rolD 1798, to 1804." Upon ibis, Mr.
Beawick, tho writer in the Repository, remarks, cc No\v. the publication of the veryl8me
law, announced in nearly the salne term!, ~k place in Swedenborg's PriACipio, iD 1733.
being sixty-five years in priority of publication, thirty-six yean before Humboldt WM
born, and fifty-two years before tbe time of La Perouse's expedition.
The priority of Swedenborg'1 claim to the knowledge of this importaDt law of the mac-
.Mllie force i., therefore, clear and unquestionable. The evidence of the fact. aslel'led by
Mt. B. will appear from a comparison of the announcements by Humboldt and Sweden-
borg. The former .y8, It The intensity of tbe total (magnetic) force increases from the
equator towards the pole."-Ca.mol, vol. i. p. 17g. Swedeoborg says, U There is, there-
tore, aD actin upon the particles of this element according to the arcs ill tlUttlfU'~. ,,..
,,, l'olll."-PriflCipitJ, vol_ H. p. 149. cc The force is accordiDg to the arc oC distaDce
from the poles,"-p. 159. Cl The preasure at a less distance from the pole mast be direr-
_tfrom the pressure at a distance, and ."ice ~tr.,"-p. 149. llr. B. concludes hi. ani·
ole b, laying, Cl When these {acta alld discoveries become more known in the lCiOlllilic
world, I tru.' they will lead the minds of men- to con.ider the claims of our author, not
OIl1yas a writer on scLence,_ in its most reeondite principles, bot especially as a .riledOD
theology, and on the spi ritual and eternal states of man, in which he hu, throllgh the
Lord's providence and mercy, luade most wonderflll discoveries, tendin. to promoce the
tne wisdom, salvation, and happinea. of mankind!'
We bave just been furnished with a copy of Mr. Clapp's new and beautiful edition of
cc The Last Judgment." It is in the octavo form, and in tbe style of the late London le-
pt"'ts of tbe minor works, which is much more agreeable to the eye than the llD.ner d..-
_Imo page hitherto In use, and yet we P'!rceive the price is the .me (forty-Coor ceDta)
with that of the cambric bODDd edition of former yean. A. we have now the" Lut
Jadgment,t' aDd the" Earths in the Univene," in this handeome oo.~ tonn, we ehaD
hope to see the example followed with all the NIt of the miDor works of Swedeaborc a&
tile preaent editions become emaulted.
Mr. Clapp has al80 received a lopply of Rev. Mr. Hough·. valuable litde work OD dae
cc1udgment Day," which was favorablyDoticed In the January number 01 the Repotilolf·
We sincerely hope tbat those who are in the habit of preeentlng their frieods with New
Church works, with a view to interest them iD the doctrines, will not overlook dU. p .
preteDding but truly able Utde volume.

E:
 THE

NE W CHURCH REP 0 SIT 0 RY

AIlD

. MONTHL Y REVIEW.
=
'tI,-II, IIfIE, 18(1. Ne, I.

OR I GIN A. L P A..P ER S.
ARTICLE I.

THE LETTER AND THE SPIRIT.*

No. I.
Tu. true issue bids fair at length to be made. The principles OD
which the inspired Word is to be interpreted are beginning to attract
attention and to engage the pens of able men. What the Newchurch.
man has 80 long desiderated in vain seems at last likely to be accord.
ed to his wishes,-viz., a bold, distinct, unequivocal carrying out, to
its just results, of the literal theory of interrretation. It is immate-
rial to him whether this be done in fonna antagonism to Sweden-
borg's doctrine of the spiritual s~nse, or on any other gronnd. What
he desires is to see the principle asserted, defined, and defended.
Hitherto the eourse of the literalists has been far from exemplary.
While they have for the most part agreed in denouncing the spiritual
hermeneutics of the New Church, they have been at sad odds among
themselves, 8S the warfare on the field of Prophecy abandantly testi-
fies. The MiJlennarians, under the leadership of Can!nghame, Bick.
ersteth, Birks, Begg, Elliott, Duflield and others, charge upon their
opponents, among whom are Faber, Stuart, Maitland, and most of
the theological schools of the age, a bold and presllmptuoul denial or
the plain literal pnrport of Scripture, and the adoption of a vague
spiritoal or mystical sense which completely evacuates the divine
oracles of their genuine significance and force. On the subject, for
iDstance, of the Second Adven~ the one party plants itself upon the
strictDea of the letter, and contends for a visible penoDal coming of

• ne 'DeoltJ,_ital aM Lit.,.",., JOW'fIGl_ Edit. 6, DtJf1itl N. Lord, N,.. Vtri: , . .

,..,.,,,...,. Xf6ipe. N•• I.-V. 1848-8.
YOL. IL 18
 Tlur Letter and thB Spirit. [Jane,
the Son of God in the clouds of heaven, to be seen by every eye, while
the other is accused of submitting these clear predictions to some
,exegetical alembic, which so effectually subtilizes and evaporates their
meahing that nothing remains to answer to the splendid annuncia-
tion but a mere interior and invisible ,,'ork of the Spirit npon men9 s
hearts. Thus we behold the so-called literalists arrayed against the
so-called spiritualists, and yet both arraying themselves in avowed
hostility against \\?hat we venture to denominate the true spiritual
interpretation of the New Church.
In this controvers)" the literalists have the advantage, while the
spiritualists are nearer the truth; for the former are consistent ,,·itll
their principles, ,vhile the latter are Dot. Consequently they are un-
able to stand the brunt even of the rough and inerudite assailings of
Millerism, except by a virtual ignoring of the whole subject of eseha-
tology. They have not answered the arguments of their opponents,
nor can they do it on the grounds which they themselves profesSed))·
occupy in respect to a Millennium. Assuming that that period is yet
future, and its commencement of no distant date, the literalists or
adventists bear down with overwhelming \veigbt of argument upon
them, maintaining that the Second Coming precedes and ushers in
that sublime era. The spiritualists say nay, but refuse to commit
themselves to a defined position. All that they know is that there is
to be a MillenniuJD of some kind, occurring at some time, introduced in
some way, and brought to an end from some cause, and that im-
mediately thereupon the Lord is to descend from heaven, born up
the earth, raise the dead, and administer the judgment, 'but as to the
what, the when, the ho,v, the why-on these points they rest cont(lnt
in knowing nothing, because of the impression taken up that nothing
is to be known.
Such, in the main, has hitherto been the position oC affairs. The
literalists have fair possession of the field, and nothing detracts from
the conscious glory of their prowess bat the apathy of the former oc-
cupants, who are actually so indifferent to the whole maUer that
they do not know that they are conquered. The victors indignant
at this stupid or torpid insensibility to their achievements, have been
intent upon rousing them to the sense of their disaster, instead of
allOWing themselves to indulge in the vain dream that their fighting
is to be done in the far-off days of Gog and Magog. Still, however,
they have slumbered and slept in the easy-chair of their traditional
faith or no-faith, till of late their listlessness has been somewhat rudely
invaded by the stirring notes of a new champion of the pre-millenDial
tenet, who has evidently entered the arena with a determination to be
heard and to be felt.
Mr. Lord comes into the prophetical fray, like Cmur-de-LioD of old,
89 much to the wonderment of hiB friends as ofhis foes. Both partie....;
are aghast at bis bearing. He is willing to fight single-handed, and
cares &8 little \vho follows as who ooDfronts him, and if the 8weep of
his hermeneutical battle-axe occasionally clips ft, head from off the
shoulders of one of his own acolytes, while it decapitates some 8core~
of the adversary, he passes on heedtess of tile eifec&s of the stroke
and ready to repeat it in the next melee. It iI quite &lDusiDg to 1188
1849.]

how the " Advent Herald" eyes askance ~hi8' dubiolls defender of its
cause, who neither shakes hands nor gives countersigns, but goes
right ahead in the work of demolishing all manae·r ef interpretera,
and displaying an order of tactics never witnessed in mblical warfare
before. In the announcement oC the plan and scope of the" Theolo-
gical and Literary Journal," he thus puts a trwnpetof no uncertain
sound to his lips.
U We shall therefore endeavor to SRQW tae necessity of a revolution in pro-

plletic interpretation, by stating and confuting the hypotheses on \vhich expos-

itors have heretofore proceeded. We shall next unfold and demonstrate the
true Jaws of interpretation. In connexion with these, we shall review the
principal writers of the present day, and point out the errors of their 8y8tel118;
and finally, we shall state the solutions, to which, in gur jndgment, the legiti-
mate laws of explication lead., of those propbecie6.especially which relate to
the future, and point out the peculiar duties they impose on the church. We
shall indulge in no visionary theories. We shall give no countenance to the
wild dreams of enthusiasts and fanatics, who have dishonored the subject by
their extravagances. We shall yield no sanction to interpretations which we
deem erroneous or defective. The Journal is not to be the vehicle of the COD-
flicting opittions, which those who have alreadl studied the prophecies, or
P18y hereafter give them attention, entertain. Our aim is to Gverturn false
systems, and give prevalence to the truth. We cannot, with propriety, ob-
struct that endeavor, by virtually 8urrenderingour own views, and giving cur-
rency to what we regard as errort"-p. 8.
If this plan has not been fully carried out, it is owing to no lack of
ability or self-reliance on the part of the writer. for his pages are in-
stinct \vith a vigor peculiarly his own, and though his logical projec-
tiles Htrike powerless against tbe shield of the New Church, 'yet we
can readily admit -that we should feel less security encased in the fra-
gile mgis of the old system against which he mainly directs his at- .
tacks. Although we are entirely conscious that hE( looks with pro-
found contempt upon the system of doctrine and interpretation known
as that announced, not ori~nated, by SwedeBborg, yet we have been
diligent readers and careful ponder.ers of all that he has imparted to
the public since entering upon his present bold career of scriptural in-
vestigation and exposition. Contrary to all that we could ever expect
from him, we confess to a decided liking of his fearless and manly style
of discussion, betokening, as it does, a conviction of 'truth which is the
result of deep examination; albeit we rise from the perusal of his rea-
sonings just as strongly assured of a flll1damental fallacy running
through them as he doubtless lat down assured of their soundness. We
trust this free utterance may minister no offence. The veniam petimu
(pardon sought) pleads in its behalf t~e VBaiaa damu, (pardon be-
stowed), and the coin of candor ought ever to pass current in the
commerce of minds honestly intent ~pon the pursuit of truth and re-
joicing in the element of freedom. We have our .opinions, for whioh
we hold ourselves ready to give abundant reasons, on the 8ubj~ets
which Mr. L. has treated, and if we find ourselves forced to dissent
from his conclusions, we shall expect our dissent to weigh only so far
88 we clearly develop the ground on which it rests. The gratuitom
odium which unfortunately attaches to the S"tem we have espoused
 [June,
wiD no doubt preclude 'any· other than the usual reply to our argu-
ments, viz.-tliat Swedenl>org was a crazy enthusiast, and that rea-
BOning is thrown away upon snch wretched "stuff 8.8 (his) dreams are
made of"-yet we shall not be deterred from attempting a sober aDd
rational critique upOn several of the leading positions of Mr. Lord,
thanking him, however, in the outset, on the way, and at the end, Cor
taking a stand which enables us 80 directly to join issue with what
we have long contended to be enormous falsities in the principles of
biblical interpretation. Still it is Dot without regret that we eDCOUD-
ter these falsities in the speculations of Mr. L., from whose work OD
the Apocalypse and a pamphlet in reply to Mr. Elliot4 noticed ill our
fint volume, we had hoped that different results might have been
reached, although we could not then be insensible to the fact that the
approximation hinted at to our views was one that rather IJ!OI1&ued
tlian evinced an accordance that we could rejoice over. But our
allegiance to truth compels us to the disregard of persons in defending
its claims, although in the remarks that follow we shall sink the pro-
pounder as much as possible in the propositions which we gainsay.
The laws of interpretation as bearing upon the figurative language
of Scripture mainly occupy the pages of Mr. L.'s Journal. In this
department he claims to Ilave elicited new light and to have settled
Dew canons. Previous writers had found and had left this whole re-
gion of revelation enveloped in chaotic confusion. They seem
never to have thought that if their deductions were to be of any real
value they must rest upon premises that had something of axiomatic
certainty. Instead of this they had built the gravest conclusions on
a basis of mere conjecture. Their labored expositions were therefore,
little more than essays of pious guess-work. They were attempting
to solve the riddle without dreaming of the proper clew, and the thir-
ty changes of linen b~d remained ullclaimed to this day had Dot some
new heifer been found to plough with. Such a clew Mr. L. deems
that he has found, and with exemplary benevolence is diligently la-
boring to give to the world the benefit of his discovery. We are
ready to second his efforts to the utmost of our ability, so far at least,
88 to be a medium of presenting his views to the judgment of our
readers; but they, aB well as ourselves, have a standard ofjudgment
of which our author probably knows little, and therefore can scarcely
understand the authoritative light in whieh we view it. If he smiles
at our profound deference to this standard, we have nothing to say,
but that we very well know our ground and do not at all refuse to be
smiled at.
A clear distinction in regard to the difFerent natures and offices of
the various species of tropical language is the point wbich Mr. L
labors assiduously to establish. What is the peculiar genius of the
figurative language of Scripture? What is a comparison 1-what
a metaphor !-what an allegory 1-what a symbol T-what is the
1I8e made of these several forms of speech in prophecy 1-these are
questions standing out very prominently in his discussions, and which .
he has doubtless eanvassed more elaborately than any writer on the
prophecies who has preceded him. How far his conclusioDs are
1848·1
satisfactory will perhaps appear in the sequel. The following are
among the leading results which he has announced. .
L Tb" Oompari80R or Simile is the simple and formal affirmation
oCthe likeness of one thing to another, "as man is like the grass
which perisheth," "their word doth eat as doth a canker."
D. 'rhe ]tfetaphor differs rather in form than in essence from the
rimile~ It ascribes directly to ageBts or objects, the natures, charac-
teristics, or acts of 9tber beings or things without employing the term
of comparison. Thus," J oseph is a fruitful bough," "all flesh is
grass," ,. wisdom is a tree of life," "the ship flies over the waves," are
all specimens of the metaphor. Its use is perpetual in the Scriptures,
and its laws some'\vhat intricate. Among these Mr. L. specifies the fol-
lowing :-(1.) That to which the metaphor is applied, is always express-
ly named as the subject of tae description. It is not left t.o be ascer..
tained by interpretation as is the case in regard to symbols. It is
designated by its proper and literal name. Thus Christ, in place of
being likened to a branch, is directly called the Branch, because he
was to spring from the family of David, as the branch shoots from the
trank or root of an ancient tree. The watchmen of Israel are called
domb dogs, because"like a shepherd's dogs that are dumb and unable
to warn the flock of the approach of beasts of prey, they were, from
their ignorance, sloth, or devotion to gain, wholly useles.~ as watch-
men. In like manner, in ordinary speech, a person of mild disposi-
tion is denominated a lamb, or dove, because he resembles it in gen-
tleness; and despotic and cruel men are called tigers, because their
passions are like those of that animal. III these figures, as in all
others, both the subject and the predicate of the proposition which
they embody, are expressly mentioned; 80 that it is shown who or
what it is that is said to resemble something else, and who or what
it is tllat it is said to resemble. (2.) The terms of the affirmation
are used in their literal sense. If we say "the ship flies,". both
the term "ship~ and "flies," as terms, are to be interpreted
literally. It is not any other object than ship that is meant,
nor any other motion than that of flying. The essence of the
figure'is in the application of the idea of Hying to the motion of
the ship. (3.) When. a nature is ascribed to it that does not belong
to it, the acts that are then affirmed of it are such as refer to the im-
puted nature, not to its own. Thus if a man is declared to be a tiger,
and dispositions and acts are ascribed to him under that denominatioD,
they are acts of aggression, ferocity, or blood-shedding such as are
proper to a tiger. '1'0 the above we may add (4.) what the author,
from its intriusic importance, if true, ought to have made more dis-
tinct!.)· prominent, ,·iz. that the essence of the metaphor lies in the
predicate and not in the subject. "In a metaphorical prediction the
subject of the affirmation is al\vays the subject also of that which is
foreshown, the ftg·ure lying wlwlly in the predicate." "In a metaphor,
also, that '\vhich is affirmed is never literally true of the subject of
the figure." Thus, for instance, in the expression." the ship flies," the
predicate" flies" is not literally true of 'c ship," the subject of the af-
firmation ; it is only figuratively true, that is to say, the very element
 [J1IDe,
of the metaplior is to be recognized In what is predicated of the sab-
ject, and not in the subject itself. We shall bring this alleged law to
the test in the sequel.
Ill. Personification, Apostrophe, Allegory, Meto'101IIY, ~ynecdocAe,
Proaopopoeia,-all these are defined and ill ustrated, but as they are
amply espounded in the ordinary text-books of rhetoric, and as they
are distinguished by no such peculiarity as makes it necessary to
dwell upon them in this connection, we pass them by in silence.
The two followingo are of.far more importance.
IV. Symbol. This is the grand feature of the prophetical style,
and the principles involved in its nature and use are abundantl)~ dis-
cussed by Mr. L. It is here also that he claims to have gone beyond
his predecessors, in clearly determining the laws by; which the inter-
pretation of the prop'hetic symbols is to be governed. The essential
characteristic of the symbol is the employment of one set of agents,
objects, or phenomena, as the representative of another. It differs
from other figw-es in the circumstance that the agents or objects em-
plo)'ed are always supposed to be present either to the extemal
senses, or to the mental perception of the prophets. Thus the siege of
Jerusalem is reprelented by Ezekiel's taking aD iron pan, and setting
it for a \vall, and then laying 1\ mimic siege against it. In this case
the symbol was naturally present to the prophet. In the case of
visions, such as those of Daniel, Zechariah, and John, they were . .
pernatural'y present. But as a general principle wherever there is
any thing Hcenically represented to' the eye or the mind of the sacred
penman, there we are to recognize the play of the symbolic ma-
chinery. The paramount law of this figure, so to term it, although
Mr. L. is inclined to distinguisli between figures and 8ymbol~, is that
the 8)·mbol is always of a different species from that \'1hich it repre-
sents, where an appropriate symbol of a different species can be
1ound. The only deviations are when the agents to be represented
are of a nature that cannot properly be symbolized by any thing else
than themsel,Fcs, such as separate spirits, saints raised from the dead,
the Deity, the-incarnate Word in his supremacy as King of kings
and Lord of lordse That which renders a symbol appropriate is the
relation of analogy subsisting between the sign and the thing signi-
fied. Thus, to give his own illustration,o a destructive tornado, dis-
eharging lightning and crimson rain, denotes a slaughtering "nd de-
vastating away; a furious wild beast, a cruel aod bloody conqneror;
an angel summoning the nations to fear God and give .him glory,
an order of men proclaiming to them the calls and warnings of the
gospel. It is a peculiarity of the symbol, that, unlike other figures,
the realities which they are designed representatively to shadow
forth, are not specifically indicated, except in certain cast'.s when an
inspired interpretation of them is given; in other cases the import is
to be deduced from the nature of the symbol. It is to be remarked,
also, that figures are used for illustration merely, \ but symbols for re-
presentation, consequently they who mistake metaphors for symboJs,
or symbols for metaphors, arc sure to misinterpret them. This may
be 80; but as to the distinctive uses of metap}1ors and symbols, we
IINl.]

should say that the representative imagery of scripture is as much de-

signed for illustration as the metaphorical. But of this more here-
after. Another prominent law of the symbol is that agents denote
&gents, acts denote acts, and efiects denote effects; or, in other words,
that the correspondenoe between the representative and that which
it represents, extends to all their chief parts, and the several elements
or parts of the symbol, denote corresponding parts in that which it
symbolizes.
The importance which Mr. L. attaches to the grand law of dir-
feftDCe of order or species in t.he symbol and the subject, may be in-
ferred from the tenor of the following paragraph : -
"What then is the principle of symbolization 1 \Vhat is the law by which
one set of agent!'and phenomena is used in the place of another, in making
to the !enses a mystical representation of the future ~ Are the signs chosen
from the class of objects which they are enlployed to represent, and on the
ground of a similarity of nature; or from another but in some respects a re--
sembling class, and on the ground of analogy 1-the question, the reader will
soon perceive, on the decision of which the whole interpretation turns. For
the principle on which they are used is undoubtedly in all cases the same.
If a victorIouS warriorbe a representative of bodies and successions of conquer-
ing warriors; if a civil magistrate be a symbol of a combination or series of civil
magistrates of a similar character; then must an animal also be taken a8 a
precursor of a herd and succession of similar animals; and monster shapes
like the locusts and horsemen of the fifth and sixth trnmpets, and the seven-
headed and two-horned wild beasts be regarded as foresho\ving the appear-
ance on the theatre of the world of races of similar monsters. Otherwise
there can be no uniform law of symbolization, and thence no certainty Of in-
terpretation. It were as incompatible with' a demonstrable meaning, -that
symbols should be used without any rule of relationship or significance, 88
that sounds, or letters and written words, the representatives of sounds, should
be used without any established and uniform meaning."-Exp. of .Apac. p. i2:o
"But that relation manifestly is not a similarity of nature.. A wild beast is
Dot a representative of a herd or succession of wild beasts of the same specie8.
There are no seven-headed and ten-horned monsters in the forests or culti-
vated tracts of the Roman empire; nor horses with lion's heads, and tails hoog
with a growth of serpents. A symbolic sea in like manner, is not a repre-
sentative of a literal sea j nor a fountain or river, of some real fountain or
stream of the apocalyptic earth. It were as erroneous and abeurd to impute
to the symbols such a relationship in this instance, as in the former. It were
to misconceive the nature of symbolization, as he would misconceive the na.
ture of a simile, who should regard it as a comparison of a thing with itself;
instead of some other object of an analogous natnre-as a lion with a lion, a
tempest with a tempest; instead of man or some other creature, in respect to
courage with a lion, or passion with a whirlwind. It was entirely to set
aside the mysteriousness of symbolization, and treat it as merely equivalent
ID a verbal description of the things which it denotes. If a fountain be the
!epresentative of a fountain, \vhat enigma is there ill the symbolization'
What is the object of presenting it in vision 1 Why is not a verbal descrip-
tio·n BS suitable a means of foresbowing it., as a visible exhibition 1 If the
drunken sorceress, borne on the wild beast, be a precursor of a succession of
luch sorceress, what mystery is there in the sign ~ What veil is left on t6e
meaning 1 What peculiar need is there of wisdom to its interpretation 1 But
that that is not the relatioll of the sign to the thing signified, we know by the
interpretation given of many of the symbols by the great Revealer himself,
and the attending angels. A star, we are told by the Redeemer, is a symbol
 [1-e,
of the messenger or minister of the church, Dot of a 8ucceuioD of atan; and
a candlestick of a ~hurch itself, Dot of a multitude or series of candlesticks.
A horn represents a succession of kings, and the dmnken 80rcere88 a great
combination of nationalized religiou8 teachers and ntlers. The gronnd of
symbolization is indisputably therefore, not a similarity of nature, but analo-
gy; general resembJauces by which objects of one species may be employed
to represent those of another."-E.xp. of .A.poc. p. 24.
U This, then, is the first great law of symbolization; the most extensive in
ita application, aud the most essential to be understood. Unhappily, however
though graven in the m08t conspicuous characters on every page of the Apoc-
alypse, it has not been the guide of interpreters, nor even attracted their DO-
tice. Had it been discerned and obeyed, It would have withheld them from a
large portion of the 80lutions, which they have deemed of the utmost signifi-
cance, and relied on with the greatest confidence. It overturns innumerable,
shadowy fabrics, which genius and learning have erected, and endeavored to
invest with. the air of truth, as
cc The sword of Micbael smites and feU.
Squadrons at once.
'c Had it, for example, been perceived that symbols, drawn from the mlers of
the Roman empire, are not re,presentatives of agents absolutely like them-
8elves, but analogou8 persons In some other body of men, having a resem-
blance to the population of that empire, as a vast comlnunity of various cha-
racters, and sustaining a common relation to laws, teachers and rulers, it
would have ,\'ithheld them from looking to the military or civil history of
Rome for the verification of those ~ymbo18; it being as preposterous to turn
in that direction for the agents and events denoted by them, as it were to look
to a vineyard for the agents and events denoted by the allegory of Isaiah,
chap. v.; or to an eagle, a cedar, and a vine, for those represented in the alle-
gory of Ezekiel, chap. xvii. Yet, such is the error of Grotius, Dr. Hammond,
Eichhorn, Rosenmuller, and others, in interpreting the first, third, and fourth
seals, of the insurrections and wars of the Jews; and of Mr. Brightman, Mr.
Mede, Dr. More: Mr. Whiston, Sir fsaac Newton, Bishop Ne,,'toD, Mr. Faber,
Mr. Elliott, and many others, in refeRing them to other military and civil
actors and events of the Roman empire."-lb. p. 28.

This is the language of an earnest and deeply assured dispenser of

new views of truth on an important theme. This, however, falls
quite short of the confidence which breathes forth, rather overween-
ingly in our opinion, from the following paragraph in regard to the
practical working of the principles propoun~ed.
"As the principle then on ,vhich othey (symbols) are emplQyed is thus peculiar,
it is manifest that they are to be inter.preted by a peculiar law j and that. that law
is to be deduced from themselves. Do the symbolic prophecies then present
any indication of the principle 011 ,vhich their symbols are to be explained!
Do they offer at their threshold, as it were, a ]rey to the inquirer, by which
all their mysteries may be solved 1 Yes, '\ve ·answer; the most obvious aod
satisfacto.ry. No rule of philological interpretation is capable of more ample
delnonstration than the great la,v by which they are to be construed. The
axioms and definitions of geometry, algebra, or fluxiollS, are not more ade·
quate to the solution of the problems of those branches of knowledge, than
the means are which the prophecies of Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, and John
furnish, to the explication of their visions. They contain a specific re\"p.lation
of the mode in which their symbols are employed, and of the grounds of all
deviations from their chief law, that are as equal to the solution of all their
peculiarities, 8S the great laws of matter, as stated by Newton, are, to the ex-
18&]
plication of the complex phenomena of tlle material univene. The inter-
preter has but to follow them implicidy, and be will find them an infallible
pide."--Joumol, No. 11. p. 178.

This may stand at the present for what it is worth; we propose to

put it to the test in the'sequel. Meantime we bave only one more of
Mr. Lord's figures to consider, and this is presented to us under the
not very euphonious name of
V. Hypocata6tlUia, or Substitution, the nature of which is the sud.
den introduction, without formal notice, of certain agents and objects
in the place of persons and thiDgs of which the sacred writer is really
treating, and which are exhibited either as -exerting or being subject
to an agency proper to their nature, in order to represent by analogy
the agency whica those persoDs are to exert, or of which those things
are to be the subjects. This is a kind of interloping figure of odd
title and erratic functioDs which needs to be scrutinized very closely.
We may perhaps detect in it an old fa.miliar face under a new visor.
We may be able to point out to Mr. L. under this figure, as he exhibits
and defioeslt, that very principle of correBJJOTUhrtee which he regards
with such sovereign contempt as taught 6y Swedenborg in what he
denominates the Spiritual Sense of the Word. That there is at lea.st
a very strong affinity between them will probably appear from the
following examples; "Ho, everyone that thirstetb, come ye to the
waters, and he that bath no money; come ye, buy, a.nd eat; yea, come,
bay wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do
ye spend money for that which is not bread Yand your labor for that
which ~atisfieth not 1 hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that
which is good, aDd Jet your soul delight itself in fatness."-I•• Iv. 1, 2.
Upon this Mr. L. remarks.
1& Here hunger and thirst most obviously are nt>t the wants that are really
proposed to be supplied; nor are water, milk, honey and bread, the gifts that
are proposed to be bestowed ; but the hunger and thirst of the body are used
as representatives of 'the corresponding wants and desires of the mind; and
water~ milk, honey, and bread, as representatives of analogous means of
spiritual sustenance. And they are not used by a siml1itude; as no com-
parison is instituted bet\veen them; 110r by a metaphor; as water, milk, honey
and bread are Dot unnatural, but the natural and usual means of supplying
those wants of the body, and cannot therefore be u!led f1Itt(Jplwrically to denote
its food. That would be to make that a metaphor which is literal and natural,
which is against its nature."--Jour. No. Ill. p. 370-1.

He has moreover designated the following as specimens of this

figure; "And many people shall go and say, come ye and let us go up
to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of J acob; and
he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths."-I8. ii. 3.

U They are Dot literal highways which God is to teacb those who go there;
Dor material paths in which they are to walk. But ways aDd paths which are
to the body what laws are to the mind, are employed on account of that re-
semblance, to denote the revelations and commands which he is there to com·
m1lDicate for their guidance. That, accordingly, which the people propose to
 16. Two L"ter, fro- Be.,. J. OleuJe,. [JaDe,
do, is not to walk in a literal path from one place to another but ipstead, to
, pursue the course of conduct which God enjoins OD them."::)our. No. V. p. 3.

Under the same category he brings the following: "0 house of la-
cob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord."-18. ti. 5.
"This is Dot a metaphor; as ,valking in a light, and ill a light flashing from
the divine presence, as {roln a pillar of fire which illuminated the camp of
the Israelites in the desert, is suitable to mao's nature, not incompatible with
it. But as walking is to the body what the exercise of its faculties is to the
80ul; and &8 light is to the eye what knowledge is to the mind; walking ina
light emanating from Jehovah is put in the place of acting conformably to the
teachings which he is to communicate for their guidance."-Jour. No. V. p. 4.
So again tbe following, "the lofty looks of men shall be humbled,
and tbe haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord aloDe
shall be exalted in that day."
"To cast down the eyes, is to direct them downwards to the gronnd, in
shame or fear, instead of upwards, in self-complacency and haughtiness; and
that attitude is employed to represent a corresponding depression of the mind
whose pride they were accustomed to exprees. The height of men is their
elevated station 1 and the dejection of that height or seat to the ground, is
used to deuote tne overthrow of the power which they derive from it or exert
in it, and deprivation of their greatnE:ss."-Jour. No. V. p. 8.
The New Churchman needs not to be reminded how nearly this ap-
proximates to the fundamental principle of correspondence, nor CaD
he fail to perceive how difficult it is, in laying down a system of her-
meneotics which shall cover the whole ground of the Scriptures, to
avoid recognizing that principle in some form, or under some title.
Mr. L. would evidently gladly avoid 'the recognition if he could; but
it will force itself upon him, and we shall hope to show as we proceed
that one might as well attempt to hide sunbeams as effectually to
throw a veil over the radiant rays of the spiritual sense.
Upon this proposed expose we shall enter in our next.
G. B.
(To be Continued.)

ARTICLE 11.

TWO LETrERS FROM REV. J. CLOWES.

MR.. EDITOB..-Is Dot the life of man a perpetual cycle in its movement-
reaching forward to lay hold on the future t the yet unknown and undeveloped,
and then again retuming through the spheres of all preceding states, rejecting
their evil, and confirming their reception of good and of truth; and again,
with new vigor, 8tretching its onward course towards its unapproachable
goal-the Source of its existence and Infinite Fountain of goodness and
troth,. And where else do we find the f'tJIionaU of this connection between
the future and the put philosophically laid open to the btuDaD. udentaDd·
 JlM9.] Letter 1.
ing, as we do in the writings ot Swedenborg , He) by the illustrating power
of the human (arm, exhibits the connection, dependence, and unity of all
beings and states, redncing, as it were, the past, present, and future to U one
eternal NOW;" and confirming the whole by a reference to the sciences and
laws of the material universe.
Observing that amongst your gleanings for the Repository, you gave its
readers, in the number for April, a letter from the venerable Clowes, of neu
thirty years date, I take the liberty to send you two others, subsequently re·
ceived by the same person, and which never have been published. If yon
should think any pan of their contents likely to interest and be useful to your
readers, please use them at your discretion.
Thongh it is not the province of mortals to measure the receptivity of good.
ness and truth by anyone, we know that, according to the communication
to others of what is GIVEN, is the bestowment of Divine bounty; and that,
'" from him to whom much is given, much also will be requ!red)" which role,
if applied to the New Churchman, renders his stewardship of fearful respon-
sibility. From no one intlividual, since the time of Swedenborg, probably, has
the church received 80 copiously the knowledges of good and truth peculiar
to the Ne\v Dispensation, though in a diluted form, as from the Rev. John
Clowes. And it is conceived that no other person has evinced a more ardent
love of the troths he embraced, or sincere desire of communica~ing them to
others for their spiritual benefit. If the generality of his works have not been
dis~gnished for intellectual point and vigor, which characteristics they cere
tainly have in 80me instances exhibited, they have been for goodness and
charity, and have shown forth and applied the great leading doctrines and
peculiarities of the New Dispensation, in a manner to reach, most extensively,
the minds of those in simple good, and posses8ing heavenly renewal;and
thu8 to !:ear the church upon its tnte foundation. SQme one of the numerous
productions of his pen-fifty in all, including tracts for children, and some sin-
gle sermons-his copious prefaces to his translations from Swedenborg---hes,
doobtless, met the eye of almost every receiver in this country; and as all
who worship the LollD in His Divine humanity, " are bound up in the same
bundle of love," without reference to time or place, if we have received good
from those who are now exalted, may we not cherish it as a pledge that they
. may still minister to our further benefit if we seek to continue our ass ociatioD
with the sphere of that heavenly'life they have attained.
With this view we would appreciate the writings and other me~oria18 of
those who have departed from this life, not as clogs to hold our understand-
ings and a1fections to the past, but 88 means of helping us forward to states
and spheres of superior life. . Z·. H.
BATH, ME.
MANCHESTER, J AN. 24, 1822.
My DEAR 81••-1 have to thank' you for two very kind and· accep-
table letters, the first bearing date January 19, 1821, and the'second
.September 29, 1821, whilst both are calculated to open the door of
grateful and affectionate remembrance. From both, too, I have the
 7'tDo Letter'I"'" Rev. J. ClD.,. [Jme,
great satisfaction of learning, that the heavenly doctrines of the New
Jerusalem are beginning to impart their vivifying and salutary iD-
ftllences to the inhabitants of your country, and that thus the eagle
of Divine intelligence is now, as in old time, ".tirring up her ne,',
fluttering over her young, spreading abroad her wi!,-gs, taking them,
and bearing them on her wings." (Deut. xxxii. ii.) May we not rea-
sonably hope, therefore, that it may presently be said of the New, as it
was once said of the ancient church, "He made him ride on the AigA
place, of tAe earth, 'that he miGht eat the increase of the fields; and he
made him to 8Uck honey (Jut Of the rock, and oil out of t'he flinty rock;
lnItter of kine, and milk of ,heep ; with fat of. IambI, and rams of tke
breed of Baahan and goat,; with the fat of kIdneys of wheat, a"d thou
tlidst (or shall) drink the pure blood of the grape 'I" (verses 13, 14.) I
bve no doubt, in my own mind, bat that such will be the happy re-
IIl1ts of a deliberate reception of the ETERNAL TllUTB, as it is at this day
revealed to us, and that they will follow in the order here described.
Elevation, therefore, of the will and understanding, signified by riding
on ·the highllacea of the earth, will be the first r.esult, and this will
be succeede gradually by the appropriation of every good and truth,
whether represented by the increcue of the fields, by honey, by oil, by
butter, by milk, by fat of lambs, by rams of the breed of Bashan and
goat" or by the lat of the kidneys of wheat, until finally the genuine
truth of the Word, in its connection with its adorable Fountaiu, the
DIVINE HUMANITY of the LORD, be appropriated, signified by drinking
the pure blood of the grape. Thus it would appear that various orders
and degrees, both of good and of truth, are opened in the regeneration, _
and that as every order and degree of truth points to a good, and
enters into marriage with it, so from that marriage is produced a
higher order and degree of intellectual truth, which again conducts to
a higher order and degree of voluntary good. Hence it follows, th"t
in every state of regenerate life, there is a marriage of good ,vith
truth, and of .truth with good; but then, as our enlightened author
justly remarks, "this marriage is not between good and truth of one
and the same degree, bat between good and truth of an inferior degree
and of a superior -; that is, not between the good of the external man
and the truth of the same, hut between the good of the external man
and the truth of the interna~, or, what is the same thing, not between .
the good of the natural principle of man and its truth, but between
the good of the natural principle of man and the truth of the spiritual
principle. The case is similar in the internal or spiritual man, there
t being no heavenly marria&e in that man between his good and trutb,
bot between the good of the spiritual man and the truth of the celestial
man, for the celestial man is in a snperior degree respecti,"'ely;
neither is there a heavenly marriage between the good aDd truth of
the celestial man~ but between the good of the celestial man, and the
truth Divine, which proceeds from the Lord"-(A. O. 3952). From this
account then of the heavenly marriage, and of the blessed ascent to
which it gives birth, it is manifest that conjunction with truth Divine,
or with truth proximately proceeding from the LORD'8 DIV1NE Hu-
MANITY, is the highest step in that ascent, and that thus to drink the
pure blood of the grape, is the crowning stage of man's regeneration.
J849.] Letter 1. 259
But I shall weary you with my comments, and therefore, by your
leave, I will proceed to a more particular discussion of the contents
of your last highly valued communication.
And fir.t, in regard to what I would term the Boston heresy, or the
idea of a conjugial connection subsisting between a minister and his
congregation, I would observe (as I have already done in a letter to
Mm Prescott on the subject) that perhaps the most successful mode
of combating it will be, to let it alone, in other words, to leave it to die
to
of itself a natural death; or, at all events, not oppose it with vio-
lence and acrimony, which will only tend to keep it longer alive. For
such is evidently the nature of some errors, that they acquire strength
by opposition, and bum with greater fury in consequence of the ma-
terials incautiously heaped on them to stifle and extinguish their
flame. It appears, therefore, to me, toat the weapons of our war-
fare, OD this occasion, ought to be helmettJ and ,hielth, rather than
WX1rtU and 8pear8; in other words, that we should rather stand 01&
the dsfenaive by gentleness, patience, and forbearance, yet with firm-
ness, than be ojferuively active in the bitter spirit of dispute and con-
troversy.
But I hasten, 8econdly, to a subject of far more importance, which
seems to have occupied much of your attention, and on which you
are desirous to know my ofinion-I mean the subject of education.
On this point, however, am happy to think there can be but one
opinion amongst the members of the LORD'S New Church, because by
the light of the heavenly doctrine of the New Jerusalem, we are
constrained to see,. that language" arts, and 8cieRCea, ought to be re-
garded as the basis, or foundation-stones or all education, since they
form the groundwork, not only of all that is excellent in natural and
civil life, but of the perfection too of spiritual and religious life. The
single question; therefore, seems to be this--now may languages, arts,
and sciences, be most successfully acquired 1 In answering this ques-
tion I would not say with Mr. Locke, that "oar great schools make
a great waste of time in teaching Latin, for that any old tDOmQn in
t1&e country ",-igAt teach it in two yeara," nor would I lay 80 much
stress, as our Milton does, in his letter to Mr. Hartlib, on the gym-
nastic exercises, for I think it possible that too much, as well as too
little, attention may be paid to bodily health and activity. I would
therefore say, that all learning implies mental exercise, and even
labor, and that this, probably, is one of its uses, to excite the mental
powers, and by excitation to increase both their activity and their
vigore Yet, it must be allowed,. at the same time, that the mental
powers may be too much excited, especially when their activi~ and
vigor bear an undue proportion to bodi!y health and strength, and
thus tend to weaken and destroy them. Perhaps then the advantages
of education would be best secured by establishing a proper counter-
poise between the exertions of mind, and the infirmities of fliatter, 10
that the fonner may not bear too hard on the latter. But here again
arises another question, viz: what is the beat or Ji!tut C9UnterpoUe on
81Ich occasio~ 1 I would not scruple to"answer this question bysB.y-
iDg, that it is IOme IOn of manual labor, especially a labor which at
 TIDO Letter8 from Rev. J. ClofDU. [1mae,
once exercises and renovates the body, and which besides is atte~ded
with some profit, either to the individual or the community. Still I
am of opinion, and this decidedly, that lame" sports, and recreatiotu
cif amusement, ought not to be neglecte , particularly in the case of
young persons, because the love of such things, as we no\v learn, is
inspired from heaven, and seems therefore to be of providential ap-
pointment to promote at once the health and activity both of min4 and
body. Let the pursuits of science then be accompanied with a proper
attention to the demands of the body, and let those demands be com-
plied with, either by the cultivation of the earth, whether in the way
of agriculture, or gardening, or by gymnastic and military exercises ;
or lastly, by sports and pastimes; and I am of, opihion that, in such
cas~, all the ends of education will be secured, because those ends are
all comprised in the ancient maxim, "Ut me118 sit sana in corpora
SQ1UJ,,}'-a sound mind in a healthy body.
I cannot conclude my letter without endeavoring to give you some
idea of the progress of the church in this country; yet I am aware at
the same time that the view, which I have to present, is not quite so
satisfactory as might be wished. For it is a melancholy fact, that
the great body of what are commonly called the learned and the or-
thodox still continue to shut their eyes against the bright light of the
heavenly doctrines of the New Jerusalem, and that in man)· instances
this intellectual blindness is the result, not only of a careless and cri-
minal indifference to spiritual concerns, but of decided hatred and hos-
tility against the very name of the enlightened herald, who was com-
missioned from above to proclaim the descent of the Holy Oity, pre-
pared as a bride adornedfor "l!£r husband. Nevertheless, with the excep-
tion of these modern scribes and pharisee" it is delightful to observe
numbers amongst the laity, and a few amongst the clergy, who admit
the glad tidings cif great joy announced at this da)· unto all people,
with their whole heart and soul and strength. Others again receive
our author 3S an expositor of the sacred scriptures, but cannot give
him credit for his intercourse with the invisible world, and for ~the
memorable relations of what he heard and saw there. It is evident,
therefore, to me, that the reception of the LORD at his second advent,
bpsrs a close resemblance to that of his first, and that consequently
there is every reason to belie,~e, that \vhat was said to the Jews of
old \vill apply to modern Christcndom-T~e kiJl.~dom of GOD ,hall be
taken from you, and given to (I, nation bearing Jruit. Thus our au-
thor's testimony is likely to be confirmed, \vhere he says, that" a Nw'
Church is rarely, if ever, e!tabli84ed amongst the men of a former
church"-(A. C.2910). At all events, ho\vever, it is a consolation to
think that the seed of the new kingdom is sown here below, and that,
like the grain of mustard seed, it ,,"ill grow up into a tree, and tIN
fowl, cif heaven will build their nests in itB bra7tc~" and therefore it
is of little concern \vhether the root of the tree he fixed in Europe
Asia, Africa, or America.
In devout prayer for your welfare, both temporal and eternal, and
for that of all yom- society, to whom I beg my }{indest remembrance!,
I remain, dear sir, gratefully and affectionately, yours, ·
J. CLOWK8.
 1NL] IJ,.,. 11.
P. S.-If you haft never see. any account of Fellenberg'. System
.. )

of Education, as established on his estate in Switzerland, it may be

worth your while to inquire for it. Yon will find it accurately de-
scribed iD some late numbers of the Edinburgh Review.

MANCBE8TEB, APRIL 18, 1823.

My DEAJl SIR.-Your kind and welcome favor, bearing date the 80th
of September last, was received \\~ith gra.titude, and would not have
remained so long unanswered, had health and leisure permitted me to
take up my pen. But I have had to strnggle with a winter of much
bodily infirmity, whilst at the same time my ba.nds have been op-
pressed "ith an unusual load of business, in consequence of the exer-
tions necessary to bring to the press the new version of the Gospel,
according to Luke, accompanied with explanatory extracts from the
writings of our illustrious E. S. Adored however be the Di\ine Pro-
vidence of our M08'r MERCIFUL LORD, who, in His goodness, has been
pleased to remove both these causes of silence, by restoring me, in
the first place, to my usual strength, and, in the 8econd place, by en-
abling me to complete the work intended for publication, and to place
it in the ha.nds of the printer.
But now, \vhen neither sickness nor business any longer stop the
way of communication, what shall I sa.y to the contents of your in-
teresting letter 1 In the first place I would thank you for the trouble
)·ou have taken in circula.ting information respecting the state of the
New Church in l~our country, which circulation, like that of the blood
in the human body, has its important uses, by imparting nourishment,
refreshment and strength to the various organs and members of the
LoRD's spiritual body the church, in their present scattered state,
throughout the world. In this view, it is impossible to describe to
you the effect \vhieh a letter, written by a devout member of the New
Church in America, produces in the minds of the members of the Ne\v
Church in this country. We literally devour all the intelligence
which it contains, and feed upon it as on a dainty 8~nt down to us
from above. You cannot therefore, in future, be too minute Bnd pal'-
ticular in l·our information of what is passing in your reforming
States, since it is not only the rare and general fm-m of the bride, tAe
LAMB'S wife, which 'Ye are delighted to liehold, but we are eager also
to note ifit be only the length of her little finger, and the cC/lor of her
naw. You will tell us perhaps that her finger, and naih are not yet
grown, and tha.t therefore you cannot describe them. Let us hear
then of the parts which are grown. and we will make oar conclu-
. sions concerning the rest, under a full assurance that if there be ft,
I01lnd heart and sound lung8, all the other members, organs and viscera
will, in due time, acquire a maturity of growth and perfection of
form. And here we wish to apprise you, that we do not reckon so
much on the numbers of those who read the heavenly doctrines of the
New Jerusalem, and are thus called to constitute a part of the above
Inide, as on the dUpontion in which they read, and on the ,if&Cefity
with which they apply what they read to the refonnation and rege
 [J1lIle,
or
nemtioD of their lives. Oar idea therefore is, that the descent the
New Jerusalem is more effectually promoted by ODe practical Chris-
tia.n, than by a thousand national ODes; in other words, that the birth
and growth of t1&e bride, the LAMB'S wife, is accomplished i:r::=rtion
as the evil of sin is removed by sincere repentance, and · ion is
thus given to the graces of heavenly lovt', charity, and life.
You see how my pen is disposed to ramble, and your goodness will,
I trust, make an apology for its rambling, by imputing it to the talka-
tiveness, which is the common infirmity of old age. I have not, how-
ever, yet done with my rambling, because I think it of importance to
observe further on the above subject, that it is not allowed perhaps to
human eyes to discern the full measure of the growth and formation
of the fair lady of whom we are speaking, since human eyes can
only see her external shape and coloring, but cannot at all penetrate
into her internal character, so as to discovet what her real quality is
in the light of her GOD. For who, except the OMNISCIENT, is able to
perceive clearly how far, or to what extent, sin is removed in the
minds of men, and holiness implanted 1 Or, to express it otherwise,
what other eye, but that of the ALMIGHTY, can ascertain precisely in
what degree the defiled loves of self and of the world, are submitted
to the rule and guidance of the pure loves of the LORD and of our
neighbor; thus, in what degree the LOIlD is exalted and magnified,
by being seen and acknowledged to be All and Everything, whilst
man, at the same time, is abased and made little, by being seen and
acknowledged to be, in himself; or when left to himself; nothing but
the mO$t infernal evil, filth, and wretchedness? Y e~ until our view
of the heavenly bride can penetrate into the interior of her mind, and
spirit, and temper, how plain is it to see that we must be very incom-
petent judges of the oovsncement she has made, or is making, to-
wards the perfection of her beauty and her bliss I We must not,
however, be discouraged by the dimness of our optics, bot rather take
comfort from the reflection, that though we are short-sighted, yet the
vision of the ALMIGHTY is interminable, and therefore BB may be re-
joicing over the increasing excellellcies of His bride, at the very time
that we are bewailing her want of excellence, and the slowness oC
her advancement towards it.
Our Intellectual Repoaittwy will have acquainted you with the ge-
neral state of the New Church in this country, but it cannot record
particulars. Allow me, therefore, to observe, that the present period
appears to be a season rather of harve,t and ingathering, than oC ift-
.emination, and though the demand for the writings of OUf enlightened
scribe certainly increases, yet its increase is not in that degree which
might be expected in an united kingdom containing so many millions
of inhabitants. We hope, however, and trust, that our deficiency in
71umber. is amply compensated by an imprpvement in quality, and that
if our vine be not exuberant in the quantity of her fruit, it still re-
wards the care of its druse,. by yielding fruit both well ripened and or
a good flavor. For, after all, the important question is, not 80 much
concerning the extent of branchu, the redundancy of leave, and blo8-
...., or even the me and magnitude of grapu, as cgncerning the
raW, which the grapeI ucrite in the mouth of the rL.UI'!'D OP TO
'b'nA&D.
I conuol ooneJade my Joog letter wic.bout oongratula&iDg both your-
lel( and your brethren iD the United ~ on the acceuioo. of a
DeW advocate oftba ZTaU.u nuTS in thfl pClrsoD of the Rev. -
- , of P - - . A eopy of his IIlermoD on tM cAarocur and
aiuion of tAt 110" OP 1fAl'f was lately IIMlnt me by Mr. • to-
gether with an account of his (MeweD addreM to his congregation.,
from all of which I am. led to aogur moet favorably rtllIpClcting the
author, and to bow down in grateful acknowledgment of the Divine
proridence of the IlIm1T BIGB, who bath been pleased to. send into Hit
Yi.o:eya.rd 8. laborer, so weD qualified to dreu and to uep it.
Please DOW to acoept my unfeigned thaw for your kiDd letter,
azuI to allow me to hope that it will soon be roUawed by another, in
which hope I remain, dear air, with best love to the brethren, and de-
Tout prayer for you all,
Yours, gratefully and affectionately,
J. CLOWES•
..... _-----
..ulTICLE UI.

THE JEWISH TABERNACLE VIEWED IN ITS SPm.rnJAL IMPORT..

No. 11.
THE WALLS.
Tn description of the frame-work of the Tabernacle in our last
was designedly brief and general. Some f8J1ber~e.tai1a .ofthe struc.-
ture will ena.ble us the better to compass the sptntualmtent of the
whole. .
~ the walls of the building were d(".Signed to support a consider-
able weight in the superincumbent curtains or coverings, they re-
~ to be firmly set on their foundation. u well as securely con-
tignated or compacted together. The annexed cut of the boards and
SOCkets wm show bow this W$l efl'ected.
 IN ne JetDUA Ta6enuIcle vimIJed i" iU 8pirituGlltlapwt. [JRDe,
The detaila are thul given by Moses, :£sod. xxvi. 15-21,--" ADd
thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittim-wood staDding
up. Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half
Iball be the breadth of ODe board. Two tenons shall there be in one
'hoard, set in order one against another : thus shalt thou make for all
the boards of the taberDllcle. And thou shalt make the boards for
the tabernacle, twenty boards on the south side southward. And thou
Ibal\ make forty sockets of silver under the twent)· boa~8: two
lOCkets under one board for his two tenons, and t\VO sockets uDder
another board for his two tenons. And for the second side of the
tabernacle on the north side there shall be t\\J'enty boards. And their
forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets
under another board." As the length of the boards or planks consti-
tuted the height of the tabernacle, it follows from this, acconMng to
the common comput8tion of the cubit, that it was five·yards or fii~
teen feet high. As there were twenty of these on each side, each of
which was a cQbit and a half~ or twenty-seven inches in breadth, it
made the whole length thirty cubits or fifteen yards. Nothing, how-
ever, is said of the thickness of the boards, which Lightfoot fixes at
nine inches, and which we have every reason to belie,·e did not fall
short of that estimate, though the Rabbins make it an entire cubit.
This inference is confirmed by the fact that the Septuagint renders
the original by O"nfAo., pillars, which they would ~carcely have done
had they understood it to mean only boardB-8 very ina~equate ma-
terial certainly f9r such 8 structure. It is also worthy of notice that
Swedenborg renders it planka.
As to the two tenons in each board, these are in the original ya-
datA, handa, and projected, we suppose, from the bottom of each plank,
as represented in the cut. The term hands may be considered as
well applied to denote their holding Jut in the sockets into which
they were mortised. '" As some commentators, however, suppose that
the two tenons were projectiQns from the Bide instead of the end of
each board, and were inserted into corresponding receptacles in the
adjoining plank in order to give more compactness to the wall, we
have had both modes of constnit.tion indicated in the cut, and the
reader can take his choice bct,,"een them. The sockets were each
of them composed of a talent of sU,'er, aI1d every t,~o of them joined
together equalled in length the width of one of the planks, and so
formed, when united, one entire foundation, which, in the technical
language of the architects, might .be termed a. ,ilver ground-8iU.
In the attempt to unfold the spiritual import of the wall of the
Tabernacle as thus described, we can go of course only as we are led
by the wisdom-fraught guidance of the hieropbant of these sacred
mysteries. And first, as to the wood, itself; "shittim.,vood," the only
species of wood employed about the building in any of its parts, this
we are informed (.A. ·0. 9~72) denotes the good of merit, which is
the good proceeding from the Divine Human of the Lord, and this is
Christian good, or the spiritual good appertaining to man, the good b)·
which alone he is saved; as the goed proceeding from &Dy other
I 1Qurc8 is- not good, the Divine principle beiD& Dot in it, thus neither
)8119.] TAe Wall, and tAe Curtaiu.
Ileaven nor sa.lv8.tion being in it. .. Ina8mu~h," says our author, " as
the good of merit, which is of the Lord alone, is the only good \\"hich-
rei~ns in heaven, and which constitutes heaven, therefore that wood'
was the only wood which was applied to the construction of the tab-
emae)~t by which heaven was represented, as to the ark itlelf, in
which was tbe testimony; to its staves; to the table on which was the
bread of faces (shew-bread), and to its sta.ves; to the polea for its
habitation; to the }taves and to the pillars of the covering; also to
the altar and its staves." As the divine good is the'very essence of
every thing heavenly, it ,,'in be seen to be peculia.rly fitting that it
should be represented by the mateTial which constituted the inner
substratum, 80 to speak, of the Tabernacle and its various appenda-
ges. B:y the planks themselves is signified good supporting that hea-
ven which the Tabernacle represents, and" of which we shall speak
shortly. The reason why planks ~denote good supporting is, be-
cause they were of wood and supported the curtains (vails) and the
coverings over them. But curtains and every thing of the nature of
garments, denote truths, so that it resolves itself at length into good
invested by truth. It may here also be remarked, after our author,
that as all the representatives which are in nature have reference to
the human form, and have a signification according to that reference,
so also have the planks of the Tabernacle; these correspond to the
muscular or fleshy part in man, which supports the encompassing
coats and skins; and what renders the analogy more complete is, that
by flesh also is signified good.
The forty silver sockets (Heb. base" as they are also rendered by
Swedenborg) denote plenary support by trutn, as forty conve)"s the
idea n( fulness, bases of support, and silver of truth. "The reason
why the bases were of silver, and the planks co\~ered over with gold
was, because by planks is signified good, and by bases truth, and good
has power and thereby support by truth. The reason why good has
power by truth is, because truth is the form of good, and good there-
by has quality, for ,vhere quality is, there form is, thus it has whereby
it can operate on something else in this or that manner. HencA it is
that good has faculty, but not determinate, except by truth. Deter-
. minate faculty is actual power, conseque'ntly supporting power.
Bases also correspond to the feet and soles of the feet, in man; in
general to the bones, which support all the fleshy substance ~n the body.
By feet and by bones, in like manner, is signified truth supporting.
and by what is fleshy in the body the good which supports itself by
truth."- The general idea, therefore, is that of a foundation of truth
supporting a superstructure of good. But a foundation which is a
common basis, denotes the truths of faith and faith itsel~ so that the
silver sockets or bases of the Tlt.bernacle answer in effect to the
twelve foundations of precious stones of the New Jerusalem, which
are expressly declared by Swedenborg to ~enote the truths of faith.
THE CURTAINS OR COVERING&
"Moreover, thou shalt make the tabemacle with ten curtains of
I.e twined lineD, and blue, and purple, and scarlet ; with cherabiml
of C1UlJ!ing work shalt thou make them."-E-. xxvi. 1.
2e&' The Jttei.A Tdtmacl. tli.e1D$Cl ill ie. Spirituall",port. [Jone.,
It will be obse"ed that tbe word Cl wilh" in the flrtlt claaee il priftt~
cd in Italics to denote that the tenn answering to it in the original is
wanting, and tbis ract is important here. al!I going to confirm the view
of many of the best critics that "tabernacle" in this passage, in-
ltead of denoting the buiJding itself, ill really used la signify the imwr
,d of curtairu. The mekning of .. Tabernacle" is .. tent," and the
curtaios themselves would form a" tent," independent of the wooden
walls, and the feliding of th Hebn:w ill, .. Thou shalt make the taber-
nacle ten eurtaiol\" &c. These curtains, which the writer goes OD to
deBcribe, did not constitute the whole envelope of the Tahemacle, as
there were (our sets in all, the general appearance of which upon the
edifice may be inferred from the accompan},jng cut.

Of these curtains the innermost hel'fl deACribed were .by far the rich-
est and most exquisite. They were rnlUle of the finest linen: dyed of
the most beautiful color&, blue, purple, and scarlet, and curioWlly em-
broidered all over with cht.rubim, as if intended to intimate that the
beings thWl rep~sented were vitally interested in the great truths
shadowed forth by these most recondite and cflntral mysteries.' B)'
"Cherubim of cunning work," is meant the figures ofCheruhim em-
broidered into tbe tapeatry of wbich 1he linen curtains were COlDpc&
eeL Considering that the inner set of curtains here described was or-
b;&IDented tlaroughout with tbis splendid coloring and embroidery, We
are OD the whole strongly inclined to adopt the opinion of BAhr (Sya-
bolil de. Mo-ai.o.cAen CUllll6, p. 64), that no part of it hung OD the 0014
ftda of the structure. but that it 8en·t:d 8a an inlerior lining to both
the outer and inner rooms of the Tabernacle. To say nothing of the
fact that otherwise it is not easy to conceive why the linen curtaiD.l
were DOt as much an ohel or tent as the goats' hair, it follows from
the ordinary interpretation, tbat all that part of the beautiful em.
broidered work which ft.1I outside of the walls Wf\8 entirely concealed
nom view; th&t i, to say. that out of 1120 &quare cubits of thia cx-
quwtely wrought tapestry, only 300, or the portion over·head were
visible, teaviDg 820. or about three-fourths of the wbols, entirely Q_
eluded from thfl eye, either within or without, except wben the Tab-
ernacle Will taken down or set up; and then they would be upolled
to the petal gue, which was equally Mhorrent to the lIaCced.oeas of
1heird8llign. It may then be safely aak8d, whether thisu probable?
Would i.nb1te wiadom have authoril6d agch a aoperfl.uoua eqcM of
 1848.]

workmanship, such a prodigal waste of splendid imagery 7 Suppose

.this curtain-work, on the other hand, to be '\vholly suspended witlaia
the rooms, and the whole of the embroidery was or might be visible.
And in accordance with thist ",,'8 find that in the Temple, which was
modelled after the Tabt'rnacle, the figures of the Cherubim were
. carved on the i'lUide wall, all around the Holy and Most Holy Place
(1 Kings vi. 29).' It is true indeed that this view of the subject r&-
quires us to suppose that these curtains were attached by some kind
of fastenings to the upper extremity of the boards, after passing across
and forming the roof; but as the separating ,·ail (v. 32) was suspend-
ed from the pillars by means of hooks or loops, so nothing is easier
than to imagine that a similar expedient ,vas adopted here. The
more the matter is considered, the r.norA probable ,we think will this
suggestion appear; although we have in the figure above represent-
ed th~ inne'· set of curtains as hanging' without; but t~is is simply
with a view to display the difference of their texture from that of
the others.
The dimensio~sof the curtain are thus given: "The length of one
curtain shall be eight a~d twenty cubits, and the breadth of one cur-
tain foor cubits: and everyone of the curtains shall have one mea.-
sure. The fi ve curta.ins snail be coupled together ODt' to another;
and other five curtains shall be coupled one to another." The ten
curtains, therefore, were to be formed into two separate hangings,
five breadths in each, ,,·hich were proba.bl~' sewed together, while
the two hangipgs were coupled by loops and golden clasps. With
ODe of these large and gorgeous pieces of tapestry the, Holy Place
was covered, with whose dimensions it very exactly corresponded,
and with the other the 1\lost Holy. This was doubtless the reason of
the twofold division. But as the Most Holy Place was only five
yards long, there remained a surplus of five yards, which hung down
on the west end of that room, being just sufficie~t to cover it.
The second set, with their dimensions, is thus described: "And
thou shalt make curtains of goat's hair to be a covering upon the ta-
bernacle: eleven curtains shalt thou make. The length oC one cor-
tains shall be thirty cubits, and the br~ftdth of ODe curtain four cu-
bits: and the eleven curtains shall be a.ll of ODe measure." ,
The nature of this 'material was not unlike that of the modern
fabric called camlet. It was made of the finest hair of the goatt and
in the eastern countries the cloth made of this ma.terial was finer
than that made of the wool of the sheep or lamb. The ~urtains made
of it on this occasion were designed as a protection to the finer fabric
of the inner set. The breadth of each piece was the same as that of the·
former, but as there was one more of the camlet than of the linen, it
made the whole covering when coupled together two yards longer alld
one yard broader than the interior one. For this reason, it hung
down near to the bottom of the side-walls, and one yard in· front
over the entrance, which part of it was ordinarily doubled back.
Of the third and fourth of these envelopes, which were made
of the still coarser fabric oC skins, the acoount is very brief,
its being all comprised in the following versea: "And thou shalt
_ The J,UJi,la T~e vie. iJI iI, Bpirituallmpor1. [Jaae,
make a covering for th8 tent' of rams'. skins dyed reel, aad a 00-
.vering above of badgers' SkiDS." Nothiog is said of thb dimen-
sion- of either, but it is to be pre8l1med that each was &Om8-
what larger than the one immediately next it, and to which it
served as & "covering." It is Dot expre&4Ily stated whether the
ourtains lay flat or fJloping on the top of the tabernacle; if flat,
*here was more need of so many distinct coverings to prevent the
raiD from soaking through and injuring the inner and finer set, or
.from dropping into the sanctuary. . It is probable, however, that the
8ucces..ive layers would of themselv~s sufficiently round the t-op of
tabernacle to carry off the water, of which but little would be ex-
pected to fall in that arid region. It may also be supposed that j,n
good weather, and on more solemn occasions, the exterior and coarser
hangings were folded up on the sides 80 as to let the jnnor and finer
appear in all their beauty; and as it is certain that neither of the
inner hangings came lower tha.n to the upper side of the silver
ground-sill, that splendid foundation would be thus exposed to ,riew,
aD.d tbe whole together would present to the eye of the beholder a
magnificent spectacle. In bad weather, or at night, the skin-cover-
iDgs were probably let down to their full length, which W&~ sufficient
to Cover the silver sleept'rs, and thus protect them from rain or snow.
Sueh was the array of curtains that formed the fourfold envelope of
the sacred tent. In aiming to compass their spiritual purport, it is to
be borne in mind that all envelopes or clothing denote truths, and as
truths are-of various quality, so these different textures denote truths
of more refined or grosser character, or truths more interior or exterior.
A. by the tabernacle itselfis signified, 88 we shall see by and by, the mid-
dle or s~.cond heaven, which is heaven from the reception of the divine
truth, whioh is from th~ divine good of the Lord; hence the curtains of
which it was constructed, and with which it wa.~ covered, denote the
truths offaith, which are of the new intellectual principle. The interior
curtains denote of coarse interior truths, as truths of a more exterior
kind art' signified by the coarser goats' hair curtains. There seems to be
a tacit allusion to this set of curtains in the spiri~ual diction of the forty-
fifth Psalm, T. 13,- 14: "The King's daughter "is all glorious within;
her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought u~to th~ King
in raiment of needle-work." That curtaioH denote the truths of faith
appertaining to those who are in the Lord's spiritual kingdom, is mani-
festfromthe pa.'tsages in the Word where tbey are named, as Js.li\P. 1-3:
" Sing thou barren who hast not borne because more are the sons of
the desolate than the sons of her that is married; el~large the place of
'Ay tent, and le' them extelul the curtains of tJl.ine habitation. Make
long the ropes, because thou shalt burst forth to the right hand and
to the left, and th~" seed shall inherit the nations." Here the subject
treated of is the church about to be established among the Gentiles.
which is said to have more sons than the sons of her that is married,
because it has more truths than the truths of the former church de-
vastated, for sons denote truths; to ~nlarge the place of a tent denotes
the holy principle of worship derived from the good oflove ; to extend
the curtains of ~abitatioD8t denotes the holy principle of worship de-
 J849.] Tie WcdU ad tM· 0.,.,....
rived from the truths of faith. Hence to " stretch out the heav81I8 ..
a eurtain" denotes to enlarge the heavens by the inftux of truth.
The colors of these curtains partake also of their symbolical charac-
ter. As the tabernacle represented heaven, 80 the things of which it
was c0D8tructed, compacted, and adorned, repr~sented celestial and
spiritual things, \vhich are of good and truth. The fine twined
linen denotes truth from a celestial origin as apprehended by the
new intellectual principle of the regenerate man, and the blue, being
a celestial calor, denotes the celestial love of truth, while the purple
points to the' celestial love of good; and the scarlet donble-dyed the
good of mutual love. "The reason why scarlet double-dyed denotea
the good of mutual love and its truth is, from its appearance in the
other life; for when the sphere of that good and truth is presented in
the lower heaven, it then appears of ~ scarlet color, for what
flows down from the celestial heaven, and appears beneath, this
derives a color from what is flaming, and beneath becomes soar-
Jet from the brightness of the light of the middle heaven, which
it passes. Hence it is that double-dyed Icarlet, amongst other colon,
was applied on the curtains of the habitation, on the veil before the
ar~ on the coverings for the door of the tents, and of the court, on the
ephod, on the belt, on the breast-plate of judgment, and on the borden
of the cloke of the ephod. That scarle,t double-dyed signifies the good
of mutual love, ""yhich is the external good of the celestial kingdom
01' church, is evident from this consideration, that cloth of scarlet
double-dyed was to he spread over the table where the bread of faces
was. For the inmost things which are of the celestial kingdom or
church ,vere signified by the things which were on the table, espe-
cially by the bread."
The second set of curtains made of goats' hair, termed collectively
o1&el, or te1lt, denoted the external of heaven, which is from troths that
are from external celestial good. This appears from the signification
of curtains as denoting the interior truths of faith; in this case the
exterior truths of faith, because they were for the tent which was
over the habitation (tabernacle). And from the signification of the
wool of she-goats, of which those curtains were to be made, 88 de-
noting the es~ernal of heaven, for by the habitation is signified heaveD,
and by the tent which o"er·covered it, the external thereof. Hence
it i8 evident that by the curtains of '\\'001 of she-goats for the tem
over the habitation, are signified truths which are from external ce-
• lestial good, of which the external of heayen is composed.
The remaining coverings of rams' skins and badgers' skins, whioh
were made of still coarser materials, naturally indicated still more
extel-nal truths and goods, and such as were of a containing nature.
The reason why they denote truths and goods keeping together is, be~
cause all external things keep together (contain) internal thinp,
which is also here evident from the use of those skins, in that they
served for coverings. ·
Into the more detailed and recondite import oC the various things
of the tabernacle Swedenborg does not enter, as they would scarc~
en",r into the ideas of thought with men from their p~vailiDg is-
170 The J,VJUA TaberntJcle vietDed ia ill Bpirituall.port. [Juae,
DOraDC8 ofheavenly things. He remarks, moreover, that "scarcely
anyone knows that -mao, who is in the good of love and of faith, is a
heaven in the least form, aDd that such a man, both as to his interiors
and exteriors, corresponds to heaven. If these things bad been
known, the learned. in the Christian world, who have procured to
themselves any kno\vledge conceming the Corm of the human body,
might have been in some intellectual light, consequently in some id~
concerning heaven, and in such case migbt have apprehended what
things in heaven are represented by the ark, its propitiatory, and the
cherubs over it; what by the table upon which were the breads of
faces, and by the candlestick, and by the golden altar for inceue ;
allO what things are represented by the habitation, its curtains, planks,
and bases; and next by the tent, and by its two coverings, for similar
things appertaining to man occur in his internals and in his exter·
DaiS, and they are also presented in a material form in his body, to
which these internals exactly correspond; for unless the externals,
which are corporeal, exactly corresponded to the internals, which are
intellectual and voluntary, there would not be any life in the body,
thus neither any correspondent acts. It is said that similar things
occur in the tabernacle as with ma.n, since the representatives in na·
ture have reference to the human form, and have ~ signification ac-
cording to their relation to it; in the externals appertaining to man
there are four coverings, which encompass and enclose togeth~r all
the interiors, and which are called coats and skins; similar things
were represented in the coverings, ,vhich constituted the expanse of
the tabernacle; hence the understanding may borrow some light con-
cerning the forms of heaven; nevertheless that light will be extiD-
guished with all those who have not a distinct knowledge conceming
the things which are in the human body, and who have not at the
~e time a distinct knowledge concerning the spiritual things which
are of faith and concerning the celestial things which are of love, to
which those things correspond. Inasmuch as both the latter and the
former things with the generality are in a 8had~, )1'ea, in thick dark-
ness, Dot only from want of knowledge, bot also from ,,,ant of faith,
therefore it is thought needless to give any furtber .explication of
these thinp, since, as was said above, they would fall into no idea,
on account of the want of intellectual light in such things."-A. O.
9632.
We conclude our expositions of this part of the sacred edifice and
its paraphernalia by the following interesting remarks of S,,·edenborg
upon the direction, Exod. xxvi. 6: "And thou shalt make fifty taches
of gold, and couple the curtains together with the tache~; and it shall
be ODe tabemacle." "That hereby is signified the whole bea'''en
thus altogether one, appears from the signification of the habitation,
88 denoting heaven. That it is one when so joined together, is evi-
dent; for heaven consists oC myriads of angelic societies, and still the
Lord leads them as one angel, or one man. The reason of this is,
because there prevails amongst all, mutual love grounded in the love
of the Lord. When this love prevails amongst all and in all, then all
are capable of being arranged into a celestial form, which is such that
 I• .] ne WGu. ad t1ae OurtGiu. 271

several are one, and the more numerous they are the more strongly
they are one. The case herein is similar to that of the innumerable
things in the human body, which, although they are distinct and
variOQS, still make one. ThA reason is, because they are in a similar
fonn to that in which heaven is, for they correspond, as has been
shown at the close of several chapters; and from correspondence they
are in mutual love. and thereby joined together. Hence it is that
man, who is in the good of love and of faith, is a heaven in the least
fonn, and that the whole heaven before the Lord is &s one man. All
the conjunction of such innumetable angelic societies in heaven, with
the mode oftbeir conjunction, was rt'presented in the form of the con-
struction of the habita~ion and the tent, which are treated of in this
chapter. But the modes of conjunction, such as they are in heaven,
cannot come thence to the idea of man, by reason that man does not
even knO\V that by the habitation ,,'as represented heaven; and if
he know this, still he does not know that the heft.venly societies are
so joined together by love as to resemble one. But all those things '
ftow in fully into the idea of the angels, when these things relating
to the habitation are read, for all and sjngular the things of this des-
cription have an internal sense, which being manifested-by the Lord
before the angels, presents the state of the conjunction of all things
of the whole heaven one with another by the love which is from the
Lord. The conjunction of the angelic societies into one heaven has
, reference to these laws. 1. That eve.ry one (thing) in the form of the
heavens exists according to the heavenly harmony of several consa-
ciated. 2. That love is spiritual conjunction, \\yhence comes heavenly
hannony. 3. That there must be a universal bond, to the intent that
singular things may be kept joined together one ,vith another. 4.
That the universal bond must flow-in into the singular bonds, and
constitute them. 5. That the universal bond is the Lord, thus lo,·e
from Him, and hence love to Him. 6. That the singular bonds are
thence derived, and that they are of mutual love or charity towards
the neighbor. .These are the laws from which heaven, consisting of
innumerable angelic societies, is still as one man."-A. C. 9613.
G.B.
(To be COfttiratUd.) •

EXTRACTS.

UEvery de!ire which a maD favors fOWlS the nCe of his will, and every principle or
pnsuasion of what is false forms the life of his understaDding, and these lives make' a
one when the truths or doctrinals of faith are immersed in cupidity. Every man tbus
forms himself, 88 it were, his own soul, and his life after death is fixed accordiDgly."-
~. C. 794.

U Love is tbe very essence of man, and thence is the principle oCHre; it {~rms 1l1an BC-

r.ordlng to an imftge of itself, jlIst as the soul of man, which is his interior essence, 88 it
were, creates or effigies the body to an image of iteelf, and indeed so that by the body it
acta and has 88D..tion altogether as it wills and thinks, and thus tbe body is as the effect,
and the 80ul as the cause in which is the ~nd, consequently the lOuJ is lhe all in the body,
lithe cause oCme end is all in the etrecL"-..d. C. 4727.
2'72 The QlUJlilf of tAe butructor. in • New a.reA [Jane,

ARTICLE IV.

THE QUALITY OF THOSE WHO SHOULD INSTRUCT IN THE NEW

JERUSALEM, SHOWN FROM A CONSIDERATION OF THE
QUALITY OF THE CHURCH ITSELF.

Jp the quality of the church be not seen the quality of Its instruc-
tors cannot be seen, and although the quality of the New Jerusalem
has been fully shown in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, this
has been little regarded, but instead thereof the receivers of its doc-
trines have vie\l,ed it from the light derived from the faith of other
churches. What transcends one's plane of thought is not regarded ;
and may not this be the reason why the teachings of E. S. upon this
subject have been so little attended to 1
The quality of the Lord's New Church is very distinct from all for-
mer churches, and its distinctive featares are new and transcend in
beauty and excellence any hi~herto seen in the world. Thus the
Most Ancient Ohurch called Adam or Man was in the innocence of
wise children, and taught by immediate revelation. The Lord's New
Church is in innocence also, but in the innocence of wise meD, and
is to be rationally instructed as men, not merely by immediate reve-
lation but by and through the written Word.
The ancient church called Noah, was not in the same degree or iD-
nocenee as the most ancient church, but it was spiritual and was
taught by correspondences of which it had the science. The New
Jerusalem is both celestial and' spiritual and is (Lcqoainted not only
with correspondences, but with tbe internal sense of the written
Word, as well as the correspondences of the countless objects OfDa-
ture. It is gifted also with perception and open intercourse in a
higher degree than was the ancient church, and by means of the
Word and the revelations of E. S. its acquaintance with the spiritual
\vorld will transcend beyond measure all former churches.
The representative of a church which was instituted with the 80ns
of Israel; was lnerely in externals ,vithout an intemal, and wu in
ritual observances which represented and prefigured the very ~
into which the New Jerusalem was to come. They worshiped and
humbled themselves before' the representatives of the Lord and of
good, but the New Church beholds the Lord Himself and is conjoin-
ed to him and inherits the very good '-\'hich the sons of Israel ooly
saw in representation. The Jewish church anointed, to represent
good, the New Church by a heavenly anointing after washing, be-
comes the form of good itself. The superiority of th~ New Jerusa-
lem over former churches ah·eady mentioned is not more remarkabJe
than it is o,"er the first church called christian. That church was
mostly for those who w«fre external men, without a knowledge of
correspondences or the intemal sense of the Word unlocked thereby.
Its communication with heaven was by means of the sense of the
letter of the Word. It. had little knowledge of heavenly things and
1848.]
a future life. It had DO rational perception of the heavenly arcana
80 abundantly revealed to the men of the New Church. The Lord'.
New Church will possess these things in abundance and is taught of
the Lord through the Word, and is one with the heaven to which it
is conjoined.
This being the troth, we may well realize the Lord's words when
he said of it, "I create all things new." Anti if the Church be both ftBID
and transcendant in quality, ,vho are its prit'sthood but the angels T
and who its grand high-priest but the Lord Jesus Christ who alone
is worsLiped in her 1 And who are its earthly mediums to speak to
the brethren but those ,vise men-angels, whose loves are those of
teaching as a work of spiritual charity, and whose delight is that
heavenly joy which is reward itself 1 .
But these things are not to be seen by those who are wedded to
the things which pertain only to the errors of the former churches
when viewed before the Lord as one man. But I will no.t detain
the reader with any description of its beauty and excellence. I will
present him witb the sdbstance of what is to be found, in ezt~o. in
the'Apoc. Rev. on ch. xxi. To q120te the paragraphs entire would be
unnecessary. Several of the principles will be sufficient for those
who can refer to the original, and those who cannot, will be content
to receive the summary until they can read from the .work itself:

1. The New Jeru,alem is a new heaven and a new earth.

The new heaven was formed frorri among christians by the Lord,
which is at this day called the Christian heaven, wh~re they are who
haoe uxw.hiped the Lord, and lived according to his CO'II,mandment. 1ft
the WMd, in whom therefore there is charity and faith; in which also are
all the infants of christians. By new earth is meant the earth be-
longing to that heaven, where the angels dwell. The church of the
Lord, called the New Jerusalem, comes down out of tbe angelic hea-
Yeo, becanse the angels of heaven and men upon earth in all things
relating to the church, make one. As the Divine proceeding from the
Lon! is the Lord because from Him, so is the Lord's church on earth
ODe with the church in heaven, because it is from heaven, and they
are one as internal and extemal are one.
&a is also spoken of in relation to heaven and the church.
Where the word ,ea is mentioned without wO.'ds added, it "signi-
fies the ultimate boundary of the spiritual world, where are oollected
those who had some religion and consequent worship, but no good of
life." But by "8, sea of glass," is signified the new heaven of chris-
tians \vho were in truths of a common or general nature from tfle
literal sense of the Word-(A. R. 238). Our author says it was
permitted him to see the seas ~·hich bonncl the heavens, and to con-
vene with those who are therein, and thus to know the truth of this
matter from experience; they seemed to him to be in a sea, "but they
said the)- were not in a se,D. but in an atmosphere; from which it was
manifest to him that the sea was an appearance of divine truth pro-
ceeding from the LoJ;d in its boundaries."-lb.
 TAB QUtJlity of ,he l".,ructor. in • NeID C_rch [Jane,
" The 8ea, which signifies the extemal of the heaven oollected from
among christians, was collected from the first establishment of the
church; but the internal heaven of Christians was not fully fonned
by the Lord, till a little before the last judgment, and also after it."-
A. R.878.
Those first mentioned as a sea are not the sea which is in the bor-
ders, but this sea is that \vith which that sea is united. And when the
last judgment was executed it was dispersed.-(A. R. 8'78.) But the
new heaven of christians extended itself to the sea of ~Iass, mingled
with fire, for this sea of glass is the external heaven of Christians.
As the last judgment effected a breaking up and dissolving of the
heaven formed and called 8ea, so the New Church ,,"ill have no ex-
ternal, which will be one with such 8, sea. "There was no more sea."
The New Jerusalem which John saw is the Ne\v Church which
will be consociated with the new heaven, for its good flows down
thence. It is called a city and describAd a.~ a city from doctrine and
from a life according to doctrine. It is called holy from the Lord,
who alone is holy, and from the divine troths which are in it derived
from the Word from the Lord, which,are caned holy, and it is called
new because he who sat on the throne said, "Behold I make all things
new,'~ and it is said to come down from God out of heaven, because it
descends from the Lord through the new Christian heaven, for the
church upon earth is formed through heaven by the Lord, that it may
act as on~ and be consociated.-A. R. 879. .
The New Jerusalem is thus spoken of in Isaiah lxv. " For behold I
create new heavens and a new earth; and the former Rhall not be re· I

membered nor come into mind; but be glad and rf'joice forever in
that which I crea.te ; for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and
her people n. joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusal~m and joy in her
people. The ,volf and the lamb shall then feed together; they shall
not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain." In another place 'It
is said of this Church that" into it the uncircumcised and unclean shall
no more come." John saw the New Jerusalem as a city represen-
tively, and as an espoused virgin spiritually, consequently under a
two fold idea, one within or abo,"e the other, just as the angels do who
when they see or hear or read in the Word of a city, i~ an idea of in-.
ferior thought perceive a city, but in an idea of superior thought per-
ceive the church as to doctrine, and the latter if they desire it" and
pray to the Lord they see as a virgin in beauty and apparel according
to the quality of the church.-Ib.
Let anyone entert.ain this truly spiritual idea of the New J ernsa·
lem.,-let him think of her as a virgin espoused to the Lord, and
then Jet him put the question to himself whether he can conceiv-e of
this heavenly Bride as cherishing in her bosom any un\'\·orthy love of
Tecompense for the charities which she is prompted to besto\v and
which she would be pained to withhold 1 Will not all her goods done
be grati~uous1 Is not 8 spontaneous outflow of her beneficence
her very genius? Will not the bare proffer of reward move her as
a temptation from Sata.n? What ha.s her charity to do in the way of
J- affic or barter with any thing that shall minister to her natural dE'!-
tg hts, whether in the form of lucre, fame, rule, or pre-eminence!
1849·1 116
• Freely ye have receiyed, freely give," is evermore her motto. The
Lord is the bridegroom and husband of the New Jerusalem and her
delight is in him, and, 88 his, to' do his will.
2. It. conjunction with tAe Lord; and its f~licity.
The Lord is now present amoDg men in his Divine Humanity, and
by the Word is speaking and declaring glad tidings, from love to man.
His annunciation is that the tabernacle of God is with men. or in
other words tho.t He is present in his Divine Humanity. This taber-
nacle of God is the celestial church, -.od in a universal sense the
Lord's celestial kingdom, and in a supreme sense his Divine
Humanity. Ifhis is the Gospel,-the good news which is to be
proclaimed from the, Lord by the Word. Bot there . is more added
to this good news, which is that the Lord will conjoin Himself to hiR
people, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with
them and be their God, and that the Lord will dwell in them and they
in Him. To dwell together is to be conjoined. Thus in J oho, " Abide
in me and I in you. • I am the vine, ye are the branches." "Conjunc-
tion with the Lord is one thing, ·and his presence, another; conjunc-
tion with the Lord b~ing givPD only to such as approach Him imme-
diately, and his presence to' the rest."-A. R. 883.
Conjunction with the Lord is only given to those who are in the
particular or smallest form the New Jerusalem, and as such ap-
proach Him immediately. And Done can approach Him unless they
do 80 by the Word. Thus by a life according to the precepts of the
'Vord. Do those who in heart regard recompense or merit thus live,
and are they thus conjoined 1
The felicity of those who are ~onjoined to the Lord as the New
Jerusalem is next described. A transcript of it would fill many
pages. The Lord will take away all grief of mind, they shall have no
more damnation or fear of it, they shall have no more rear of evils
from hell. They will have no more fear of falses from hell or pain
from temptations, and all this is because the dragon or faith-alone
principle has been cast out. It is expressed in John thus, " And God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more
death, Deither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be pain any
• more for the former things are passed away." But this is said prin-
cipally of a state of things in the world of spirits, where the wicked
are in the continual lust of seducing. At this day much of this pro- "
mised state would be realized if men would shun evil and approach
the Lord.
3. \ The government of the New Church.
The Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and all things in the
heavens and earths were made by him, and are governed by his di.
vine providence, and are done according to it. Former churches
have established governments, these are treated of by E. S. But the
New Jerusalem has DO need of any 8udh ,ovemment. Its members
are coDjoined to the Lord and cODSOciated with angels and have the
law wntteD in their heans. They have DO need of rules and edicts,
 ,1'8 The Qrudily of tM l".,ructlw, in • NdllJ CA",.c1& [June,
of oounsels Bnd recommendations orself:.consfitnted conventions. This
view of'government leads t~ the very serious que~y, whether the genius
of the New Church has not been greatly misunderstood by those who
would perpetuate in it, the sacerdotal system of the old church, which
is in fact but a continuation of an economy of representatives and
types that are now done away. While the Ne,v Church has teacbers, I

these teachers are not priests, for a priesthood would not fail to gen-
erate a hierarchy, and a hierarchy is but another name for Bab)"lon.
The Lord is the only Lawgiver of his Church a.nd his laws-are not,
like the Roman tables, hung uf)'objectively to view, bot are written I

in the hearts of his people; and by them he governs the Church in

all its members, from the least to the greatest. Bab)Ylon is fallen.
4. TI,e illtutration of tho,e of the New Jerusalem.
To all those who desire truths for an end of any spiritual UBe, the
Lord will give from himsel~ through the Word, all things that are
conducive to that use. cc I will give to him that is atbirst, of the foun-
tain of the water of life freely." By him that is' athirst, is signifit.d,
he who desires troth for the sake of any spiritual use, as will be sten
presently; by the fountain of the water of life is signified the Lord
and the Word; by giving it freely, is signified from the Lord, and not
from any self-derived intelligence of the man himself. I do not see
that in the above the Lord respects the personA of those whom the
Church have ceremonially inaugurated. It applies to all other thirs-
ty ones, to all who desire truths from any end of spiritual use. But
if truths be desired for a natural use to the preacher himselfl the Lord
does not give, and all he gets is from memory and preconceived
opinions.
5. The equality, in the NelD Jeru:talcm, 'of the degree, of the good
of love and the truth of wiBdom.
Those who are to instruct others in the church should be able to
know and understand the quality of the Lord's New Chtlrch; they
should be able to measure the city, and the gates thereo~ and the
walls thereo£ This faculty is necessary in order to explore some-
what the quality of the goods and truths, ,vith those who approach •
the church and place themselves in a condition to be instructed. And
Swedellborg teaches that there is given b)- the Lord to those who are
\ in the good of love, the faculty of knowing and understanding what
the quality of the Lord's New Church is as to doctrine and its intro-
ductory truths, and as to the Word from which they are derived.
But the unregenerate are Dot in this good and therefore it is Dot given
them to measare the Holy_ 9ity or church as to doctrine and truths in-
troductory, and as to the Word. Who in the church should need more
wisdom than those who are the Lord's mediums to instruct f "AB
thiogs of the Lord's New Church proceed from the good of love"-{,A·
R.907). The reason why it is said that the length, breadth, and height
of it are equal, is, that all thinks of that church were derived from that
source, tor length signifies its good, breadth the troth derived from that
good; aad by heightia 1lipi8ed good. and truth together iD every de-
1840.] .t1MJtDtJ froa lAB QtuIlitg of tAB CAureA u.lj.
gree ; for height is from the supreme to the loweBt, and the supreme
descends to the lowest by degrees, ,vhich are called degrees of alti-
tude in which the heavens are from the snpreme or third heaven to
the ultimate or first.-Ib.
Suppose we have for instructors in the New Jerusalem those who
have truths, but these truths are not the forms of the good with them.
Is the city of such an one, four square 1 Has it come down from God
oot of heaven 1 It has width, apparently, but Dot really, for it must
have length from which to form its \vidth in every degree. . Its width
gpreads out from its length and if it have no length it can really have
DO width, and without both it ha.CJ no height. The growth of the
~ew Jerusalem is first length, from this length its breadth forlDl,
aDd both rise to the height of the length and breadth according to
degrees of altitude. If therefore one be set, or set himsel( to instruct
in the New Jerusalem who is not in charity or love to the neighbor
and thus is not & regenerate maD, the society in the midst of wltich
he is, is like fruit rotten at the core. Or it is a whited sepulchre beau-
tiful without, but within full of the bones of the dead. He that
bath the measuring rod will reject all sucb. They are not four
lCJuare. They are not really anything but evil.
6. The understanding of the Word of tlw8e who are in the New Je-
rualem. '
Those wqp are in the doctrine of the New Jerusalem and a life
according to it, are illustrated when they rea.d the Word. It shines
from the Lord t9rough the spiritual sense, because the Lord is the
Word, and the spiritual sense is in the light of heaven which proceeds
from the Lord as a. SUD, and this light is in its essence the divine truth
of his divine wisdom. This light is the glory of God, " and the light
thereof was like unto a most precious stone, even like a jasper stOD~,
clear as crystal." But Done who are not in form the New Jerusalem,
lee this glory when they read the Word; this light is from its spirit-
ual sense, and shines through the letter, so that by its light the spirit-
ual sense may be understood; and the church with every one is. ac-
conling to his understanding of the Word. From the above we see
that all those who attempt to instroct in the church, without being
in good and in doctrine which is therefrom, and in truth, have no
ability to understand the Word because the precious stone is not, in
their hands, translucent. How very little perception there is of the
internal sense of the Word in the so-called New Church is easily
BeeU, if we reflect that common readers do not usually see it at all ;
and that the clergy seldo~, without previous study, attempt to read
and open that sense in public. Yet those who instruct others should
be the Lord's mediums of that very sense; they should be full of light,
and that light should be set upon a hill, that it may shine and be seeD.
7. Ezternal WOT.hip without internal, will not be in the NellJ Je,...
_"., 7IIW will there be a mini8try on~ with 8uch uxwlhip. ,
Very few are aware to what an utent external worship without ~
aD iatemaJ, prevaila iD the church.. Blit with all who a&&encl upoD _
 [Jane,
extemal worship in public and inatitute it in the family, and are at
the same time in evil or life, are in external worship which has Dot
an internal. Their loves are conjoined with th.e hells, while theY~!Lre
a little elevated towards heaven as to their understandings. With
luch what they do is not actual hypocrisy, because they are self-
deceived, and merely think they have ·done all that is required of them ;
that they are in external worship is not their sin, but their practice
all the \veek of breaking the commandments, and their real denial of
the Lord in his providence, these are the things which blacken their
spirits, and glue them to the infernals. A description of those who
are in external \vorship without internal spiritual worship, is given
as follows by E. S.
cc These are they who frequent churches, on Sabbaths and festivals, and on
such occasions sing and pray, hear sermons, and" then attend only to the lan-
guage and little or nothing to the substance of what is said; who are some-
what moved by prayers uttered with affection, as in confessing that they are
sinners, but n.ever reflect upon themselves and the lives they lived. Who also
receive the sacrament of the Lord:s supper once a year; pour out prayer
morning and evening, and also say grace at dinner and supper, and sometimes
. discourse about God, heaven, and eternal life, and at such times can quote
passages from the Word, and act the Christian, although they are not such;
for as soon as they have done these things, they make notiiing of adultery
and obscenene8s, revenge and hatred, clandestine thefts and depredations, lies
and blasphemies, and concupiscences and intentions to evils of every kind ;
8uchlersoos do not believe in aor God, much less in the Lord; if they are
aske in what the good and trutb 0 religion cOllsists, they know nothing of the
matter, Bnd think it of no moment to inquire · in short, they live to themselves
and the world, thus to their bodies Bnd inclinations, and not to God and the
neighboft therefore not to the spirit and soul; from which it is plain, their
worship IS external without internal worship; these also readily receive the
heretical doctrines of. faith alone, especially when they hear that man cannot
do anY' good of himself, and that they are 'not under the yoke of the law."-
~. R.859.

The qualitJF of those above described is principally shown (1.) by

their making Dc;>thing of shunning the evils mentioned to be shunned
in the corwnandments. (2.) In their ignorance in wha~ the good and ·
truth of religion consists. (8.) Their living to themselves and the
world. (4.) The little real interest they manifest when they converse
on the subject of religion. (5.) Their readiness to reoeive and em-
brace the doctrine of faith alone. All such are in external wonhip
without an internal. Yet i( at this day, any ODe in the old Christian
Churoh, or in the New Church societies now existing, were to live in.
e.entially the above manner, and at the same time be externally as
observant of forms, and as studious of shunning open evil, and should
contribute liberally to the support of preaching and other church ex-
penses, he will be apt to be called a very bright and shining light, a
most exemplary Ohriftian, ,:,nd at his death will receive distinguished
funeral ceremonies. The above quotation from the Ap. Rev. is one
of the most faithfully drawn pictures of the prevalent Christian wor-
ship and life any where to be found. And what is such worship, and
what the quality of those who are in it , Our author tell. us that it
ill external worship in which there is Dot all illtel1lal; and that &hose
18&]
,who are in it "do Dot in heart believe' In any God, much less in the
IJord." One additional mark of such worship is, that those who are
--
in it are willing to be instructed by. yoang, unregeAerate, showy, ar-
tistic clergy, and to luch persons, venerable, regenerate, heavenly-
minded teachers, who love to be the Lord's servants, and are in
heavenly delight when in their uses, are Dot pleasing. They do not
draw well. They do not minister to the loves of the hearers.
Turn from this to the existing New Church organizations, and ex-
ternal worship-how much more can yet be said of them 1 Do the
members in general show themselves to he in charity, shunning all
the evils mentioned to be shunned in the commandments 1 and al-
though they know in what the good and truth of religion consists from
teachings, do they know it from life t Do they not esBeDtiall,. live
to themselves and the world 1 When conversing about the things of
heaven and eternal life, are they in their inmost delights, or are they
Dot so when the subject of acquiring gain or pre-eminence, or favor,
is discoursed about t And though they in word and thought repu.'
diate the doctrine of jl1S~ification by faith alone, do they not separate ~
charity from faith in their life 1 And do they not manifest the same
indiiference about having teachers who are far from beiDg regenerate
men, as those in the Old Church 1 Nay, do they Dot for the most part·
prepare them, inaugurate them, and license them, in the same way
and upon evidence of suflioient acquaintance with doctrine, wit~out
insisting. upon a regenerate life 1 But there is DO descending Jeru-
salem in all this. It is not internal, unless 8\1ils of life are shunned BB
sins against God, and unless the Lord alone be worshiped in sincerity
and truth.
John says of the church which he saw descending, that he saw no
temple therein, for its temple is the Lord God Almighty, and the
Lamb. Swedenborg says that this signifies that in this churoh there
will not be any external separated from what is internal, because the
Lord himself; in His divine humanity, from whom is derived the all
of the church, is alone approached, worshiped, and adored. By c'I
saw no temple therein;' is not meant, that in the New Church, which'
is the New Jerusalem, there will not be temples, but that in it there
will not be an external separated from what is internal; the reason is,
because byll temple is signified a church as to worship, and in the·
IUpreme sense, the Lord himsel( 88 to the divine humanity, who is to
be wonhiped, and linee the all ofthe church is from the Lord, therefore
it is said, afor its temple is the Lord God A)~ighty, and the Lamb,"
by which is signified the Lord in his divine humanity; by the Lord
God Almighty is meant the Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah him.
ael( and by the Lamb is signified his divine h~anity. x.
- I

EXTRACT.
cc Wbea, maD i. "Derate, the Hlels have the domiAioD. and inspire him with what-
net i.a aood and true, wu.iDg aldle lame t.imo & chead and. real of what
i. nll ancS
ra1le."'-.L c. 50. .
YOI. D. 11
 [Jae,

SELICTIONS.-
The larp .,... devot.ed. in oar lut 10 the atraota from Mn.. Crowe'. " Nipt aide or
Na&aJe:' pnmmteel the lueruoo oCthe fonowing &om her chapter eutlded~ 11 The Future
dual awaita UI." The views are cel1&ln1r remarkable for one who gives no parti01l1&r
eYidence of haviDI acquainted henelf with the writings of Sweden'borg, and they are in-
I8reltiDg .. .howing the strong current 01 inquiry IettiDl in the direction or the New
Church philOlOphr and theolOlY. EtWJ work oC thi. nature doea IOmethiDg to paft Ibe
way for 1h8 prenleoC8 of the tnl&h.

In aD ares of the wodd, and in all parte of it, mankind have earnestly de-
airN to leam the fate th8& awaited them when they had "Ab1lfiled otf dUe
mortal coil i" and thoee preteDding to be their msuucton have built up dif-
fenmt Sf&&ems which have stood iD the stead of knowledge, and more or less
.ti8fied the bulk of tile ~eople. The interest on this subject is, at the
lent pQriod, in the most highly civilized portions of the globe, less than it
C been at aay preeeding one. The great proportion of us live for tbia wodd
a1oDe,.aad tbiDk very little of the Best; we are in too great·a h11ll')' of pl__
. .are or bDlin88S to bestow any time OD a .abject of which we have loch V8I'D8
aoD0D8-notion. 80 Vap8, that, in short, we can acarcely by any don of the
iQl8lination bring the idea home to ourselves; and when we are aboot to
die we are .eldom in a situation to do more than resign ounelvea to what is
inevitable, and blindly meet oar fate; whilat, on the other hand, what ie pt-
neraUj called the religioo. world, is so engro88ed by its struggles for power
and monel' or by ita sectarian disputes and enmitiee; and 80 narrowed and
circUlll8Cnbed by dOlJlUltic orthodoxie8, that it hu neither inclination nor
liberty to turn back or look around, and endeavor to gather uJ» from put re-
corda and present observation, such hints as are now and agam dropt in ODr
path to give 111 an intimation of what the truth may be. The rationalistio
age, too, Ollt of which we are only just emerging, iuad which sucoeeded 0. .
of ~ eu.pe1"8ticioD, havinl _wed, beyond appeal, that there never wu
IUch a thing 88 a ghoat; that the dead never do come back to tell us the ae~
creta of their prison-house, and that nobody believes such idle tales hua
children and old women, seemed to have shut the door against the only chan-
nel through which any ioIonnatioD could be sooght. Bevelation tells 118 Tery
liul. OD this subject. teasOll can tell os Doching; and if nature is equ~
au.t, or if we are to be deterred from qutlBtioniDr ber from the fear Of Jidicale,
there ia certainly no resource l"ft for us but to rest contented in our ignorance.
and each wait till the awful secret is disclosed. to ourselves. A. great ,many
things have been pronounced untrue and absurd, and even impol8ible, by the
highest autborities in the age in which they live~, which have"af....m,
andiJldeed within a"very abort period, been fOllDd to be both pouible aDd
UIIe. I coofe88 myself, for one, to bave ao respect whatever fOr th_ clog-
matio denial. and affirmation.. and I am quite of opinion that vul,u incredu-
lity ia a much more contemptible thing tban vulgar credulity. We know Vert
little of what if, and stilll_~ of what may be i and till a thing ha been ~Yed,
by iadoction, logieall, impoesible, we have DO right whatever to proDOQDCe
that it is so. Aa I have said before, G ~ coDclu8ions are perfectly wonb-
le.. ; and the sort of investigation mat is bdtowed upon 8ubjects of the cl. .
of which I am treatiug, 80methiDg worae; inasmuch as they deceive the
Umid and the ignorant, and that ~ery numerous clu8 which pins ita faith on
authority, and never ventures to think for itself, by an aesomption of Wisdom
and kDowled~, which, if examined and anal1 Nd, would yerr ~1lent1y
prove \0 be DDtbiDg more respectable than ob8tiDate prejudice ud rUb as
1eId.oD.
 ~,. 181

fonDecI from the evideace ooUected =

.,. my own ~ 1 ..,eat, I iMiIt 1IpOD DOtlUDa. ne ~illioDl I ha"
0IIIy die tIIltb, I aball be glad to be •
qnite m0De01I8 • if eo, .. I seek
·ved. aad eball be quite rea4y &0
accept a better uplaDation of th.e facta wb....ver it • ..-eNd to me j but it
is iD ftiD to tell me that thie explanation is to be fouud iD what is called
imaPaadell, or in a morbid atate of the Derv., or aD DD_ual excitemeat of
the orpD8 of color and' form, or in impoROfe; or in all these together. The
exiReace of all aoch lOureea of ~r and delusion, I am far from deDyiog. but
11ind iDatancea that it is quite impouible to reduce under BDJ Olle of ~.
categories, .. we at'preeent anderataDd them. The multiplicity of tb.e iD-
ecancee, too; for, not to mentioD the lure number that are Dever made knoWDt
or cuefD1ly concealed, if I were to avail myaelf liberally of cuel already f8-'
eordecl iD various woru, many of which I know, and maDy otben I ..... 01
..exi , bat which 1cannot conveniently get acceu to, lmilht fill volume.-
Gen8a b abouDde in dlem--tbe number of the uamv::. I 18~
ev_ OD the ..".icion that the, are DOt facts, woald of itle1f the mb-·
ieclOf a very curioua ~b)'liolollcal or pqcholotrical inquiry. If 10 1DUl'
people iD mapectable sltuationl in life, aDd iD apparently a normal ltate Of
healdl, are either capable of BUch po88 impoBtareI, or the .ubjects of BII.
eDnordiDuy ll"'Ctral illuaio. . it would celCainIy be utremel,. eatiafaetory
abUDdance; 11114 all I expect from my book at preeent I"
to leam IIOlDethiul of the conditioD8 that iDcluce theee phenomeoa in eaoll.
to induce a,luapi.
ciOD &bat we are IlO& quite 80 wile as we think 0Ul'l81ve8; and tbat it milh&
be worth wbile to inquire a little seriously into reporta, which IllaY J.'erchaDee-
mm oat &0 have a deeper interest for UB than all thoee variouI queaUODl, pab- .
lie uad priYa&e, pat to,etlaer, with whicb we are daily agicatlDg our mindi.
• • • • • • • •
WJaeo tile bodl ia aboat to die, that whicll cumot die, aod which, to
• 8'"
worM, I will 0811 UN 1OUl, departa from it, whither 1 We do nOt know· bult
m.t IM
iD ch. J»lace, we have DO leUOD to believe that the .pace d.tiDed
habicaciou UI far removed from the eanh, since, kno~ nothing about it,
ue 8!JaalIy entitled. &0 .up~ &he cootrary; aDd, in the BUt, cha' which ...
w.
itll

call di81aDCe iB a eonditioD that mere!r rep.nte material o~t8, &Dd of wbioa.
a 8piri& i8 quite iDde~ndent, juat 88 our tbouPt8 are, whICh can travel fIo.
h. . 10 Chiia, JUld back &pia, in a eeaond of lime. Wen, then, 11lP~ cilia
beiDg ID exi8t IOmewhere-aad it is Dot unreuonable to BUP~ that the
lOuIa of tbe iahabi&ant8 of each plaDet coDtiDue to hover within the Bphere of
Iba& pla_ to which, for 8D~iDl we can tell, they may be attached bI .....
Decio auractioll-8uppo.iDg it to fiod it.if in 8p&Cet free of the body. eDdowN
wi&h the memo~ of file put, and coDsequeotJ,. widl a colUlOiouanee8 of ill
own ~ able to perceive that ..mcb. we do Dot ordinarily perceiftt
DlUD81y, thoee who llave p. .ed into a similar state with iteelf, willlt no&
turaIly eeek its place amonpt those .pirita which mo,t reeemble iCle1f, . -
D"
wich wJlom. tMrefore, it IDWlt bye die 1D00t a81Dity 1 OD earth, the . _
leek cM .ood, and the wicked the wicked; and the axiom that "like ueo-
ciar. wid1like," ..e oaDIlot doobt will be as true hereafter .. now. " ID ra,
la&hez'a hoIUIe there are maDJ maasiool," and our intuitive... of what _
fit aDd jut mue& needa ueare DB that this is 10. There are too
of moril .._
manl
and of moral unwordl amool8t lIWlkiDd, to ~t 0 our 811~
depeee
, . . . dIa& ju8tipe eou.Icl be eati86ed by an abrupt diviaioa IDto two oppoeite
claI8M. OD the COD~, &bere ma.t be infinite shades of deeert, and.. we
CODe'a'"..
muck
" that that wbich a .pilit eD&em into .D leaviDg the body, i.I DOt If
& CORd;'''' 80 there must be as maDy depeee of liappineu or
~ .. there are individuala, eMh ~iDg wida him bi8 owa Heaven or
Bell. P. it ia & Y . Dotion to imagine that Heaven or Hell are ~ i the,
are ...... ; aDd it is ID olUllelvea we mut.look for both. Wben we leave _
. bo4y, we ~ &hem with U8 j && . . cbe tree faIII, 80 it shall lie." The aoal
I whiCh Jaere IaU wallowed iD Wioked.... OJ' been aank in . . .uality, will DO&
: be .Dddeal, ~DriJied brthe dea&b of &be body i its moral condition remaiDI
I w" ita eiIribI, lOjoam baa traia.ed is to, but i&8 . . . . of iDdulliDl' ita p~
 282 ~. lllllle,
pensitiea are lost. If it has had no godly 8spira.ODI blft, it will DOt be .mW11
to God there; end if it has 80 bonnd itself to the body th8t it has knoWII DO
happinees but 1bat to which the body ministered, it witl be incapeble of hap-
piness when deprived of that meaDS of eDjoyment. Here we must see at once
t

what a variety of conditions must necessarily ensue; bow many compara-

tively negative states there must be betwixt thoeeofpoeitive happmeea or po-
sitive misery .
We may thus conceive how a soul, on eBtering upon thisl1ew conditioD,
must find its own place 'Or state; if its thonghts and aSI>iratioDs here have
been heavenward, and its pursuits noble, its conditioDsw111 be heavenly. The
oontemplation of God's works, seen not 8S by our mortal eyes, but in their
beauty and their troth, and ever-glowing sentiments of love and gratitude,
and, for aught we know, good offices to souls in need, would constitute a
suitable heaven or happiness for 8uch a being; an incapacity for such plea-
aores, and the absence of all others, would con&titute a negative state, in
which the cbief suffering would consist in mournful Mgrets, and a vague long-
iDg for something better, which the untrained soul that never lifted itself from
the earth, knows not how to seek; whilst malignant passions and unqueuch-
able desires would constitute the appropriate hell of the wicked; for we mu.
. remember, that although a spirit is independent of those physical laws which
ere the condition of matter.. the moral law, which is indestmctibJe, beIODg8
~culiarly to it-that is, to the spirit, and is insep81'8ble from it. -
We must remember, that this earthly body we inhabit is more or less a
mask, by means of ,vhich we conceal from each other those thoughts whieh,
if constantly exposed, would unfit us for living in community; but wh~n we
d~e, ~is mask falls away, and the ~th 8ho~8 nak-edlf-. TheJ18 is no more
disguISe j. we appear as we are, spIrits of !Ight or SPll'1t8 oC darkness; aod
there can be no difficulty, I should think, in 'COnceiving this, since we
know that even our present opaque and comparatively inftexible features, jn
Ipite of all efforts to the contrary, will be the index of the mind; 1lnd that the ex-
pression of the face is gradually moulded to the fashion of the thoughts. How
much more must this be the ease with the fluent and diaphanous bodywhieh
we expect is to succeed the fleshy one! •
Thus, I think, we have arrived at fanning some coneeption of the 8tate that
awaits us hereafter; the indestructible moral law fixes OUI place or condi-
tion; affinity governs our 1l88ociatioDs; and the mask under which we con
ceal ourselves having fallen away, we appear to eaoh other B8 we are i and
I must bere observe, that in this last circumstance must be comprised one
very important element of happine88 or misery; for the love of the pUle spirits
for each other ,vill be for"ever excited by simpJr beholding that beauty and
brightness which will be the inalienable expressIon of their goodness; whilst
the reverse ,vill be the case with the spirits of darkness; for no oue loves
wickedness, either in themselves or others, however we may practise it. WE'
must also understa1\d, that the words dark and light, which in thjs world of
appearance we use metaphorically to express good and -evil, must be under-
Itood literally when speaking of that other world wbere everything will· be
seen a8 it is. Goodness is truth, and troth is light; and wickedne88 is fa]ae-
bood, and falsehood is darkness, and so it will be seen to be. Those who
have not the light of troth to guide them will wander darkly through this
valley of the shadow of death; those ill whom the light of goodneee shiDes
will dwell in the ligbt, which is inherellt to themselves. The former will be
to the kingdom of darkness, the latter in the kingdom of light. AB the re-
eords existing of the bleseed 8pirits that have appeared, anoient or modem,
exhibit them a8 robed in light, whilst their anger or sorrow is symbolized by
their darklless. Now, there appears to me nothing incomprehensible in thie
view of the future; on the contrary, it i8 the only one wllioh I ever fotmd
myself ea~able of conceiving or reconciling with the jusuoe and mereJ of our
Creator. He dOH Dot pani.h. us, we punish ourtelves; we haye built up a
heaven or a hell to our own liking, and we carrx it With us. The fire that
for ever bums without COIUIuming, is tile fte~ evil in which we have oh08eft
our part; and the heaven in which we,sbul dwell will be the heaftll1y
 peIIC8
. . . j and here I mut say a "W'
---.. ,.
which will dwell iD UI. We are our own judges aDd our own chasti•
'.113

words on dle subject of that, apparently to

~ preternatural memory which i8 developed under cenain circumstances,
and to which I alluded in a former chapter. Every one will have beard
dIat persons who have been drowned and recovered have had, in what \vould
have been their laet moments had no means been t18ed to revive them, a
strange vision of the past in which their whole life seeuled to Boat before
diem in. review; and I have heard of the same phenomenon taking place in
moments of impending death in other forms. Now, as it is not during the
ItnIgg)e for life, but immediately before insensibility ensues, that this vision
occurs, it must be the act of a moment; and this renders comprehensible to
us what is said by the Seere88 of Prevorst, aud other 80mnanlbule9 of tbe
highest order, namely, that the instant tbe soul is freed from the body, it 8888
its whole earthly career in a single sigil; it knows that it is good or evil, and
pronounces its own sentence. The extraordinary memory occasionally exhi.
bited in sickness, where the link between tbe 80~1 and the body is probably
loosened, shows us an adumbration of this faculty. ~
But this 8elf-pronoullced sentence, ,ye are led to hope is not final, nor doe8
it seem coDsistent with the love and mercy of God that it should be so. There
most be few indeed who leave thbJ eanh fit for heaven; for although the im-
mediate frame of mind in which dissolution takes place, is probably very im-
portant, it is surely a pernicious error, encouraged by iail chaplains and phi-
lanthropists, tl1at a late repentance and a few parting prayers can purify a soul
sullied by years of wickedness. Would ,ye at once receive such. an one into
our intimate communion and love' Should we Dot require time for the 8taiDe
of vice to be washed away and habits of virtue to be formed' Assured It
we should! And how can we imagine that the purity of heaven is to be
sullied by that approximation that the purity of the earth would forbid' It
would be crnel to say, irrational to think, that this late repentance is of DO
avail j it is doubtless so far of avail that the 8training upwards and the hea.
venly aspirations of the parting soul are carried with it, so that when it is free,
instead of choosing the darkness, it ,viii flee to a8 much light 88 is in itselC-;
and be ready, through the mercy of "God and the ministering of bright.-
spirits, to receive more. But in th]8 ease, as also in the innumerable instances
of those who die in what may be called a negative state, the advance muit
be progressive, though wherever the desire exists, I must believe that this
advance is pouible. If not, ,vherefore did Christ, ofter being" put to death
in the llesb," go and U preach to the spirits in prison 1" It would have
been a mockery to preacli salvation to those who have no hope; Dor would
they, having no hupe, have listened to the preacher.
J think these views are at once cheering, encouraging, and beautiful; and
I cannot but believe, that were they more generally entertained and more in-
timately conceived, they would be very beneficial in their effects. As I have
&aid before, t~e extremely vague notions people have of a future life, prevent
the p088ibility of its exercising any great influence upon the ~re8ent. The
picture, 00 one side, ~ too revolting and inconsistent with our iaeas of divine
,oodDess to be deliberately accepted; whil!?t, with regard to the other, our
feelings somewhat resemble those of a little girl, I ouce knew, who, being
told by her mother what was to he the reward of goodness if she were 80
hallPY as to reach heaven, put her finger io her eye and began to cry, ex·
daimiDg, "Oh, mamma! how tired I shall be singing !"
The work of Mrs. Crowe, from which we have drawn these and our preced-
ing extracts, is, as a whole, a ,vork of great interest, and to"N~wchurchmen
reple&e with hopeful omen. He reads in it an assurance that the human mind
is awaking to a serioQs conviction that there is a world of sows in close con-
nexion with the world of bodies, and both religion and philosophy have been
hitherto in fault in accounting for phenomena of world-wide occurrence, bllt
which saints and &ales have cODSpired to scout off the field oC science mto the
clark domain of superstition. May.sucb works be multiplied an hUDdred fold.
 ·IN ---,.
MISCELLANY. '

LETrBIl FROM BEV. J. P. STUAIlT.

20 Jliz. BIG" Wefr,. C~ 0Ai0.
8ua .m An ••0ftI0,
Ye8terday came again to hand the 1lepoaito~, ever a welcome visitor. I
may be able to obtain eeveral subscribers, and if 80, I shall ,Iadl, do it. I
• • brother Robert Sweeny at Lebanon, a few days ago j he will continue his
aubscription. Many of our brethren in my circuit are poor, and are already
81lbacribe18 for the Magazine, and consequently I shall Dot be able to do u
much for the Repository as I should like to do.
The work of propagating and defending the Jleavenly Doctrines is assumiDg
aD active and systematic form in this State. Brother Barrett 8ustain8 himse1l
well at the city, and i8 doing an extensive work. Brother Hough is again in
the miseionary field, and hislecture8 are attracting large honaes. When I ~
heard, he waa at Newark, doing a very fiDe work there. 1 have been con-
atantly in the field during tne past fall and winter, and my audiences have re- I

uerally been large, frequently crowded, and always attentive. In many of oar
inland towns and cities, the New Jerusalem begins to have a t1i,iblc .udlutj
and the result of eve~ agitation of the geural question iD the community..i-
10 add 10 tIN talllRiMr of auch as closter around these nuclei, in a state more or
lea receptive of truth.
At Lebanon, there is a society of receivers numberin, about twenty. At
DaytoD there ia a aociety of about fifteen. At Spriogfield, about the same
number. At Urbana, about the same. At Bellefontaine brother ,. S.. CanbJ
aDd family 8tand pretty much alone, but thi8 brother U IJ 101t; he'ia gre&!1y
eeteemed amoDl Ilia neighbora. and many of his books are cooatandr out do-
iIur service. .
The day of mere negative, luDen contempt of the New Doctrines is drawiDI
to a close; in some meridians that sun is already down. The day is already
beginning to dawn when themasten of Babylon will feel constrained to derena
Ibe ralioftaliIJ of their dogmas in the light ol the New Church; but when thal
day rully arises, then the triumph of the Lord'a New Church will be at band.
I have found that much in the CJegree in which the guides of the Old Church
have come forward to the defence of their 8tandard doctriD~S, in the same de-
pee has inquiry and doubt become rife. and the reception of the New Doe·
Irinee heeD augm~n'ed.
J0Ul&,
Respectfully and tmly,
. P. STUART.

Letler from a 1008D& reoeiver.

• BAJl 81.,
While I write this a glow of joy course8 through me. I went 1. . eveniDI
to viait a man on his death.bed, my wife accompanying me, and entered iDfQ
a religiou8 conversation with the partner of the invalid. She told me a liule
Itory-that when a child, she first heard the Dames Lord, God, and Christ, in •
conversation. She asked a playmate, whom they meant; the answer WII,
"Therare all one." ThU8 sbe firat derived an accurate idea oflhe .oleGod-
. head In the person of Jeeu8 Christ, whioh a half century of Tripenoaal preaela-
ma has failed to dea~. Sbe was viaitin. Mrs. H. lome years since, and
while there, 0llened a little tract without a title paRe; it interested her, aD.
ahe borrowed It to read. It contained the very doctrine in which from child·
hood abe had been coDfirmecl. She weat and bened, wich 8110'"i.a&ereI&t
 ...-..,. •
, . . . . . ....... the I8I1I1t ... eDtire ueunmce of die truth j anc110 1lOW.
iDcJlIdiq my l:ci, iD tIae namber, we have in this 8chool-di.trict. foar N.
eeinn of the Heavenly Doctrines. For this we will, under (loci, ucribe cre-
.-
4ie to the qaielt patieDt, peneveriug coune pursued by Mrs. B.
Truly there i. hope. I feel more courage to open my mouth as a herald of
the G~l ofthe LOrd'. New Church. The lovely disj)enaation of pure reli-
gion which ha beeD maDifested through the Seer of Sweden, is wOrth Iabor, ·
....ering, and reproach. •
The foUl' nomben of the New Church Repo8itory, have ever come to me
with a welcome. I desire that you may be Ill.tamed. I have written lour
letters &0 call out attentioa. Whether I 8ucceed or DOt, I ahaU &how my coocl
will.
The Spiritual Diary give8 u. an idea of the manifestations and experiences
o{our illuminated scribe, which are deeply interesting. We feel t)lat he ia &
maD of like P88lioD8 with us; and yet that he has received communicau0D8
~oo~. .
I have considerable hope of increasing the number of readers, and calliDl
attentibn to the sacred .ub~ect. Home four or five now peruae our publieatioDS
who would not be considered as endorsing our sentirpents. This. is the
inaux of the New Jel'1188lem distilling as the dew; and wllneues are ariaiDg
to attest the goodness of our Lord, and the llority of our doctrinee.
8e'veral Old Church societies in our vicimty are making the preliminary ar-
ranpmeDts to cl08e their existence. We have strOD, hopes that they will
SOOD be numbered among the things that were. The Lord God even the
Lamb, is our temple, and the sun which giveth light to our city. Write to me.
Let the Repository live. t

Your brother, pupil, and friend.

The writer oCthe tollowinr bu at thi. time advanced beroDd the point where aD1 elit-
ficultie. of the )!emorabiUa tIOtlble him.
DO. 81a,
I acknowledge with pleasure the number I have received of the )femora
bili. of Swedenborg, and a180 the numbers of his Diary.
I had read, before you pu bUshed, the memorable relations of Swedeuborr an-
nexed to the chapten in his Arcana Celesti~but I think it proper to telf you
that your commentaries have usi8ted me in understanding and bemg reCOD-
ciled to many of his disclosures. ' It is now threelears since J first became ac-
quainted with the writings of this gifted man, an have continued to· this time
to read them with'increased interest, and I may add, instruction; for trulY' the
Bible was a dark letter to me until I began to understand it in the liBht of hia
iDterpretatioDs.
Exct18e me for saym, this much, and believe me to be with great reepeca,
Your obedient servant,

The followiDl communioations are from one who hu happily persevered In hi." read-
Ing and research till he ha. reached the point orlun a.Ulance oCthe truth of the Ilea-
Ye01y Doctrines. The Repo1itorr hu contained. eeYeral articles rIGID hi8 p8a.

D.n BIll,
Before entering into the subjects concerning which I addres8 you, propriety
dictates that I should first introduce myself. I am a native of - - , and was
for 80me time a member of a Congregational Church. But in February, 1840,
hem. about seventeen years of 8ge, I was induced to discard several of my Cat-
YiD.tic sentiments. I then associated myself with the Perfectionists. For
some time I resided with Mr. N. of P. In February, 1844, lien his house, aDd
eome time after withdrew from his fellowship. The reaeoDS for dUs. thouch
 [JaDe•
• ntisfaetory to myaeif are of oourse not pertinent to mention bere. Daring
that season, I renewed an acquaintance with a neighbor, a lady who from my
earliest ~onections had been especially frie~dly to me. She had while re-
siding in Ohio, become a reader of the writings of the New Cburch; 8.Bd
though in external connection with a metbodist society, is to some extent a
receiver- of the Doctrines. She placed in my hands from time to time a series
of the New Church Magazine; which, though somewhat biued against, I
nevertheless essayed to· give a candid pemsal. Many things harmonized.
with my previous sentiments. For example: U The Atonement," and the
owce of the True Church, remarkably coinci'ded. But some other doctrinal.
have not been 80 easy of credence. I will instance them· and if you can as-
sist my objections I would be grateful to you for your condescension.
1. The Trinity. I prefer this to the common notion. Indeed all nature is a
trini~, all life threefoltl. Of course the-source ofUfe must be a tripartite 'being.
But I have been habituated to regard the Lord Jesus ps a distinct, subordinate
personality from the Father. Yet is the Father manifest in the SOD. Still be
asserts a glory which he had with the Father, before the world was. .
~. Swedenborg'8 office. Jt is easy to me to acknowledge that I am conYiB-
ced that he entered the areana of the unseen world. But I cannot see that he
is the only tme standard in the matter, the only mediator, if I may so expre88
myself. Why cannot others enter the same mysteries, and even transcend
him ~ Why, if be be the only true prophet to open the bidden troth, did not
prophets announce his advent~ Do not his writings ever militate with the
plaln text of scripture 1
S. The Internal Sense. Mueb of the intemal meaning commends itself to
my heart and. understanding. But if I except se veral of the first chapters of
Gt:nesis, the Apocalypse. auft perhaps some other places, I can 86e no pro-
pnety of assoclating such a sense, any more than I would to my own lan-
guage, or to our every day history. Why am I not correct! In this connec-
tioD let me ask you whetber yOlt consider such scriptures as the looth Psalm
to be the pure word of God'
I am not disposed to be controversial. I seek instruction. You ,vere com-
mended to my notice by the following circumstances. A year ago I rurchu-
ed your wor~8 on the Resurrection, Soul, Millennium, Resurrection 0 Christ;
since that, U The Valley of Vision," u Mesmer and Swedenborg." Thoogh Dot
ado~tin~ implicitly your teachings, they proved very useful in theological in-
vestigation. J want to know the truth, and therefore have desired a corres-
J>0ndence "dth some New Church teacher. Knowing of no one in this vicin-
Ity, and being acquainted with your writings, I concluded to address you.
Yours, tnlly and respectfully.
FrOm the lame dated a few weeks later.
DllAa Im,
Your Dote· of the 21st nJt. came to hand in good time j also the pam-
phlets, for which you will except my grateful acknowledgments. I have
pemsed most of them with unabated interest. Many of the subjects appear
r lainer to my mind than before; but still there is much difficulty remaining.
beg leave, therefore, to invoke your attention and assistance.
It appears evident that the clairvoyance of Baron Swedenborg wae far su-
perior to that of the great body of mesmerizers. I am satisfied, too, tbat it
was not produced by a human will; nor can I at present, like J. H. N., attri-
bute it to the devil, for I am of opinion that no such perst>nage exists. But if
an evil spirit spoke to him, error and wickedness ,vould be the harvest of his
.revelations. And although New Churchmen generally may have been remiss
upon the great reform questions of the day, they have been no worse than
other religionists of equally im:{>osing claims.
I remeolber seeing a remark In one of Mrs. Child's Letters from New VotE,
that neither the opposers or disciples of Swedenborg properly understood
~any of his relations. Mrs. Child is, J believe, a receiver of the heavenly
 /

IN8.]
doctrines, and probablT would Dot wish to ,ive a false view of the subject. I
have seen the same thIng noted elsewhere m a "Letter to a -5wedenborgian."
It is very possible tlJat such maybe the ease; but if 80, to whom are we to
loot for a eorreet exposition' Were I to embmee the views of the New
Church, I ahould desire by allmeans to escape another edition of Old Church
leetarianism. ,
When I first read of the internal sense of the Word, it seemed to me chi-
merical and visionary. But reading some of the revelations of that sense,
surprise was induced that they harmonize greaUv with previous conceptions
of trutb. Bot for three years I bave considered' the matter, without arriving
at a conclusion upon which I could rest. Mr. N-- urged me to throw tlte
8Dbj~ct by as useles8 and hurtful. I acceJ.>ted the counsel for a time; but as t
hadftlot sufficient faith in him to allow hIm to think and decide for me, was r
induced to consider again, and to pUBh new inquiries. -
"Man is a spirit in regard to his interiors." I admit it. It then must result,
that within the record of his history must lie an internal, which would be the
indieation of the character and operations of his spirit, 80 that his story,voll1d
have an U internal sense.n Further: the divine agency of charity must have
an influence, object, and operation for good or for evil, thus giving an in-
timate or "celestial sense." Is this the philosophy of the three senses 1
I am aware, if it is, that some of the books set down as destitute of such a
sense, might lay claim to possessillg it; also that profane and modern history
would not be destitute of pretension. .
I notice that the 80ul and spirit are spoken ofby Swedenborg as sYllonymolls.
"80'also by Davis. Do you regard them as similar entities 1 Your work on
the 80ul had led me to a far different conclusion.
Tbe doctrines of second advent and judgment are still too hnrd for me. I
have for many years received the idea generally held by Perfectionists, and
endorsed by yourself in the appendix to your treatise on the Resurrection of
Christ. Not the overstrained theory of Mr. N-- running out into two judg-
meuts and resurrections.; but the sentiment- that the Holy Spirit sent forth from
the Lord after his resurrection and ascension (for before th,is, it could not be
~ seD~ forth), introd~ced judgment into the earth, ~e~ably to th~ \vord, u NOtD ·
~ the Judgment of thiS world." I have viewed thIS Judgment to be substan-
tially a spiritnal operation, aDd alway& in direct connection with the receiving
or rejection of the Word by each individual. It brought the Jewi~h aion to a
crisis ai recorded in Matthew, xxiv. and xxv. J also 2 Peter, iii., Apoc. xvii.
Then the true church-the heavenly Jerusalem-began her glorious career,
introdncing the new heaven and new earth. This I expect to produce a third
crisis, for that of BabyJon was first (see Isaiah xiii: and xiv.), in which the holy
city eban descend ont of heaven. Then will the world know in the spirit what
before they fancied from the external fQnn. Thus will the -celestial age be
diffused-the olam 1uJhbau be introduced among men. Yours, &e. ,

The letter here given was written in the earlier 8tages or the author"s acquaintance
o

with the doctrines of the New Church. He is now & confirmed receiver.

Db.8~ ,
. My chief theological reading now is confined to SwedenborJrs True Chris-
~lan Religion, which, after having skipped about a good deal, I am now read-
Ing in regu Jar course. I have got into his Relations, under the head of TIle '
Trlnity. I find it quite difficult to divest my mind of the idea that there are I
three distinct persons in the Godhead each being separate yet all being one, in
\1'hieh doctrine I have been brought np. That sucA an idea involves a contra-
aiction of terms I well know ; and that it also involves a plnrality of God.,
"bo in fact are not one, seems to me from the common metbo(l in which I have
always heard the plan of salvation familiarly explained. This method, al8~-
J
-
Jaa the em.ace trom all etemi~ of tIa_ duee ~ (~ coDf-.l to
be one), proceeds to teach that GOd the Father at a certain time tieiog ou~
to divine fury by the UDql1aliiecl wiCk8da-a of the hUID&Il race, condemned
the whole falnily of Adam to everlubDl tormental to expiate the gaj!t of his
violated law· that from thia doom there was DO re8Cll8, wherenpon God the
8oJ:} ad vanced and entered into a contract with God the Father whereby it .....
~eed that in coDsideration of the Son'8 asa~ to bear the wrath of the
Pathets offended mat·eatf, taking upon himself the human form, trinmphiDg
over temptation and iving a life of strict obedieDQe to the law, submitting to
death as the peDa1~y of general human tranBlfesaionl, enduring the CI"088 and
descendiDl into hell, that thereopon God the Father would relax the impeDd-
Jog doom of mankind and save .uch as should believe and be discipled .. the
followers of God the Son. I have Dot stated the method very fully, but
enough to 8h~w that in my judgment this involves a plurality of God. j be-
aause it suppose. a eontrtJd, and every contract implies two contracting par-
ti.es, who bemg separate agree together upon some ~icular subject. EV8lJ
eontraet is voluntarY-may be made or not--and lDlpJiea distinct volitioa in
each contracting party. Therefore the common method to my weak and er-
ring judgment 8eems to imply that God the Father and God the Son had dia-
anct volitiona in the making of this contract for the benefit ol fallen maD. I
hardl}' dare to pW'8ue the subject further, for it seems to me, after reading
8wedenborg, to be wicked to atate the various diversities actual and ~"*
which the above distinction of volition seems to imply. Yet it is the view
which I have been taught from childhood and even yet it seems wODderfally
rooted in me though my reasoD dissents from it. There is one thing very oer-
own; I can recollect no petition in the Testament made or eojoined to be made
Cl for Christ'8 sake," though there are several passages respecting petitioD8 in
cbe ftCIIIN of Christ. U Whatsoever ye 8hall as][ of the Father in "'I ~" ~ ..
doe. not that mean giving to "the Father., ...... thus implying the Godbead
of Christ 1 51 Name," C&DDot be used here In the sense of 1»Wf, for th8ll dae
petitioner would be the mere agent in aakiDI, would he Dot'
YoUl8t very traJ,.
From a Preabyterian clellJllllUl bOW reaidiDlln the far W.t.

DBAB IrB,
I received a week or two since through the mail a lampltlet containing
lour "Reasons Cor embracing Swedenborgiani8m," an have read it. J am
desirou8 of seeing some of the Nos. of the" Swedenborg Library,1t noticed OD
che cover of your pamphlet and if they are published in such a shape as to be
sent by mail without very high postage I Will be much obliged to yoa, if JOa
will Corward to me those entitled "Introductioo, containing a general view of
8wedenborg'8 claims," "Of Heaven;' "Of the Conjugal Relation iD HeaveL"
These will afFord me a specimen. Any other docnmeDts you choose to
MDd I shall be hapPT to see, bearing on the subject. I am a believer to some
extent in Mesmerism, having seen some experiments, but I am entirely incre-
dulous in regard to Swedenborg's claims to be considered a divinely autbori-
aed messenger of God, Of, as you term him, a Seer. I 8u~po8e him to have
been a Datural somnambulist. I should be glad to see Noble'S Appeal, to
which YOlt refer, but SUpp088 it is a volume wl1icb cannot be received hI
mail. Is there any summary or compend of the Swedenborgian doctrines 1
I know you say we must not judge by 8uch a view i but if true there must be
enou.b in sucli a compeDd of these doctrines as w1l1satisfy me that the sub-
~t is wortA inve8tigating. The mass cannot be expected to explore all Swe-
Clenborg'8 volumes. I have sent for Pond's review of Swedeoborg. If
reply should be published let me see it.
aD,
Resp.ctf~y and truly, yours.
P.8. , have Dowbeen laboriDgiD. the ministry between ave ahd six yean.
--'1 ......... -
111,.a1A' I'll•••
111 the .. TheologicallUl~Literary 10umal, No. 4." or Mr. Lord. notioed at length OD
a former pap. occurs an ext.snded essay OD Coleridp'l philosophy of Christiulty. whioJa
he denominates and treets throu,bout 81 an cc atheiatic idealism!' A~OIlI other poiDts
which the writer m.au. in hil oritique is one which will ha.e IOme inse~t 10 'he New-
cluuchman. viz. that the patemhy or ColeJ'iclp'. theory oC the anClentudiDI aDd of the
wbole train of his lpeculations in respect 10 time and 8pa08 is due to Kant, the GermaD
1D8Iaphyaiciaa. and that Kant hlmJe1C Is indebted to Swedenborg tor the leading ideas or
hb STstem on these lubjects. .. Itant eeems to have adopted them," lal' Mr. L., et fnml
Swedenborg'1 representation of the spiritual world. or the power and aaenol81 oC moor-
poreal beiDp. That writer held that incorporeal intellipncel, IDch as diaembodied IplriW
and aupls. have, in.tead. of orpns oileD., a mental faculty of pneratiDI coooeptloaa or
eaemal objects. lite thOl8 or thil world.' iD such a lDanDer that they both leem to the
miDd to have an extemal and independent existence. and".re perceptible to other iDteW-
pncea." He then goes on to quote at considerable length from the " SWedenbol'l· Libra-
ry,. and .from Swedenborg himself, paragrapha dlsclosinc the nature of the yilible
ICeDery ~ the other life, and aflirmiDg that space and time in that world are not reali'ia.
'but ~_ppearance8 produced by ohangel oC state iD the peroipients. Be th_
.. Cl Xant'. theory of our perceptions of external things i. thus nothing el8e than th1a

dream 01 8wed"nbofl, respecting the perceptions of incorpoteal beil1p. Be publi8bed

Jail Clilick oC Pore Reason only·nine or ten rears aCw Swedenborg's death. and it was
1iom him. doubtless, that he drew his hypotheeis zespectiu, the uDderltaDdlD., time.
UId apace; with no other a1teratiOD than the rejection oC &he partl that are mOlt ioooo I

1iIteD, with our cODlCiou.neu. The chief dUrerencel &le, tint, ID . .peet to the OCOUIOD
or the mind'. glYiDg birth to these apectra of extemal uilteDoee. SwedeDbo'l rep.rde4
1be doIJpt. aDd a.l',ctiMN 01 the .pirita .. the immediate aDtecedent and oceasiOD or
&heir projection OUt1l(ard and perception of the external thinp, which, accordinc to him,
are JePI88eDtaUvea (iC those thou,hts and affectionl. Kant held that It la the actioD of
.me UnJmOWD agent OD the Orp.D' oC seD" that OCOUiODI the lIndentandin, to pnerate
ita perceptiooa oC e.xtemal objeots. Secondly. in respect to the perceptibility oC the spec-
tra by other agents. Swedenborr exhibits those of spiri t8 as perceptible by othen, as
wen as br thOle by whom they are pnerated. As that, however. Is not consistent with
... experience, it is Dot adopted by Kant. Bat'" hate•• may be the I01Irce from which
heclnnr hil dIeo..,.. It ilwhoUy incompatible with the laotl and doctriD8I of the Chriltiaa
IJI&em.· •• A oandid cODIideration of what be hal taught on the lubject, we think, will
lea" DO room to doubt that hi. philosophical tbeol'J' expr8l181 his genuine beller. and that
&hat which he regarded as Christianity was DOt the system of the ~ripturee; that, ID (act,
like the German rationalistl, from whom he drew hiB religion .. well. his philOlOphr,
he . u nothing more thao aD athei8tic idealist, or ideal pantheist; his Iyste~ being •
mixture or Swedenborgianism and Spinozism, as the one was modified br Kant, and the
other by Hepl. tt
The amount of it is, that the IYltem of Swedenborg, 10 far a8 it is not a cc dream," 11 a
IJ1fem oC " atheistic idealism," and that the theory of Coleridge mar be termed idealladc
or pantheiltio jost as prominence il,iven to the Swedenborgian or the Spinozian element
Which enters Into its compositioD. NoW' while it is impossible for the intelligent readt\r or
8wedeDbo1'l Dot to feel amused at the above classUloatioD-90mew.hat as we once were a'
head. JOD Calvin iM«IfItl, spoken of as an Atabiao philosopher-,et we are Dot di,-
IGIe4 to denJ that Kant may have 'been indebted to Swedenboll for the prm oChis lpec.'
 [1uIIe,
lations respeetlng time and 8pac~. We are in ponel.loll or. Oermaa pamphlet by Dr.
Tarel ill which he undertakes to demonstrate that tlte biographer of Kgt hu CalaiJed da1l8I,
with the express purpose of 8Cteentng his master from !!le imputation or hanDI beeD caD-
Tt-rsant with the works or the Swedish Seer prior totho publlcatioD of hi. OWD. Bat
whether this were so or not, it matterllittle to the question of the intrinsic truth orfahlty of
the principle involved, and on this head we are very free to lay that if Kant or Coleridp
affirm nothing more than what is advanced by Swedenborg, they may present. bold front
to every charge oCbere!y that may be tabled against them. We should like to lee. al the
hand oCMr. L., or nny one else, an attempt to show that space or time can either oCthem
pertain to the spiritual world. Ther are both inherent in matter, as Dea GuaysJ1.. amply
evinced in his exposition of the t'plritual pbilosoplly oC Swedt'nborg. Space cannot be
thought oC apart from the boundaries oC a material body or its local relations to other
bodies, nor can time be cancei ved oC exoept as measuring the duration or a materialob-
ject. Into the spiritual world nothing material enters, consequently there ia nothiDI
there to generate time or space.
Nothing, moreover, can well be wider of the truth than what Mr. L. a!cl'ibes to awe-
. denborg in regard to the slate of spirits in the other life. Cl Disembodied spirits and an-
gels have, instead oC organ. of sense, a mental faculty of generating conceptions or ~
nal objects like those in th is world." Surely there must be a .. ~"ental faculty of geuerd-
inK mi,-conceptions" with anyone who could attribute such a sentiment to Swedenborg.
It is directly the reverse of the truth. He knows nothing oC spirits dUtmbodinl in the
gen5e in which Mr. L. understands the term, and It is only by the most unpardonable
perversion that he can be represented as teaching that they are destitote of cc organs of
sense." One who is prepared to affirm a",thiftg concerning Swedenbor(s doctrines caD-
not but know that he declares directly the contrary of what is here asserted. cc From
thes8 considerations," says he, " it may be evident that the spirit oC mau is equaDr in a
form, and that it is in the human form t nnd that it enjoys sensories and the senses u wen
\vhen it Is separated from the body, as when it was in the body, and that an of the life or
the eye, and all of the life of tbe enr t in a word, nil of the liCe of sense which. man ha,
is not of his body, but of bis spirit in them, and in their minutest particulars. Hence ie
Is that spiriL~ as well 8S men see, hear, and feel, but after being loosed trom the body, Dot
in the natural world, but in the spiritual." This is not the language oC detached and oc-
casional passages, but the constant vein of his teachings throushouthls entire workl. How
unfairly then is this man dealt with by those who would ereate odium against him! Yee
there is some satisfaction in the thought that if he is to be overwhelmed with ohloquy it is
Dot on the account of what he ha. sBid, but of what he Ittl. fIOt aaid.
How strange, again, that lIr. L. should imagine that the Cl mental faculty GC generat-
Ing conceptions of external objecu," should be inconsistent with the possession oC If Ofo
gans of sense," such as spirits are endowed with. Do not men, even in t~19 world, fre-
quently U generate conceptions of external objects" which become as real to them, and u
uu]y govern their actions, as the most positive entities that come 'under their sight or bear-
ing? Grant that this effect Inny be due to morbid conditions ofthe faculties, still it is lot·
ficient to prove the truth of the principle, that imaginary creations may be bodied forth
and'assume all the characters of reality, while still the percipient is in the full pouessiOD
of all the cc organs of sense." Mr. L. is utterly in the dark as to what Swedeoborg has
live~ his reader. to know on this head.-We have aheady extended our remarks on this
article far beyond our original intention, but we cannot withhold from our pages the
clOling paragraph in which the author OODles Corth with his grand panacea tor all such
pantheistic ulcera and atheistic imp08thumel as are breaking out, in the writings ot Ku~
and Co1erldge, on the body of Cbristendom. le Ills IOmetimes asked, in respect to the
purpotet which Christ hu revealed, of asaJn manifeauul hilDaelf Yisibly to men, ana
1--1 III
l'8IipaiJII_ earth ;-WUt 11.18III1 . . can It .-..ne 1 ODe or the pe&t deetl "hiela It

Wief. which the proud and impiou. ch_.,

will achine i., the eterul aDiJaJ1ati_ of the atbeillD, pantheism. and other lonu oC lID-
aDd viDc:Uoatio~ of his WOID UoDl the 1Db-
rep,....UODS with which \hey are maliped by nch erroriltL The almighty Redeem.
er will then reveal hi.-lC in hi. POI'1 to IltJIt bodil, . . . wlLich Mr. Coleridp hu de-
IUMIB08d and call1DlDiated ea unworthf of ore8eDce, &Dd .CM' &ha, ther .,. formed to be
the chaDDela oC aD ablOlute and lolly knowledge oC Ilia beiDl. ud demouua.. thereby Ibe
jutice of their condemDauoll who refUIe to bow him through hi. worb." After dweU-
iag at lODle Jenrth OD the degree to whioh the ColeriqiaD error pren.iJa. _peoially amoDI
ecJ..u..ted fO'IDl meD, he proceeda; "1& i. God alone, therefore, that CaD confute them :
.ad.be is to aooompliah it bf l1uveilinl to their eyes the dazzliDg splendor. of hiB pre-
~ dilU'lDiDl their boasted reaJOnmg of its usurped authority over the IeDIOS, aDd
IBiD. their whole Datura with a resiatless realization oC hi, deity and dominion. C The
Lonl.J... .ball be JeYealed from heaven with his milhty aDgela. In flaming lIe, takiDa
ftDge&Doe OD them that know not God, and that obey Dot tbe gospel of our Lord Jema
CJuiat.' .And what a deliverance will it be to those who slUVive 1 The next In IreatDfMI.
to the tmemption from SalaD'. tempting qenoy. whioh is at the I&rq8 epoch to he
"JOUght, by his banishment to the abyss. Th~se conspirators against God and man ha.ve
led. and are now leading, millions to destruction; out their hiftuence will then end, and
their systems vanish, neter to reappear. No Spinoza or Xant wiU,_fter that great
moment.-Do Elchom or Panlus, no Fiohte or Begel, no Coleridge or Cousin,-(why
DOt add-no Swedenborg '}-ose and undertake, by denying tbe truth of our senses and
reuon. to strike God from existence, and convert religion into a dream: C For the earth
ahaIl be rull of the knowledge or J ehovah, as the waters cover the seal.' ,.
Now all this holds out, to be sure, to the sophists the prospect of a very terrible kInd or
logic, but wherein precil6ly its power oC dialectic conlutation lies we COnrE-18 ourselve.
a' a loss to perceive. If tbe wise man spake wisely and truly when he said that though a
tool were brayed in a mortar, yet would 110t his fqlly depart from him, it is perhaps quite·
as di1Bcult to conceive how the mere visible display of the Lord's bodily presence. in all
its U dazzlinl( splendors," made to the outward lenses should tend to cc disarm their boast-
ed reasoning oC ita ursurped authority," or " eternally to annihilate atheism. pantheisrtJ,
and other forma oC unbelief," unless by eternally annihilating their espousers and advo-
cates, which i. a doom that Mr. L. probably hardly anticipates even tor such scarlet
d,ed delinquenta aa Xaut, Coleridge and Swedenborg. If the incorrigibly wioked trUll
oendeDtaliats are aUoweclltil1 to exilt, we opine that their transcendentalism wiU ahI&
with them, and dlat 10 rar 81 dley are from this lOurce in talaities, 10 Car are they iD hell,
"bed their apirita will be very apt to remaiD, whatever maf be the nature oC the Lotd'.'
8eoond Ad. .&. Where does Mr. L. learn that the cc dazzling .plendora" of Iba Lorcl'.
epipbaDf have any incriD8ic e8icacy to transform the darkn811 of error into the lighC of
nth 1 We commend to his reflection the woroa of the p.ropbet; 'c Let faYOI be ahGwecl
10 Ibe wicked, ye' wHl he Dot learn righteousness: i" tA, laM of -pri"..", willlt tlNl
~, tIfIIlwill "of INhDld tu mt4i"t, oftJa. LDrd."
NoticiDg in the paperl not long since an intimation that SOlne ODe oC the Itars as seen
through the telescdpe afpeared hOW to be in a state of confiatlratiOD, ..venl queriel 00-
cvred 88 demanding lOlotioD before we could adopt any lOch ooncl1l110l1, howev.
aaomaloal might be &be upeet of the88 twiDJding orbs. In the flrlC place~ .ye w e "
reuon to believe that the stars 10 our univerae are 'UDS, and thaC tbeir OODltl&WSDt m....
nu ia the aame wiJh that of &he lun of our own system 1 AnalOllY would doabdele de-
elde Yery pe»itimy iD the affirmative. 1I 10. the question it not aD anuatlUal ODe, wbaa
i. 1Il8lUn bf a .DD'e beiDI on fire 1 Is Dot our IWl_re Doe all.u~yirtaa11, OD . .
-
.n .. t8el
wIdeIl daelr
bad,
..,
aDd IiBlal 8IiIl
., , la., OWD • . . , other. . dIaD tlaat lroIa
,,1ale1l weakl be .,.ble tJI labjectlDa a IOIar
' If lOt wlaM t8 It, . . . wha, . . 1ta properdea' la the"Upt GC
_la • lie oapUle oImatiDll. .' ....l. 01W ueI aboft dIa, tJI tile IlIdift aDC1 aormal
lJPt or••• , The . . , ch.., ollOlu aoea.pattoa wbJeh ". oaa weD ooaoelw ia tIIat
........ . , . tile .-ppaIIIlOll or aD opaque D1ICleaa aarreaDded by a l11BliDou_ftIIope,
ad1lpoD the ,..&bill" OCddll. . . . . . m_ takiDIlJe trom withlD aDd the flames baat-
Iq ~ lea exterior ocmriDg. Tbla hypotlaeeillnwl. . too mur violeJlt .pp08itbla
to be ratalaU, ......Decl. But paatlDl tbat aetaa11,
lt8IIar bodleI w. . ca"'"
fJllOIDe kiDd oflpltloa that Ihould p" riee to flam _d... to a . - c " " OD"'"
altIe. il It OODC8lftble that Iller lhoal4lboot forth 10 tu from dle_tral . . . . . to _ _
--u , perceptible ealUpment or aD, 1nep1ar oatllDe ID ,he "atltle dbo 01 . . I&V ID ...
.". placed at lOob an immeDJe diltaDoe .. our planet 1 What proportion woald dae eK-
let 01 the ndiadoll of the fIam.. bear to the diameter' of alae wbole m_I U.tIl ~
qMItlODI are aDlWerecl ill a IOmewbat .tl.fa0tol'J manll. we are d.1~ ID . . la . .
......... of the {act of a remarkable obaap iD the .ppeuaace at timeI or oeitaiD . . .
tor which neD lOieaoe, in tts PIe. .t -18, la wholl, _hie to MCCHIDI.
The followia8DOt1oe hat at least the oircumstaDce in ita layor oCrelatinl to perIOD8 oC
IOID8What publio DOle and of poaealDI that kind oC authenticity which &rUes (rom the
llOA-eleDial or a fact . . .ned when lOch a denial would inevitably be made were the u-
1erti0ll fa1Ie. c AD zeade-,. of Lieut. Lpch's Narrative of the Expedition to meDead Sea
haft been lDteIeIted ia LieQI. Dale, and aft"ected by the circumltaDce of hi. w.tb, as re-
00Ided ID the"'t chapter. A writer iD the NatiOflGl'fIIfllipAt:fr . " that OD the 14th or
JalJ !tin.. Dale w.. ridiDI with IOme friends iD Pennlyl venia, when one them of Dotioecl
all UDuaa! depJelliOD &Dd IILdne_1n her manner. On hit inqairing the cauee ahe aiel
to him. C I wish loU to note thil day; ml spirits are 10 oppre.ed, my feelilllS are 10 wa.-
MCountabl, etnap, that I am IQre IOme Ileal calami&J awaits me-note it, that this 11
. . 14th of lull.' It wu the day her hueband died. At tbe laat p~ediDllCOoUDtahe
!lad __ reported as iD perfect hell1th•. She IOOD aw the Ilewapapel' report oC hw
death, aDd returned d~18 ~to her home in BoetoD to follow her husband to the
wodd of Ipiritl, l-yiDI two little children with only the iDheritaoce oC their fatber ' •
Dame aDd theIr mother'. pra1en."
" . law reeelftCl a ftry eDeollrqlng letter from LaJ»OlC8t lad. The writer . . . . . .
ward • podl, lilt of Dew aablOriben and .,.IBO..,. ID ooochadlnr :-CI Some or ..
. . . haw ptUObued oeoulOllaU, or fell Upoll and hid aD opportuDlty oC readiD,tba
. . . . of the New Churcb, aDd, uD1eel we mlltake the .ipa, the time Iau 00ID8 . . . . .
we Ihould pt up a Utile Ubrary which may be zead, tor an, who ha. . . . . ID Jaeu.
"e nquelt 01 , . lIlat JOII would mate out and forwarcl to me • lilt of each boob u
JOU WOIlId reoOlluDeDd to 111 to purchue,-at tint to the amount, a" of 'lOO. We . .
..... &IftoDI8 .atten here b, han. such a IChedale befoIe ..... Tb.. i•• . . , .......
6al besimUDI iD a place "bere cbe dootri.e8 haft, for tile 8nt dlDe, beeIl bat . . . . .
pIOGJai..... ! . ,

. . . . . . 0ImIIIMI, I. • 1011I ant able article. It..

Jal. I8UGIl tb; bell""'''' ...
lIloaab theJe may be aDd 18 &D aheenee of. electriolty la tile . . .. ,.... ,ea
"dye coaaeo&1oD with CboI... The only connection the pIOfeIIor !hiDb exIm, .....
It'" .,
"... , . ftrlad. of heat and motare. ODe Important- fMt. 10q lupeotecl, tile . . .
. . .....wtlhel, ad that 11, that coDtamlDatioll ariael fioaa IpriaklblC tile
........ 8Ip8ClaDJ it they . . fa al1dl, OODClitloa, ,I. . . . .r h ~
la'"
r .pplled 10
lOb ............ they beI1ll 10 lmDeat .lId .-erate .aft&, "hile tM ItreetIt ....
1840.]

ma7 remark. that eyer aiDoe the

elecuioil1 ancl 1iP~ UMl tbe
.'
pe6cdJ dry, NIBaID lD8It ucl hanD.... m. utlele . . . dnaI:-" To ooac1He, we
diIoonrJ b, Dr. I'aaklia of.e Jd8Ddtr . . . . . .
' . . . . ,. ., or dlia . , . . . . .
maDJ' or the proe. . . or Dat1Ue ad ut, ~ bu existed a teDdeDe1 to uoribe to I.
' la
-
apncy ~11 phenomenOD Dot othenrile aeGOQIlted for; aDd 1 aumot ba' nprcl ...
hut, coDcluiou which from . . . . . . . a&IDOI&a .....~ c w ~.. haw
ucribecl the production oC Cholera ID ftriadau ID the electrioal_te of the .1m08ph..,
U .'YOriDs of the laDle spirit, and u uempWJiDI OM of &be IeadiDI enca. ......
which the phibopbl of Lord. Buca wu eWeoteel.',
A work hu wilbiD • •w weeb been leCel.ed &om EDBland aDd which haa jut 00. .
bdoa.rhaDda..uded. "8aalDoUIm&Dd PBJoheitm," b, J. W. Haddock. The dealpol
the WGm .. to . . ., oIVltal Jlapedam phJliolorica1l1 and phllOlOphicallf. In ODe oC&he
chapten ID whiob the .uthor 11 diJoDIIlq the phfllolGtrJ ofal.p we DOIice • oolDoideDoe
10 ..." 8tdIdaI wiah what 8wedeDboJ'l _YI OD tbe lUDe 11lbject iD the article traDIla...
ad pabUlbed iD the Peb. No. of the RepoeItorr from the third part of the Economf or
die ADimal KiDplom, that we oumot well forbear prelelltiDl It to our reader.. The
iD. . . . of the thiDI an-, ID a . . . 81. . .1118. from the fut tbat the time of ita publioa- .
tioD in LoDdon was aDterior to the appearance or the Bepoeilory iD tU& coa.Dlrf, 10 that
by DO pOIIibUitr could the author have drawn UpOD oar pepI ; nor £rom the l8IleralOUl
of the boot ia therelbe leu& Indicatioa that the alItbor bad oODlU1&ed the qiDal, or iliac
he bow. aDJthm,~oCSwedeDharg. We lift the auutl in puaIIelealamD..
_.DOCK. IWJID. . . .O.
&&To eIlable JOG to comprehad the pA,- ItT.he cerebrum (in aleep) su1fen a kind
. . . . orchil wonderful dilOOftrJ'J I will, at oCeolla]*t in ill mUJ'~, its torrow.
the list s~, poiDt oat Ihe principal cWr.. (. .ca), aDd &be lpaoea iD&erveai... beIw_
sce between a Btate of wuefulDeu and the cortical spherale. aDd the medullu7
Mp, aDd the immediate l'IaraUal eaole of ftbJe8.-Keantime, while the cerebrum 1.
lb. diJ&reaee.-DariDa wakefalDeu, both at reat, the eerebellum i. In motion and
braiJul are more or le. ill a stale of actlYity ; animation. ACOOIdi.Pf at nlglat or ••r•..,
but oC the aetion of the larger porUOD,- sleep, the cerebrum relu8I the reiu aDd
tbaI ia. or 1be omebnm, we are COIlICioaa; gi Yea them up 10 the eerebellam.-BeDC8
10 that our _ill hu rllle in 1he aoimal the alternate reil and .nreat, the cerebr. .
economy. aDd the senlOry nerve. convey to sleeping while the cerebellum walE., and
the .eDIOriam, within the eerebrum, the nce "".••-When aD \be partitioDl aDd di-
ftri01U impreeaioD' m. . by ounvud ub- ramUleadoD8 of the eortieaJ brain are di..
jeeta. But when .leep ..ala IIp the eye- tiDctlyaDd duly anaJed, BDd . . , .....
licb, the activity of the cerebrum cease., apaces opened between them j or. in om.
allCl heDCe we beoomelD88D.ible to outward words, when the cortical braiD I1 10 ex-
daiap j aDd then Dature, or dle myolan-
IarJ ~niOD of our Dervous ceDtre, thtd ia,
pandecl aDd .... "'9 th., 6ere U aD
open P..... CIom 0" fulIOW ad . . fGIj
the ""bell.. with Ita derivatives. h.. the 1.0 another, then the .tate is a a&ale ofwake-
entbe oopuol and cllrecdon of the aDimal fuIDell, attention, and inteDtioD. Ba'
kiD£CIom. 1& is well kDown that Cl balm,
sleep- ia cc tired nature's lWeet reatorw;"
but It 1. Dol 10 generalJ, known that one
lapee, that 1. to .,., whell aD. I.,.
when the oordcal eerebl1llllbull1l'eredco]-
01 ...
cortical lubstance repoeea OD Mother, aDCl
peal ,.100 (or the refieehlml and reston- the djltinction! are well nlKh obliterated,
tive Dature of sleep, CODII8" In the com- tb_the O8l'eb11l.11 in a state orl1eep, ob-
ple18 .upeDRGb of the fanlties of the oe~ lCurit'1, IDleDlibDit" and ID. . . . .l.abl·
bnun, and the operalioD' oC Datue heiD, 11'1, \hat il, iD an im~t.eDee of wiW... to
carried on by the cerebellum, without aDJ act and o( leD.uOL-In order that &be . .
oC1MIe IDUlifold dlltoTblnl eaalel whieh rebrum ahall be a"le to determlDelDto ace
ari. . . . . GIU .aatuy aa4 aouolou a. wbat it wl111 or deaireI,' It is DeoeIIary thaI
ti.itiea. The cerebJU1ll la ooapoeecl oC iD· it mould . . iD a ltate to mcmt .epuatelr,
Ilumerable fibres, originati~ iD Utde 10- ODe bJ one, Ita GOI'&ieal aubalUlcel. or lb.
b.1ee or pndI. In the ad'.'atate or this
poai8D __ die .11.. braia, or, iD other
cODlerles. whioh are distinct or sepa....
.moDl 'hemeelYea, od ache correspoadiJII
WOI" iD the fl1tJ1HjW Ibre... lDaec. . l. the body. If the oerebrulD MI-
,"d and with theiz lob 01 IIuulI polaC lap-, Dd bf ill _11&,.. 0ftfW--' . .
 • Editarillll,..,. [June, lEND.
towards the cboamCerence oC the craDium, dnctiODl. it can dum oC 00111'18 eurel8e no
and there is a capability or moviDg them
either ft_", or in mater or le.,. gr"OIfJ'l.
la a .tate of inactivity or sleep, the Jlbrea
control over any mu.le in particular. but
actuates the whole in general; this iD1 po-
teIloe of puticalar motions or detel'lD ina-
collapse or fall together, and heDce the capa- tion. is what is termed l1eep. In order
bility of this individual action cease. ; and then to the brai n'8 sleeping, it is nece8Sa17
• more general or combined action only that It ihould fa11 in upon itselt or collapse.
remaioa. po.lible. Thi. ptWfIl 01 . . . . . aDd In this way estmguilh its own power
,d actioo is similar to the true natural ac- of acting by-.iDplara.-Such .. ia the ani-
don oC the cerebellum, which, from it! pe- mation of the brain, such also 1. its liCe ;
Culiar organization, is incapable of the i,,- the distinct animation of the single parte
dindtMJl action which distinguishe8 the gives a distinct or particular liCe under the
cerebrum. But with the cessation of the general, that is to say, a life having the po-
ifltlit1Ultta1 or separate action in the cere- tency or feeling, willing, and delrnnining
brum all ordinary eeu.tiOD ceases; and everydliDI into aot.-A common or general
hence the unconsciouane. of a .Iate of animation, on the othf'r hand, gives a com-
sound sleep. mon or general life, that is, one which is
U Another physical eau. for the ltate of unclistingu ished and obscure.
iDaensibUity in sleep is, that by the coUaple "In the l1eeping state, moreover, the red
or falling together of the fibres of the cere- blood is preveDted from approachiDfl too
brum, the blood is prevented from entering near to the several distinct cortical substan-
t1le inner chaDnels of the brain, but cour.es ces, and 1. detained at a distance propor-
alODg the piG . .'er, .. membrane iDveltinl tioned to the clegrw oC depth of the sleep.
the brain." . - Thus the blood in Ileep coalCS alone the
extreme surface of the pi,z fIIttIiwgia. nor
does it penetrate Into the more interior por-
tion. of the brain except through the more
open hilhways oCthe.larger arterial tnmb!'
This win be admiued to be a somewhat surprising coincidenoe, provided the author of
ClSomnolism," &c., has Dot had recourse to the original Latin of Swedenborgt. work, aDd
ftom the cut of hia little yolume we abouldjudge he had not. Still it is possible that he
hu,ad if 10 it gives us pJeanre to think that-there Is one lDore inteUigent and appre-
ciating reader of Swedenborg's scientific works. As ODr own curiosity ia somewhat ex-
cited on the subjcct, we design to aacertain the fact by direct inqniry. In oar lleD we
.hall give ODe or two {~ extraots from, cc SomnoUsm." but touching another subject.
A Mr. Durke is publishing in England a periodical oC a highly relpectable character,
entitled the le Ethnological JoUInal." In accounting to the publio for some delay iD trans-
(orming his work Cram a Monthly to a Quarterly. he remarb :_CC In preparilll" con-
luulaUoD of the Paper. on the Hebrew Chronology, it became DeCeu&ry m iDltUate a
comp.riSOD between its dateal and those oCthe primitive htstory ofother ancient nations.
This comparison gradually led to a wider range of reseq.rch than was originally contem-
plated, but male.uIts arrived at were 80 inieze.tiag awl im.portant, that it wu fOUDd
DlCeaary to p1Ulae the iDyeatlgatioD, at all rlsk~ np to • certain point, berore wrld.ar
again upon the subject. With the utmost anxieti to accomplish our task in time, it has
been wholly impossible to do so, and. to present our view. in part would be extremely in-
jadiciou., for the ground we tread upon il intensely oontrcmlrstal, and many oftbe reftla-
tlons we haTe to muke 10 startling. that nothing short of an overwhelming proof will ob-
tain for them the least toleration, out of the very small circle ofuuCettered minds.
" Theae inquiriea ;ill demonltrate, first, that the early hi.toriee. and. cbronologiee of
all the ImportaDt nation. of antiquity are ftMWlafMfIttdl, one and the same, being the his..
101'1 of the Heavens, Dot that of the Earth j and, eecondly, that this histor1 is now _,a-
ble oC beiDg nndentood and restored, and that it &bead, enab1el us to aeoend b, _oceI-
"'98 and well-deftned stages, to an antiquity of more than ,.,." '10.._ ~,... • each oC
theSe stages being in~lcated by Traditions, Religious Ceremonies, Feativale, aDd Popular
Observances in vuiouI reaiona of the globe. The applioation of theee.priaciplet. tile
, Hebrew CbronolOlY and HiItory l.cIa to relUlCl of the moat oaeapeoteel aDd important
nature."
 THE

NEW CHURCH REPOSITORY

AND

MONTHL·Y REVIEW.

,.1. 11. JULY, 1841. le. 7.

oRIG I NALP APE RS.

ARTICI,E I.

THE LETTER AND THE SPffiIT•.

No. 11

OUll object thus far ha.s been to unfold, as distinctly as our com-
pe-lled brevity would a.llow, the peculiar features of Mr. Lord's theory
in regard to the figurative and symbolical language of Scripture.
We have viewed his principles mainly in the abstract, reserving to, a
snbseqoent page the display of their practical bearing in the inter-
pretation of the holy volume. That he has investigated the nature
- aDd genius of tropical speech with great assiduity, that he has more
nicely discriminated the various species of figures, and more acutely
analy8ed their several functions and la,,·s, than any former writer on
sacred tropology, it is probably no more than just to admit. We
would not detract from any real value which his labors may possess.
We give him credit for a certain acuminated msthetic sense in deal..
ing ,vith the rhetorical elements of the inspired writings, ~nd this
keen perception, coupled with a powerful logic and a strict adherence
to his pre-established data, has enabled him to detect and expose the
fallacies of many of his predecessors, which he does not only with a
ma.4Iter hand but also with the air of one whoEe tender mercies do not
oWer any very strong protest against the most unflinching vivisection
of his subjects. In forming this judgment of ,vhat he has accom-
plished, we contemplate him as occupying and acting upon the same·
plane with the great mass of commentators and critics-the plane of
the 1ite~l sense, which is far below the lofty Jevel gained by the New.
churchman. He looks down from bis spiritual eminence upon the bat-
tle field on which Mr. L. is engaged with his opponents, as did Moses,
yen.. 11. 19
 ne Letter arid the Spirit.
Aaron, and Hllr upon the Amalekites and Israelites waning in the
vale below, albeit with far less interest as to the issue of the contest.
He can deem it a very easy matter for .our author to discomfit a legion
of mistaken expositors by hurling ar them his exegetical missiles, or
by conjuring up against them the ghosts of murdered metaphors, of
bleeding symbols, of maimed allegories, and of halting hypocata,ttuu.
Bat when the victory is achieved what trophies are won for truth 1
What positively new light is shed upon the inner mysteries of Reve-
lation? What clew is put into our hands to conduct us to the mind of
the Spirit in those higher oracles whose burden is the workings of the
regenerate life and the soul's conjunction with its Divine sonrce'1
Mr. L. may demonstrate that a host of his predecessors in the depart-
ment of prophetic interpretation have been wrong, but it by no means
follows from this that he himself is right. He may have pointed out
the rocks-the immane dorsum-on which others have split, and yet
a beacon may be necessary to warn the un\vary off from the quick-
sands that beset his own track. Indeed, we incur little hazard in the
attempt to show that in many instances Mr. L. has himself fallen
into the very errors for which he castigates 80 severely most of his
predecessors. While he declaims agaihst rash and arbitrary con-
structions, and a disregard of first principles, it were easy to adduce
proof that he again and again lays himself open to the same charge.
The sequel of our remarks will free us from censure on the score of
making gratuitous assertions. Our object, however, at present is to
put to the probation the soundness of sonle of his prominent princi-
plAs. We would see whether, between him and his opponents, it be
not" each claiming truth and truth disclaiming both."
• It is evident that nothing looms up to the view of Mr. L. with more
imposing grandeur than the law which he regards himself as having
or
established in respect to the aymbol, to wit, that the agent action or
object denoted by the symbol should be of a different order from the
symbol itself. "The first great la\\~ of symbolization is, that the sym-
bol and that which it symbolizes, are of different species or orders."
This canon he considers as carrying with it the authority of revelation
itself: inasmuch as the inspired interpretations of the symbols occurring
in the prophets will always be fOU~ld to conform to it. This law of
symbols, therefore, he holds to be a re\"ealed law, entitled to the
same reverential regard with any otber portion of the body of Scrip-
ture. He does indeed admit exceptiol1s, but these he contends do Dot
invalidate the principle, as they grow out of the exigency of the case,
and occur only where no analogous representatives could be found,
as i!1 regard to the Lord himself, to the spirits of the martyrs, the saints
- raised to life, ~c. Granting now an intrinsic truth to this canOD,
how far does it go to furnish a satisfactory solution of the problems
of prophecy 1 From its very nature the law is negative and not pos-
itive. It merely ,enables us to say that a given symbol does not re-
present a given subject, but it does not itself inform us what it doa
r~pre8ent. It is a chemical test which detects a spurious coin, but'
does Rot precipitate a genuine one. It is a stal£ which wards oS-
enemies, but Dot a magic wand that summons aiding spirit&. It is a
 1849.] ne Le".,. ad tAe 8piriL .,
fan that winnows away the cba~ but not a measure yielding good
grain. By means of the principle Mr. L. may expose fifty false in-
terpretations without establishing one true one. We do not deny
that there is something gained even on this score. It is well to have
a criterion that shall enable us at once to reject a false construction,
but it would seem that a rule of such vaunted value should enable us
to do more" than this. A canon of interpretation of which it can be
said, that " the axioms and definitions of geometry, algebra, or fin-
ions are not more adequate to the solution of the problems of these
branches of knowledge, than are the means which the prophecies of
Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah and John furnish to the explication of
their visions," ought to be capable of yielding results of a far more
positive character than any thing ,we have yet found in ~e
specimens of Mr. ·L.'s symbol-craft in any of his works. Yet
for this rule he claims the sanction of divine authority, and has
given a list of 148 interpreted symbols out of the grand total of
415, which he says comprises the whole number employed in the
Scriptures.. These interpreted cases, he contends, are amply suffi·
cient to indicate that the laws by which they are framed are the laws
universally of the several classes of symbols to which they are applied.
No reason exists for declining to take them as exemplifying the laws
of symbols in all cases. There are no other laws of symbolization re-
vealed in the prophecies, nor any symbols that are known to be em-
ployed on different principles. This certainly is building a very high
fence around one's theoretical manor-grounds. It remains to be seen
whether it has any pregnable points. For this pnrpose we present the
reader with several specimens of his interpretation.
In the second No. of the "Theol. and Lit. Journal," Mr. L. has
given an extended list of the symbols occurring in the Scripture&,
amounting, as was observed, to 415 in all. They are arranged al-
phabetically as follows. .

Abyss in the earth. Rev. ix. 1,2, 11; xx. 1, 3.

Abyl8 of waters. Rev. xi. 7; xvii.8.
Air. Rev. ix. 2; xvi. 17. . I

Altar of ince~e. Ezekiel. xli. 22. Rev. viii. 3, .5 i ix..13; xiv. 18.
Altar of sacrifice. Ezek. lX. 2; xl. 47. Rev. VJ. \I ; Xl. 1.
Ancient of Days. Daniel vii. 9-13.
Ancients of Israel. Ezek. viii. 11, 12; ix. 6.
Angels. .~aniel vi~. 10. Rev. v. 11; vii..~t 2, 11 i viii. 3-6 ; ix. 16;
x. 1 j xll.,7,8 ; XlV. 6, 8,9, 15, 18, 19 ; xvw. 1; XIX. 17.
Angels that have fallen. Rev. xii. 7, 8, 9.
Angel of the star and pit. Rev. ix. 1, 11.
Apostles. Rev. xviii. 20.
Arches. Ezek. xl. 16,22, and many others.
Ark of the covenant. Rev. xi. 19.
Armageddon. Rev. xvi. 16.
Armies of heaven. Rev. xix. 14, 19.
Armies of the kings and wild beast. Rev. xix. 19.
Artisans. Rev. xviii. a2.
Attendants, as assisting priests or 8ervants. Zech. ilL 4, 0, 7, 8.
Balance. Ezek. v. 1. Rev. vi. 5.
BILIule. Ezek. iv. 8. Daniel iv.16, 23.
- Bank of the river. Ezek. xlvii. 7, 12. Rev. xxii. I.
Barley. Rev. vi. 6. Ezek. iv. 9.
Battering rams. Ezek. iv. 2.
Battle. Rev. xvLl4; xx.8.
[July,

Bay. Zeuh. vi. 3.

&c.k.

How it is that Mr. L. should have thought of limiting the number

of symbols to 415, we can hardly imagine, when we will pledge our-
selves at any time to add, in the space. of ODe hour, one hundred to
the list that are just as well entitled to a place as those which he has
selected. At any rate, if their claim is disputed, we will engage to
show that it is upon the most arbitrary grounds. By what rule shall
the following for instance be excluded 1--8erpent, arrow, Balaam, Bab-
glon, Egypt, bride or wife, Oanaan, &c., &c.
But waiving this let us look at some of the interpretations which he
exhibits as given by the Spirit of God of several of these symbols.
Dan. li. 31-45. The stone cut out of the mountain without hands
"symbolizes the kings whom God is to establish in his kingdom."
But who are these kings 1 Are they literal or figurative 1 And how
do the " kings" differ from the" kingdom," which, instead of kings, is
expressly declared, v. 44, 45, to be symbolized by this inconoclastic
stone :-" The kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall
break in pieces and consume all those kingdoms, and it shall stand
forever." It is a kingdo71& which is to destroy the image.
Dan. iv. 10, 12, 22. " The tree denotes Nebuchadnezzar ; its height
and beauty, his greatness and conspicuity; its fair leaves and
branches his splendid habiliments and badges." We find not the
slightest hint that the leaves and branches of the tree represent the
royal attire. Moreover, if; as our author says, beasts and birds repre-
sent the king's subjects, of which, by the way, we are 110t informed by
the interpreting angel, what is to be understood by the birds dwelling
in the branches of the symbolic tree 1 Did his subjects lodge in the
folds of his garments 1
Dan. viia.9. The" Ancient of days" is a symbol of the Most High.
But why is not this a direct denomination instead of a symbol 1 Did
the prophet actually behold some symbolical personage who was pri-
marily intended by the title 1 If so, in what form 1 In that of a ,Ten-
erable man with snowy locks and aged mien 1 But this \\"ould be
to contradict the position so expressly assumed, that no created being
can be properly made a representative of the Most High. " The same
reason that renders it unsuitable that the Redeemer should be sym-
bolized by a created agent obviously renders it improper that God the
Father should be represented by a creature."- Wc wait therefore for
a declaration of the sense in which the" Ancient of days" is a 8ymbol
denoting God the Father, or the Most High.' Why is Dot God Shad-
dai or Almighty as much a symbol of Jehovab, or the Son of Man a
symbol of Jesus, as the title before us a symbol of the Father 1
Zech. i. 8-11. "The horsemen seen by Zechariah are interpreted as
symbolizing those whom G~ sent forth to traverse the earth as minis-
ten of the gospel doubtless, and the effect of whose ministry was, that
1849.] ne Letter'a7id tile Spirit.
-
the earth sat still, or iis population was at rest." This Mr. L. gives
as the inspired interpretation of the angel, which is singularly enough
qnalified in his report by a doubtle", which secretly hints at a doubtful.
The fact is, however, the horsemen are not affirmed to be ministers of '
the gospel, nor do competent authorities acquaint us with any period
of gospel-history when such an effect was produced by the preaching
ofthe Word. If it be said that the period is yet future, we demand the
reasons for the averment, for nothing would seem to be more evident
than that the whole chapter refers to substa~tially the same order of
events as that indicated by the scattering power of the four horns which
Mr. L. himself interprets of the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and
Romans. As then the assigning of the sense of gospel-ministers to
the symbol of the horsemen is wholly gratuitous, this ease can have
DO force as an example of the inspired interpretation of symbols.
Rev. i. 20. The seven stars denote "the messengers of the seven .
churches." But _the Lord says they are the angels of the churches,
and though it is true that angel is a term denoting a messenger, yet it "-
is not at all clear that the idea of messenger was intended to be the
prominent idea conveyed in this passage by angel.
~Rev. vii. 9, 13-17. The palm-bearing multitude represents" a mul-
titude of men in the body who survived the great tribulation." On the
first reading of this we had not the least conception that by" men in
the body," our author inten~ed any others than men living on earth in
their natural· bodies and in the ordinary conditions of humanity. But
we became enlightened as we proceeded, although at a. very slow
rate. For while they are of our race, yet they are not risen anq'glori-
fied saints, as they are discriminated from the living creatures and
elders that represent the redeemed that have died. They represent
therefore, a different order of the race. Still they are sanctified, 88
they have purified their robes in Christ's blood. They are justified
and freed from the dominion and curs~ of sin. They have entered on
a new and glorious life. They have come out of the great tribulation,
and are never more to suffer trials, but are to serve God day and
night in his temple, and God is to dwell with them. Still they are in
bodies, and in natural bodies, as is evident from all the predicates as-
cribed to them. They are to live in our world; otherwise the pro-
mise of exemption from hunger, thirst, and heat would have no ,ap-
propriateness. Their period is to be after the advent of Christ and
the commencement of his visible reign on earth, as is shown by the
promise that he snaIl guide them, and lead tbem to the fountains
of the waters of life.. Who are they 1 What is to be under-
stood by such a nondescript class of beings inhabiting the earth in
natural bodies, yet free from sin and its curse, and rejoicing in the
personal presence of Christ in his kingdom? The question is ans\\·er·
ed. "They denote the saints, therefore, undoubtedly, who are to live
at the coming of Christ, ""ho are to be gathered by the risen and
glorified saints symbolized by the majestic being seated on a white
cloud, and are to continue in the natural body and live a perfect and
blessed life until transfigured." (!) But when are they to. be trans-
figured 1 The living saints, according to Paul, are to be changed in
 800 [July,
the twinkling of an. eye at the coming of OAmt, and not at some in-
definite period afterwards. And then 8S to the" gathering," if the
reader is at a loss to know what is intended by this process as per-
formed by the symbolic being seated on a white cloud, who is like the
Son of Man, and yet is not He (as our R1:1thor affirms); we find the
problem solved somewhat farther on. The pa.ssage referred to, it will
be recollected, is the follo\ving :-" And another angel ca.me out oC
the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud,
-Thrust in thy sickle, and reap; for the harvest of th9 earth is ripe.
And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and
the earth was reaped." 1'he symbolic reaper in this verse is, accord-
ing to Mr. L., a risen and glorified saint who represents a similar class
,of beings, that is, "human beings ·raised from the dead in glory like
the human form of Christ in his exaltation. He obviously is not the
. representative of angels." ~e represents, according to Mr. L., a risen
and glorified portion of the human race whose office it is to harvest
.." the sanctified then living on the earth aDd who are the same with the
palm-bearing multitude. "He personates beiD"~ of his own order,
therefore, and his agency is symbolic of the gathering of the saints
who are living at the coming of Christ which is foretold in the pre-
diction, Matt. xxiv. 31, that he shall send his angels or messengers and
gather hiseleetfrom the four winds." " As crops are harvested for the
purpose of preservation and appropriation to the uses for which they
are raised; so the reaping of the subjects of this harvestdenotes their
being gathered for preservation and appropriation to the ends for
.which.they are sanctified. The symbol thus foreshows that ere the
final destruction of the vassals of antichrist, the living saints are to
be gathere,d together for preservation, and probably for the judgment
and acceptance which are symbolized by the parable of the separa-
tion of the sheep from the goats, and that the raised and glorified
dead, symbolized by the reaper, are to be the angels who are to gather -
together the elect, and that they are previously to descend to the
clouds, await the approach of the great moment, and receive a signal
from heaven when to enter on their work.'· All this, it is evident, rons
on in quite a novel vein of suggestion, but what shall we think of the
following 1 "That this s~·mbol cannot personate men in the natural
body, is seen also from the relation in which men are to be the s~b­
jects of his agency. It is on men and the sanctified, that the acts
symboliz~d by reaping are to be exerted; and, like grain, they.are to
be subjected to their agency whom he represents, in a passive re-
. ltItion. They are to be gathered by force from the scene in which
they live, and placpd in another, for preservation and appropriation to
the end for which they are sa.nctified. There is no moral agency by
which men are passively transferrfld from one scene to another, in 8
manner symbolizing the reaping of a grain field by a risen and g)ori-
fled saint, stooping fj·om a cloud."- Theol. and Lit. Jour. No. 11. p.244-
What idea to form of this forcible deli verance of men that are so high-
ly sanctified and who might be supposed readily to yield to an ad-
monition to remove from a perilous proximity and transfer themselves
k) a place of safety, we are at a loss to imagine, as we are also what
1848.] TA. Letter ad , . Spirit. 801
aD8Wers could be given to an army of queries that .8nggest themselves
in view of this scheme of eschatology, but which our limits will not
allow us to propose. We can only say of the whole, in the language
of one of Shakspeare's personages, after wandering for a long time
through unknown forest wilds, " Here's a maze trod indeed through
forthrights and meanders !" ,
Rev. xiii. 7. The wild beast of seven ht-ads is a symbol of civil
rulers; so likewise its head and horns both denote kings. This is
true in r~gard to the latter, the heads aDd horns, but not in regard to
the beast himself. He is no where said to denote civil rulers; be-
sides, this would be to confound the body of the beast with his heads,
which, as far as we ha,,·e been able to see, Mr. L. does throughout.
Yet he i~ professing to give us all along inB]Jiretl expositioDs of the
symbols. .,
. Rev. xix. 7, 8. The Lamb's wife and also the New Jerusalem,
which is equivalent, symbolize the risen, justified, and glorified saints.
This again is gratuitously said. The interpreting angel does not
aftirm that those who constitute the New Jerusalem are saints who
have risen from the dead in Mr. L.'s sense of resurrection, which is
that of the body. Neither is it said that the souls of those who were be-
headed for the testimony of Jesus, and who sat on thrones and reigned
with C~rist a thousand years, are the same with the saints who con-
stitute the Lamb's wife and the heavenly Jerusalem. This is Mr. L.'s
iaference gro~ing out of his peculiar scheme of prophecy, and it will
be found, in numerous instances, that what he has set down as in-
tpired interpretation, is no more than his own interpretation, which
we are called upon to admit as of divine authority. We' deny most
emphatically the truth of his exhibition of the mind of the Spirit in
this conoexion. If he believes that this is the true intent of the oracle,
let him propound it as his belief formed from the hest light he can
obtain; but let him not exalt his conjectural commentary to a level
with the authority of the text itself. We are here reminded ofone of
Mr. L.'s own sentences in speaking of Faber, "What certainty of in-
terpretation can there be, if the prophecy may thus be wrested at the
pleasure of the expositor, to meet the necessities of his false hy-
po£hesis 1"
Rev. viii. 8, 11 ; xvi. 4, 5. Rivers and fountains of waters, spoken
of under the judgments of the second and third trumpets, and of the
second and third vials, denote peoples. This again is inference. The
angel merely says, '!The waters which thou sawest, where the whore
sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." These
Mr. L. himself admits were" ,,-aters that were seen surrounding the
seven hiUs of Rome/' which must of course have been the sea, and it
does not necessarily follow that rivers and fountains denole the
same, iD the language of prophecy, with the sea.
Dan. ii. 41, 42, 43. The inadhesion of the iron and clay in Nebu-
chadnezzar's image represents the want of union between the mo-
narchs and their people holding the elective franchise. This will
be seen to be an inference, and a very far-fetched one, by any one ~
who will consult the passages referred to. He will have to look long
before finding any allusion to the" elective franchise."
 LJmy,
Dan. vii. 20, 21, 25. The investiture of one like the Son of ~aD,
with dominion over all nations, signifies the investiture of Christ and
the establishment of His kingdom on earth, in which his rUen saints
are to reign with Him. Where does Mr. L. find anything in the
angel's explanation respecting- the risen saints reigning with Christ
in his kingdom on earth 1 'Vbat is this but compelling the Word
of God to bear witness to a private interpretation of our own!
" He that hafh my word let him speak my word faithfully. What is
the chaff to the wheat 1 saith the Lord."
It will not be forgotten that in all this Mr. L. professes to be stating
the interpretations of the Holy Ghost, and not propounding his own.
He adduces the above, among a multitude of similar instances, as
illustrative of what he declares to be the general law of symbols, to
wit, that they shall be of a different order from the persons or things
represented. This may be true in the main, as we are inclined to
believe it is; but we think it clear that in the above cases he has
failed to invest the rule with the divine sanction, as he cla.ims w,ith a
certain confidence of tone to have done. Not only so; the rule not
only fails in several cases to be duly authenticated; but even should
this be granted, we are prepared to show that the principle is wholly
inadeauate to the emergency-that it does not afford a competent
Key to aeClpner toe enigmas oi the prophets, and is, therefore, und.,.
serving the high Jaudations which Mr. L. bestows upon it.
In the article OD the "Laws of Symbolic Representation" (TJu»l.
et Lit. Journal, No. 11.), from which we have thus far for the most
part quoted, he undertakes to show that the asserted law is indispen-
sable, as a clew by which alone a large class of uninterpreted sym-
bols can be explained consistently with the truth of the prophecies.
They admit, he says, of no explication that can be verified, except OD
the ground that the agents and acts foreshown are of a different spe-
cies from those by which they are represented. One of these is the
symbolic apparatus of the second trumpet, viz. of a volcanic moun-
tain falling into the sea, and turning one-third of the waters into
blQod, and destroying ~ne-third of tlte fish and of the ships. This
cannot, of course, denote any event of the same kind. There are DO
explosive elements \vith which we are acquainted, accumulated in
such quantity at one point in t.he earth, as would be adequate to
throw up a vast mountain from its base, and project it into the sea.
Something else then must be repre~ented by the symbol, and it is p~
cisely here that we need the aid which Mr. L.'s rule does not afford us.
We want a positive intimation as to the import of the imagery. Bat DO
such adminicular hint occurs, and we are thro\vn upon analogy Cor our
clew. "There is all analogy," says Mr. L., "between the symboliC
dejection of such a volcanic mountain into the sea and destruction
by it of fish and ships, and a sudden and novel invasion of an empire
by an extraordinary people, conquering 6 province, establishing 8 se-
parate and independent government, and sending from their capital
slaughtering· and devastating armies into the surrounding regions.
And as waters are interpreted in the prophecy as the symbols of peo-
ples and multitudes and nations and tongues, we know that the sea
 1849.] Tie Leaw GIld de BpiriI.
into which the mountain descended denotes a nation of the Roman
empire (why not the whole empire 1), and that the angels symbolized
by the .mountain must be agents therefore that acted on a people of
that empire; and thence that into which the sea was changed was
-
representative of their blood (where blood, it appt'ars, contrary to the
principle, is a symbol of blood). And such agents were .the Vandals
who conquered the Roman provinces in Africa in the fifth century,
established an independent government there, consigned immense
numbers of the inhabitants to death by the sword, and made frequent
incursions into the islands of the Mediterranean, and into Italy and
Greece, slaughtering the people, sacking and burning the cities, and
spreading the country with devastation." Such is Mr. L.'s interpret-
ation, founded confessedly on an apprehended analogy between the
symbol and the subject, in regard to which, however, fifty other expo-
sitors might fail to see it with Mr. L.'s eye~, as in fact, the histolj· of
the interpretation of the book makes abundantly manifest. Yet our
author seems quite averse to allowing the pbssibility of any other ex-
. position being correct. "And there is no other cl8&Q of actors, and no
other species of agency, that answers in that manner to the symbols.
In the consideration, then, that there is no other explication that is
not wholly ineligible, and that this has all the elements that can en-
title a solution to be received as legitimate, we have all the re8Sons
that we can with propriety ask, for regarding this as the true inter-
pretation." What we ask is positive demonstration that this and no
other is the truly meant import of the inditing spirit in this figured
prediction. We understand Mr. L. as propounding a rule of inter-
pretation, the observance of which will preclude conjecture. But it
seems, from Mr. L.'s own showing, that Grotius, Hammond, Cocceius,
Daubnz, Vitringa, Mede, Newton, Cressener, Cuninghame, and Dean
Woodhouse, have each of them proposed a different solution from
that of Mr. L., and each no doubt was as ready as Mr. L. to suppose
that "no other class oflac tors, and no other species of agency answered
to the symbols," and that every other explication was ,e wholly ineli-
gible." We do not design by this to intimate that Mr. L.'s ~nterpret­
ation may Dot be more" legitimate" than any of the others which he
has recited; but our object is to say that Mr. L. comes to his conclu-
sion on the subject precisely in the sanle way with the others, viz.•
by a careful study and pondering of the probabilities of the case, and
not in virtue of any inspired rule or criterion of judgment.
So also in regard to his interpretation of the third trumpet.
I

U There is a like neces8jty for construing the symbols of the third trumpet.
as denoting agents of an order that differ from themselves; as no star ever fell
on the rivers and fountains of the Roman empire, and embittered one-third ot
their waters so a8 to render them deadly, and cause the death of many who
drank- them. The waters must again be taken 8S symbols of peoples and
tribes, and the star as a body of foreigners making a descent on them, and in-
spiring them with a spirit of resistance, and a passion for war _and conquest,
like that by· which they became destructive to those. who afterwards under-
took to appropriate them to their use by conquest; and the symbolization
thus construed had a conspicuous fulfilment in the fifth century. The des.
cent of Attila OD the skirts of the empire, his conquest of the tribes alODg the
 [July,
Danube and Rhine, and in the north of Italy, and oonfticts with the FraDka,
Ostrogoths, Alaus, and Romans, who united in resisting him, infused into them.,
as a new element, a spirit of independence and love of war and conquest like
his own, which led them ever after, on the one hand, to oppose all invasions
of their tenitories by new bands from the north, and on the other, by their es-
tablishment as independent nations, to endeavor for many ages to conq1leJ'
ODe another, that generally resulted in a vast destruction of the invadel8.
The French, English, Spaniards, Germans, and Italians, have been animated
with hostile feelings towards each other, and engaged ill almost incessant
wars for more than twelve hundred years, and Italy has often been their battle
ground."-TAeol. and Lit. Journal, No. 11.
Here also a score of interpretations might easily be given, some
. of them having to our minds far more intrinsic probability than that
of Mr. L. As stars are admitted by Mr. L. to be in some cases sym-
bols of religious teachers, and as fountains evidently stand elsewhere
for truths of doctrine, the falling of the star upon the fountaius, and
embittering ~heir waters, would seem much more naturally to shadow
forth the apostacy of a religious teacher, and the poisoning the waten
of truth by the inculcation of heretical doctrines, Buch as those of the
Arians, in respect to which Gibbon, in speaking of Ulphilas, one of
its prime apostles, says, that "he infected the barbaric, world with a
heresy," and that Arianism, as taught by him, was the means of" iR-
fwing a deadly poUon into the cup of 8alvation." This strikes us as
mneh more like the action of the " star Wormwood" than that- ofAttila
with his ravaging hordes. Indeed, Mr. L. himself recognizes this as
the import of the symbol in another connexion. "There is a resem-
blance bet,,'een the attempts of a monster dragon to destroy such a
woman by casting a 1100d of water from its mouth, and the endeavors
of usurping and apostate rulers to sweep-a body of pure worshipen
by a torrent of !al,e doctrines, and superstitious and idolatrous rites.
There is a likeness between the opening of the earth and absorption
of such a 1100d, and the reception by the multitude of the doctrina
a.nd superstitions of their rulers" (p. 232). But we allude to this
simply to evince how completely arbitrary are the constructions put
by Mr. L= upon the prophetic symbols, notwithstanding his zealous
crying up of a law of interpretation which has all the certitude of
geometry and algebra.
So also of the woman clothed with the SUD, having the moon
under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head, aDd
. being on the eve of parturition. After dwelling at greater length
than was necessary on the absurdity of supposing any 8ui-ftmilar
event to be indicated, he goes on to give the true interpretation;
" She must of necessity be taken as representing agents, not like her.
lelf in stature, condition, and agency, but of a different and analo-
iOUB order. She sylIlbolizes, not a' woman, or succession of womea,
but a community of the worshipers of God; 88 is shown by her sub-
sequent flight, and residence in the desert-a body as vast in eom.
parison ,of a single church, or congregation of worshipefS, RS she
herself was, compared to an ordinary woman ODr race. Her man-
child symbolizes a race of princes whom the church desired to eleva&e
to the imperio.l throne, aa.d her endeavors to bear, the dorts aDd
1841.] 8015
struggles of the church to cause the investiture of such a dynasty:
and the vision had its fulfilment in the endeavors of the church, in the
latter part of the third and beginning of the fourth century, to pro-
cure the elevation of Constantine and his family to the throne of the
empire. This solution is natural." But the question is, is it true 1
And if so, what ~re the evidences by which its truth is established 1
It is too late in the day for Mr. L. to claim an implicit deference to
his opinion, when every other commentator has the data before him
on which to judge for himself. .
Nothing would be easier than to multiply ad libitum these speci-
mens of arbitrary interpretation put forth in a style of oracular as-
surance, and virtually claiming for themselves the credit of exposi-
tions to which the author has been conducted by a divine guidance.
For his avowed object is to show the application of ~ law of symbols
which he labors, through scores of pages, to prove is sustained by ex-
press revelation from heaven. After all, to what does it amount t
Warrior horsemen, burning mountains, falling stars, parturient wo-
men, dragons, beasts, locusts, scorpions, and a long array of sym-
bolic imagery, do not denote their kind, bot objects, agents, and ac-
tions of another order. V ery well: granted; but what do they de-
note! What are the specific substances that ·are to be recognized
under these symbolic shadows 1 Here, alas, the principle is utterly at
fault. It fails us in the very pinch that requires its aid, if it had any
aid to give. I read, for instance,. respecting the \fourth vial-angel,
'hat" he poured o.ut his vial upon the sun; and power was given
unto him to scorch men with fire." I turn to Mr. L., with a request
that he would put the key of his inspired e:i..~gesis into the wards of
this lock, upon which I have tried every other in vain, and in the fol-
lowing paragraph I hear it turn :
"No vial has been poured on the 8un "that caused it to 8corch men With
fire. The sun must be iuterpreted of some agent, or combination of agents,
that receive an extraordinary power ~f injuring and harassing men in some
analogous manner; and such men are oppressi'1e and bloody mlers, who rob,
annoy, and devour their subjects by a despotic sway; and it had its accom-
plishment in the rulers of France especially, and of the nations conquered by
the French, at the period of the revolution, and the imperial reign that fol-
lowed."-Tluol. and Lit. Journal, No.lI., p. 233. \ I

Here is a din and 8 clatter made by the key, but the bolt is not
sprung. How do I know, or rather how does Mr. L. know, that the
sun mat be interpreted in the manner stated 1 How does he know,
and ho\v can he as~ure me, that this symbolic prophecy had its 8C- •
complishment in the rulers of France, and of the nations conquered
by the French, at the period referred to 1 Is it anything more than
a g'J·ati8 dictum, or the expression of a private opinion 1 ·What has
the boasted rule effected in this case 1 It has merely shown me that
the effusion of the vial upon the sun does not mean the effusion of a
literal vial upon the literal sun.' Its utmost power of application
"hath this extent-no more." It does not advance me a single step
towards a poritive solution of the problem. And yet of this marvel.
Iou menstruum, which is so lacking in solvent power, our author dis-
806 . Biblical Eqoilioru. LJuly,
coursetb as follows: "In all these instances we are thus constTained
by the nature of the symbols to regard them as denoting agents and·
acts of a different order from themsel ves. We also in all of them
find agents and acts of a different species, that present to them such
correspondences as are required by analogy, and that such agents
have appeared in the Roman world and exerted agencies in analogy
with those ascribed to the symbols. We have all the evidence, there-
fore, that can reasonably be required, and that can naturally exist,
that the laws by which we have interpreted these s~~bols are the
true laws~' The difficulty is, that the laws here established do not
sustain the elaitn made for them on the score of importance. We
feel that ,ve are somehow imposed upon by the 101\y pretensions set
up in their behal£ As was once said in another case, we are not a
little struck by" the contrast between the magniloquence of the plead.
ing and the pantaloon of the subject." It isa rule that answers a
purpose, but not the purpose. .
The foregoing remarks bear but upon one phasis of Mr. L.'s theory.
We have much richer developments to make in other directions, and
shall return to the field here opened in our next.
G. B.
(To b, eontinwd.)

ARTICLE 11.

BIBLICAL EXPOSITIONS.
No. VI.
1b:v. D. 26, 27.
ccAnd he that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will
I give power over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as
~e vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers."

TUE point in this passage which admits of a striking explication bl·

means of the spiritual sense is the peculiar use of the original word
rendered rule. This is ".,u,.••;c, poimanei, a derivative from "'.'If"',
poi~nt a Ihepkerd, and implies the acting the part
of a shepherd to-
wards.his flock, especially in feeding them. In a great majority of
cases it is translated by feed, as is ~lso the Hebrew"" ra'lJh, for
which nl,._c.". is employed in the Greek version of the Septuagint. It
is the word that occurs in the following among many other passages,
2 Same v. 2, " Thou shalt feed my people Israel." Is. xl. 11, "He
ahsllfeed his flock like a shepherd." John xxi. 16, ,. He saith unto
him, feed my sheep." Rev. vii. 17, "For the Lamb which is in the
midst oftbe throne shallleed them." Now it is clear that in these
passages the act indicate is not that of literal feeding, but of some-
thing &nalogoas, as the real subjects are notbrute beasts but men. And
1849.] 807

what caD this be but irutructitm, which ill to the mind what feeding is
to the body 1 and the very definition of ptUtor, i. e. teacher, isfeeder.
Consequently Swedenborg says, "that to feed signifies to instruct
may appear with~nt further exposition, inasmuch as it is a custom
derived from the Word to call those who teach, pastors, and those
who are instructed, the flock; but the reason of this is not yet known,
and therefore it Hhall be explained. In heaven, all things which ap-
pear before the eyes are representative, for they represent, under a
natural appearance, the spiritual things which the angels think and
with which tIley are affected; thus their thoughts and affections are
presented before their eyes in forms such as are in the world, or in
similar forms of natural things, and this by virtue of the correspon-
dence which is established by the Lord between spiritual things and
natural. It is from this correspondence that there appear in heaven
Hocks ofsheep, lambs, and goats, feeding in green pastures, and also
in gardens; which appearances exist from .the thoughts of those who
are in the goods and truths of the church, and who think thence intel-
ligentlyand.wisely. Hence, then, it is that in the Word mention is
so often made of flock, also of pastures, of feeding, and of a pastor or
sh~pherd; for the Word in the letter consists of such things as ap-
pear to the sight in heaven, by which are signified correspondent
spiritual things."-A. E. 482.
So Glassius in his Philologia Sacra, p. 1780 remarks that pa,cere,
to feed, is equivalent to docere, to teach, when applied to the ministers
of the church, of which usage he quotes Acts xx. 28, as an instance,
"Take heed therefore to yourselves and to all the flock over which
the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God,"
&e.; as also Prove x. 21, " The lips of the righteous feed many;" that
is, by wholesome instruction.
All this is sufficiently intelligible and obvious. The mass of expos-
itors would indeed call it metaphor, while we call it correspondence,
but they would admit the soundness of the interpretation. But when
we meet with the usage exhibited in the following passages, they
most inevitably be somewhat at a loss without the clew of the spirit-
ual sense. Mal. vii. 4. "Feed (,..0 II' a,,) thy people with thy rod." Matt.
ii. 6; "Out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule (rot,.a,'.) my
people Israel." Rev. xii. 5, " And she brought forth a man-child ,vho
was to rule. (ro'I'ai,c,lI) the nations with a rod of iron.'" Ch. xix. 15,
" And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword that with it he should
smite the nations, and he shall ,·ule (2I'!)t".,i.) them with a rod of iron."
As the more legitimate sense of the original is to feed and not to rule,
the question arises, \vhat can properly be meant by feeding with a rod
of iron 'I A rod of this kind is 8 proper instrument for dashing in
pieces, but not for feeding; nor is it in fact a fitting expression, even
by way of metaphor, for 8 shepherd's crook, although it has been sug-
gested that the term rule in these latter connections is to be consider-
ed as denoting an agency exerted upon the enemit's of the church,
similar to that which is put forth by the shepherd in defending his
flock by means of his crook against the assaults of wild beasts. But
it is still a problem how a term implying the kind and gentle care de-
 808 [1111y,
ana
noted by lIO&p."" can be properly used to signify the severe destrue-
~ve treatment of the Lord's enemies. V iewed simply in the letter,
therefore, we see nothinlit to relieve the phrase from the &ir of a glar-
ing incongruity. If the ..action were designed to correspond to the
instrument, we can perceive no reason why another verb should not
have been selected for the purpose. The fact, however, is palpable,
that a word which strictly and nonnally denotes the tender offices of
a shepherd towards his flock is here used to denote the violent action
of an iron instrument in dashing potters' vessels to pieces. There is\
DO refined explication, no philological finesse, which can by ant p0s-
sibility evade the recognition of the solecism to which we have point-
ed. What then is its true solution 1 What ipterpretation does the
spiritual sense offer of the apparent inconsistency 1
In the first place, it is to be borne in mind that to feed denotes to
i7lltruct, as we have already remarked. It is indispensable then that-
the subsequent adjected clause should be CODstrued in such a sense
as shall harmonize with the import as~ribed to the verb. The rod
must bear a meaning that sustains an easy relation to teacAing.
How then does our author explain it ? Rod or staff in general de-
notes, he tells us, in the spiritual dialect, power or ability, " as well
from the fact of its being used by shepherds for the sake of haviDg
power over their flocks, as from its serving for the support of the body,
and, as it were, for a right band, for band signifies ability. Because
this was the signification of rod, it was used of old by kings; hence
a staff and also a sceptre was a badge of royalty ; nor was it used
by kings only, but also by priests and prophets, that these latter 8.180
!ly a rod might signify the ability which they had, as in the case of
Moses and Aaran. In consequence of the signification of rod beiug
ability, the Egyptian magicians also used it, when they performed
magical miracles. Hence at this day, magicians are represented by
rods in the hal)d., . From these facts it may appear that rod signifies
ability."-(A. O. 4013.) TaI(ing with us then the general idea of
power or ability as couched under the term, we find it modified in the
.present and similar pa.~ages where it occurs in connection with irolL
To rule or to teach with & rod of iron, according to our author, is to
operate by means of truths from the literal sense of the Word and at
tile same time by rational principles derived from natural light. .AB
rod signifies power and iron natural truth, the two combined denote
the instructing or correcting power of the literal or natural sense of
the Word, acting upon the natural principle of man to which it is es-
pecially adapted. "The reason that iron signifies truths in the natu-
ral man, is, because metals, as well as all other things ofthe earth, from
correspondence, signify things spiritual and celestial, all which have
reference to t'ruths and goods. Gold signifies the good of the internal
man, silver its truths; copper or brass the good of the external or na-
tural man, iron its truth. Hence it was that the ancients called the
ages by the names of metals, namely, golden, silver, copper, and iron ;
golden from the most ancient men, who lived in the good of love;
silver from the ancients after them, who lived in truths from that
good; copper from their posterity, who were in external or natural
18'9.] 309

good; iron from the posterity of these latter, who were in natural
troth alone without good. Natural truth is truth in the memory, and
DOt in the life ; truth which is of the life is good."-A. E. 176.
Nothing is more clearly taught in the writings vouchsafed to the
New Church than tha~ Divine truth is in its power in the ultimates
of the literal sense of the Word, which is the basis, continent, and
support of the spiritual sense. Ruling or teaching with a rod of iron,
is the puttiog forth of this power in such a way as to convict, chastise,
aud dissipate the falsities and evils of the natural principle in man,
where in fact they have their appropriate seat. Accordingly it is
said in parallel diction by the prophet ~bat the Lord "shall smite the
earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath (spirit) of his
lips shall he slay the wicked," where, we are informed, by the rod of
his month is signified divine truth.or the Word in the natural sense,
and by the breath or spirit of his lip!! is signified divine truth or the
Word in the spiritual sense, both destroying the false of evil in the
ehurch.
With this key in our hands we are enabled to unlock the purport of
the language in the passage before us, which is an evident quotation
from the second Psalm, v. 9, l'Thou shalt break them with a rod of
iron; thou sbllt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Instead
of" break" which here occurs, the N. T. writer employs the word """.•.i,_
.Wl rule or feed, a version in which the Syriac, Vulgate, Arabic, and
some others coincide. It is one which is equally agreeable with the
original provided it be read without points, a,-u-I terem instead of
teroetn, and the points, though usually correct, are by no means an
infallible criterion of the sense. From the verse immediately preced-
ing, 'l Ask of me and I will give thee t};1e heathen for thine inheritance, '
and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession," it is evident
that the interior scope of the annunciation is merciful and not menac-
iug, and therefore it is reasonable to suppose that John has expressed,
in the word flDlpll"', the genuine drift of the promise. It cannot be
imagined that the end for which the heathen or Gentiles are made
the Lord's inheritauce is that they may be dashed in pieces like the
lIctile fabrics of the potter. Such a result would be entirely at va-
riance with the predicted rule of the Messiah, which was to be mild
and beneficent instead of severe and destructive. To rule the nation.
with a rod of iron, is, in the spiritual sense, to convict and subdue the
evils and falsities ofthe natural man, and this, though the process is Re-
vere, is the fruit ofmercy and n~t of anger, as might be implied from the
comparison employed. "A potter's vessels;' S8¥8 our author, " signi-
fies such things as are from self.derived intelligence, thus falsities in
the natural man, and the reason is, that potter's ware or earthen
vessels correspond to a device, and a device is that which springs
from the self-derived intelligence of man," and for such devices falsities
is but another name. The term for potter in the original is -m", yotur,
a former, and -m", y~tzer, formation, figment, is the term employed,
Gen. vi. 5, " And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in
the earth, and that every imagination (yetUt-) of ,the thoughts of his
heart was only evil continually." This depraved and vicious train of
 110 [loIy,
ifaagifIGliotu or perverted thoughts is the real pottery which is to be
broken to pieces by the iron rod of truth, and it is pertinently remark-
ed by Swedenborg, that although in the literal sense the expression is
a comparison, since it is said tU a potter's vessels, yet in t~e internal
sense comparisons are not perceived as comparisons, inasmuch as
comparisons are equally from significatives. That is to say, the
force of the correspondence bears down and nullifies the import of
the particles denoting comparison. The potter's vessels broken are,
in the spiritual sense, the falsities, because they are the jormatiom or
,hme.t, of self-derived intelligence, and the one is not nearly lihmed
to the other.
Availing ourselves of the same clew we come to the interpretation
,of Rev. xii. 5, 'c She brought forth a man-child who was to rule all
nations with a rod of iron." By this we are informed is signified the
power of natural truth from spiritual, arguing with and cODvincing
those within the limits of Christendom who are in fables and evils.
As by the woman who brought forth is signified the New Church, 90
by the male-child is signified the doctrine of that church. The doc-
trine then of this church is to come in conflict with the falsities and
evils of the old church, through the medium of the literal sense, and of
rational arguments drawn from the light of nature atld addressing
themselves to the natural principle of those who are immersed in
such falsities and evils. The effect is, with those who are in a state
to feel the force of this kind of appeal, to break doWD, demolish,' and
batter to pieces, as it were, the fabrics of falsities in the hearts of men.
The New Church is not, therefore, to be distinguished by the entire
absence of polemics from its sphere of action. It is, on the other
hand, a part of its mission to enter, by argumentative discussioD, into
active warfare with the prevailing errors, and it is to press. into its
service every species of science and reasoning which is adapted to
reach and teach the natural intelligence of those who will giYe the
troth a hearing. All such works, therefore, as Noble's Appeal, Clis-
sold's Letter, Parson's Essays, Des Guays' Letters, &c., are in fact the
iron rod here spoken of by which the nations are to be ruled. Every
one who contributes a volume, a tract, or an essay to the establish-
ment of New Ohurch troth and to the refutation of the opposite error
is in fact wielding with more or less effect the same iron rod to the..
same convincing purpose. It is not indeed to be expected that e,"ery
one in the church will be a controvertist by the lip or the pen, but
everyone can do something towards sustaining the hands that are to
wield the rod. At this day it is through the press that this power of
confutation is to be exerted, and he that contributes to the support of
the press with this aim is converting his material gold and silver into
spiritual iron.
G.B.

EXTRACT.
,. A man who does not shun evils as sins may indeed love troths, but then he doe! not
love them beeaule they are troths, but because they serve to extend his reputation, whence
he derives bonor or gain ; 'Yherefore wben they DO IoDpr are sub.mene to hi' end. he
ceues to love them."-DodritIC of Lif" 36.
1849.] TIuJ JeUJilk Tabernacle vieJDed in iu SpintualImpor'. 311

A..RTICLB ID.

THE JEWISH TABERNACLE VIEWED IN ITS SPIRITUAL IMPORT.

No. Ill.
TIlE TABERNACLE AND THB COURT.

Ix the command given to 1\108es to construct the Tabemacle (Ex.

xxv. 8) it is said, "And let them make me a sanctuary that I may
dwell among them." The Heb. word for sancluary is mikduh, a
1wly place, from klJ.da,h, to lanctify, to hallow. It denotes a holy ha-
bitation, expressly consecrated to the indwelling of the Deity by the
representative signals of his presence. This is indicated in a very
expressive manner by the original word ahakQnti, from ,h~kan, to
du:ell in a tent or tabernacle, especially by means of the Shekina/l, a
deri\"ative from the same root. The renderings of some of the an-
cient versions give more prominence to this idea than our own. The
Greek has " I will be seen among you ;" the Chaldaic, "I will make
my glory to dwell in the midst of them;" the Arabic, "That I may
make my spletidor to inhabit among them." The import plainly is, that
the Most High would dwell among them by the signal manifestations
of his presence in what is termed b)· the Rabbinical writers the She·
kina1&-a term employed by them to denote what they understood by
the Divine glory or splendor. The radical letters of the root ahakan,
viz. _-'(.rh), It, R, are the same in t.he Greek t11t"~,,, ,heRe, tent, or taber-
nacle, from which comes O'~""flJJ ,kmo-o, to tabernacle, which occurs,
John i. 14, "The Word was made flesh and dwelt (-q""." e••
kenole, tabernacled or shekinized) among us, and we beheld his glory."
This is doubtless spoken in allusion to the mode of the divine resi-
dence in the tabernacle among the Israelites. The term Rgain occurs
iD equivalent allusion to these words of l\{oses, Rev. xxi. 3, "And I
heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of
God is "\vith men, and he will dwell (.K".fdCFCI ,kenolet) with them."
J

This is in fulfilment of the prediction uttered by Ezekiel, nxvii. 26,

27, " And I will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore;
-m}· tabernacle also shall be ,vith them; yea, I will be their God, and
they shall be my people," announcing a period when there shall be a
. far more tr~nscendant display of th~ divine glory on earth th~n at ~ny
former penod, although of a fa.r dIfferent nature from that which
forms the burden of the dreams of Millenarianism. It is the period
of the New Jerusalem, upon which we have now in the providence
of God entered, and of which the same prophet says, cb. xlviii. 35,
"The name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord ;8 there."
Tbe design of the tabernacle then was to furnish a dwelling-place
for the Most High; but his appropriate dwelling-place is heaven,
and the inference is very obvious that there must have been intended
a very close symbolical relation between this structure and hea\'en-
a remark equally applicable to the temple, which was substantially
VOLe 11. 20
812 T1ae JeuJilA Tabemack uietDed in iu Spiritual Import. [July,
the tabernacle on a larger scale. This relation is not only confirmed
by the espress intimationll of Scripture, but was distinctly recognized
by Josephus and Pbilo, although it may be thought that they fnunded
their analogies rlltber upon philosophical than s)'mbolical groUOOL
Philo t'specially considered the Taoornacle and the Temple, witb their
courts and oUlt'r and inner Sllnctuaries, to have bt'en modelled in imi·
tation oftbe general e)"stem of the world, in which the outer room,
where tbe priests t'ntered, dt'1l01ed the sea and land, the habitation of
men, while the inner ftpartmenl, wbich was forbidden to the com·
mon priests, .. was, as it werp, a heaven peculilU" to God," Agnin be
says, .. When MoM's diltinguil;hp.d the tabernacle into tbree parts,
and allowed two of them to the priests, fUl a ptace accessible
and common, he denoted the Il\od nod the sea., they being of ge-
neml accoas to all i but M .el apart the third diui.ion for God. be·
calW': heoaoen i. inffcceuible to mm." GussetiulI also, "n eminent
Hebrew Lexicographer, contendlt that all Ihe .. pattern" llhown
to Moaes on the mount Wa.'l the htolJf!n. tht:m,t!ctf. There is
little reason to flUppose that his views on tbis IlOOre were at all
adequatp, compared with tbe Iillht wbicb we now enjoy, but tbey
elill rested on a basis of truth. The"symbolic:l.1 affinity between the
ideas of beaven find of tbe tnbernacle with its two npl1rtrnents and
ils outer courls is douhtless much stronJ!er than would apppar to f\
8uperficinl view of the suhject. This will he fully evinced from the
spiritual esposition that follows in a subsequent No. in relation to
the outer and inner rooms of the edifice. At pre'ient "'e exhibit 0.
view of tbe tabernacle, wilh ils curtains dropped from it, surrounded
by its court, and surmounted with tbe pillar of cloud:

Thr" order for the construction of tbe court runs as follows. Es,
xxvii. 9-12, .. And thou sbalt make the court of the tabema~le: for
1849·1 ne 7WJcmacle tmd tAt Court.
the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court or fine
twined linen of a hundred cubits long for one side: and the twenty
pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass: the hook.
or the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. And likewise for the
north side in length there shall be-hangings of a hundred cubits long,
and his twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of brass; the hooks of
the pillars and their fillets of silver. And for the breadth of the court
on the west side shall he hangings of fifty cubits: their pillars ten, and
their sockets ten." This court or open enclosure, in which the taber-
nacle stood, was of an oblong figure of a hundred cubits (about fifty-
eight yards) in length by half that breadth, and the height of the en-
closing fence or curtain was five cubits, or nearly three yards, being
half the height of the tabernacle. The enclosure was formed by a
plain hanging of fine twined linen yarn, which seems to have been
worked in an open or net-work texture, so that the people without
might freely see the interior. The door-curtain was however of a'
different texture from the general hanging. being a great curtain of
" fine twined linen," embroidered with bloe, purple, and scarlet. It is
described in precisely the same terms as the door-curtain oC the ta-
bernacle itsel( and was of the same fabric with the inner covering of
the tabernacle and the vail before the Holy of Holies. It was fur-
nished with cords, by which it might be drawn up or aside when the
priests had occasion to enter. The curtains of this enclosure were
hung upon sixty pillars of brass, standing on bases of the same metalp
but with capitals and fillets of silver. The hooks also, to which the
curtains were attached, were of silver. The entrance to the court was
at the east end opposite that to the tabernacle, and between them
stood the altar of burnt-offering, but nearer to the door of the taber-
nacle than to that of the court. It is uncertain whether the brazeD
laver was interposed between the altar and the door oC the tabernacle
or not. Chap. :xxx. 18, certainly conveys that impression; but the
Rabbin~ ~ho appear to have felt that nothing could properly inter-
pose between the altar and tabernacle, say that the laver was indeed
nearer to the tabernacle than was the altar, but still that it did not
stand in the same line ,vith the altar, but stood a little on one side to
the south. As to the position of the tabernacle in the court, nothing
is said in the Scriptures on the subject, but it seems less probable that
it stood in the centre than that it ,vas placed towards the farther or
·western extremity, so as to allow greater space for the services which
were to be performed exclusively in front of the tabernacle. Within
the precincts of this court any Israelite might enter, but none but the
priests were permitted to go into the outer room of the tabernacle-
and into its inner recess admission was forbidden to all but the high
priest.
The pillars of the tabernacle were probably made of shittim-woodp
and placed at five cdbits distance from each in sockets of brass iD
the manner represented in tbe accompanying cut representing a p~
and its sockets, together witb its "cords," and "stakes" or " pins."
314 TAe JetJ?UA Tahrraacle mewed ift iu SpiritvGllmport. [July,

PILLA.1t AND OO.D••

The nails, pins, or small stakes were driven into the ground that I

the hangings, attached to them by cords, might be made fast at

the bottgm. They are represented in the cut above. In allusion to
these and in view of its future glorious enlargement, the prophet thus
apostrophises the church, Is. liVe 1-3, "Sing, 0 barren, that thou didst
not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not
travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the
children of the married wife, saith the Lord. Enlarge the place of
thy tent, and let them stretch forlh the curtains of thy habitations;
spare not, lengthen thy cord8, and strengthen thy ,taku; For thou
shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed
shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabit-
ed." The original for "fillets" viz. hlJlhukim, comes from hlUhak, to
COAReC', to conjoin, and according to Rosenmuller and others denotes
connecting rods of silver between the heads of the pillars, on which
the curtains were suspended. The rendering in oar version, fillets,
has arisen from the impression that the term meant raised bands or
mouldings encircling the tops of the pillars. But the other is the
more probable sense, and it is confirmed by Swedenborg who sa}~ that
by the hooks and fillets are signified mode, of conjunction by truth, as
truth is represented by silver.
In exhibiting from Swedenborg the spiritual import of the Taber-
nacle as a whole we begin with the outer court as above described.
" That hereby is signified the ultimate heaven, appea.rs from the signifi-
cation of the court ofthe habitation, as denoting the external of heaven,
thus the ultimate heaven, for there are three heavens, the inmost, the
middle, and the ultimate; the inmost was represented by the inmost or
the habitation where ':Vas the ark of thA testimony; the middle by the
habitation out of the vail ; the ultimate by the court, which is the
subject now treated of. This heaven is called the court, because in it
are they who are in the good of faith, and not yet in the good of char-
ity towards the neighbor; they who are in the good of charity are in
the middle heaven. They '\",bo are in the ultimate heaven, which is
called the court, are called angelic spirits; they who are in the mid-
dle heaven, are called spiritaal angels ; but they who are in the iD-
1849.] Tie Tabernacle and tIae Court. 816
most heaven, ce1eetial angelL The good iteelC of faith, which is the
good oC the ultimate heaven, is also a court, for by it man is introduced
iDto the good of charity towards the neighbor, which is the good of
the middle heaven. It is to be noted, that the good appertaining to
man makes his heaven, and that his heaven is such as his good is.
There are three goods which follow in order, the good of faith, the
good of charity towards the neighbor, and the good of love to the Lord.
The good of faith makes the ultimate or first heaven, as was said
above; the good of charity towards the neighbor makes the middle or
second heaven; and the good of love to the Lord makes the inmost
or third heaven. That it may be the better known how the case is
with the heavenS, it may be expedient to say a few words on the sub-
ject. The heavens are djstinguished into two kingdoms, into the
celestial kingdom, aDd into the spiritual kingdom; and in each king-
dom there is an internal and external ; in the internal of the celestial
kingdom are they who are in the good of love to the Lord, and in its
external are they who are in the good of mutual love; but in the iD-
temal oC the spiritual kingdom are they who are in the good of charity
towards the neighbor, and in its external are they who are in the
good oC faith. The extemal of each heaven is what is called
the ultimate or first heaven, and was represented by the court; hence
it is that the court was two-fold about the temple, the exterior and in-
terior; the exterior court denoted those who are iD the external oCthe
spiritual kingdom, and the interior court denoted those who are in the
externals of the celestial kingdom.· Hence it is evident that in the ul-
timate heaven which was represented by the outer court of the tem-
ple, is the good of faith which makes it; and in the ultimate heaven
which was represented by the inner court, is the good of mutual love.
Th~y who are in the good of mutual love, are in the affection of good
for the sake of good, but they who are in the good of faith are in the
affection of truth for the sake of truth, for good has rule in the celes-
tial kingdom but truth in the spiritual kingdom. That the ultimate
heaven is signified by courts, is evident from the passages in the Word
wh~re they are na~ed, as in Ezekiel, 'The glory of Jehovah lifted up
itself from above the cherub over the threshold of the house, and the
house was filled with a cloud, and the cloud ~filled the inner Court. and t1uJ
court was full ofthe splendorof the glory of Jehovah ; and the voice ofthe
wings of the cherubs was heard even to the outer court,' x. 3, 4, 5. In-
asmuch as the court was representative of the ultimate heaven, there-
fore it was filled ~ith a cloud and the splendor of the glory of Jeho-
vah, as t~e ho~se itself; for a cloud and glory is Divine Truth.
Again, 'The Spirit lifted me up, and introduced me into the inner court
of the temple j when behold the glory of J ehovah filled the house;
and I heard one speaking to me out of the house, saying, Son of MaD,
the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My feet, where I
will d well in the midst of the sons of Israel forever,' xliii. 5 to 7;
where the temple with the court is called the place of the throne of
Jehovah, and the place of the soles of His feet, because the temple
with the court represented heaven. The throne of Jehovah is the
spiritual heaven; the place of the soles of his feet is the ultimate hea-
 816 lJnly,
van. The ultim&te heaven also i. signified Dy a; court and by courts
in the following paS88.gel: 'Ble88ed is he whom thou choosest, and
. makest to approach, lIe .hall mAabil tky court,; we shall be satisfied
with the good of Thy house, with the holiness of Thy templll,' Psalm
Ixv. 4. That to inhabit courts is to inhabit heaven, is evident. Again,
'..Agood day in tAy couru it better than a tlunuand; . I have chosen to
ltand in the gate of the house army GC'd, t Psalm Ixxxiv. 10. Again, I

'Give to Jehovah the glory of His name, bring & present, and come
into hi. cOurt8,' Psalm xcvi. 8. Again, ' Praise ye the name of J ehovah ;
t»raise, 0 ye servants of Jehovah, who stand in the hoose of Jehovab,
In t~ court, of the hou,e of our God,' Psalm cxxxv. 1, 2. And in Isaiah,
..' They shall gather together corn and new wine, they shall eat toge-
ther and praise Jehovah, and they who are gathered together ,hall
drink it in the court, of My holine66,' Ixii. 9. In the above passages,
courts denote the ultimate heavens, for the interior heavens are caned
the house of Jehovah and His temple. And in the Apocalypse, ' The I

angel said, Rise and measure the temple, and the altar, and them that
worship in it, but the court tvhich i, without the temple cut _forM abroad.
and measure it not, because it is given to the gentiles, who shall tread
down the holy city forty-two months,' Apac. xi. I, 2. The temple and
the altar, and they who worship in it, are the Church and the wore
-ehip of the Church; the court without the temple denotes the good of
mutual love, 8S was said above; the gentiles, to whom it is given to
tread down the holy city, denote th~ evilR of self-love and the love of
the world which destroy the Chureh."-.A. C. 9741.
The interior explication of t~e outer and inner rooms, or the holy
and most holy place of the Tabernacle we reserve to our next.
G.B.
(To be eOfuinued.)

MIS CELLANY.

For the N" c. B.poaltol'1•

•1 HOW SOCIETIES IN THE NEW CHURCH SHOULD BE FORMED."
. IN an article under the above caption, found in the March No. of the Repos-
itory, the writer, who signs himself S. J", has, I think, fallen into some error.
He supposes that an evil man in the life of the bod y, and flJ1&ile in evil, i~ the I

centre of infernal societies; and instead of being himself led and governed
by infernal spirits in this state, he leads and governs them. " He command!
and they obey_" The passage which contains what is regarded 88 an error,
reads thus:
U The difference between heavenly consociation and infernal is, among other
things, that one who, while in the life of the body, is as to his spirit in illfernal
societies, is the centre thereof, and those spirits who adjoin themselves are of
·the same quality and gather round about. He commands and they obey.
They conform to him and min.iste& t.P his peculiar genius, and angels only keep
1841.] 81'1

all m.check. Bat when ODe is conjoiDed to a heavem, society he takes his
state from the 80ciety in 'Ilhich he is. Societiee of angels, inasmuch as they
are in order aud are led oCthe Lord, are not conformed to the man by bis con-
junction ,vith them, but they conform die man to themselves, because all alike
su1fer themselves to be led oC the Lord."
It i. a mistake to suppose, as this writerseeme to, that an evil man on eanb,
and while in the indulgence of evil feelings and intentionst is a centre and
ruler of the evil spirits with whom he is in association. On the contrary the
infernals have the ascendency, and rule him. It is only when the man com-
mends or does ,,,hat.is good, that he commands the illfernals, and they are
bound to obey. Then the. evil spirits think in unison with the man, and are
compelled as it were to bring forth good things. This is clearly taught by our
illumined scribe in the foJlowing pa88age from the Spiritual Diary, under the
ob".
caption, 1'JuI,t Etril SpiTill aT' bound to

U While speaking with myself, or thinking with mysel~ concerning the im-

port of the word rib of which the woman was built, evil spirits spake and
thought with themselves precisely as I did. Shortly after they said that they
had done 80, and yet that subsequently to this they a.cted in opposition to me.
Hence it was given to know, that while the Lord rules the thoughts and speech
of man through the angels, evil 8pirits cannot but think in like manner, and
that then they know no otherwise than that it is from themselves. The caee
is similar with tbe preacher of bad life, when he commends what is good;
evil spirits think and excite the same, but when the preacher is in his tme Hfe,
then evil spirits have the ascendency. Thu8 it is clearly manifest how the
evil bring fonh good things."-8. D. 4129.

There appears, then, to be no sufficient ground for the difference, alleged bY'
S. J _, bet\veen heavenly and infernal consociation, so far as man in this world
is concerned. The indiviflual takes his state from the society in which his
8'pirit dwells, whether it be heavenly or infernal. And if he is evil, he is at all
tlDles the 'n''IKlnt and Dot the mtUter of the devil, save when his mind is elevat-
ed to receive influx out of heaven {roln the Lord. Then the man is the maeter
and the devil the servant.
In the same anicle S. J. alludes to New Church societies, formed upon Old
Church principles, which, to cite his own language, "are composed of those
who lead themselves, and each one is a cen tre, and his spirits with him of his
own genius.-They all think of doing good hoping to receive again like publi-
cans and sinners. They call and dictate terms to the preacher j they require
him to regard them R.8 the focal centres to be served and delighted, and the
Lord and heaven in the last place. Therefore when the preacher ceases to
give delight to them in their ways, they get together and by a vote decline
to employ and pay him any longer."
. This language hast to my mind, rather a strange aspect. The writer'S me~n­
101 appears to be pretty obvious, and yet I am not sure d}at I uuderstand him.
It is really hard to believe· that he can mean what he says. That there is in
the members of New Church societies a disposition more or les8 strong to lead
themselves, instead of suffering the Lord to lead them, is undoubtedly true.
This must ever be the case among unregenerate men; and no sensible or
humble-minded Ne\vchurcbman claims to be free from evils-fully regenerate.
Such a claim would of itself argue a most deplorable state in the claimant, and
evince the presence and power of hell in his heart in no ordinary degree.
But if by New Church societies h formed upon Old Church principles," S. J.
means that they are formed upon the idea that it is orderly and right for each
one to lead himself, and be a centre, in the sense spoken of,-with the under-
standing and acknowledgment that this is a principle of true order-then I
have ouly to say that I never Juard of any such New Church society, and pre-
surne that DO one else ever did. Neither did I ever hear of such a thing as
New Church societies requiring their minister" to regard the Lord and heaven
818 Mi~ellmay. [July.
in the last place." Where is there a New Church 8ociety, who might Dot just-
ly regard the intimation of any such requirement on their part as the basest
k.ind of a slaoder 1 Where is there a society who would long listen to the
teachings of one, who 8hould appear to regard the Lord and heaven in the last
place 1 I

Then as to &I dictating terms" to the preacher whom a society may ,& call" to
minister to them ill spiritual things, I certainly can see nothing wrong in this
within the limits usuaUy observed. Is it not right that the members of a
New Church society should require their minister to be faithful, industrioQ8~
efficient, and that he teach them according to the doctrines of the New Church!
Is not 10 mUtA impled hl their "ca1l1" So far, then, it seems perfectly right
and proper that tile people should" dictate terms to the preacher;" and I have
never yet heard of the members ofa New Church society going beyond this in
the matter of dictation. Surely S. J. ,vould not set up a claim of infalJibtlity
forthe priesthood in the New Church. Surely he would not have the laity re-
ceive for truth all that their minister may say, without exercisinf their own
ratiouality upon it-comparing it with the Word of the Lord and y!e writings
of the Church; for this would be endorsing a doctrine of papal Rome: and
ODe for which no intelligent receiver of the Heavenly Doctrines can be 8Up-
posed to have much affinity. It is true that the minister ought to look to the
Lord, aod suffer himself to be led by Him; and ought not the people to do 80
likewise 1 In the degree that they do this, the Lord will undoubtedly lead
both people and priest in the right way. But suppose (for certainly it is a
supposable case) that the minister does 110t look to the Lord, but rather to his
own intelligence. Suppose he falls under the dominion of spirits of darkness,
and is led by them into many crooked ways; suppose he imbibes from them
many hurtful errors-many foolish. fantastic and ridiculous notioDs, which he
nevertheless believes to be true, and teaches to the people Cor truth-what
then 1 Shall the people abandon their rationality-suffer themselves to be led
blindfold by the blind leader-receive all the utterances of their minister
with implicit faith, as if they came from God out of heaven 1 Or shall they not
rather" get together, and by a vote decline to employ and pay him any lon-
ger "1 Which course seems m08~ io accordance Wlth the general tenor of the
Doctrines of Heaven'
In the last paragraph of the article in question, the writer speaks of socie-
ties in the une Church being fonned after the pattern of the societies in the
heavens, and adds: U When societies of the church are thus formed, they will
have stability, peace, order, mlltuallove, and progress from one state and de-
gree of life to another." Undoubtedly. But it may be well for us to bear in
mind that this world is not heaveu, but only a place of preparation for heaven.
It is not a world in which the Lord ever designed that men should be arranged
in those societies wherein they ,,"ill relnain forever-wherein their spiritual
affinities will be all completely met and sarisfied. Do we not expect too
much, therefore, if we expect in societies of the church 00 earth that U stabi-
li~y, peace, order and mutual love," which exist in the heavenly societies ~
Moreover, it is known from the doctrines of heaven that regeneration is im-
possible without temptation-combats. And it is while man dwells in the low-
er sphere-a region or state between heaven and hell-that these combats
must be carried on in bim. There are no temptation-combats properly so .
called in heaven. And while these combats are taking place within us, it is
Dot to be expected that we can enjoy the peace or stability that the angels
e:J:perience. Every one can see the truth of this in relation to individuals.
And it is clear that there can be no social regeneration without the regenera-
tion of individuals. Must there not, then, exist social strifes and combats so
long as those internal commotions necessary to the regeneration of individ-
uals continue 1 Do we not expect quite too much, if we expect that societies
of the New Church on earth will be formed as they are formed in heaveD,
before the individuals composing such societies have been all brought into a
heavenly state 1 Must not Instability, discord, and disorder, exist in the social
man, 80 long as there are any remains of these things in the hearts of individ-
1849.J M~lltmy. 819
(
DaIs, i. e. 80 long as any evils remain which render temptation-combats neces-
sary! If so, then we shall do well to moderate our expectations accordingly.
We shall see that it is unwise and unreasonable to expect heavenly stability,
peace, order, and love, in any society, unless the individuals composing such
society have each attained to a heavenly state-a state of complete regenera-
tion signified by the Sabbath day. And it would argue a most deplorable con-
dition of any society on earth., whose members should pro!", to have anived
l

at such a celestial state.

B. F. B.
REMARKS.
The principal objection oC B. F. B. to the article of S. 1. is made to what S. 1. de,i,-
nates as the difference between heavenly cODSOCiation and infernal. S.1. aaya U the diC.
Cerence between heavenly conlOCiation and infernal is, among other things, that one who,
while in the life of the body, is as to his spirit in inlernallOCieties, is the ceDtre thereof,
and those spirits who adjoin themselves are of the same quality and gather round about."
In H. & H. 295, Sw~enborg teaches : cc Such spirits are adjoined to man as he himself
is as to affection or as to love; but good spirits are adjoined to him by the Lord, whereas
evil spirits are i."it,tl b, the ma. liim,elf." If he regards himeelf the host and invites
his guests Oil he not the centre thereof and do not the invited spirits gather round abollt 1
Again, in the same No., lpeaking oC those who cannot be reformed aad regenerated, h•
• , . cc Their immediate conjunction il with evil apirits who communicate with hell,
whence they have such spirits as the men themselvea are." The evil spirits 1I0w into hi.
evil affectiOns and inflame him, but il he changes any of his evil lovel he shuts the
door of the spirits which 1I0w in there, and invites others to himself who minister to
the new loft_
What S. J. Dext .YI in opening the prinoiple before stated is spoken accordtDI to the
appearance and does Dot seem to be forced when he says: Cl He [the man in evil] com-
mands and they [the spirits] obey. They conform to him and minister to his pecullar
genius and angels only keep all in check." They do it by good spirits who Swedenbol'l
.ys I f are adjoined that by them they may be withheld from eyil as much as possible.'·
So in A. C. 4069, Swedenborg says, le He who takes delight in revenge i.trit" tluch u
are in similar delight j and 10 in other cues. Suoh spirits oommunicate with hell, and
f'UtI U ita. tile mid. of them, and is ruled altogether by ·the~ 10 that he is no longer under
hi. own power and guidance, but under tbein, although he _"0'" from the delight and
tonsequent liberty which he enjoys, that he rules himself." Does not he appear to com·
mand and as all thought flows in in one direction does he not eeem to himself to have it
all his own way 1 Yet his own peculiar evil genius or love is the i."iti.g principle.
And he acknowledges no power superior to himeelf. He appea,., to himself to be iD
freedom and thus to govem, though he is in fact ruled by the in1iueDce of the company he
has invited.
When it is afterwards said of societlel that they are composed of those who lead them-
&elves, and each one is a centre, &c., it is alao said oC them according to their principles
and states of interior belief which appears from what they do. Thus they appear to tbem-
IeIYes, and are principled in selecting, calling, and to a very great extent ruling thOl8
who preach to them, they praotically require him to preaoh acceptably to ,lan. Of
COalle they do not doubt but that they themselves are OD the Lord's side or that He is on
theirs. Thul when the preacher's orthodoxy is DOt their do~ they reaort to the principle
of Withholding supplies-they cease to employ and pay and listen to him. Is Dot this 10 1
I. the above described state of things according to true order, or according to inverted
order 1 Where order is inverted &he New Charch is Dot, for it is to be built up in true order.
8. J.
-
ABSTRACT OF THE JOURNAL OF PROCEBDINGS OF THE TRIllTY·
FIRST GENERAL CONVENTION OF THE NEW CHURCH.
The Convention met, apeeably to adjoummentt JUDe13., 1849. in the Temple of the
(Julf,

Second Society of the New Church iD the city of PWladelphiL The DUIIlber oC del. . . . .
oCwhom leveral were from Ohio and Miohigan, wal tw8D'y-l8Yen, besidee three or follt
clergymen who were present, Dot as delegates, but were invited to lit al correapondiDI
members. Rev. Thomas Woroelter was elected Prelident, and Rev. T. B. Hayward
Secretary. The . .ion W81 continued from Wednesday duriDg the remainder oC the
week, and as the dilCu.ions were in the main conducted with much brotherly loft, aDd
cbe measures adopted with a prevailing unanimity, the IeILIOD was, we believe, geDefllly
regarded as a very pleasant ODe to those in attendance, and hopeful in its results for the
good of the Church. The reports handed in from the I8veraleocieties in connexion with
the Convention formed a very Interesting feature or the meeting, particularly that (rom
the Boston Society, which disclosed an encouraging prospect Cor the New Church in lbat
vicinity. The most important report of the meeting was that or the Committee OD, the
Rule. of Order, who brought in the draft of what is virtuaUy to be regarded as • Dew COIl-
Ititution, iD connexion with which was offered also a similar programme from the Ohio
_~iatioD. Both were laid over for definite action at the next Convention, which meets
in New York.
The following embrace tbe leading reIOlutiona and reports which were prMeDted and
acted upon at this meeting. As the propoeed modUlcationl in the Rules of Order consti-
tuted the grand feature oCthe Convention at this litting, we commence with them, giri..
ftnt the
lUport of tlu Commit", Oft fM Cau of tA. Oh,io ..b.toeiatiOft tJtld t18 Rula of 0rtlIr.
The Committee appointed at the last meeting of the General Convention of
the New Church in the United States, and directed to u take into CODsidera-
tion our Qules.. and Recommendatioos, and correspond with the Ohio.A8lO-
ciation, or with ind ividuals on their behalf, and with other bodies of the
Church in this country, with the view of arranging the reception oC that As-
sociation into this COllvention on grounds satisfactory to that AssociatioD,
and, as far as may be found proper, common to all the Associations and other
bodies of the New Church, which are or shall become members of this Con-
ventioD," respectfully report :
In discharging the duty assigned them, they have cODsidered our Rules of
Order in the relation8 suggested by their appointment, and have corresponded
as directed; and they offer the result in the form of the amendments here-
with submitted.
These amendments 8ubstitute a Constitution for Rules of Order. This, how-
ever, in itself, is little more than change of words. The substantial difference
being, that the Convention is made to embrace as members all 8880ciated
bodies of Receivers, and all individual Receivers, in the United States, who
wish'1o belong to it.
The associated bodies appear by delegates j for societies can vote only by
delegates: and if their votes may be countervailed by the same number of
individuals who vote only for themselves, it is obvious that an act of the
Convention, instead of being indicative of the opinion or expreaaive of the
will of the whole church, may be its :precise opposite.
Probably the most important alteratloD recommended is in the provisions
respecting the ministry. It is pro{>osed to have but one ordination into the
ministry. Licentiates are not minIsters, and are not ordained. Ministers are
ordained as snch I and when settled as Pastors, or when ordaining powers
are given to them oy vote of Convention, they are not ordained again.
The Committee think it proper to state very brielly their reasons for thia
change. ·
 lY.] MNcelltJag.
The CoDltitDtioo oC the CODV'ention ought, to be luch u to 8%clnde, by the
etrects of its provisions, rJ.one who ought to be its :qlembere. All receivers of
the Heavenly Doctrine~ in the United States ought to be its members. It,
therefore, ought to contain the essentials of the Church-which we have suf-
-
ficient authority for believing that we certainly know, and can with certain
accuracy expr~S8-and no others. The Committee have no desire to conceal
their own opinion, and there should be three permaBent discrete degrees in
the ministry. But they are· unanimous in the belie~ that \ve have no suoh
authority for the distinctioDs between these degrees, as they exist in the Rules,
as warrants their insertion in the Constitution, when that insertion must ex-
clude those whose coDscientious convictions are the other war. For we
hold, that when these conscientious convictions exist, the essential doctrines
of the Church may nevertheles8 be sincerely and intelligently received and
loved.
to
The candidate for the ministry is not required be a member of a society,
by the proposed Constitution, because the ordaining authority may demand
8uch teatimoDy of his timess 88 will satisfy them, and such membership may
form a part of this testimony. But cases may occur in which it should be
dispensed with; and this cannot be, if it is a provision of the Constitution.
It will be seen that we have much condensed the provisions respecting or-
dinations, &c. ; not because the words and Dlanner now prescribed are not
excellent, but because we doubt whether the CODstitution should contain these
details. We have no doubt a similar method will be adopted in practice j
and it will always be easy to make a rule requiring it, or advising 1t, when-
ever that shall be thought best.
We have made DO other alterations, exce:pting such as these require (or
the sake of consistency. There are many thIngs we should have altered, and
some alterations we should deem important. But we forbear to suggest
them, for the reuon, that we wish to present the proposed fundamental
changes, wholly uDconnected with collateral questions, or questions of detail.
And we should not discharge our whole duty, if we did not earnestly recom-
mend to the Convention to cODsider this question altogether by itMlj. If the
consideration of amendments, details, and collaterals, be entertained by the
Convention, it will be very diffiult, if not impossible, to come to a determina-
tion. For it must be remembered, that the time of Convention is very limited,
and cannot be all given to aor one subject.
If a majority of the Convenuon prefer the Rules of Order 8ubstantially as
they are, it seems to us important that they should say 80, by a general re-
jection of the proposed amendments j and the subject will t11en be open for
whatever other alteratioD8 they may offer at a future time. On the other
hand, if a majority of the Convention desire the proposed fundamental
changes, we are satisfied that there is no way in which such a desire can be
(,wried into effect, but by the acceptance and adoption of the proposed amend-
ments. And if thesa are adopted, it is obvious that any special alteratioDs of
the amendments, or of other parts of the CODstitution, will be open for con..
aideration and adoption, at the same or any future meeting of Convention.
[The references are to the Rules of Order as they are printed in the New
Jerusalem Magazine for July, 1848.]
St,~ ou$ all (JI far aI the uumd articl, of tIN }irst mapt"., and inleTt tA, fol10fllinl ..
CONSTITUTION
01' THE GKnJl~ COl'lVEl'TlOK OP TBB IfKW' J'Bllt78ALBJ( IX TBJC l1NlTED STATES.·

CHAPTER FIRST.
Of tA, Ml71IberlAip, Form, Gnd Procedur, of Cf/ft'Umtion.
AaTlCI.. FIUT. Op MZBBBUBlP.

Sec. 1st. This Convention consists of Societies, other 8880eiated bodies, and
individuals, who are receivers of the Heavenly Doctrines.
 [Jaly,
See. Id. All 8ocieties, or other U80eiated bodies which ate now members..
or may become 80 by vote of Convention, may be present in Convention by
delegates. Each 80ciety may send three delegates. Each usociation or
other associated body may also send three delegatee. Only ministers and de-
legates, and only those present inConventioD, shall vote.
See. 3d. All individual receivers of the Heavenly Doctrines, who shall be
present at the meeting, and shall report themselves to the Secretary, aod shaD
be admitted by vote as members thereo~ may exercise all the rights, and dis-
charge all the duties or meJnbership, except that they shall not vote.
Sec. 4th. Every society shall send to the Convention at every meeting
thereof, by its delegates or otherwise, a written statement of baptIsms, mar-
riages, funerals, and of what else they may deem interesting information.
Sec. 6th. By the "Heavenly Doctrines," wherever mentioned in this Con-
stitution, are meant those which contain and express the three essentials of
the New Jerusalem, as contained in No. 259 of Emanuel Swedenborg'8 Trea-
tise on the Divine Providence.
Sec. 6th. By u a Society," wherever mentioned in this ConstitutioD, is meant
a body of "baptized receivers of the Heavenly Doctrines, ,vho have united for
the purpose of social worship, aud a life in conformity with these docu1Des.
Sec. 7th. By cc an Association" is meant a body COllslsting of societies.
Sec. 8th. By ce other associated body" is meaut a body consisting of 8ocie-
ties, or of Associations, or of insulated individuals.
After the words U Article ,econd," strik, out U OJIicen of Convention," aM i,..,.,
tIN fDOTU, Of the Form of Convention. The ""id. of tAil article lhalllttJt&tI
tJ8 at pruent.
After tA, words cc .Article tAird," ,trike out le meeting of ContJmtion," and ium,
Of the Procedure of Convention.
Strilte out the ./ir,t ,ection of this aTticl,~ and insert fA. follotlJing :
Sec. 22d. This Convention shall meet aunually. The time and place oC
each meeting shaH be appointed at the preceding meeting. When not 80 ap-
pointed, or when circumstances shall render the meeting at the time and
place appointed impracticable or manifestly inconvenient, the President and
Secretary of the Convention shall appoint a meeting at another time and
place, and give due notice thereof.
To the pr,,,nt 23d ,ection add tAt tIJOTd" U and of the other members." 7JN
r"idue cif thi, article to 'r,main as printed.
8trilc, out u... fi",t four .ilrtidt, of chapter 'BeoM, and imm the follOflliag :

CHAPTER SECOND.
Of the Miniltry.
Sec. 1st. The Presiding Minister of an Association, if an ordaining minister,
(or if any other'associated body which shall become a member ofmis Con-
vention) with the concurrence of the Association or other associated body, or
of its Committee of Ministers and its Committee of Laymen conjointly (or if it
have not these cOlnmittees, of such other committees as by vote of the Asso-
ciation, or other associated body, shall exercise the functions of these commit-
tees in this respect), and any ordaining Minister, with the concurrence of a
Council consisting of not )es8 than two pastorl', and not less than three mem-
bers of the Committee of Laymen of the Convention, shall have authority 10
intrOduce candidates into the ministry by ordination..
Sec.2d. The candidate must desire and intend to devote himself to the
duties of the ministry, and present a written declaration to that effect to the
Ordaining Minister; and also present three written discourses, one concerning
the Lord, one concerning the Holy Scriptures, and one concernillg Life; and
give satisfactory evidence that he is a New Churchman, and capable of dis-
charging tite duties of the ministry.
Sec. 3d. Ordination •into the minisU'y shall be performed substantially in
the following manner:
1848.]
•
MUcelltmg.
The Ordaining Minister Iballlar his hauds npon the candidate (other or-
daining ministers present aiding In Iuch wise as may seem to them proper,)
..
and address him to this effect. He shall say, that by the authority committed
to him (or them) he (or they) hereby ordain the candidate into the ministry of
the New Jerusalem. He shall then enumerate the duties of the office, and ex-
hort hiln to disch8.rge them faithfully j and he shall C10S8 with iuvoking the
blessing of the Lord.
See. 4th.. The office and duties of the ministers of the New Jemsalem shall
be to lead in public worship; to read the Word and say the prayers; to
preach the doctrines of the Church; to administer the ordinance of baptism;
to officiate at funerals; to receive members into the societies where they are
settled j to watch over the members, and instruct and lead and aid them in the
war of life; to officiate at weddings; and to perform such other appropriate
dunes as shall be in their power. The Holy Supper may be administered by
any Ordaining Minister, or any minister settled over a society, or any minister
expressly authorized by this Convention, or by tbe Association, or other asso-
ciated body which ordained him.
Sec. 6th. Those ministers who now have ordaining powers, or shall here-
after have them by vote of this Convention, shall be known by the name of
Ordaining Ministers. In addition to the duties of ministers, it shall be their
office and duty to ordain ministers; to institute societies, and receive them
into the New Church; to preside at the meetings of Convention and of Asso-
ciations, and to administer the Holy Supper on those occasions.
These powers may be revoked and cancelled, or limited, or modified, by the
ConventioD. .
Sec. 6th. The same authority which may ordain a candidate into the mi-
nistry, may settle a minister over a society. And the ceremony of ordination
shall be such, and 80 conducted, as shall be judged appropriate by those per-
forming the same. ·
A minister settled over a society shall be known by the name of Pastor.
Sec. 7th. The same authority which may ordain a candidate into the mi-
nistry, may also give a license to suitable persoDs, to lead in public \vorship j
to read the Word, and say the prayers; to preach the doctrines of the Church;
to administer the ordinance of baptislD, and to officiate at funerals; or any
portion of these duties; and under such rules and conditions as may seem to
them expedient. Persons so licensed shall be known by the name of Licen-
tiates. The license may be revoked and cancelled, in whole or in part, by
the same authority which conferred it, or by Convention.
Sec. 8th. All ordinations and licenses, and all revocations or modifications
of a license, shall be reported to the Convention at its next meeting.
Sec. 9th. ThiB shall bf the same as Article 5th of Chapter Second (bottom of pag'
383).
STANDING RECOMMENDATIONS.
Before Chapter Fi", insert the follOtJJing.. .
The Convention acknowledges the entire right of every Society, A8sociation,
or associated body, to decide for itself as to the form and manner of its organi-
zation; and the duty of paying a proper regard to peculiarities of posi~ion,
capability, or condition. But having found the follo\ving recommendatIons
useful, the Convention submits them in the way of advice or suggestion, and
in that way only.
StriU out th, 13th Rerommmdation.
In th, 25th Recommendation ifllerl betwm n ltXated" and U find" th, tI1OTdI, "or
otherwise located, or for other reasons."
STANDING RESOLUTIONS.
Stria out tA, 2d, till 3d, and tlu 5th, Oft page 389.
THEOPHILUS PARSONS,
Per order of the Committee.
 [July,
III «'ODDexlon with the foregoing," preeent the Preamble ud CoutitatlOll o&red. by
KeY. Mr. Barrett. on behalf of the Ohio delegation. whioh had been propoeecl by the A.ct-
hI' Committee oCthe Ohio Auociat!on, and which it was the intention oCthe delegation
from that State to 01l"er &8 a substitute {or the forecoing. This oonstitution was received
and read. &.Dd was voted to be printed in the 101UUal with the other, and that both be
referred to the next Convention.

PREAMBLE, CONSTITUTION, AND RULES FOR THE GENERAL CON-

VENTION, PROPOSED BY THE bIHO ASSOCIATION.

It is well known that the human body consists of a great number of parts,
differing from each other in their form and organization, yet all conspiring to·
gether so 8S to produce a CODsentaneous action of the whole, while each
maintains its diStinctive form and organism.
And it is known from the revelations made for the use of the Lord's New
Church, that the body of man, consid ered in respect to the intimate relation,
the various forms and functions, and the consentaneous action of the numer-
OU8 parts which compose it, furnishes the most perfect representative image
of the form and order of heaven, and of every heavenly society.
And it is also known, from these same revelatious, to be agreeable to tbe will
of the Lord, that the order of his kingdom and church on earth should resem-
ble, as nearly as possible, the order of his kingdom and church in the heavens.
Therefore, with. a view to the promotion of the heavenly order, and to the ad-
vancement of the Lord's kingdom and chnrch on earth we, the members of
the General Convention of Societies and other associated bodies of the New
Church in the United States, do adopt for the future govemment of this body,
and as a substitute for our existing Rules of Order, the following

COKITITVTIOK.

ABT. I. This body shall be known by the name of the General Convention
of the New Church, In the United States of America.
ART. II. The objects of this Convention shall be to print and publish the
doctrines oC the New Jerusalem, as contained in the theological writings of
Emanuel Swedenborg i..to establish schools and colleges to be conducted upon
the principles of the New Church; to found New Church Libraries, ana to
supply other Libraries with the writings of the church j to provide for the edu-
cation of New Church ministers, and for inducting them into the ministerial
office · to promulgate the Heavenly DocLrines through the medium of mission
aries, hooks, tracts, and periodicals · and to perform such other general uses 88
may be deemed expedient, and caiculated to promote the extension of the
Lord's New Church.
ART. Ill. This Convention shall consist of Societies, other Associated B0-
dies, and individuals, in the United itates of America, who are receivers of the
Heavenly Doctrines.*

• EXPLANATORY NOTE. By the cc Heavenly Doctrines," wherever mentioned in thil

Constitution, are mean t those which contain and exprea the three esaential. of the New
lenasalem, 8S contalned ill No. 2~9 of Emanuel Swedenborg'1 Treatise on the Divine
Providence.
Bya " Society," wherever mentioned in this Constitution, is meant a body of reeelveu
of the Heavenly Doctrines, who have united for the purpose. of socia.l worship, instrae-
tion in these doctrines, and a life in conformity therewith.
By an " Association," or other" Associated Body," wherever mentioned in this Consti-
tution, is meant a body consisting of Societies or of Aseociations, or of individuals asso,
oiated for the purpose of extending the knowledge,aud in1luence of the Heavenly Docj
time..

rr
1849.]
A_T. IV. All Societies and other Associated \ Bodies. which are noW' or
which may hereafter becoma members of this Convention, shall be represent-
ed therein by delegates. Every Society or other associated Bocly shall be en-
tided to two delegates. Every Society or other Associated Body consisting of
fifty members shall be entitled to three delegates, and an additional delegate for
every additional fifty members. And only the delegates and ministers present
in Convention shall be allowed to vote.
ABT. V. All individual receivers of the Heavenly Doctrines who may be
present at any meeting of the Convention, and wbo shall report themselves to
the Secretary and be admitted by vote, shall be members thereof. They shall
be entitled to all the rights and privileges, and may perform all the duties, of
other members, except that of voting.
A.T. VI. The Officers of this Convention 8hall be a President, a Recording
and a Corresponding Secretary, a Treasurer, an Executive Committee, and an
Ecclesiastical Council. These Officers shall be elected annually by ballot,
and shall continue to serve uDtil their successor8 are chosen.
AIlT. VII. The President shall be an ordained minister, of at least (orty
years of age, who shall have been actively engaged in the duties of the New
Church Ministry for a term of not less than ten years. He shall preside at all
meetings of the Convention, and in bis absence this duty shall devolve on the
oldest minister present. He shall, \vith the advice and concurrence of the Exe-
cutive Committee, call extra meetings oC the Convention at such times and
pla~es as they may conjointly determine; and shall perform such other duties
as are implied by the name of his office.
ABT. VIII. The Recording Secretary shall keep a faithful record of the pro-
ceedings of the Convention, shall preserve all important documents that maI
come before the Body, except such 8S are printed with the Journal, and attend
tosucb other duties as usually belong to tliis office.
AaT. IX. The CorrespondIng Secretary shall be the official organ of com-
munication with the Convention during its recess. He shall respontl to all
communications addressed to him relative to the affairs of the Convention,
shall open such corre!lpondence with other General Bodies or with individuals
of the New Church, as he may think proper, or as the Convention may at any
time ditect j and shall perform such other duties as properly belong to his of-
fice, or as may from time to time he assigned to him by the Convention.
ART. X. The Treasurer shall receive all contributions and donations to the
funds of the Convention, for general use8, and shall hold the same subject to the
order of the Convention or of its Executive Committee · he shall also receive
eonuibotioDS for specific purposes, such as printing and distributing the writ-
ings oC the church, supporting mis8ionaries, aud educating candidates for the
ministry, and shall hold the same subject to the order of the Convention or of
the Committees having in charge these subjects respectively.
ART. Xl. The Executive Committee shall consist of not Je8s than seven
members, a majority of whom shall be laymen. They shall be the executive
organ of the Convention when not in se8sion, and shall be charged with the
duty of carrying into effect all resolutions, orders, acts, &c., which may be
passed by the Convention, and whose execution may not have been commit-
ted to other officers. They shall have the general interests of the Convention
under their care and 8uJ>ervisioll during the recess, shall form a Committee on
business during the slttings of ConventioD, and shall perform such other
special duties as may from time to time be assigned them. They shall have
authority to fill all vacancies, occurring in their own body, and shall report their
doings to each meeting of the Convention, accompanied by any 8uggestions or
recommendations which they may think proper to nlake.
ART. XlI. The EcclesiastIcal Council shall consist of at least seven ordain-
ed ministers (aDd the President of the Convention shall be the Chairman),
each of whom shaH have been actively engaged in the duties of the New ChturJi
ministry for a term of Dot less than seven years. To this Council shall be re-
ferred all applications for license and ordination which may come before the
Convention during any of its sittings. They shall also have authority to de-
cide upon the qualifications of candidates for the ministry. to receive and graDt
-aqch applications for license and ordination .. may be made to them duriDg
[July,

the recess, and to provide Cor inducting candidates into the office of the minis-
try in such manner as they may think proller; provided, however, that they
shall not requir, of candidates (without theIr own wish or consent,) to submit
to more than one ordination, as necessary to qualify them for the performance
of all the duties appertaining to the priestly office.
ART. XIII. Wherever State Associations exist, consisting of three or more
organized Societies of the New Church, or of two hundred receivers of the
Heavenly Doctrines, they shall be represented in this Convention as Associa-
tions. Such Associations shall be allo\ved to institute New Church Societies
in their own way, to grade and regulate their ministry, and to provide for in-
ducting candidates into the ministerial office in such manner as they may
think proper, and as may seem to them best 8uited to their wants and circum-
8tance8; provided, however, that their provisions for a ministry shall be spe-
cified in the Constitution of such AS8ociatioD8,-tbls Convent.ion reserving to
itself the right of deciding upon the adequacy or inadequacy of such constitu-
tional provisions, previous to receiving auy such Association into membership.
ART. XIV. Any license or ordination may be revoked by the same author-
ity which conferred it. And all ordinations and licenses, and all revocations
or modifications of a license, whether by the Ecclesiastical Council, or by As-
sociations, shall be reported to this Convention at its next meeting.
ART. XV. Whenever a Society or Association desires to become a member
of this Convention, such Society or Association shall present to this Body,
through its President, Secretary, or one of the Delegates, a writteu request to
that effect, accompanied by a copy of its Constitution, specifying the time of
its adoption, and the number of members (male and female) composing such
Society or Association.
ART. XVI. Any Society or Association belonging to this Convention shall
be allowed to withdraw (roln t he same, on prese.nting to the Convention a
written application to that effect, specifying the grounds and reasons of its wish
to withdraw; but the separation shall not be considered as consummated, until
action upon such request shall have been had by the Convention; provided,
however, that the request shall be acted upon at the first meeting of the Con-
vention after tbe presentation of sur.h request.
ABT. XVII. The Convention shall have power to suspend or annul the
m~mber8hip of any Society or Association belonging to it, rrovided that the
grounds and reasons for such suspeosion or aunulment shal have been com-
municated in writing to said Society or As!ociation at least one year previous,
and three-fourths of the members present shall be in fa vor thereof.
ART. XVIII. The regular meetings of this Convention shall be held annual-
ly at sl1ch time and place as the Convention may appoint. But in case the
Convention should at any time neglect to appoint a meeting, it shall be the duty
of the President and Executive Committee conjointly, to determine the time
and place of meeting, and give notice thereof, through each of the New Church
periodicals in our country, at least two months previous.
ART. XIX. All further details shall be provided for by Rules, By-Laws, and
Standing Resolutions, which may be altered or amended at any meeting of
the Convention, by a vote of the majority of the members present.
ART. XX. Any alteration or amendment in this Constitution mar be made
at any regular meeting of the Convention, by a vote of two thirds 0 the mem-
bers present; yrooided tbe nature of the proposed alteration or amendment shall
have been specified in writing at least one year previous, and been published
with the Journal of Proceedillgs. _
aULa Foa Till: TRANSA.CTIOlf 01' BV81KDI DV.DlG TIlE SITTINGI 01' COJlVD7IOI.

ROJ.E 1. The first thing in order at every regular meeting of the Convention,
shall be a public Address or discourse from the President, or from some other
minister whom he or the Convention may appoint-together with such other
religiou8 exercises as the peraon officiating may think proper.
181t.]
Rvu: I. After the Ad. . . the Convention shall be oaIIec1 to Older'" &he
President, or, in his absence, by the oldeBt minister present; and the Delept.
·
888embled shall then pre!ent the cenificates of their appomtment and indi-
t
vidual receivers.. who desire to sit 88 members, 8hall report tbemae vea to the
-
Secretary.
RULE 3. The President, assisted by the Secretary, shall receive aDd examine
die certificates presented, and shall cause a list to be made oot of the Dele-
ptes, and other Receivers present who de8ire to sit as members. And wheD
81lch individual Receivea shall have been admitted members by a vote of the
Delegates, the names of the members presented shall then be called t each OBe
answering to the call of his name.
Bvu: 4. The Oiicera for the ensuing year shall then b. oholen by baUot,
in the order in which their names occur in.the CODstitutioa.
Rvu 5. So much of the miuutes of the' previous meeting of the Convention
.. may be deemed 'necessary to introduce business shall then be read.
HULK 6. Communications to the Convention shall then be laid on the table,-
aDd be disposed of in such way as the Convention shall direot.
Rvu 7. The Standing Committee shall then make their reports; ....
which the reports of special Committees appointed at previous meetings ,haD
be called for and read. And all reports of Committeessball be in writinK, ancl
be signed by the Chainnan, or by a majority of the Committee.
BULK 8. Other deferred business and new business sh3l1 then be- attended
to.
BULK 9. The rolea and regulations which obtain in deliberative ueembU.·
generally shall be observed by this Convention.
BUL. 10. The roll shall be called at the opening ofeach session of the COD-
vention during its sittiogs, and each member shall answer to his Dame.
RVL. 11. All CommiUee8 shall be nominated by the Preaident of the CoD-
vention, unless otherwise ordered.
Rvu I!. 'All resolutiens shall be presented iD writing before taking dle
question on their adoptiQn.
RULE 13. The ,tGIand naY' shall be taken, wheneve. they are called Cor bJ
one-fifth of the persons votiug.
A Committee upon the fotegoinglubject of the ConltitutioD aDel Rules oC the Coa~­
tioD had been .ppointed 10mB time preyiouI b, the Ohio AlIOOi.ti~ od their lepod
1hereapon I, publilhecl in the Journal in thi. cODnectiou. Thi.aIIo we heIe ID.rt.

The Committee to whom was referred the document containing the altera-
tiODs which are proposed ro be made to the Constitution of tbe General Con-
ventioD, which was presented to this body tbro\1gh Mr. Glascoo, have'giftll
the subject all the cODsideration which seems to be called for at this time, anet
would say, that, in our judgment, the principles given in the Preamble as the
basis of the Constitution, are 8ucl\ as \vill promote the interests of the General
Church, and with thesE' we are fully satisfied. If we were required to· expreu
an opinion of the articles ill detaH, ,ye would suggest that all detail. of fol'lll
relaung to the ministry, &te., be left to the several State Associatioft8.
M. G. WILLlUI J t'luJi......

. OnliMtion of Me",.,. Abie' 8ilwr GM JabI= I'oz.-

Rev. Mr. Carll presented the application of Mr. Abiel Silver; and Mr. Jabn
Fox for ordination as Missionaries, together with a Report ex~reuiD" the
opinion of a council con8isting of an Ordaining Minister, two Putora, and
tliree members of the Committee of Laymen, aud the gentlemen above named
should be 10 ordained, and that the Resolution which requires a previoua 6.
oeD8e Ibould be in this CMe suspended. .
VOLe 11. il
-
•t TIle ronow.. 11 . . appUoatioa aDd mpart above IlleDdcmecl :
The undersigned being desiroDs to become permanent :public teachers of
tlle doctrines of the Holy Word as explained in the wrItings of Emanuel
Swedenborg, do. hereby apply to the proper authorities of the General Con-
[JGlft.

Tention of the New Church in the United States, now convened at Philadel-
phia, for ordination into the ministry, with powers to administer the onti-
Iiallces of Baptism, Marriage, and the Holy Supper.
m.ed) ABJa. SILYD,
( 8i-e-
PltiltMWpIaia. J... 1411, 1~9. I JABU Fox.

Tb, above application, aocompanied with docnments a& to character, quali-

6catioDe, Itc., having been laid before tbe appropriate Committee, it wu •
IOIYeCi unanimously, in consideration of tbe peculiar circllDl8tance8 of die
cue, and the applicants haviug virtually thougb not formerly acted u liCllJa
Dales with llCCeptance, that the Rules bearing upon the point in qnestion
be suspended OD this occasion, and that the petition of the applicantl be
....eed•.
"The abon apert bavtDI beeIl adopted, It wa. thereupoD
R.lWtl, TJaat the Resolution of tbis Convention, requiring a candidate to
preacla under a license previous to bi8 ordination 8.5 a ~i88ionary, be ...
peadecl in thie caM, and that this Convention approvea of the ordination of
Kea&rs. Abiel Silver and Jabez Fox a8 Missionaries.

~ of Bee. J. P. Bluart, "aatiw to tA~ OrtlifUltitm o/l'mM1j aM t( '"

lUt1. Babin HOfJ,g', tcitl& lUport oftM Committee tMreupon.
PhiltJdelpAia, June 12th, 1849.
To the Pre8ident of the General Convention of the Societies and other as.
toeiated bodies of tbe New Church in the United State8 :
The undersigned wishes to submit to you, and through you, to the appro.
priate functi(lnaries of the General Conventioll, the facts of his ordination, to-
,ether with the ordination of Rev. Sabin Hough, of Colu mbus. Ohio i memo-
lalising you to take 8ucb action in the premi8es as your deliberate JodgmeDt
may dictate aud approve.
The facts are simplY these: Rev. Sabin Hough and the undersigned were
ordained in 1847 by tEte Rev. S. H. Wills, then residing in JeffersonviJle, In-
diana. The ordination in both cases was in consequence of petitions from
New Church Societies to the Western New Church Convention, and by the
.~cial order of that body, requesting Mr. Wills, or any other Ordaining MJ-
mater of the New Cburcli, to perform the ordination upon the application of
the candidates.
The ordination was in both cases into all the functions of the New Church
ministry, excepting the power of orqaining others; and the formularly usecl
was that of the Liturgy of the English Conference.
Mr. Hough and the uoders.igned have exerc!sed the functions of the JDiDiI.
try under this authority and sanction, up to the prellent time.
Inasmuch, however, as the undersigned has learned, since reaching this
GitJ,~ that questions have heretofore arisen ill regard to the ordaining power
of Mr. Wills; and inasmuch as doubts may still exist in the minds of some, U
to the propriety and validity of ordination8 by him; and inasmuch as doubu
. ., arise as to the propriety of the undersigned. and of Rev. Sabin Hough.
exercising the fUDctions of the ministry, pending these doubts; and, inasmuch
.. harm may thus be unnecessarily done to the states of some; and to pre-
WIlt doubts and questions which may be liable her~8{ter to arise from the
IIID8 source; the underejgned, in behalf of him8el~ and also ill behalf of Mr.
Hough, presents hereby this his memorial to your body. praling that &hi. All-
ject·~, be taken. up, ~ ~.finitelr MUled.
~ble, how t~elr.ord!DatJon8hal
---,.
The p.etitionere would know, if
be d~clared ana determined by this bodJ';
whether all ordinatIon loto all the fUnet10Ds or the ministry except the au·
-
da~ of ordaining others; or limply an ordination into the first grade of «he
miDistry; ~~ whether valid in no re8~e.ct whatever.
T~e a~c.IsJon of your b~dy, determlDlng the question in whatever way, ....
be lD1j)bCltly concUllt:d In by the undersigned, and he... doubts Dot &b9 by
Bey. S. Hough.
Your ~morialist shall ever pray,
J.P. STUUT.

2'IIe abon memorial haYiDI heeD referred &0 tbe Committee OIl Eoo1eei••tiGU ~
. . . . . . with 80 l8110h of the Report Of the Ohio Con~eDlioD .. relates to tile orcliDall8a
alllr. Enal Y111ee, said Committee n,ported as follow" and their report wu adoptec1 :
:rrom documentary evidence published in the lo11mal of the Weetwll CIIa·
ventioD for 1847, pagee U and 86, it appears that the Rev. S. H. Wrn. . . .
authority granted him by the terms of his ordination, to ordain others into die
ministry at the request of any regularly organized sooiety of the :New CIuue1l.
It a180 app8~ from the same Joornal, page 34, that the ordination of M ~
HoUCh and Stuart was reqoe8ted by the New Church Societies at Colull1bM,
~D, and Loui.ville; and Mr. Wills was then acting in connection with
tile Weetern New Church Convention. In view of tllese facts, tile CoIllJJliu.e
are uDBnimously of the opinion that the ordination of these geutlemen into . .
ministry of the New Church has been conducted in an orderly manner, aad i8
therefore valid.
Tile ease of Mr. Yu]ee is one of entirely different character. It appeam
that his orJination was not performed at the request, Dor with the approb....
tiCiD, of any regularly organized society of the New Church. And it also _aRa
pears, from a private letter of Rev. S. H. Wills, under date of Nov. 14th, 1~
In the hands of your Committee, that the ordination was conducted by bi.
under a false impression that the pel'80DS who requested it were the repre-
sentatives of the Cincinnati Society of the New Church. And Mr. Wills de.
clares that he should not have granted the application of Mr. Ynlee, Cl AstI M
tIOt eAtif"ely ,ni8underltood the ground, Oft tl11&ieA it tDtU mOtU. ~
Your Committee are therefore of opinion, that, inasmuch as one conditiOD
essential to the vaHdity of the ordination of Mr. Yulee, namely, the reque. or
approbation of Bome regularly organized society of the New Churcb, "..
wanting in this instaoce, therefore the act is to be regarded as invalid. All
which is respectfully submitted.
'0
I"vitGtioR tl&e &e. M". De Cla,.,.,.
The following, olfered by Rev. Mr. 'Barrett, was adopted:
Whereu, it is uoderstood that Rev. Mr. De Charms, of Baltimore, is iD lite
city at lbw time, therefore, .
YGIai, That the same invitation to attend the meeting of this Con'feDti~
·which was sent to Rev. Mr. Benade yesterday, be extended to Rev. ldr...Qt
Charms; and that a messenger be appointed by the chair, to preaent tbi. invi-
tation to :Hr. De Charm•.
The Secrecary shortly afterwards read a letter from Mr. De Charms, uprelliDg hi, . .
pet at being unable, f~om previous anangemeotl, to accept \be IDvltatiOD .......
tUm.
ImMafiMI to lie Fin' &ciG,.
On motion of .lJr. Small: Re801,,ed, That the First Sooiety of the Ne• .Ie..
rualem iD Philadelphia, UDder the pastoral charge of the Rev, Wm. H. Be.uede,
be invited 10 partake of the most holy ordinance of the Lord~1 SUPl:'er ~...
tile ConVeDUOD at its meetWg for that purpoae OD nut. Sabbath alleh1~"
- Raponn1n7ity of,le CaaWftlitm Oft Cl partictlltw point.
Baolwtl, That this CODV8DtiOD doe. not regard iteelt:, aDd does Dot wiah to
be reprded, &8 responsible for the views contained in the addreu pre~
by a Committee appointed by the Convention, and published in the New Je-
[Jaly,

raaalem K,lpzine for September, 1840.

Mmaorial aM Rsport OR tAl yrf1JJ!Jllfl Gift of a Sill/M a N. C. BellliflG1J.
Re•• Mr. Stuart preeented to the Convention the foUowilll memorial :
To the President of the General Convention of the New Church in the United
SCatel:' -
My DJID. 8Ia-[ wish to lay before you, and the body over wbich JOu
~ide, u being the m08t general organized body of the New lemsalem. iD
uu. COUDtJ.:Y, the propositions herein mentioned and herewith 8ubmitted, iD
reaard to the establi,hment of a New Church University iD Ohio. \
baring my last miuiooary visit to Urbana, Colonel Jamel, of that place,
PI8l8Dted me with the fonowing, which I now lubmit to youJ viz :
To the Rev. J. P. 8tuart,
n... SIll-I will give ten acree of ground for the lite of a New Church UBi·
venity, to be selected from lands about the town of Urbana. and 10 chosen
that the &election Ihall alway8 be regarded 88 a proper ODe, both with refer-
eDce to the lfOund itselftand to its proximity to the town. I regard the laad
I o1rer u worth $1000. 8tipulate that the sum of S2000 shall be contributed
by othen within ODe year, and that BOme buildiDg suitable for a school be
erected within three years, And I expreu the wish that the buildiDp shall be
lubatantial, plain, ana of handsome proportiona, without ambitious displa,.
JOHM H. J.I.II-.
Ur6t.nuJ, JlCIf'tA 28, 1849.
~t then, is the proposition of Colonel James; and it is here submitted, in
order mat if an attempt is made to meet the stipulation8, it may from the first
fall under the most general supervision and patronage of the Church. ManY'
of our brethren in Ohio think that the time has ~come to take the incipient step
iD the work herein contemplated l· and it is believed, that if proper measures
are taken, the requisite fUDds wil be forthcoming.
ID paasing through Dayton, on my way here, I presented this to our brothel',
M. G. Williama: I submit herewith his testimon, on the subject. I submit,
wbether we may Dot look to your body for taklDR the general lead in this
meuuz:e. Respectfully and truly, yours,
I. P. 8TVDlf.
'rile Committee to whom the above was referred bro&llht in a Tepon embraou. dle
CoDowlDr relolutiODs, which were adopled,
.Raolwd-l. That this Convention leama with much satisfaction the propo-
Ijuon of Colonel John H. Jamel, of Urbana, Ohio, and beiug deeply implee8ed
with a seuse of the importaDce of the object which is contempbned, would
Gpre18 the sincere hope that the conditions on which that bequest depends
may be complied with.
"lOIwd-2. That in furtherance of this end, it be recommended to the Obio
AIaociatioD to appoint Trustee. to receive such sums as may be contributed
for lbia object, and to take 8uch other steps in regard to it as may seem ex·
~~m. '
W'IaetI&Ir more tlaGft on, OnlintJtiOfl 6e """"ry.
..... l»Uowial reeolutiOD wa. offered by IIr. Reecl.DAl adopted :
tRaolwtl, That the Committee on Ecclesiastical Affairs be ~ue8ted to COG.
aider whether more than one ordination be essential or expedient; and if it be
Dot • regarded, whether a Pastor should be introduced into the eecond &rUe
IItt.j
of the ministry by some appropriate religion. ceremony; aad if it be thCMIght
1bat he should, what thiS cerenaooy sbotllcl be, and hOw it IhoDld be per-
tODDed. and report to the nul CODYeD:tion. .

&porI of tU C"".".it'.- 01 Fomp CmT~.

The Committee of ForeifPl Coft'8spondenee respectfally report :
That they have not received many letters from abroad during the lut year.
but those which have reacbed us concur with the general information derived
from other sources, in repreeenting the condhion of the Church in England
and on the continent of Europe, as calm and prosperou5, though not making ..
ay apparent rapid progress. We add some extracts from an intereeting letter
received from OD!' respected brother, Dr. Tafel. We are certain that the whole
Church will sympatliiee with the regrets of Dr. Tafel, i~ as he fean, the
mao1l8Cripts of Swedenborg most be returned to tJtockho)m, unpublished.
COAjnmu of tIw N,w CI&UTrA iA GmAaa,.
The following resolutions, offered by Mr. Sampson Reed, were adopted:
RaoltMd-l. Tbat this Convention views with gratincation tbe formation
of a Conference of the New Church in Germany, and that it extends ita COl-
dial congratulations to that body.
Raolwtl-2. That the Secretary do send to Dr. Tale1, for the use ofthat body,
aueh number of copies of the Journal, as the C~mmittee on the Journal thiIik
proper.

Ruolution ".,.t:tiftg tle Ratio of lUpramltJIion.

R.olwd, That Article I. Section IV. of the Rules of Order, be amended, 10
that all bodies entitled to be represented at Convention shall be entided to lead
two delegates; and every bodr numbering fifty members shall be entitled to
three delegates, and one additional delegate for every additional fifty mem-
bers j" provided, however, that no society or other associated body shall be ea-
titled to more than seven delegates; and provided a180 that whenever the de-
legates from any three societies request it, the vote on any question aJrectioa
the societies a8 such, shall be taken by societies, and the question determined
by a majority of the societies represented. .
RtJplCtinl lAc 8olImnizalion 01 MaTf'iGg,.
Raolwd, That when the laws of a State do not require that the minister per-
forming the marriage ceremoDy'should be a settled minister, a minister orthe
first grade, as defined in the Rules of Order previous to their amendment at
the present Convention, may perform it when reque8ted.
7le Mod' 01 gi11it&g out tAl 1."ittJtiota to ~ Holy Supprr.
Bev. Kr. Barrect1tfeleDled the following reeolodoD whioh wu adopted.
Whereas we learn from No. 722 of the True Christian Religion by Emanuel
Swedenborg, U that they approach the Holy Supper worthily who are under the
infloellce of faith towards the Lord, and of charity towards their neighbor."
therefore, . ~
Raolwd, That, in giving publie notice from the pulpit of the time and plaoe
of celebrating the Holy Supper by this Convention, the President Ite requested
to extend the invitation to all those who have received the ordinance of Bap-
tiam, and who humblf trust that they belong to the class of persona here . .
lipated by our illnmlued teacher.
The ~, and nays on thi8 question were as follows:
Yeas: Messrs. Gerrish, Ro<lman, Miller, M'Craith, Carll, Bumham, BalliDau,
Lever, Sidebotham, 8nyder, Small, Barrett, Silver, Fox, and Worrell.
- If_,: Mr. a_e.
M_I'll. Reed, Seddon, and Smart, declined Totin,; and M. . . . LoweD,
WiIkina, Curti8, Hobart, Hastings, KrewlOD, GlenD, and J[eq,t were &beent.
Oa lA. Nuaftty of lU-BGptillA.
[July,

BeT. Mr. Barrett oft'ered the followiog Preamble and ReeolutiOll:

Whereas the necessity of re-baptism, as it i. called, as introductory to the
5.w Church, (i. e. of the baptism of the New Church Minister, of ODe who
mal have previously received that holy ordinance at the hands of a miD....
of &he Old Church) is nowbere di8tinctly taught either in the Word of die
Lorti, or in the doctrines of tbe New Jerusalem given &0 enable WI the beaer
10 1U1derstand the Word : therefore
Raolwd, That, in the opiniou of thi8 Convention, the Ministers and Socie-
ties of the New Cburch ought to be left in perfect freedom to adopt and pur-
lue luch a practice in relation to the subject of re-baptism as they may deem
most proper and useful.
PeDdin~ the discussion of the above Resolution, the following 8ubstitute
wU iutroduced aud adopted: .
BtIolwd, That though this Convention recommends re-baptisul, it wishes to
_ve the Ministers and Societies of tbe New Church free in regard to the
aubjecL

Itaolution ""ptcting on, 01 fM leading Obj,etl of fM Cont1",'ioa.

Bev. Mr. Barrett offered the following, which was adopted:
Raolwd, That the publishing of the doctrines of the New Jf::rosalem as con-
tained in the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, the founding of
llew Church Libraries, and supplying other libraries with the writings of the
Church, the f'uJ?port of New Church missionaries, and the supplying of 'Doh
aaileionaries WIth suitable books and tracts for sale or distribution, be deter-
mined OD as among the leading objects of this Convention.
Rnolutimu '·aptcting thl 7Umer Legacy.
Raolwd-l. That the Treasurer be authorised to take all suitable and proper
steps to obtain the amount of the legacy left to the ConventioD by the late
O. P. Turner of Vermont j and to execute all proper receipts or discharges for
the same.
Raolwtl-2. That when said legacy shall be received, the Treasurer be an-
~rised to pay to Hon. Josiah Turner, of Michigan, tile sum of eight hUDdred
dollars; aDd to pay Mr. John Alien for twenty-five copies of cbe ApocaJypae
explained, to be distributed by the Book Committee, agreeably to reaolutiODl
MOl. 48 & 49 of Journal, 1847; and to invest the remaillder in a safe manner,
until further order of the Convention.
Whereas occasions may occur when the Treasurer may wish advice in re-
~d to the obtaining and disposing of this money, therefore
Raolt:ed-3. Tha' SampSOD Reed and J. G. Davis be a CoDUDittee of adYice
in luch cases.
In relation to the amount of' the above lepcy and Ita prelebt condition, the Treasurer. ill
hit Ulnual report, atates that the will oCMr. Turner has been conte.ted. and a 8Uit at law
iI tile ooDlequeace. He has be«,n ODce to Vermont to attend a Probate Coun. before whleh
clae 0 . . wu beiDl tried, and he informs the Convention that afIer eettliDl the MOO. .I
.. the Eseollton, there remains iD their bands a trifle oyer "',000, which, by tbe . . .
tJlthe will, should come to the General CODYelltion; and the Judge ha, decreed, aftlr
lakiDI a long time for coneidoration, that it shall be 10 paid. From thl. decree the par-
dian of Mr. Turner'. child ha, appealed, and the case wiU come on for trial Den J)eoeal.
bet. The TreuuIW recommeada Iba, auahoritr be srantee1 hi. b, the CoDWDdoD to
take all DeCeIIU'J aDd proper llepa 10 .cure the amount or this bequest.
JMl]
"""".g Pultmll • • adIr ~ .
Dr. Small offered tbe following, which ,vas adopted :
Whereas it has been the custom of this Convention heretofore to appoint
pe~n8 and Committees to act as the organ thereof in addreasing communi-
-
catiODS to the Chllrch at large, and to foreigIl New Cburch associatioDs, with.
Ollt requiring an act of approval of such communications before being I8Dt.
therefore,
Raolv~d, Tbat whenever any individual or Committee is chuged with the
duty of making a pastoral address to societies and receive,. in this oounUy,
or of addressing any New Church botly in 'this country or any other, in bebalf
of &he Convention, luch address as the individual or Committee may pl8pM8
to &eM .hall first be 8ubmitted to the Convention for its adoption.

.Atldras from tAe Prl8ident at ,1.. M"ti"gs of tAl CoatJmtiOft.

Raolwd, That the first thing in order at each annual meeting of this Con-
yeotion be a public Address from the President, (or from some other minister
previously appointed by him or by the Convention,) together with luch other
reli«iou8 exercises as the speaker may deem proper; aud that such annual
Address, after receiving the approbation of the Convention, be published with
the Journal of Proceedings.
.46olititm 01 t/u .fir. (htJtU i,.. tu Mm;'",.
On motion oC S. Reed,
Raolvld-l. That that which has been regarded as tile fint grade ID
the ministry be hereafter abolished, and that for the present there be two
lftUiee only; and that those of the first grade (formerly the second) be called
Putors or Missionaries, and tho~e of the second (formerly the third) be ealled
Ordaining Mini8ters.
Raolwtl-2. That the above resolution shall not affect the powers conferred
by the act of ordination upon any individual now in the ministry.
Yot.l, That the Secretary, with the aid of the President, alter the RuJ_,
Recommendations, and Resolutions of the Convention, in conformity with the
above reeolution.
Closing 8enJicu on tlu Sabbath.
The Convention met Sunday afternoon, June 17, for religious eervioea·
agreeably to adjoumment; and the President officiated at public wonhipt
and preached a sermon from Luke xxiv. 27, 30,31,32.
TIle President then ordained Mr. Abiel Silver and Mr. Jabez Fox 81 Mia-
sionaries, agreeably to a foregoing rp-solution of the Convention.
Tbe President. assisted by Rev. Messrs. Seddon and WorreH, then adminis-
tered the Holy Supper to about one hundred communicants. This closed the
seuion of the Convention.

We ahould have been glad bad our apace allowed tbe ineertion oC the Reports of 8oc8-
ties. but .. it ia we live 0011 that of the New-York City Soeiet1, with a view to make
IOIDe remarks upon it.

Bqort 0/ th, NItlI Tori City SociItg.

This Society Dumbers one lundTtd and ttDtl1Je members. Since our re~
to die Convention in 1848, 8iz persons bave been admitted as members, and
,., members have withdrawn {or tile purpose of joining other Sooieti•.
There has been but OM baptism (an adult) during the past year.
Professor Bush has contInued to conduct our public worship since our lut
report. On the 20th of August, 18~, at 'the request of the Society, ProCessor
Bash W1L8 ordained u oar pastor, by Rev. Lewis Beers. Be was also at the
..
1UIl8
...."..., .
time ordained &0 the perf0rmaDC8 of all tbe flmadDna ef the lA,. ae...t
grades of the New Cburch ministry, as defined by the Rules of Order of &his
Convention. But in Janumv, 184ft Professor Bush tendere4 to the Society his
reairnation of the office GC pastor, at the same time expreseing his desire to
discontinue his services in conductil1g publin worship, as soon as the Society
could supply his place. The resignation of Professor Bush was eocepted ;
bat in cOll8equence of our inability to obtain a pastor, he ku Motioned to
conduct the Sabbath morning exercises to the present time. .
. Oureocial meetings on Sabbath eve11ings have been continued. La~~
howel'er, we regret to add, a variety of causes have combined to dimi •
their interest, and they have not been eo well attended as we could desire..
We are however, happy to say, that the Society residing in Brooklyn have
held social meetings on Sabbanh evenings during the pMt year, with increu-
iDg interest in the Heavenly Doctrines.
We have not yet been able . to revive our Sunday Scbool, though we stiD
cherish the hope of doini( 80 at DO distant day.
Our Library of the writIngs ~r Swedenborg, and the collateral works intend-
ed to explain and defend them, has beell kept cODstanlly open for the loan of
hooks. The Society has expended a considerable amount to increase the Dum-
ber of yolumes, and the number of perSODS who apply fOl' booka is constantly
increasing. We cQDsider our Library one of the most efficient means at the
command of the Society for spreading a knowledge of the Heaven ly Docuinea.
We have also a Library of juvenile worke, intended for the children who fre-
quent onr place of worship, which are read with intere~t, and we believe are
doing good. The New Ctiurch Repository, a monthly periodical by Professor
Bush, is aiM doing lBuch to call atDelltion to the New Church in our city and
ita vicinity•
.A.ltJiougG our Society bas Dot increased in number during the past year, we
can confidently state that the Dumber ()f readers and receivers of the HeaveDl,.
doctrines in our city ha8 considerably increased. Many are known to be looi-
iD, to the New Jerusalem as their home and contemplating her walls with de-
light, who are not yet prepared to enroD their names among us. We are COIl-
standy receiving evidence of a surprising statie of preparation in the minds or
men for the reception of truth.
The average attendance on OUf· quarterly meetings for the adminwtration of
the Holy SDJlper is about uwntY·~l1e. The av~rage attendance upon our pub-
lic wonhip IS about'tDO lundred Gndjiftg.

The Cacteltated iR dle above report respecting my ordination are correct, and yet . . a
wroDglmpreDion may be, and as I learn has been, conveyed by It, it may be plO~r for
me, ia 11I7 own perIOD, to append, by way oC explanation, the lubstance oC the re":':uks
made 10 the ConveBtioD at the reading of tbe report durins its late . .Ion in PbUadelpbiL
On being invJtee1 to take the pastoral charge of the first Society of the New Jeru"eaa
In this city, it waa intimated to me as tbe earnest desire oC a majority of the memben
that I should receive ordination in the ulual way, as the Society was in connection wilh
tbe General ConYentioD and wished to adhere to its rules, and al It would moreower r hre
them more Creedom in receiving the ordinances as admini4Jtered at my hand, a serrice
for which they bad, previously, after Mr. Barreu"s removal, been dependent on the kiDd
cdcea or others. To thiel replied tbat I bad no objection to the mealure, provided it
oould be dODe iD such. manner as Dot to compromise my conlCientioul IeDtiments in re-
prd to tbe DatUIe of the rite itlelf-that I did not reprd the ceremony of ordination ..
crMti." but limply .s rttopui.g, official character in the Church-that I claimed lID
be a1J'eadya miniater ortbe Word in yirtae of.bat I ventured to regard u a know1edp
01 the truth aDd • love oC the U!JeI of the New Dispell.t1on, topther with IOme decree of
Itn_ OD the lOore of auainmelltl tor the work oC teachlol...-..aDd that I could DOt con .
.ai, OODI8Dt to aD, ecclee1.atical &0'- whioh would nanuall, be OOILItl'aed U aD . . . . . .
 I"]

_lee
. . . . . , part that IlookM upon cbe CoDveadon la aay oIlt1 braaoh. . . the pri..,.
or deaellU1 mediam oC mlnllterlal fanotioa. I remarked, moNOftr, chat as I be-
tined the pneral impreuion iD the Church, (ouDded upon Its formula of inaaguration,
..as that sach was the prerogative of the Conyentton, I oould not feel free in my own mi.
10 recei.., ordination at the hand oC an, ordaining miniater oC the Convention .. nedI. but
tha' I would readily receive it at Ibe hand ofaDysach minilrer ia his private and indepencl-
eat capacity, provided be oould 10 far accord to my view••s to perCorm the rite simply ..
aD act or leCOpition and fellowship, aD aoknowledgment that he looked upon me ., caD·
eel of the Lord to take parl in ~is minlltly.
After tome deliberation the Society.w Jlt to compl, with my wishel ill this re.peo&,
aac11 accordingl, commuDicated with me Rev. Dr. Been OD the labject ltati. . to hla
wbat I stated to the Society as to the condition. on which alone I w.. williDI to be CJI-
cIa1Ded. To these conditions he laW Jlt to auent, and I wU aocordlDgl,. ordained b,. him
at the time and in the form speci8ed below, the reve~Dd brother's health being then m
iDlrm that the ceremony wa. performed In his own hOUle, thoulh in the presence oC •
worshiping auembly. The Collowin~ i. a copy or the certificate.

. At the lIDnimou reqaelt of the Int New Jerusalem Church and Society of the city
or N.,..·York, a110 with the CODlent and direction at the united IOClety of Dubyaad
hbllC&, and at tbe reqaestortbe Rev. Georp Bu.h &0 be ordained-I did OD Lord'l
August 20th. J848, ordain the said Geo. Bulb to take the pastoral charse oC _id New
da"
J.....lem Church Societ, in the city or New·York, apeeably to the followlDg form; vt..
M, beloved brother, our bleued Lord, by and throulh me sa a medium, ordaineth ,..
• Minister in bis New Jerusalem Church with prima..,. reCerence to the psatoral charge oC
aid Cborch in the oity of New-York, and wheresoever hie pro"ideDce may direct Y01l;
to perform the n.riouI funotions pertaining to tbe ministry, to teach the doctrines oftbe
MW and last dllpensation of the Cbureb, administer tbe Holy Supper, celebrate marr•
. . . baptize ib the name of the Lord, orpnize lOCietie., ordain mlnlsten wherever the ia-
tere.I ortbe New Jera_lem Cbuch lball reqaire it, aDel aueod fDaera1l, aad alIo ....
mlUll ocher name1esl thiDp that may ocoar in the dilOhaqre ~Joar ministerial dad. .
LEWIS BEERS, KiDiater N. J. C.

Tbere WaI, I presume, "clear lIDderatandlngoC the matter throughoaL I had expllolt-
Iy made known my views to the Society, to Dr. Been, and allO to the congregation pre-
.-at OD &he ooOUiOD, .. I took an opportunity before the ceremony was entered "pon a·
,....,. 10 declare that in the rile about to be admlnl_red I did not couider myeelC at . .
• viDl an, DeW authority .. a minister oCthe Word, bat limpl, .. complying with aD
onIerl, form of recognition by whioh I was ackoowleclpcl.. alread,
s_h a minis_ bJ
die Lord's appointmenL
.&.. to the lormula recited above, It was not .abmitted to, my iDlpection before beIDlUt-
tered oyer my head, nor do I know that t should have fell the lealt objection to it if It had.
t bad CuU, explained the eense in which I understood, and would have othen uDdentaDd,
the word .. ordain," .. employed in my own ca•• &Dd it waa rair 10 . .ume that..the or-
da~. 18118e oC it coinoided with mine.
I could fain hope, after this candid statement, that my proceeding in this matter ma,
atve n~ ofFeDce to my brethren wbose deliberate convictions on thlssubject I respect, while
at the l&IDe tilDe loannot aBIent to them, 10 rar .. they are oppolite to wbat il Ita"
~ ltatement whioh I have felt coastralned to make in otcler to relieve mr-JInO'r
ad p~tiY8l,. from aay sinister ebarp of locoDliNDcy la new oCanything I ha_
IalcI or may _y on the subject or cbe New Charoh mlnlltry, ID reprd to which it I. . .
IIDprobable lbat . , view.4Ur. _Ddall't la mu, poiDtI, 60m thG18 atlDY brethreD.
G. B.
- NOTICE 8 or BOOI8.
8o. .oLII1I An PaTentslI, ot1&ertDU' Vital MagAetilm, or M"ruriaa j co.-
rid",.,d PhY'iologietdlyand PhilOlOphicalll; unt! an Appendix wntammg flota of
Mm1t,mand P"eAieal E~. By J08EPH W. HADDOCK. London, 1849.
We have as yet leeR nothiDg to shake the firmness of our conviction in Je..
prd to the important ancillary bearings of Me8merism upon the psychical
clevelopmeDts of the New Church. That the so-called revelatioDs of clairYoJ.
aDtI are ofteD-Day, more often than otherwise-mixed np with the groesest
delusioll8 and falsities, does not, in our view, abate at all from the force of
the testimony borne by the phenomena to the troths of the New Dispensation.
As the induced state is disorderly, it were reasonably to be expected that the
manifestatioDs should be more or le88 lacking in tmtb.folne8st and it is in fact
in this very circum8tance that we find the confirmation most emphatic of Swe·
denborg's disclosure8, He ,assures us that disordered mental states give ad· ~
Yantap to iDiernal iDftux, which is an inftux of falsitie8 ·of COUI'8e, and this
ktnd of influx will naturally manifest itself the more clearly the more interior
are the truths which are falsified. But as the iDdications in this case are pre-
oiHly what we are taught to expect provided Swedenborg's disclosures he
true, we can imagine Dothing more absurd than to decry Mesmerism in re..
don to New Church teachings because the mattriel of its developments i! com·
'posed to such a degree ofinfemal elements. Suoh a use' of it is little else than
eompelliog a bad maD to testify in a «ood cause, and who would object to
this , It is a truth of the New Chnrch, for instance, that there are good
spirits and bad acting on men in the flesh, and-that they severally act according
CD their natures; and, moreover, that if one is abnormally brought into a con-
dition in which the attendant spirits caD speak through him, the good will
utter truths, and the bad falsitie8_ Now this, as it is well known, is directly
at war with the pre\Tailing belief of the world, which i8 that every uttt!ran~
from the 8piritual sphere must necessarily be tme, as that is the regioD of truth,
la which every one that-dwells there most of course dwell in the foU blaze of
the truth of the Lord and of heaven. This in fact is supposed to constitute the
misery of lost souls, that their u nderstandings are in the light of truth, while
their bearts are in the love of evil. But tI1f know that no more pernicious fal-
~ty can find a lodgment in the mind of man than this, and why we should not
be grateful for any discovery that goes to correct the ertor and establish the
tenets of the New Church, we ar~ unable to see.
Jor ouraelves, therefore, we give a heany welcome to such works as the
r
present, marked as it is with very interesting views 0 the psychical condiUoDS
.gf the Mesmeric aleeper. The writer has evidently surveyed the whole ...
jeo& from. scientific ~Dd.point, and given, in a brief compus, a more eaa.
fMtory aec~UDt of the phenomena, both physiologically and mentally coDlid·
eNd, thUl ,any other aimilar work that !lOW occurs to us . Of 1hil the foI·
loWing extracts will enable our readen to jadge. ,
It is usual to represent man as composed of mind and matter j-SoVL and
W.,. This is correct. And as we find that the body is not a mere aimple un-
1"1
-
....poaaded 81Ib1taDee, but. coUHtioD of iDa. . . . . . . ._ aad . . . . ; eo,
by parity of reasoning, we may conclude, that dIe mind, or spiritual body, •
.
c6e parent and direotor of tbe natural body, canDOI be that ample entity, that. .
6InM:t notlinP"'t ~ generally represeDted bJ metapbysioal writers; bat l&-
dler that dJe controller of the animal organism. must be itself oll'lnized ...
cordiog to the laws of its own peculiar nature, aDd capable of manif.ti. .
those laws, under certain circumstances, through thoee organ. of the body.
&hat is, of the brain and nervous sysC8m, which are united with it by tbe la.
of correspondent activity and connection. St. Paul, tberefore, spoke tbe laD-
guage of the profollndest philosophy, wben he declared that there were s,irit-
ual bodies and natural bodies, and thaE the natural body was the tint In iCIJ
development, and aftertIJtJrds the spiritual body i and when, OD another ocea-
IioD, he defined the human organism, 8S e.xistmg here, to be a compound of
"spirit, soul, and body ;n in this respect, givinl his apostolic eanction to die
doctrine ot the ancieot sages of Greece. Tbe two first terms used by the ap"
P,,"',
de to describe the spiritual part of man, are in the original greet PnetIIM and
and the latter term, whioh in our ver.ion of the scriptures is, in the
~e alluded to, trans1aced 1OUl, is hy the latin writen, called the u . . . . ."
and this term is always used to signify the anWuJl-.l, as diatingWahed from
the pneuma, or more mterior human spirit.
And here it will be as well to observe, that no troth is more e'rident to
aouod rational inquiry, than that dle Creator has liveD to every department ~
his 1& handy-work," .peeijic duJTtleUr j and tbatfrom the Creator to the IO_Ht iD-'
eIt matter, there exists a duJin of DEeaus; aDd that each objeot of creatioa
eau only be well and truly studied, by viewing it in its 011III tlI~, and com-
paring it with objects in anotAn tl'lfra. Bat if we confound thiS distinction C'If
aegreee, we shall never arrive at a clear and satisfactory solution of many U.
portant faots. Each degree will be found to have laws or pro~erUes peculiar
to itself; and if we transcend the degree of the object of our Inquiry, by ap-
plying to it qualities or properties belonging to another distinct degree, we ma,
expect nothing but confu81on aDd mys",ry. Now in our investigation of tile
aature oC mall, it is especicially necessary not to overlook theee dielioctiOD&
By no process, can matter be sublimed into spirit; and spirit having, accord-
lDg to apo8tolic authority and the general la", of analogy obeervablft in . .
thiD", its distinctioDs and dell'ees, the properties of a lowr degree may not
~pJy to a liglwr one. True philosophy allO teacbea, that if .pirit in DO degree
is material, that is, does not p088eu those properties which we apply to poa-
derable matter; still it is DO le. on that aecount, a tndy real and 8ubstantial
uiatence; more tmly substantial than the granite rock, becaase, more un-
changing, and more enduring.
Now viewiDl the spiritual organism of maD, 88 consisting of two diatinet
degrees, called by the apostle the pneuma and payohe; or as POl8888inl bo.
a .piritual intemal and external, together forming, while in this m01'tal lil..
tb8 comRIOR intIJmGl of the natural organism; the PIYCB& or ABIIIV8 will ha
tile connecting medium between the pure human spirit, and the DerYOU .~
bO',
&em of tile natural body. By ita connection, through oorreapondeDce aDd Vltlll
aftinitr, with the it is 'placed in relation with outward nature: while_
• SpiritUal entity, an by ita Indiuoloable union with the hiper spiritual prin-
ciple, it bu, at the 8IUlle timet immediMe connection with the spirit-wOrld;
.IDd becauee i, is a 8ubject of the lawlt and po..... the propelCies of . .
world, which have nothiog in common with tiru, IptJCI, or tDafIIDn fII4""', it
.play8 those powers, which can be esplained by DO merely natmal or ph"
Iiologlcal bowledl8; but which receive an ear, rational. . . . aadaf~,
IOlDtion, when Dlan is really eeen to be, tbat WIIich revelaaoa, pbilolopllYt
and the atatemeutl of we clairvoyants declare that he i_namely, a oa.-
pound of spiritual and natural orgaoiams, intimately united by the esacte8t
correspondence or analogy. ADd tbat ahboup the lower, or natural 0,....
itm. cannot ace without the ooutinaed in8DeBoe of cbe hip. or epiritDal . .
pnitm; D.or can die spiritual olpGism be developed without the medium el
die Datural OM i ,et, w:hea de.ek»ped, the hiBh. OIpajem 08A ac&t DOt OIIIJ
 -
., ... tbIouP . . lower orpaillll, but even iDdependend" aucl when dll-
GOn.acted ftom i t . · .
. It is &biB p.,ohe or anbll1l_the ~ 01 flu ,pirit, that, from all that I have
pt leamed on the lubjeot., I take to be the true seat of what is called mea.
[July,

aerio in8aenC8 : the psyche or animal soul of the operator, influences the
8alD8 e~tem.1 spiritual organic principle in the subject; and from the anim1l8,
&be ioflueDee lows tlDtInuardt, to use analogous natural term8, and thence af-
fects the brain and nervou8 system j and hence, I propose to call that part of
lDesmeri.... which manifests mental and super-seD8ual phenomena, by the
Dame of PITCS. . ., or, tU &imu of tl&, Soul tJI m4ftV.ud in flatur,'; while to
&he lower and physi<-.alstaRe8, the bame of 801llNOLISII may be applied, &8 iD-
iicative of its sleep-like and dream-like character.
Now as to the ~gical cluJflg' induced by mesmerism. It is a common
law of our being; diat cOnscious perception should have its apparent Beat in
the .zli".., or eztrlllN, of every development. THus, although It is a well e.
cabli.bed fact, that tile 88D.1orium is within the brain, and that if a sensory ne!T8
be divided, no lensation will be experienced ; yet it is 88 ,well known, that if
we prick a finger, the pain will be felt where the wound is inflicted. So, DOt,.
withstanding the body feels and acta by and tbrough the spirit, our coDscious
perception, in the usual normal condition, is confined to the bodily organi_-
tiou; becaaee, while in the present state, tM body i, tI&e ulti",au ~mmt qf
d. qiril. When death severs the connection between mind and bOdy, the
.ti. . . of the immortal DiaD is the {lsyche or animu8; and to it is tlanlferred
all conecioul perception8 and sensations. It is from this di1fering seat of the
coDsciou perceptions, that, in our ordinary 8tate, we have no muatioftGllmow-
l e . of the spirit--world, or of its laws. But psycheism, or the higher 8tage
of meameriam, may aptly be compared to partial death. For it is a rJong of
the common external of our beiDg; a trau!" of the muatiOfttJl perception,
from the altiWJte of tIN body to the ultimtIU of tAa Ipint: and theDce, and sim-
ply from this tranefer of ultimates, arises an awal(ening of the conscious seD-
ational perception of the ianer man, or spirit. All those apparently miracu-
1001 powen, which we sometimes see dlsplayed by good mesmeric 8ubjects,
are in fact, but the result of the psyche or animu8 being so far set free fro.
die bodily ultimate, as to enable die spiritual body to act nearly, if not qaite
iadependendy of the sensual orpn8, and by perception, and in light Crom an
inner world: but the oonnection of the mind and body, is yet sufticient to ea-
. able the 8Oul's sight and feeling to be manifested to our physical sen.ses, by
end throufJh the natural organization of a clairvoyant.
From this transfer of consciousness and sensational perception, we may aiM
account for the anomalous, and often incongruous, 8tatements and d~riptioD8
of clairvoyants. They forget much of that mode of speaking of things which
is common to our external condition, but which, in itself, is often purely ar-
Ititrary and conventional; and they speak according to ~eir newly-awakened
aad uninformed consciousness. As we have to learn to talk, and even to lee,
• rather rilhtly to interpret what the eye reveals; ID do clairvoyants require
• coDtinued exe~ise of their peculiar power to familiarize them with ita
aae.
We now proceed to explain the manner by which the influence of the operator
.ia brought to beat upon llie subject, that sometimes too, at considerable distaD-
. . ; for I have fouod a 8ubject affected by my influence, even when mesmeri8-
iD, another party, at the distaDce of a mile: but this may be considered an
uausual cue. It is a law of nature that all things should be .orrounded by an
"uvium or Iplaere which emanates from them, and i8 alway8 of the pecaliar
Dature Qr quality of the body from which it emanates; and these effiuvia are
. .alated 6y oertain definite lawe. Thus the fTtJg'!'G"CI which 8urrounds the
mee, il the e1B.oviam or Iphere emanating from it; and this e61urium, bJ
beiDg di880lved in the 8uR'Ounding aial atmosphere, becomes I8Dsible to our
orp.Da of unell, and Cl" idIJtJ of its es.iatence and q aality, is then tt'anSlltiaed to
oar ganallftllOJ"iwL Bat there are emuvia of which we should for elter 18-
..m ipomm. did we Dot perceive them r-....u, by their.....,.. Tb...
1841·1
around map_tised and uDmap8tised RODe" . . . . . . . .~ p.....i... -
of \vhich, in their -JHIratal IIGII, our seWleI give us DO evidence. But we haft
only to bring them 10to such proximity, .. to be viIAi.1A. ift~ of the ,••
regulating the activity of tbeir respective apb.en8, and their exiatence mal
then be instantly perc~ived, in their mutual attraction and ooh8l8Dce. For it
has been ShOWll by one of the profouDdest of philosophers, that the. single
spheres have the propeny of blendjog into one larger sphere, and that hence
arises what is called magnetic attraction.
ODe of the results of tbe higber stages of clairvoyance, or independent in-
ternal sight, is the knowledge, that an elluvium or 6phere, analogou to what
we have alluded tOJ 8urrounds the mental organism, or spiritual body of evelJ
individual. Following the general law of nature, this spbere poueases the pe-
culiar mental qualities of the organism from which it emanate8. And heoce
anses the "'f"gnGflU which is felt to the society of some penona, and the plea-
sure which 18 experienced in the company of others; and to it, are refenibfe, an
the remarkable instances of SYIIPATIIY aud ABTIPATHY, so fre9uently observed.
Bot in these ordinary cases, the active cause is latent, or hIdden; yet in the
higher mesmeric, or rather psychic state, it often becomes sufficiently obvious,
eyeD to our physical Benses; for we may here see, that similar to what we
have said of terrestrial magneti8m, there is an actual blending of spheres.
The magnet induces its 8tate on the iron, so that it becomes magnetical; and
the operator induces his sphere on his patient or 8ubject, 80 that the 8ubject
becomes, as it were, on, body with himself; the 'gm",. or aelf-coDaciou8D888 or
the one, being blended witli the ,goima or self-coDsciousDess of the other.
Here then is the psyeAological cause, for the pAytiological state already men-
tioned. The change of state induced upon the Gn;m", of the subject, is the
primary QJUII of the change in the condition of the cerebrum j the collapse or
the cerebrom closes the external cOD8ciousne8s, wbile the union of the spher.
emanating from the animu8 of both operator and subject, cause8 the latter to .
perceive, as in himself, what really is felt in the active cerebrum of the for-
mer. And this change of state affords, I believe, the tme psychological 801 a-
tion to the whole apparent mystery of catalepsy, phanta8y, and many other
curious mesmeric phenomena. As regards J>breoo-me8merism, the arousing
into activity one particular organ of the braID, as it would be called by one
class of phrenologists, or faculty of the mind, a8 it would }»erhape be called·
by another elass, without the guidance, control, or balanCing powers of the
Giber organs or faculties, is a 8ufficient reason for the effects we 8ee displayed.
This willleem to be so strikingly iq accordance with the philosophy of the
New Church that it is, we think, on the whole, impouible to resist the convic-
tion that the author is a reader and to a considerable degree an adopter of
Swedenborg as a guide to the arcaDa of the human spirit. The doubts ex-
p.-et! OD this head in our lut have given way before a more cl08er exam-
ination of the work, although the 8ingular coincidence there mentioned re-
mains unexplained.
From the Appendix containing Notes of Mesmeric and Psychical Kz-
perieace we present the following.
E.' L., th~ young womau who is the chief subject of the following Dotes, i8 a
native of Worcestershire. She is about five feet two inches in beight, rather
sallow complexion, and of a nervous-bilious temperament. . Her health. al-
though at tunes tolerably good, is not robust, nor is she capable of much
continaed exertion. Before coming into my house, 8be bad been the 8ubject
of inflammatory disease of the che8t, and of {ever; and Dot long before
coming to BoltOD, she had been an inmate of the General Hospital, Sir-
miugham, on account of an injury received in the knee. The treatment there
had reduced her general health, but improved the knee. She waS in this
state when I first saw her. Her head is well formed, aud fully developed.
Before the time about to be referred to, she wu wholly iguol'Ult that she poe-
MUed any peculiar mesmeric lusceptibilitie8. She h. . .iace ap~ _
 - N.tiee'cf'-· (July,
opiaioa, that the e.....llaary OOI1t1tdon of her brain is the reeu1t or a 'Yf!rJ
IMP doee or opium, which she onee took by mistake, and which, for a day
or two, oocaaioaed very eeriOD8 symptoms. Bot this may be considered as
very doubtful. She completed her twenty-secood year in December. 1848.
Ibe will be oonat&Dtl, referred to by the name of Emma.
• • * • •. • • • •
In the ensuing paasage i8 given a specimen of her elairYoyaa08 U appliM
to PhyaiololY and .Medicine.
On tbe 29th or SepLemher, 1848, an opportunity was a1forded for an enQlely
Dew manifestation of Emma's powers. A highly respectabJe pndemaa of
Manchester, having at that time a daughter seriollsly ill with a cerebral die-
ease, which batHed the ordinary medical ueaunent, and which, iD addi&i_
to bodily infirmity, had produced a state of insanity, had been recommeuded
to try whether by clairvoyance a mode of cure could be discovered. U.
came on the previous day; but Emma theu beina in a state of uanee. __
be present11 described, he could not obtain the informatiop. sought. He left
with me a few pencil marks made by the hp.dy, as a means of formiDl a
medium of connection. On tbe date above I gave this piece of paper &0
Emma, and asked her if she could find the peraoll who Qlscle the markS, aJWI
tell me what was the matt~r with her: for at that time I lla~ p.o id.~a of b.w
selecting any appropriate remedies. 'She soon found the lady; described,
accurately, the external 'symptoms of ber complaint, and also the internal
• condition of her brain i to which organ she referred the \vhole cause of iD-
ness. After recommending various mesmeric passes, she exclaimed, ,oin&-
ing at the same time towards the ceiling of the room-" There is what will
cure that lady, along with mesmerism; Eh! what little bottles!" These sbe
described as containing little thiugs like the small comfits, generally called
4&thousands." I said, "Is there anything like tIlem in my shop or surgery!" '
"No! you have nothing like them." U Where can they be obtaiued 1" "There
-in tbat big town (pointing to\vards Manchester), in that shop with a heM
in the window; they are kept there in a drawer." It wouJd not have occur.
red to me what medicines she meant, but that in the previous month, when
iD London, I hac} been shown by a lady a case of homceopathic mediciDee.
I do not recollect ever before seeing allY; and I was quite ignorant at that
time as to the mode of preparing and using them. I am certain alao, tbat,
iD her normal state, Emma knew nothing about, nor had ever seen, any of
theee medicilles. The shop, I 8ubseque~tly found, was Mr. Turner's, hom~
pathic chemist, Picadilly, Manchester, and in the shoy window there . . . .
bust of Habllemann, the founder of hommopatby. But was ignorant that there
was such a shop in that neighborhood, having seldom occasion to go to that
part of the city. I wrote to the gelltleman, iuforming him of Ernma'8 re-
IIUIl'ks; and he directly purchased a case from Mr. Tallier, and came oyer 10
Bolton to ascertain the particulars. The,eal«l b~ was put into Emma'8 h.aDd,
and as soon as she had put it over her head, t:lhe said that i~ contained the
medicines she before saw, and pointed especially to the situation of one bot-
tle in the ease. When the ca8e was opened, she selected a bottle Cram the
place she had pointed out, aod tClSted the globula tkr~4 Cl' glaa, without as.
tempting to draw the cork. By way of test, the bottle was put into &Ooth.
part of the case, and other bottles slipped into her hand; but shc invariably
detected tbe change, by tasting through th, gla:lS, and putting the bottle to her
forehead. From that time the prescribed globules were dailyadministeredl
and the mesmeric passes regl1tarly made; and the result is, the restoration 01
the lady to health, both in mind and body.
That ualt,d ,ms" before referred to, which enables her to see things to
which her att.ention is directed, as apparently witbin the sphere of vision,
whatever their locality, is also manifest, though in another mode, in her ...
lection of medicines; for, by tasting through tAt bottl" she has been enabled to
identify the bommopathic globules with the tinctures from which they are 1»re-
pared f This may be considered one of the ItrOngest proofs tbat a medic1Dal
INL1 N--tf"· atl
Yimle I88idee iD them; for 80 hilblr attenuated are the dilation. with whiell
they are saturated, that, to tbe ordinary 8enl8~ the)' all taste alike, and me~
of the 8Ugq of milk of which the body of the globule is composed; and, I
UDderetand, that they are not cogoizable, even by ohemical test.
The following are the developments made by her in a state of eC8tasy or
spiritual trance :
The 8ubject of these trances would afford matter for many pagel; but some
were of a private character, and although highly intereetiug to the ptartie8 COlI.
cemed, would Dot be inlerestiug to otheJ'8, except as illustrati08 tJie nat11re of
the apirit'8 home, and some of the generallaw8 by which spiritual a180CiatioDl
are reaulated. • All that she hu said tends to confirm the distiDction between
moral good aod moral evil, and the impossibility of those whe depart this
liCe in a state of moral evil, attaining hereafter to a etate of moral goodnetl8-:
iD Ilu y~", being strikingly dil8imilar to the statemenl8 of Da'Yis, the Ameri-
can clairvoyant; bot wtao, according to bis own subsequent Itatements, had
never been in the state of true spiritual extasis, when he delivered his lecture.
iD the mesmeric state.
Her genera I statements represents man RI a spiritual being rising from the
&hell oC the dead body, immediately after death, a perfectly OI"pRized esiat-
eDce, and haviug a complete Ie1IlGtiOftal ",-rqtion of his fellow spiritual bei.....
anel of the beautiful scenery of the spirItual spberes; that' is, provided that he ·
possessed during his natural life a moral state, in har190ny with tbose sphere••
The male and female sex retaining all the characteristics necessary to a spi-
ritual state of existence, and Jiving together in a atate of angelic unioD. Tbo.
who have been interiorly united here, coming again in a 8tate of union bere-
after. She represents male aud female spiritual beings, thus united, B8 ap.
pearing at a distance tu one, and says that they are not called two, nor the
manied, but tlae OltL Infants and yOUDg children, wbo have pused from tbia
world by death, are stated to grow in a state of adolescence, but more speed-
ily than in the natural ,vorld. During infancy and early childhood, they aN
confined to tile care of good feDIBle 'spirits, or angels, whose delight it is to
iDatruct them by various methods, especiaIJy by y".,.,.,.tati. . of thing.. Thele
spiritual spheres, and their spiritual inhabitants are ill close association with
us, aDd exercise an influence over us, although we are unconscious of it. All
that is wanted to have a ImltltiOflal knowledge of their existence, is the closiDl'
of the extemal consciousness, and a full awakening of the internal cODscio1Ml-
neas. In the highest state of trance, she appeared to herself to be amoD,
spiritual beings, as one of themselvea: at other times she appeared to them
more shadowy. The met receptacle of the departed spirit she describes u
a IOrt of middle place or state, from which tbe good graduallr ascend to higher
and more delighted places j those that are the best having higher abodes than
the others. All are welcomed by angelic spirits on their arrival in the spiri""
world j but the evil will Dot associate \vith the good, and recede of their own
accord, more or les8 rapidly, to darker places below and to the left; bat of
these darker places she had Dot been permitted to know 80 much, u of the
abodes of the good.
Being asked, in one of these long trances, if she now could explain Aev
.he saw distinct individuals in the mesmeric state, sbe said, "Yes; I can 188
how it is now, but I could not before;" and .then stated, that if spirits wished
to see each other, distance is no interruption; and words to that effect, that
spirits are not subject to our Jaws of space and time; and that man, G3 to 4.
'PiTit, is a subject of the laws of the spirit-world, even while united to the na-
tural body. The opening of her spiritual con8ciousness gives her a ,.".tiOfUll
perception of the spirits of all to whom her attention is directed: and thoe,
however distant the individual, he can be meotaJly present with her. Bat
this she funher represt:Dted, as being accomplished by the aid of intermediate
UIOciate spirits, by whom the connection is completed; and she further re-
presented every ODe as having a connection with the spirit world ~ ;
and a more ~rticulGr one, by means of this aaeociate 8pllit. Whenevel E&
ma speab of going into a &ranee, she alway. repr.entl it U la pift, GfIItIIt-
 [July, 1848.
aad 11 ping Cl ~ loa, ..,.n Of a,. ODe that it dead, she ..ye, Cl The, baTe
left their shell and gone away," and will never admit that they are dead.
In the mesmerio state, Emma had represented the fibres of her brain Ba
Calliug forwards, and the hemispheres separating at the top, when she became
lucid; and she further said, that a brain capable of these movements was ne·
cessary in order to attain to a state of lucidity. In one of the spontaneous
trances I asked her if she could see me in the same manner 88 when mesmer-
ized 1 She replied, "That she had no recolleCtion of the state of her braiD.
while in the m.meric state; but that in the state she then was, everything
seemed light, or rather was seen in light. She knew that she did not Bee with
the eY'e, and yet somehow sbe seemed to use her eyes. She saw me plainly;
yet I did not appear 88 1 ordinarily did; she could not explain the di1rerence,
oDly that I appeared light. It appeared to her that light issued from within,
outward8. During a subsequent long trance, I inquired whether she could
see my lungs then, u she had done when mesmerised' She ret'lied in the
Begalive, aDd Aid, "I can only see yOD as a eloud; y#t I know It is JOu."
The reader of Swedenborg will recognize in the annexed report of a nait
the
to moon, a Tery 8imilar account of thiDp in regard to that planet.
. Having heard of clairvoyants Witing th, plantt" I determined to try the ex-
periment with Emma. I therefore proposed aft, tzcurnon, to tu moon,· and Dot
then knowing how to direct her attention to such distant objects i and she
he.elf being, at the tim~ alluded to, wholly ignorant of the mode by which
a knowledge of distant things is obtained; and fancying that she actually
travelled by some mode, I suggested the ,ketric ttkgrapA as an expeditious
mode of conveyance. The suggestion answered the purpose, and she was.
mentally, 800n on our satelite. But OD that and subsequent occasions, the
great excitement produced by the strangene!l8 of w!lat she saw, and the du-
lallU trawllld, caused such a palpitation of tile heart as to render it nece~
to .mu" tu "ilit, by de-mesmerising ber; being fearful that the great phySI-
cal excitement might prodnce some serious effect OD her health, if Dot Imme--
d'.te daoger. Her description of what she 8aw was conveyed in very ejacu-
latory language, from the surprise and pleasore she experienced. Her state-
ments were to the effect, that the moon 18 inhabited; that tile inhabitants she
.w ,vere very small-dwarfs-not larger than chiWrell on our eanhj their
beads were large in proportion to their bodies, and the mouth wrlictJl rather
than I&ori%Ofltal j their voices harsJl, and rough, and resembling the sound of
distant thunder; and when they spoke, the speech seemed to come up from
the bowels. Their U illsides" were not quite like ours j the l11ngs especially
were different. She saw some food, something that looked somewhat like
brn.d, but they did Dot call it by that name. She saw only one animal.
something like a very small pig. There dwellings were constructed of pieces
of rocks, covered over with green Btuff resembling gorse; they were very Jo,,·,
for she could put her hand to the top. The place did not look like what 8he
COIlcei'led the moon to be; but a large place, and very rocky, with immense
precipices, and lofty moulltaios. The" little folks," 88 she called the inha-
bitants, could clamber up these rocks with their hands and feet so fast that she
oould not catch them. u IR there any water there ,,, U Yes; but it does not
look like oor water, but more like milk and water, and yet it is clear (mean-
iDg probably that it is of greater density than our water). It lies in the bot·
. tom of hollows, and down the 8teep precipices. The 'little folk' can ,,·alk
upon this water and not sink; th~y are very light. They wear clothes i. but
tbey are very simple and all alike. They seem good 80rt of people. They
baw a curious way of jump iD, on the back of each other. A very Jitde babl
was seen in a sort.of cradle j it died: they said what signified that, it haa
gone to sleep; bllt they did not mean sleep, but that it was dead." At an-
other time 1 attempted to send her to JUPITER; but the physical excitement
was 80 great, tbat I thou~ht it pmdent to call oft her attention before I had ob-
tained any definite remarks. She spoke of having been jurtMr than where-
she had befole 8een the "little folks;n and of seeing 1hem when she came back
 THE

NEW CHURCH REPOSITORY

AND

MONTHLY RE\~IEW.

V.I. 11. lU'UST, 1849. 10. 8.

ORIGINAL PAPERS.
AaTICI.E I.

THE LETTER AND THE SPIRIT.

No. Ill.
TRE full bearing of the principles of interpretation laid down by
l\lr. Lord can by no means be perceived from the specimens we have
already exhibited. Had these principles proceeded from another
source, a.nd owned an authorship of which personal considerations
did not restrain us from speaking according to our impulse, we should
say that the more these " chambers of imageryJY were explored, the
greater were the "abolninations'" discovered. In following out his
asserted laws offigurative interpretation to their ultimatum, we find
ourselves conducted to the very grossest extremes of literalism. His
expositions inhere ~o much in the rough and shaggy bark of the tree
of revelation, that not a particle of its celestiaj succulence greets our
taste. Or, if we may draw an illustration from the correspondences
so familiar to the initiated of the New Church, we seem to ourselves,
in contemplating the evolution of results from premises in this system,
to behold a process of exegetic ossification going on, in which every-
thing vital, plastic, and genial, is gradually stiffened and indurated,
till we have a man of bone standing before us instead of a living,
breathing, fleshly form. And what is no less astoundin~, the author
does not shrink in the least from the acknowledgment of these start-
ling results. So far from seeking to deny or disguise them, he unre-
servedly avows them, and takes them under his special patronage, and
plants around them" the munitions of his sturdiest logic. We are some-
times at a loss whether to believe our·eyes as we read his paradoxical
pages, and we pause to ask ourselves whetber we have indeed lived to
VOLe 11. 22
844 n., Let'" ad IAe Spirit. [Aug.
see the day when a Christian commentator shall reproduce in the
Church the baldest letter-lore of the Synagogue, and, under show of
vindicating the propheoies from perversion, strike hands in interpret-
ation with the staunchest school of the Rabbis' and priests, whose
readings of the sacred text brought the Lord of Glory to the cross.
We make no abatement from the strength of our assertion on this
score. We are prepared to show, not only that neither David Kim-
chi, nor David Levi, nor Aben Ezra, nor Abarbanel, nor Hillel, nor
Shammai, nor Caiphas, nor Gamaliel, ever Judaized more com-
pletely in their explications of Moses and the prophets, than does oar
author, but that the principles of interpretation propounded and de-
fended by him are the very principles which led the body of the Jew-
ish nation to rej~ct the Lord when he "came to his own" according
to promise. It is with pain that we prefer this charge $gainst Mr.
L.'. hermeneutical canons; nor could anything short of a profound
concern for the sanctity of the divine Word, heaven's cro,,·oing be-
stowment upon earth, prompt us to incur so Ol&ny harsh imputations as
we do in making the declaration. But allegiance to truth is para-
mount to every other consideration, and the persons of men canDot
well be known when the most hallowed interests are at stake.
But we proceed to adduce the evidence of our positions, nor have
we far to seek. In speaking of the frequent errors oC commentatolSt
Mr. L. adverts to their proclivity to interpret language as figurativ~
which involves DO figure whatever, and cite:-J, as a specimen, Is. H. 2,
" And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the moontain of the
Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, aDd
shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it."
This in Micah iii. 12, is preceded by the following prediction; "There-
fore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem
shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places
of the forest." This, it is well known, has usually been regarded by
interpreters as a prediction of which the Christian church, in the
latter day, or under the reign of the Messiah, is the 'true 8ubjecL
The elevation of Mount Zion over all other mountains has been
understood to denote the conspicuous position, as it were. of that ,
church, the pre-eminence which it should hold in the eyes of the na-
tions, and the source of attraction which it should be to them. 'Ye
have indeed, in the New Church, a deeper view than all this of the
import of the figurative language here employed, but this it is not
necessary to bring for\vard at present, our object being rather at this
point of the discussion to derect the false than to develop the true.
The Christian interp~etation above mentioned Mr. L. rejects, and
adopts the Jewilk. He contends that it is a mere assumption to re-
gard Mount Zion in this, and in a multitude of similar relations, as
the representative of the Christian Church, inasmuch as there is no
figure by which it can acquire that meaning. It is not symbolical,
because it has none of the marks which distinguish symbols. The
agents were not seen exerting the actions ascribed to them, nor did
that which is affirmed of the mount of the Lord's house literally
take place in the presence of the prophe; or i~ visionary act. Nei-
 ther is it metaphorical, inasmuch 8S the mount which is ill tile last
times to be established, or made-the permanent site and foundation of
the Lord's house, ia a part of Jerusalem that should be first ploughed
and become heaps of ruins, and there is nothing incompatible with
the nature of Mount Zion, that after being ploughed and strewed with
heaps of ruins, it should be cleared of its ruins, and made the fixed
site, and, by the erection perhaps of massy substructions, the firm
foundation of the Lord's house. There is nothing inconsistent with
its Dature in its being higher than the other hills on which Jerusalem
is built. Bot, according to the law of metaphor, the things affirmed
of the mount should have been such as could not literally come to
pass, for the essence of this figure is the attribution of something to
the subject which does not properly and literally belong to it, as when
we say, " the ship flies over the waves," the predicate "flies" is not
strictly applicable to the motion of the ship, but to the object from
which the metaphor is drawn. Consequently, the foregoing predictioB
being neither symbolical nor metaphorical, must be literal, to wit,
that Mount Zion, in place of being strewed with rains, and ·Ieft a s0-
litude, like the unfrequented heights of a forest, shall be made the
permanent site and immovable foundation of the Lord's house, and.
elevated, as it ever has been, above the other hills of Jerusalem. So
also he elsewhere remarks, that" the names Zion and Jerusalem,
~hen employed to denote a p!ace instead of its population (how are
we to know which is intended 1), denote the literal, material city, Je-
rasalem, the capital of the Israelites. This follows of neeessity from
the use of the names J acob and Israel, to denote the Israelites, 88 they
were employed in connexion with each other, and in reference to the
same people." .. It is certain, then, from the manner in wbieh these
two classes of names are used, that the people whom the first denotes
are literal Israelites, the'seed of Abraham, the ancient chosen people
of God, in contradistinction from all other nations; and that the city
called Zion and Jerusalem, of which the prophecy treats, is the literal
capital of the Israelites. in which their temple was built, in whieh
they offered their sacrifices, and whieh was to be made desolate by
the dispersion and captivity of its people."-(T. 4- L. J., p. 580-1).
The position here assumed is important from its indieations. It i.
a feata.re which discloses the genius of the whole system. The intel-
ligent reader perceives at once that this interpretation caD only con-
sist with the theory of the literal return of the Jew~ the re-establish-
ment of Judaism in its principal forms, the pre-eminence of the literal
Israel over the nations of the earth, the visible and personal coming
of the Lord in the clouds of heaven, the resurrection of the bodies of
the saints, their reigning with Christ a thousand years, and so on
through the whole catalogue of Millennial extravaganzas, of which
we shall have more to say as we proceed. As to the point before us,
it is evident that Mr. L. takes the locality termed Mount Zion in ita
most literal sense, 88 denoting the partieul&f elevation 80 denominat-
ed iD contradistinction from the other hilly portions of Jerusalem,
none of which equal in height the Mount of Olives or are strictly to be
considered as mountains. It is on])-by what we may term the courtesy
 848 TIle Le''''' and tM Spirit. [Aug.
of inspiration that this name is ever applied to them. But it is plain
tbat Zion is frequently taken according to the letter in a broader Bense
as S)7Donymous with Jerusalem itsel( as Ps. lnvi. 1,2, "In Jodah is
God known; his name is great in Israel. In Salem also is his taber-
nacle, and his dwelling place in Zion." Ps. xlviii.. 2, .. Beantifal for
situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion in the sides of
the north, the city of the Great King." But the Lord himself
(Matthew v. 35) declares Jerusalem to be the city of the great
king. Ps. cxxxiii. 3, U As the de\v of Hermon, and as the dew that.
descended upon the mountains of Zion." Zion itself is bot ODe mOUD-
tain or hill, and the plural here can only be employed on the ground
ofZion's being identical with Jcrusal~m. We have bere then ample
warrant for departing from the utmost rigor of the letter to which
, Mr. L. adheres, in supposing that the Lord's house is hereafter to be
erected on the summit of Mount Zion, instead of that of Moriab,
where it formerly stood. But ,ye have a still wider departure in
what follows: Ps. cxxvi. I, " When the Lord turned again the ~.Qpti~
ity Qf Ziun, we were like them that dream." Here it is palpable that
as Zion, the city of David and the sacred mount, never went into
captivity, the term must stand for some subject of which this could
be predicated. It must denote therefore tbe people ofZion, i. e. of Je-
rusalem. We are aware that Mr. L. would say that this case is pro-
vided for under the figure of metonymy, by which the name of a city is
used to denote its inhabitants; but our object is to pave the way for
the establishment of a still higher and spiritual sense. In the second
Psalm the Most High is i/ltroduced as saying, '. Yet have I set my
King upon my holy Aill of Zi01t." This Mr. L himself would hardly
understand in the literal sense, and yet in what other seDse can he upon
his principles interprAt it 1 But what is easier or more according to
the analogy of the sacred diction than to understand by the King, the
Lord Christ, and by the holy hill ofZion,the church 1 In whatother sense
is it used by Paul, Heb. :xii. 22, " But )·e are come unto rnount ZiGll, aDd
unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem," &c. Whether
this be addressed to converted Jews or Gentiles, it surely cannot mean
that they had migrated to the earthly Zion, for this is not found in the
"heavenly Jerusalem;" and what is the heavenly Jerusalem but the
spiritual Church to which the spirits of those to whom Paul wrote
had actually come, not by docomotive progress, but by change of
state?
That toe terms Zion and Jerosalem are used inter~hangeably in the
prophets i$ clear beyond debate. The question, therefore, whether
Zion is to be understood literally in these connexions is in fact the
question whether the Jerusalem of the latter chapters of Isaiah, for in-
stance, is the Jerosalem of J udea or the church of the Lord in the
latter ages of time. Or, to bring the subject still more directly to aD
issue, is the prophetical Jerusalem of Isaiah the same with the vis-
ioned Jerusalem of John in the Apocalypse 1 The determination of
this question in the affirmative must of necessity be a handwriting OD
the wall against Mr. L.'s entire scheme of literalizing and Judaizing
interpretation of this class of texts. That it is to be decided in the
aflirmative we do Dot hesitate to assert in accordance with the opiD-
 1849.] ne Letter tJnd • Spirit. ' 347
ion of a multitude of commentators of past ages. We affirm that
the beatific state of things announced in the various predictions
of Isaiah-whea the desert shall bud and blossom as the rose-when
the valleys shall be exalted and the mountains and hills made low-
when the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain
-when the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see
it together-when the gentiles shall come to the light of Zion, and the
kings to the brighthess of her rising-when instead of the thorn shall
come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier the myrtle-tree-when
for brass shall be brought gold, for iron silver, and for wood brass,
and for stones iron-when Jerusalem shall be creRted a rejoicing and
her people a joy-when the voice of weeping shall no more be heard
in her, nor the voice of crying-\vhen thA wolf and the lamb sha.ll feed .
together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, and they shall
no more hurt nor destroy in all the Lord·s holy mountain-that this state
is identical with the New Jerusalem of John. The proof of. this may
best be made palpa.ble by a tabellated display of the pa.rallelisms occur-
ring in the two prophets, which we now present to the reader.
ISAI..lH. JOHN.

For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth; and the former shall
not be remembered, nor come into
mind.
But be ye glad and rejoice for ever
in that which I create; for behold I
create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her
peopleajoy.-Ch.ixx.17,18.
o thou afllieted, tossed with tempest,
and not comforted! behold, I will la,.
thy stoues with faircolors, and lay thy
foundations with sapphires.
And I ,vill make thy windows of
agates, and thy gates of carbuncles,
and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
-Cl.liv. 11, 12.
And I saw a new heaven and a new
earth; for the first heaven and the first
earth ,vere pHSsed away; and there
was no more sea.
And I John saw the holy city, New.
Jerusalem, coming down from God out
~f heaven, prepat'ed as a bride adom-
ed for her husband.-Ch. xxi. I, 2.
And the foundations of the walls of
tile city were garnished with all man.
ner of precious stones. The first foun-
dation was jasper; the second 8a~.
pbire ; the third, a cbalcedouy; the
fourth, an emerald ;
The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sar-
dius; the seventh, chrysolite; the
eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the
tenth, a chrysoprasu8; the eleventh a
jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.-v.
19.20.

The sun shall be. no more thy light
by day; neither for brightness shall the
moon give light· unto thee; but the
Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting
light, and thy God thy glory.
Thy sun shall no more go do\vn;
neither shall thy moon withdraw itself;
for the Lord shall be thine everlasting
light, and the days of thy mourning
shall be ended.-Ch. Ix. 19, 20.
And the city hall no need of the sun,
neith-er of the moon, to shine in it; for
the glory of God did lighten it, and the
Lamb is the ligilt thereof.-v. 23.
.And there shall be no night there;
and they need no candle, neither light
of the sun; for the Lord God givetb
them light.: and they shall reign for
ever and ever.--Ch. .xxii. 5.

And the Gentiles shall come to thy And the nations of them which are
lig-bt, and kings to the blightness of saved sb.a11 walk in the light of it; ancl
thy rising. the kings of the earth do bring their I

glory and honor into it.

 348 ~ Letter end. Spirit. [Aug.
Therefore thy gates shall be open And the pte8 of it shall not be shut
continually; toey shall Dot be aout at all by day; for there shall be DO
day nor night : that men may bring night there.
unto thee the' forces of the Gentiles, And they shall bring the gtory and
and that their kings may be brought.- honar of the nations into it.-C". xxi.
C" Ix.•, 11. 24-26.
And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and And God shall wipe away all tears
joy in my people; and the voice of from their eyes; and there shall be DO
weeping Rhall be DO more heard in her, more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,
nor the voice of crying.-CA. lxv.19. neither shall there be aoy more pain;
And a hi,hway shall be there, and for the fonnerthings are peued away.
a way, and It shall be called, The way -v. 4. -
of holiness; the unclean shall not pass And there shalt in nowise enter into
over it; but it shall be for those: the it any thing that defileth, neither
wayfaring-men, though fools shall not whatsoever worketh abomination, or
err therein.-Ch. xxxv. 8. maketh a lie; but they which are
written in the Lamb's book of life.-
'Y.27.

How it can be doubted that these two classes of passages refer to

pre~i8ely the same state of things hereafter to be developed on earth,
passes our conception. The attributes are clearly the same in all
their essential feature!, and it the period is not the same, Jet ns be
informed to what epoch the predictions of the earlier and the latter
prophet are to be respectively assigned. The demand of further proof
OD our part of this asserted identity !s wholly oot of place in view of
the parallelism above exhibited. Where the presumption of identity
is so complete, it is for III to demand proof of the contrary. What
relUOfU can be cited for denying the sameness of scope and subject in
the two prophets 1 Why shall we suppose that the spirit of prophecy
which moved Isaiah does not embrace in its view the same sublime
order of events with that shadowed forth by John? Are they not
fglly worthy of the divine prescience 1 And upon what grounds shall
we hold the Christian sense of the Messianic predictions as to the
~erson of Christ, and yet close in with the narrow Jewish sense of
those which relate to ZiOD and Jerusalem 1 On what grounds shall
we take Jerusalem as symbolical in the language of John, and literal
in the langnage of Isaiah 1 Yet this is what Mr. L. does in his ex-
positions under the fancied oracuJar guidance of his great ls'\v of
symbolization; and ,,"e should not know how to draw more effectual-
ly upon the honest wonderment of our readers than by setting before
them the two-fold interpretation which he has given of the Old and
the New Testament predictions relative to the New Jerusalem state.
Of the former, after referring to a long catalogue of texts relative to
ZiOD, Jerusalem, and Israel, including those we have quoted above, he
ft.nally sums up as follo,,"s :
le On what principle then is the prophecy to be expounded' Who are to
be tbe subjects of the great events which it foreshows! And what are those
events' We answer; it is to be interpreted by the ordinary laws of laoR'uage ;
and accordingly the persoDs of whom the predictions literally treat are to
be the authors of the acta and subjects of the events which are foretold of
them: the scenes of those acts and events are to be what the names properly
1848.] 849
cJeDote; and the acts and events themselves, such as the terms by which they
are expressed, and other means by which they are indicated, import accord-
ing to the established laws of speech. Jerusalem therefore, a8 a city, is to
be the scene and subject of everything that is predicated of it as a material
city, the capital of the Israelitish nation. The population of that city are to
exert all the acts, and be the subjects of all the events that are ascribed to
them as her population. The Israelites, who are dispersed among the nations,
are to act the parts also, and be the subjects of the events that are affirmed of
them 88 exiles or captives, and as retumingtoJudea. And the Gentile natioll8
are in like manner to exert the agencies, and be the 8ubjects of the events,
and DO others, in verification of the prophecy, that are affirmed of ~em.
There is DO medium between this, and the D68umption, either that the names
by which they are denoted are used metonymically or metaphorically; or elae
that the agents, places, acts, and events, are employed as symbols of agents,
places, acts, and events of a different order."-Th.eol. 4" Lit. JOUT., No. IY. p.587.
"The Israelites therefore, as a nation, and as the chosen people of God, in
contradistinction from Gentiles, are the great 8ubjects of tlie prophecy; Dot. "-
as Dr. A. holds, the pious Israelites down to the advent and crucifixion of
Christ, and afler that period, the pure worshipers of the Christiau church.
The Gentiles are tile subjects of the prophecy, only 80 far as t.hey are expreu-
Jy named as such, or as the nations in distinction from the descendants of
Jacob; or as the blesiJings or salvation are represented as extended to all the
eanh. Jerusalem aod Judea, in like manner, aDd the territories of the Gen-
tiles, are respectively to be the scenes of all the acts and the events that ale
represented as to take place in them."-77uol. t Lit. JOOT. No. IV. p. 591.
So much for the splendid oracles of the EvangelicaJ Prophet, the
burden of which is narrowed Sown from its ecumenical import to the
petty confines of the Jewish nation and its central city. Let us see
now bow the kindred and parallel visions of the prophflt of Patmos
are disposed of: He is descaoting upon the drift o£Rev. xxi. 1-8, &c.,
announcing the new heaven and the pew earth, and the holy city
New Jerusalem.
" The heaven, earth, and sea, are undoubtedly here, as under the trumpets
and vials, symbolic. The new heaven represents rulers of a new order; ,the
Dew earth, subjects of a new character; and the disappearance or the 8ea,
that the nations are DO more to be excited to violent agitations by the storms
of revol~ revolution, and war. The New Jerusalem is the symbol of the raised
and glorified saints, in their relations to men as kings and priests who are to
:~ with Christ. It does Dot denote a literal city manifestly, as that were to
e the symbol and that which it represents, of the same s'pecies; but is
an o~ganization of rulers extendiug a beneficent authority and Influence over
those whom they govern, analogous to the sbelter of a city to those who dweU
beneath its roofs i· and must therefore denote the ri~en saints as kings. and
priests, as they a one are to descend from heaven to earth, and exerCJse a
sway over men. It is accordingly expressly denominated in a llltbeequeDt
vision, the bride the J..amb's wife, by whom In a former vision the risen and
glorified saints are syll1bolized; and is shown to be their representative by
the inscription of the names of the twelve apostles on its foundations. In ae-
cordance with this, it is said by the living creatures and elders, wbo are the
symbols of the redeemed of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation,
during their intermediate stata, that they are kings to God and priests, and
8hall reign OD tbe earth; it is promised by the Redeemer to whoever is victo-
rious, that he will write on him the name of tbe city of God, the New Jeru-
salem which descends out of heaven, which denotes, doubtless, that he shall
be one of the polity which that city represents; and the saints are exhibited
in the vision of the first resurrection, as raised from death, exalted to thrones,
aDd reigning with Christ during the thousand years. It is thus shown, on the
850 ne Letter and tle Spirit. [Aug.
one hand, that the glorified saints are to descend and reign with Christ on the
earth, anclthat this city symbolizes them; while on the other, no intimation
is given of such a descent to our world of any other order of beings. It is in-
disputably therefore the representative of the redeemed who are to reign as
kings and priests with Christ, in like manner as great Baby)on, the antagonist
city, is a symbol of the apostate mlers of the church who usurp his throne on
earth. .Accordingly, as the risen saints are denominated the Lamb's wife,
(where!) and are said to have prepared themselves, so this city is said to be
prepared as a bride for her busbana.
" It is denominated the tabernacle of God with men, and is promised that he
will d\vell in a tent with them, and that they shall be his people, and that he
himself will be with them, their God; which denotes both that the glorified
saints are to be visible to men, as a tent is visible to those in ,vhose presence
it is stationed, and that God is to be visibly present with the glorified saints;
-as his presence in the ancient ternple was manifested when it ,vas filled with
the smoke and flame of his glory. Men universally are to be sanctified, to
own and :bonor hhn as God, and to enjoy manifestations of his presence and
favor. He is to wipe every tear from their eyes. They are no more to be
8ubjected to death, nor kno\v anything of sorrow, mounling, or toil. All tbe
forms of penal evil, brought on the race by the faU, are to cease, and an things
become new. It is he who is a victor that is to share in the bliss and glory
of this reign with Christ. The unholy of all classes are to be excluded from
it, and consigned to the abyss ofmisery."-Expos. Apoc. p. 527.
h The descent of the city is to take place at the commencement of the mil-
lennium, manifestly from the representation that the marriage of the Lamb
was come, and that his wife had prepared herself, immediately after the des-
tmction of great Babylon, chap. XlX. 7,8, from the exhibition of the risen and
glorified saints as seated on thronel', and reigning with Christ during the
thousand years; and from the representation of the beloved city as on earth at
the revolt of Gog and Magog, after the close of the thousand years."-lb. 529.
It is eas)" to see ho\v completely the two prophets are divorced from
.each other in this interpretation of their respective burdens. One is
the prophet, par eminence, of and for the Jews, the other for the Chris-
tians. In the one case, Jerusalem is a literal, and in the other a sym-
bolical city, and the whole reason, as far a., we are able to judge, of
this diverse construction is, that the prophecy of Isaiah is couched in
.comparatively unfigured diction, while that of John involves a vi-
sionary representa.tion, and therefore falls into the category of symbol-
ieal predictions, which must of course be interpreted OD the principle,
not of aimilia ,imilibru, but of 8imilia dia-,imilibus. It must repre-
sent something'different from itself; it cannot therefore be by any
means identical with the Jerusalem of Isaiah.
Now we 8I1y at once that if any alleged law or canon of hermen en-
tics. however plausibly urged or argued, leads to a result that out-
rage8 the simplest and most primary intuitions of the Christian mind,
we give it to the winds forthwith as an authoritative rule of universal
appUQation. If it be admitted to hold in other cases, we know it does
not hold \vherc adherence to it lands us in a conclusion so near an ab-
JJurdity, as in the present instance. Anyoi' asserted principle of exe-
getic Icience, which requires the admis.~ion that the abo\'e predictions
QC Isaiah and John refer to two distinct, diverse, and unrelated states
Ilf the church, bears the mark of fallacy on its face, and we set it
waside without dubitatioll or delay. A similar sentence do we un-
Qesitatingly pronouDce upon the same principle in its application to
1848.] The Letter and the Spiri'. 851

other results, which hold a prominent pl&c~ in Mr. L.ts theory. We

object to them that they go connter to mental convictions, founded
upon other considerations, which are as imperative in forbidding as
aught that Mr. L. can possibly adduce in sustaining his constructions.
As nothing in the literal sense or canonical authority of the book" of
Genesis can countervail the deductions of geological science in regard
to the vastly elongated periods of tht' earth's past duration, so do
other departments of science, and even other texts of Scripture, as
emphatically put their veto upon such alleged issues as the resurrec-
tion of the body, the restoration of the Jews to Palestine, the visible
ad vent of the Lord in the clouds~ the physical disruption of the Mount
of Olives, the intermingling of the living and the re-living saints in
an earthl}" economy of a thousand years' continuance, of which the
literal city of Jerusalem is to be the metropolis, all which are points
that enter the credenda of those who 8ymbolue with Mr. L. We say
we reject them, because they go counter to conclusions that rest upon
premises equally authorative in their character with any evidence
which he can summon in behalf of his much vaunted principles of
interpretation. We beg our author to believe that we do Dot return
a simple unreasoning negatur to his arguments. We pledge our-
selves to produce grounds for our dissent, which, whatever may be
their weight with him, he cannot say are intrinsically contemptible
or ridiculous, inasmuch as they refer themselves to certain great fun-
damenta.l principles, which we shall show to he necessarily involved in
the determination of the main questions, and which can by no means
be evaded in the discussion. These fundamental principles will be
seen to develop themselves as 'Ye proceed in our attempted expose
of Mr. L.'s fallacies, upon which we have made an entrance in this
and the preceding article-fallacies ofconclusion resting upon fallacies
of assumption.
Should the grossness of his results, as already announced to our
readers, strike them as so extreme as to render it a superfluous labor
to attempt their confutation, we beg them to bear in mind that we
are in fact warring with a general system rather than with 8, parti-
cular theory; for it is beyond question that Mr. L. has barely pushed
out to their legitimate issues the very principles which lie at the
basis of the prevailing modes of interpretation adopted throughout
Christendom. He has been consistent with his premises. Others
have shrunk from facing the inevitable ultimatum. But the issue is
being made. and the golden crisis has arrived for showing that the
alternative is really betw~en the huge and hideous absurdities of the
literalism of the Old Church, and the spiritual sense of the New. As
the one tends directly to vilify and vastate the Word, so we are called
to show that the other redeems it from reproach, and invests it with
its proper dignity and sanctity as a revelation from God.
G. B.
(To he continUld.)
 862 Wale.- GI tJ Corruporade1d of Truth. [Aug.

AllTlCLB D.

WATER AS A CORRESPONDENCE OF TRUTH.

To tAt Editor of tM RlpOlitorg :

DBAR 81B,
We noticed in your May number, and read with much pleasure,
an interesting article, entitled" Water as an Elementary Correspon-
dence of Truth," and hope that we may expect a series oC such com-
municatioDs from the same source.
It is one oC those strongly corroborative circumstances which start
to light from almost every portion of the New Church system,
that whenever in the writings of Swedenborg the natural cor-
relate of any spiritual thing is given, as, lar instance, the re-
lation of water and truth, we al\vays find the strictest analogy
to hold between the two sides of the correspondence, throughout all
the various changes of state and office in which it is possible to follow I

them. Thus, water will be found, e\"ery\vhere and under all its multi-
form conditions, to enter into a series of relations with other matter,
and to perform a set of specific functions in the ph)9sical sphere, run-
ning in a definite and exact parallelism to the related conditions ioto
which truth enters, and to the functions its presence performs in the
spiritual sphere. The taking up of any given correspondence, in this
. way, and tracing its threads out through all their ramifications of cor-
related uses as they strike forth into surrounding spheres of action,
opens up a wide and inviting field to the contemplating Newcburch-
man. It is a source from \vhicb may be derived much charming and
useful mental recreation; and it will be found, by thoRe who are will-
ing to take the trouble to exp~iment upon it, to afford a veryattrac-
tive method of setting the mind oftentimes at work in a productive
employment, when, during the short intervals of ordinary occupation,
they would otherwise be apt to fritter away their stray moments of
tbought upon sheer nothingness, or allow such transient mental lei-
sure to slip away from them without leaving any trace. Much in-
struction may oiten be thus gathered, tending to our regeneration,
and an occasional ray of heavenly light be suddenly let in upon some
dark nook or forbidding corner of our earthly path; and thus what
was begun in pastime may end in edification. For this reason has
Swedenborg said that all innocent recreation is to be encouraged as
a use, because in our free, sponta.neous, joyous moments, the heart ex-
pands and falls in more readily to the general play and ,rivacity of
nature, and is borne along on the universal bent and conspiration of
all things; and the conspiration of all things is upward towards the
Lord. All material signs, rightly read, advertise us of God.
The reading of the article above referred to suggested to my mind
the following addenda, which I accordingly send you. I would
premise that water signifies, more specifically, truth as it appears in
the mind of man, before he has left the body; and not essential or
genuine truth, as it exists in itself independently of our conceptions of
 1849.] Waler tU tJ COlTuporul~ of TrutA.
it; or, as the Germans would say, truth in our sobjecti\"8 perceptiODs
of it, and not truth in its highest objective realities. And this specific
relationship between what we might call Auman and divill8 truth, is
singularly corroborated and beautifully illustrated by the impingement
of the divine upon the human in the natural symbols. As, when a
ray of light strikes the surface of any body of wat~ in repose. In
this state of calm the ,vater is always a more complete and perfect
mirror of every shade and modification of light which falls upon it
from star, cloud, or sky, than when its face is pertorbated or its body
in motion; and yet it is always deflected from a right line, or bent out
of its original direction. And so in the mind of man, when he has
stilled all his passions to rest, and holds the face of his spirit calmly
and steadily upward towards the Divine, and catches the rays of His
truth °as they flash and are reverberated through the heavens. though
the ray is refracted and distorted from its original bearing and
brightness, yet it is a far better medium for its transmission, and a
better reflector of its verities, than when troubled and tossed by the
tempests of selfishness, worldliness, and sin. Again, the purer the
natural element, the more complete will be its translucency, and
the more easily will the ray of light penetrate to its profoundest
depths; while if there be a large admixture of foreign matter, and es-
pecially if it hold much earthy substance in solution aDd preilent a
soiled and muddy appearance, will the light be impeded and the ray
broken up and lost. So into that mind in which only grovelling and
sensual ideas and objects float, will it be difficult for any ray of di-
vine truth to penetrate with sufficient force to warm, vivify, and ilJu-
mine.
Rain-water is the purest water; that is, has the smallest amount.
of any foreign substance in it. Rain descends from the clouds, and
clouds signify the literal sense of the Word. Hence, the purest spi-
ritual truth which man can get is dra\vD from the literal sense of the
Word; it comes to him from thence in its most unadulterated form.
It has become an established doctrine of meteorology, sustained by
facts observed in every part of'the world, that when extensive forests
are spread over the earth's surface, there an abundance of rain falls,
and a continual succession of wet seasons is kept up; the territory is
marked by the exuberance of its vegetation. and the faee of nature t

looks every\vhere green and flourishing. On the other hand, in those

regions where foreJlts are not found, and where large flat tracts of
country and sandy plains lie open to the sun, the soil becomes baked
and arid, little or no rain descend~ to refresh the parched earth, and
8, dry and desert waste meets the eye; with only the exceptions which
in some places the copious dews produce, and in others an occasional
spring. Now trees, we are told, correspond to the perceptions of
truth, and most beautifully do they typify, in this phenomenon of rain,
the functions which our perceptions of truth fulfil for us while
reading the literal sense of the Word. Unless our perceptions be
duly prepared; or, in other ,vords, unless we have spiritual percep-
tions which may become cognizant of the truth it is calculated to
teach, it will be useless for us to attempt to draw any instruction,
354 Water tU a Corre'pondence of Truth. [Aug.
and hence fructification from the Word. The cloud oftbe letter may
flit across our sandy wastes, and leave no fertilizing particles behind.
We may spread out our mental aridity in vain; we shall be visited
by no refreshing showers.
Clonds, themselves, are only another and fugitive form of water,
evaporated, and re-condensed at a lofty elevation, arid in a more ra.ri-
tied region of atmosphere.
But we have ,vater also as a motive power. In its ordinary
state it follows the gen~ral bent of matter, and gravitates do\vn-
,vards. The force of descent \vhich it thus acquires is made
available in a thousand ways to subserve the purposes of man. It
grinds his com, turns bis lathe, spins his wool and cotton, and ham-
mers and presses, chops and SS\VS for him; and the power thus ac-
quired is capable of being carried throughout almost every conceiv-
able branch of human industry, and mnde use of to perform man's
labors for him. So the minds of men, who have become only par-
tia.lly imbued with spiritual truth, Bnd still remain in a cold and semi-
worldly state, which is the state probably of a great majority of man-
kind, including even those who have commenced the regenerate life;
the truth they have received, owing to the daily occupation and ha-
bitual direction of their minds, tends downwards towards deterioration
and exhaustion, and, like the mill-race, requires constant replenish-
ment and supply. Nevertheless, cold as it is, it serves to perform for
them all the offices of spiritual drudgery, turning their intellectual
mill, and grinding out the requisite spiritual food for them, weaving a
clothing of appropriate doctrine from mental wool and cotton, and at
the same time carrying away the filth, and lceeping their inner life
sweet and clean. ,
When water loses a large portion of its caloric, it freezes, becomes
frost, snow, ice. So, too, when the spiritual truths of 8 people, or
denomination, or church, lose their emotional warmth, and fail to
reach the heart, they grow cold, harden, solidify, and ridge up into
formal doctrines, fixed dogmas, " cast iron creeds," which hem in their
holders from the r~st of the world with a wall clear, transpa.rent, icy.
On the other hand, whAn ,vater gains a large addition of caloric, it
boils, and then becomes a servant of culinary uses, and performs a
very useful u.ntl important purpose in the preparation of our food.
And when spiritual truth is allowed to exercise its proper influence
upon our affections, it wa.rms them into greater activity and freshness
of life, and becomes the operative agent through which our daily
moral food is prepared, a.nd thus substances, at first crude and indi-
gestible, are made to yield us genial spiritua.l sustenance.
And when the induction of heat is carried beyond ft, certain point,
water chang~s the place of its relations, and becomes a more rarefied
element, in the form of steam. From this moment it assumes a ne\v
eharacter, and enters upon another set of offices. It is now the
strongest motive power which has yet been reduced to general ap-
plication. In addition to a capability of accomplishing all the results
of motion, which water in its ordinary state effects, it serves now as
one of the most important instrumentalities in modern sociAt)... It
bridges the ocean, climbs mountain ranges, makes a highway in the
184g.] Gratitude for Griefl. 355

dese~ changes commercial distributions, affects the geographical re-

lations of a territory, creates metropolitan centres amid the wastes,
and is, ere long, no doubt, destined to lift our car or chariot, from the
ground, and carry us on the wings of the, wind whithersoever we
list.
So spiritual trutb, when it has warmed the emotions into a glow of
holy and pure enthusiasm, lifts us from oif our feet, making us forget
for the time the poor and menial earth on ,vhich we are accustomed
to tread; its objects, cares, aims, apprehensiol1s, and rewards, and car-
ries us up'\vards into a rarer and purer region of spiritual existence-
into an atmosphere more difficult for earthlings to breathe in. In this
state men have been let into a clearer vision of things, into a fuller
view of the blessedness of the promised heavenly lands; have pro-
phesied, have been enabled to walk to the stake, to ascend the scaf-
fold, to endure the rack, to starve in the dungeon with joy; have
preached crusades, planned and undertaken va.~t missionary enter-
J'rises, sought to convert the world, have gone forth single handed to
remove the physical and moral ills that press humanity down, and
have sown seeds, and set influences in motion which have shifted the
moral, ecclesiastical, or poli tical scenery of their times; changed the
currents and the Bow of history and of civilization, and transmitted a
living and lasting legacy to the future.
And thus, we suppose, the threads might be traced along from one
correspondence to another, until we should have covered the entire
field of our knowledge with the analogies, unravelling, trom some sin-
gle mesh, that stdpendous net-work of relations \vhich drags the uni-
Yerse away in its sweep.
W.B.H.

ARTICLE Ill.

U We ought to be thankful for our sorrows as well as our joys."

C, BEHOLD I make all things new!n is a solemn anDUDciation of

sublime and emphatic meaning, ,,·hich perhaps transcends the hopes

and expectations, the comprehension and discernment, of even the
Newchurchman himself: Certain it is, that it has an unfathomable
depth and compass \vhen we come to extend it not only to the pre-
sent world, not only to the church on earth, but to the world to come,
and to the church as it exists in heaven. Its spiritual import is awful-
ly grand and sublime, pointing to new heavens and a new earth, and
extending to the widest circumference of the material and invisible
universe of God. It has reference to the present and the future, and
is not only to shake the dynasties, temporal and ecclesiastical, of this
orb on which we live. but is to extend to distant orbs, and is to operate
on spiritual existences throughout eternity..
368 Gratitude for Grief•• [Aug.
But let us confine it to men of the present world, and to changes
which are to take place in regard to the things which we see a.round
us. And even then what an unbounded prospect of benefits and bless-
ings, of grandeur and glory, does it present to the human mind 1 What
a change is to take place in human creeds and human opinions!
What a powerful revulsion is to be felt in the speculations of philoso-
phy and the dogmas of religion! What an effulgence of heavenly
light is to be poured on the human intellect, and what an expanse of
heavenly good to be diffused into the human heart I Man bimselfis
to become changed, radically and fundamentally changed, 88 it were,
in all the operations of his mental powers, in his mode of thinking,
reasoning, and discerning; and, leaving the elementary principles or
his present sinful, short-sighted and fallible being, is to rise into a
sphere of new life, pointing to new and more glorioDs objects, and
ending in the certain reality of anoth~r and better world hereafter.
He is to become a new creature, the subject of ne\v thoughts and of
new enjoyments.
If such then is to be the eertain destiny of man, how altered will be
his views OD many particular subjects from those which are entertain-
ed by men of the present day. Take for instance the subject of an
individual who is regarded as suffering under peculiar misfortunes,
and whose whole course of life, so far 8S regards his \vorldly prosper-
ity, has been one of discouragement and disappointment. Men oftbe
present age entert~in no other feelings towards such an individual
than pity and commiseration. On his account their natural sympa-
thies are very often excited to an immoderate degree, and they cannot
but wonder that 8 man of perh~ps inflexible virtue and integrity
should be so deeply a1Hicted. Sometimes, indeed, and not unfrequent-
Iy too, they are ready to ascribe all his misfortunes to his own rash
and imprudent conduct, but to whatever cause they may be ascrib-
ed, these misfortunes are almost invariably regarded by the world as
a positiv~ evil, and the individual who bears them, even while he is
the object of sympathy and compassion, is nevertheless in danger of
suffering from unmerited scorn and neglect. He is enduring the ne-
cessary inflictions of 8 kind and good Providence, necessary for his
everlasting welfare in a future life, but which are little understood
by the men of the world, and in Inany instances perhaps not under-
stood by the sufferer himself. It is conceded by all that these evils
are natural evils, ills which are felt to afflict the soul and to burden
the spirit, bot this is all that is understood about them. Their great
moral tendency in purifying the heart; in humbling and at the same
time elevating the inmost principles of oor nature, in precipitating us
to the earth in order that we may be raised to heaven, this is not un-
derstood and consequently not regarded, and while this series of
events is not only pregnant with good to the individual, bat with ad-
monition and instruction to all, it is p~rmitted to pass from before us
with little impression and less improvement to the human heart. 'Ve
admit its reality, but we mistake its consequences and its applica-
tion.
But even if it were admi'ted that afflictions are sent to pnrify and
elevate the human heart, it would in all probability be said, that then
1849·1 3S'7

it most neeessarily follow that be who endures the greatest share of

them is laboring nnder the greatest amount of sin, and that therefore
aftlictions are· not only positive evils in themselves but are certl),in
evidence of e,·i1s existing in the person who is doomed to bear them.
Tbis mode of reasoning, however, is altogether natural, and not ac-
cording to the love and wisdom of the Lord's divine providence. It
is by no means true, that either all individuals or as nations, our
aftlietioDs are in proportion to our sins, or that our sins are in propor-
tion to our afflictions. Such a doctrine is contrary to the wisdom
and geniul! of the New Church. This church teaches us that the
Lord never exerts his almighty power for the purpose of inflicting pun-
ishment on men according to the natural and literal meaning of such
an expression. However extensively this idea may have been pro-
pagated and received in the world, every one may see on a little re-
flection that it must have had its origin in the gloomy and vindictive
temper of man himself; rather tha.n in the character and disposition of
Him who is all love and all wisdom. The 8upp0tjition is altogether
derogatory to his divine attributes and like a thousand other dogmas
equally blind and pernicioDs, and taught with equal zeal and confi-
dence, it must completely fade before the progressive light of the
New Dispensation. It is an apparent, bot not a real truth, and ~ust
be corrected by that saperior illumination \vhich is now diffused from
the Heavenly JeruSftlem.
As SOOD as men shall be taught to thinlt and to reason according to
this new light, it will be seen at once that afflictions are a means in
the hands of Providence to advance their spiritual interests, and that
these means are adapted to the states of different individuals, and are
governed by laws as certain and as fixed as those which regulate the -
spheres. rrhe providence of the Lord we know~has reference to the
minutest particulars of a man's life, and these particulars are of
comparatively small moment except so far 88 they are made subser-
vient to his spiritual welfare in a future world. Every thing there-
fore that befals us in this life-all its vicissitudes and changes, whether
for good or for evil-all the apparently accidental circumstances by
which we are surrounded-must have reference to this one great object,
our state and condition in the world to come. It is easy to conceive
therefore that all our trials and difficulties are intended ultimately to
administer to our happiness, and that they are alloted among men just
in proportion as the)· may advance each one's 8piri.tual and everlastiJig
interests. .some men are doomed to endure more and some less, but it
by no means follows that thf'Y are graduated according to tJie good done
or the evil that we may have committed. The standard of visitation'
is not according to what we may seem to have merited, but according to
the change which is to be induced on our will and affections, and its
salutary tendency to assilnilate our characters to the perfection of
angelic beings. Hence it is that the man of humble, pure and upright
disposition, may sometimes suffer these visitations much more severe-
ly than others, since they will more readily produce their effE'ct, on
his mind, than on the minds of a contrary disposition. "Whom the
Lord loveth he chaateneth." In order that man amould enter the
 368 The Creation and Du,-atioR of tAe EartA. [Aug.
or
kingdom heaven it is necessary that he should become regenerate,
and in order that he may become regenerate it is as necessary some-
times that he should be afflicted as that he should take medicine to
cure himself of some natural disease. We ourselves indeed may not
know the disorder and derangement under which our spiritual system
labors. The Lord alone knows this, and adapts the means to the
ends to be accomplished. Our spiritual diseases can only be cured
in the way best known to himself:
One reason wby the men of the present age are so little capable of
seeing this subject in the light of the New Church is, because they have
so little faith in the sublime realities of the spiritual world. When once
the New Dispensation shall have dissipated the darkness which now so
extensively prevails on this subject, and all thing, shall become new
in relation to it as well as to every thing else, how different will be
the views which will then fill their minds! How thankful will they
be in the midst of their privations and disappointments! How COD-
tented will they be ~vith their lot, and how wisely ,vill they regard
every visitation of distress, every infliction of sorrow, every dismem-
berment of their dearest earthlyenjoyments, of their property and
friends, as the very best thing that could hefal them I How anxious-
ly will they search their hearts, and investigate their motiv~ in
order to learn whether the sad visitations under which they labor
have not been sent to destroy some darling propensity, to humble
some latent pride, or to eradicate some growing evil, which if per-
mitted to increase and flourish, or if not removed, would prevent
their growth in divin~ grace, and unfit them for the mansions of
heaven! And how should we, as Newchurchmen, even now, rejoice
in the fuH conviction and persuasion that all things, both in rela.tion to
the church and ourselves, are happening for the best! We should be
thankful for our earthly enjoyments and comforts, but at the same
time thankful for our afilictions, our trials aDd disappointments.
While we are suffering under the painful realities of an erring and
sinful world, we should not fail to rejoice in the pleasing realities of
that world for which the present one was created, and for the hap-
piness of which it is preparing us by its sorrows as well as its joys.
A. J. C.

ARTICLE IV.

THE CREATION AND DURATION OF THE EARTH. I

For the N. c. BepoIltOl7-

Ma. EDlTOll,-A discussion has gone on for some time in the North-
ern Christian (Methodist Episcopal) Advocate upon the subject of
the early formation of the earth. Professor Bannister wrote a pa.per,
insisting that the fact of immense strata of fossiliferous deposits be-
neath the earth's surface, in which deposits were only animal but not
1849.] ne Creation G,id Duration of the EarM. 819
human petrifactions; proved that creation must have been progres-
si\"e~occupying long periods of time prior to the existence of man-
kind. Rev. Mr. "osmer, the editor, appeared with an article en-
titled, " Creation a Miracle," in which he hung on to the common notion
of a six days' task in the accomplishment of the work, even hinting
that the fossilized skeletons and bones were so created at the beginning.
Seeing the field apparently open for a fair and candid investigation,
your correspondent prepared a paper, which he forwarded directly to
Auburn, and which the editor received. But the positions were too
bold for admi&don into that periodical. The article was excluded,
and the bars carefully put up against the writer. Not desiroQs of
entering an arena where he is not wanted, \vhere the dominion of
sectarianism is all-potent, and truth i~ of minor importance, he de-
cided quietly to endure the mouth-stopping, and forward the substance
of his production to yourself for insertion.
He has no sympathy for the terms supernatural and miraculou8, as
they are used to imply an arbitrary work of the Lord in direct con-
travention of the laws of order and nature. The Divine Being never
did and never can thus work. Those laws proceeded legitimately
from the divine love and wisdom. Their name-Nature (from ruucor,.
to be born) implies that they were an outbirth from the Eternal Au-·
thor. As coming forth from Him, they are therefore most good. He-
must then have wrought all his works in exact accordance with
them. They constitute ORDER in the complete idea of the term. The
opinion that God should work without their agency is preposterous.
Cause and effect ,viiI for e.er operate.
Hence, the writer does not account the miracles of the Lord JesuS'
to be supernatural, or above nature, but strictly the agency of ra..-
tional and philosophical principles, which, however, in the present
darkened state of the human understanding, are not well compre-
hended. It is not needful, however, to call thelD contraventions of'
the natural laws, because we are ignorant, but humbly to admit that
some of those laws are Qot by us ver)' well understood, This wilL
meet one difficulty without making another.
In strict conformity with the laws of nature. the universe must
have come into being; but matter and worlds were not created and
organized from absolute nothing. Ex nihilo nihilfit-out of DothiDg
nothing comes. The world proceeded from a prior 8omBthing,. and
this from essence still prior, till the intermediate forms of existence
all find their source in God. Having gone thus backward in tracing
out causation, we propose to delineate the modus of the work.
The grand IDEA of the work was in the mind of the Omnipatent.
It \vas LOVB, that celestial principle which ever labors to corijoin.mind
to mind, and soul to soul, to the end of reciprocating happiness. The
Infinite Jehovah h~d it in mind to form a heaven of glorified beings
who could eternally receive love, joy,' and blessing from the great
heart of God. As love, though infinite, could not operate alon8, it
must needs have a humanity born into its own image to be reoipi~Dt
of the divine fulness.
VOLe 11. 23
 3110 The Creation and Duration of tile Ear~". [Aug.
From bis o\vn substance the Lord formed an things. This is the
true sentiment of I Cor. H. 12, " Ta de panta ek Theou," aH things are
not from God. Not that the mnteriel of creation is in itself divine,
but from the divine ~piritual8ub8tance parting with its essential vi-
tality, and thus becoming dead matter, h~nceforth no more to be li,,.·
ing essence~, but only receptacles of life.
Upon matter thus brought forth and ultimated the divine will
operating with constant po\ver produced the universes, suns, planet-
Br)· s)-stenls-everything. Each sun became the parent of t.be planes,
which roll round its orb. Each world, originally a nebulous mass,
was bound together by the centripetal force while it ran its carePf
onward, moved by 8. mighty electric impulse. By a gradual con-
dent1ation of parts, it nlust have reached the present perfect state and
consistency. 1':0 arbitrary fiat, but 8. steady, benevolent wiIJ, pro-
. ducecl, from the fiery zones of nebulosity, so many myriads of worlds
to be peopled by millions of human beings.
It is not rational to suppose that our earth has stood but some six
thousand years. We appeal to the fact, that within its crost are "east
strata of fossil df!posits, \vhich dflmonstrate beyond 8. doubt that brutes
of immense size and proportion, though no\v extinct, have ~xisted
upon its surface long before that surface nnd atmosphere were fitted
for human abode. We cannot seriously think that divine wi~dom
would direct the energies of Omnipotence to the labor of creating
fossils and skeletons. ~"eeble indeed must that brain be whose blind
veneration urges us to heJieve implicitly that dead bones wer~. among
the first fruits of the Great Author of the Creation. No other idea
does such relics giv~ U8 than the true one, viz. that they are the cast-
off forOIS of animals.
In the cataract of Nio.gara, too, has Jehovah graven evidene~s of
this world's antiquity. E\'ery intelligent visitor can readily percei\'e
that the FaHs were once near the place \vhere Queenstown now
stands, some seven and a half miles from their present localit.y, )'et
the stupendous cascade recedes but a toot each year. Mi>re than
40,000 years are at once set ss included in the earth's duration.
The annals of the Welsh, the Chinese, Indian and other nations,
not adulterated by foreign intermixture, stretch out time far b~Jore
the traditionary 6,000 years. And this uniformity is no insignificant
testimony.
The great pyramid in Egypt bears an astronomical date, denoting
that it was built when the group of stars, now called Lyra, arose at
noon on the day of th~ summer solstice, being at that period under the
sign Cancer. This must have been prior or about the time usually
assigned a8 the creation. But we must return to our subject.
The IDEA of creation \\'8.S, as we have remarked, the flmerging forth
of the divine in bumanit)='. It '''ss only to be accomplished wben
man, in a finite capacity, embodies the love and wisdom \vhich
emanate from the Infinite source. And it is 8. notable fact that these
two primal elements of being are conspicuous in simulating pecu-
liarities oC animals. E,'en vegetables se~m to exercise a species of
affection and shrewdness in fixing the localities and directions of
1MB.] ne OreGlion tmd DMration of tAs EarlA. 381

their roots, as well as in other manifestations. The immense strata

of minerals have their respective uses, peculiar formations, and eu-
rious analogies, which stamp upon them also an idea of the human.
It is proper that thf'se should observe in discrete degrees such a
uniformity. The Great Divine thought was conRtantJy operatillg
in their formations, and must needs manifest itself; but it was in-
complete till mA.D came into existence. When he stood erect in the
very image and likeness of the Lord, then, but never before, was the
idea of Jehovah realized.
We are aware of our liability to the charge of denying the word
of Scripture. But we stand ready to prove that the doctrine and by-
pothesis of the preceding paragraphs do not conflict with the holy
book. Let us have a candid hearing. The denunciation of these
sentiments ez cathedra will no more silence us than similar missives .
against Galileo and Copernicus. So long as God workH through
means, ,,"e must and shall believe that nature and philosophy are hiH
offspring, and thA specially favored by his providence.
We add, that we are assured by Scripture further, that God has
made a, covenant with men on this earth, "for perpetual generations"
(Gen. ix. 12), that the earth "is established for ever" (Psalms Ixxviii.
69); the moon is also for the same period (Psalms Ixxxix. 37), and
text might be cited after text to prove the eternity of the creation.
What propriety-what necessity is there for the Almighty, like a silly
child, wearied uut \\?ith the plaything which it has long labored to
construct, to take this earth in its infancy, dash it into non-existence,
break np the order of the heavens, put an end to the music of the
spheres, hurl world against world, till Chaos and eternal Night shall
come in and rule all things henceforth and for ever 1 Surely the
minds which reaJly believe these absurdities must be obscured by
phantasies more irrational, if not more blasphemolls, than the lucn-
brations of a Da vis.
But the receiver of the doctrines of the New Church Jabors under
no such difficulties. He is not left a prey to such falsities. To him
the order, the wisdom, and harmony of the universe ftre manifest in
their greatness, their glory, RDd their eterBity. His mind can soar
on high among all the works of providence, and the soul, unshackled
from superstitious thrall, rises ill a deep, firm faith and veneration to
pay its worship to the great I AM. With the increase of his knowl-
edge comes the enlarging of his piety, till from sphere to sphere,
from glory to glory, he assimilates to t.he purity of the· All Holy.
Such we apprehend are the legitimate results of the theory which
we have propounded. We now sum up the whole in this quotation
from the Seer of the New Jerusalem.
"The Divine is in every created thing, because God, the Creator,
who is the soul from eternity, produced from Himself the sun of tile
spiritual world, and by that sun all things of the universe; conse-
quently that sun, which is from the Lord, and in which the Lord is,
is Dot only tbe- first substance, but al80 the only one from which all
things are; and because it is the only substance, it follows that it is
in every created thing,.but iDrinftDite variety according to uses. Now,
361 [Aug.
beoause in the Lord is divine love aDd divine wisdom, and in the 811D
from him divine fire and divine splendor, and from the 8UD spiritoal
heat and spiritual light, and these two make one, it follows that this
one is in a certain image in every created thing. Hence it is, that all
things in the univene have relation to good and troth. Yea, to their
conjunction; or, what is the same, that all things in the universe have
relation to love, wisdom, Rnd to their conjunctiQll."-Div. Prove 5.

ARTICLE v.

THE INSrRUCTORS OF THE NEW JERUSALEM.

To th, Editor of tM Nev ClIurcA RlpOIitory.

I BBQABD as invaluable the sheets of the Larger Diary which
accompany the numbers of )"our work. To say nothing of the heav-
enly intelligence which they convey from the spiritual world of the
laws and principles by which that world is governed, they furnish us
with abundant means of correcting the errors into which somE' of
your correspondents run. For instance, in )·our number for June, Ar-
ticle IV. pp. 272 to 279, you present us with 80ll1e crude lucubratioDs
of: as it seems to me, a very superftcial expounder of the quality of
those who should instruct in the New Jerusalem. The writer re-
iterates the now stale conceit, that in the New Jerusalem the teach-
ing minister is to receive his oJficial quality by that divine virtue and
operation of the Holy Spirit, \\"hich consists IN GENBBAL in reformation
and regeneration, and not by that" divine virtue and operation of
the Holy Spirit which consists, with the clergy IN PAllTlCULAB, in illus-
tration and instruction;" so that it is the regenerated quality, or per-
sonal honor, of the minister as a quadrate maD, and not his ojJi.eia1
cAaracter as a representer of the Lord, having hODor and efficien C)"
" adjoined to him according to the dignity of the thiDg which he ad-
ministers," that invariably determines his fitness "to instruct in the
New Jerusalem." In short, it is not possible for us to have truth
taught savingly to good people, by learned, enlightened, and in every
way intellectually '\vell qualified teachers, who are inwardly men of
bad lives; that is, of selfish ends of Hfe. Now I do not purpose to
argue this matter, or I might urge that this ground is but a crude hy-
pothesis, which cannot be true, because it is against the universal
laws of economy in first establishing every church. For, in estab-
lishing a church, the Lord always" breaks not the bruised reed, and
quenches not the smoking flax." That is, he alwayH adapts his
means to the states of the men among whom the churoh is to be es-
tablished. Hence, as the church is to be established among mankind,
as in an unregenerate state, he, in mercy, makes. use of unregenerate
1849·1 The lnltruclor, of the New Jef'Ulalem. 368

men as mediums oftbeir illustration and instruction in tmth. Tlie

church is ever restored by the formation of a new will, in and by an
enlightened intellect. Hence, the first thing in the process is to se-
parate the intellect from the will; and the next is to reform the will
by superior light in that intellect. This light is the doctrine of truth
from the Word by an understanding elevated officially by the Lord,
above both the common will of the people, and tne particular will of
the teacher (as in Swedenborg's case), and then so ruled by the Lord
through the angels as to become the teacher of truth to such as are
principled in good, who will receive the truth according to the imme-
diate inftux of the Lord into their wills, and Dot according to the me-
diate inftux of the Lord through the will, or regenerated quality, of
the teachers. And were not this so, \ve should be in a hopelessly de-
plorable condition indeed. For how could the New Jerusalem ever
begin to be established on earth, in that consummation of the age
when the Lord looks down from beaven, and beholds that "all are
gone aside-they are altogether become filthy; there is none that
doeth good, DO, not one 1" And if no one were qualified to teach in the
New Jerusalem until he was fully regenerated, so as to be a four
square man, where would there be a single medium of illustration
and instruction to the people of the church in a gentile state, when all
were only in the first elements; when ~ach and every prospective
member of it was, spiritually speaking, only as a mathematical point,
having nothing but celestial position, \vithout magnitude 1 Could
there, in this case, be the exclamation, " How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good
things I" Or if the New Jerusalem were already existing on earth
in her state of cubical perfection, \vhere \vould there be any need of
cubical men as her instructors 1 For \",hen the church has come into
this state, there is no longer need of the doctrine of truth, and, of
course, no need of doctrinal teachers.
Bat my only object in sending you this is to request your readers to
compare with the first paragraph on page 277 of your Repository for
June, the first pa.ragraph on page 185 of your excellent translation of
Swedenborg's Larger Diary, Part lIe And as some of your sub-
scribers may take only the periodical, I will quote for them here the
following sentences from both: .
"Suppose we have for instructors in the New J ernsalem those who have
troths, but these truths are not the forms of good with them.. Is the city of
such an one, four-square 1" l': If therefore one be set, or set himself, to instruct
iu the New Jerusalem who is not in charity or love to the neighbor, and thu8
is not a regenerate man, the society in the midst of which he is, is like (roit
rotten at the core. Or it is a whited sepulchre, beautiful without, but within
full of the bones of the dead.. He that hath the measuring rod will reject all
such. They are not Cour square. They are Dot really anything but evil."

With this let the following from Swedenborg be compared:

,a White the Lord rules the thoughts and speech Qf men, through the angels,
ml Ipi"", Cdftftot but thin1c in liil manner, ana then they know no odlerwise
than that it i, from tMmul'U". The case is similar with tJu pr,adwr of bafI
life, tDA8n M commends tDhat is good; evil spirits think and exct'te thl ,am,; but whel)
 384 TAe lmlructor' of the New Jlnllale1lL [Aug.
the preacher is in his true life, then evil spirits have the ascendency. Thus
is clearly manifest Aov tA, nillwiflK forth good tAiflg'."-Sp. D. 4129.
So teacbes Swedenhorg. You see he is most clearly consistent
with his teacbinJrs in other parts of his writings, wh~re he makes a
marked distinction between the official and personal capacity of the
minister of the church. And I appeal to both you, Mr. Editor, and to
your readers, whether it is not sounder doctrine than that of " X." and
whether it does not correct his error in tbe premises? For is not
this a universal law of the divine economy, as applicable to the New
Jerusalem as to any other dispensation, and hence may Dot "the
preacher of bad life" in the New Church, as well as in any pther, have
his thoughts and speech so ruled by the Lord through the angels of the
New Heaven as to "commend what is good," and thus, though evil
himsel~ be an instrument in the Lord's hands of" bringing forth good
things" in the hearts and Jives of his true disciples 1 And can
" X," or yoursel~ show any good reason ,vhy the following divine law
does not apply as well to the Ne\v Christian Church, as to the old-
tc The priestly office or function is holy, whatsoever is the quality of
the pe~on who ministers therein i" so that " the Word, taught by a
wicked person is alike as holy as when taught by a good person 1"
The wicked, as well as the good person, "representing the Lord, by
virtue of the priestly office and function," and hence" the preacher of
bad life," having his thoughts and speeGLb ruled b~" the Lord through
the angels, "may perform uses, inasmuch as good men will receive
the Word from evil preachers weIJ, since the Word, from whatsoever
mouth it comes forth, is received by mao, according to the quality of
his good." Or do you and" X." both of \vhom, I presume, are set,
or have set yourselves, " to instruct in the New Jerusalem"-you, I
see, baving been ordained" to the performance of all the functions
of the three several grades of the New Church ministry"-leave us to
infer that you deem yourselves to be such four-square men as full rege-
neration alone has rightly qoalified for "instructors in the Ne\v
Church 1" Pray, allow at least one of your subscribers to hope that
'hi, much of what you think to be the truth of the New Church, has
been received by you on the principle of fait!1 alone.
A SUBSCRIBER.
REMARKS.
• We have, in our time, lu1l"ere4 luch enortnoUI injustice at the hands of religious
editors that ~e long since rellOlvedthat ifever the Divine Providenoe should call us to OCoO
cupya similar pOItoarselves, we would at least show an example of {air dealing with cor-
reapondentl, luch.1 it ha. very seldom been our own lot 10 experience. We were deter-
mined Crom the outeet that DO ODe sbould ever ..y of liS al we were once CODstrained 10 sa,
of a Ptwit.ft Editor, that the.olt reason why we doubted of his willingness to inle" • prof-
fered article was tbej..t", of our claim. Accordingly we have freely given place to the
above, although it close. with lome not over gentle iDsinuations ofa personal nature and
which were Dot at all called for by the drift oC the argument; for what has ab.,&0 do
with the privaw opinions of che editor 1 cc A Subscriber," had no ground to auppo_ from
the merefac,oC ourin.rtioD of uX.'s" article that we thereby beosme respoolibleCoraUits
1849.] The In,truclor8 of tAe New Jeru,alem. 365

aeDuments, or that it gave him a jUlt claim to involve us in whatever odium he might
think proper to attach to the views of onr correspondent. In the U Editor's Address,"
publiahed in the first No. of the Repository (Jan. 1848), we say :_h The grand purpose or'
Our projected enlerprise is to furni~h a repository of all the most va]ullble exposition, die-
cussiou, and information \vhicb can be concentrated in its pagee. Without surrendering
lhe rigbt ofjudgment 8.8 to the suitablenesa of tbe matter presented to the general aim and
objects of the work, we would still fain impress upon it a character of freedom and liber-
ality. Tbe interchange of oppositeopinioDS, when conducted in the spirit of charity, can
.carcely Le termed controver,y, at least in the otr~n8ive sense of the term, and so long as
Tariant views of doctrine are entertained by m iods equally intent upon the attainment oC
truth, we know no BOund reason for refusing a hearing to both sides of debatable topics.
provided ever that the disputants sb'un a resort to harsh personalities and indecorous
erimination of motive. Thd Editor will in no case deem himself responsible for the sen-
timentl advanced by correspondents, altbough it is to be expected that the tenor of all
conununications will be in accordance with the general plan aDd scope of the work. If
tbe positions of any writer are assailed, he is to be supposed competent to defend theln,
and Upoll him will it rest."
This is sufficiently explicit in the way of defining our ed itorial position, and in view
of tbis position we might leave cc A Subscriber's" criticism to !Jave its due weight with
our readers, without any commEnts of our own. But as he has alluded to the fact of our
ordination with aD apparent aim to hint at some degree of inconsistency on our part, we
beg leave to refer him to the full statement made on th,at head in our last, where be will
find our Dlinisterial position as clearly defined as our editorial is in this. He will see,
moreover, that tile form of ordination employed on the occasion makes no mention oC
tAre, dtgr«. of ministerial rank,'ofwhich we know nothing as we are taught nothing.
.As to the subject-matter, however, of the article called in question by" _~ Subscriber,"
we are free to soy I that while we do not altogether approve its tone throughout, still the
point objected &0 in the above communication is not that which strikes us as mo~t open
to censure. We Bre diS'posed rather to object 10 the somewhat sweeping and unqualified
vein of reproof and condemnation in which he speaks oftbe existing stale of New Church
Societies. Even granting that the Church is at present far from its culloinating point of
purity and old~r, yet it cannot justly be doubted that there are numbers-growiDg num-
ber. we truss-who are striving at least to realize their conceptions of a church in the
least form, in themselves individually, and to submit them~lves to thE' process that shall
result in their spiritual quadrature, the working out oftbe perfect cubical form that shall
fit them, "as living'stones t " into the integrity and symmetry ofa cubical city. We donot
therefore relish the tone of any communication which seen)s not to recognize the good as
well 8S the evil in the existiDI statc of thing~. If the Lord has actually commenced the
e!tablishmeat of a church on the earth which is to fulfil the predictions of the New Jer-
usalem, it is but reasonable and scriptural to believe that His divine purpo.ee will secure
the eft"ectual operation or tile principles of that Church in many mare hearts than wc are
probably at present a ware of.
At the same time, it is no doubt well tba& a higb standard of truth and life ,ho,dd be-
held up before the mell of tile incipient New Dispensation, and that the various Corms of
evil and falsity to which they are lhlble should be distinctly pointed out. This we think
our correspondent cc X," has well done in several particulars, especially in what he say.
of tbe requisites in the chareeter of cc those who should instruct in the New Jerusalem."
On this head the illuminated teacher of the New Church hi certainly very explicit. Thai
he say', A. E. 820, " That they \vho are in the doctrine of truth from love to the Lord .,.,
'0 i",trwt thou who ",ill b, of tA, LArd'. claurch, is understood by the Lord's interroga.tioD
(to Peter), • Love8t thou me,' and by saying afterwards, • Feed my lambs,' ud.c Feed ml
366 [Aug.
.herp!" AgaIn, in the same connection, Cc Inasmuch as Peter signified truth ft"om
good, which is from the Lord, and thence also doctrine, and so represented tbose who are
in truths Crom good, and in the doctrine of genuine truth from the T..ord, and itUUmtICJ& a.
tMU ar, tht, who ar, to iutTuct od..".., and who are instructed by the Lord, therefore Peter
80 often spake with the Lord and was also instructed by him." To be U in truth from
good," therefore. is the grand qualification of New Church teachers, and this is little to
be expected from any others than regenerate or regenerating men; and ,,·e do not per-
ceive that the simple assertion of this principle lays any man open to the charge of a vir-
tual assumption of superior personal sanctity, or teaching endowments. which seen"lS to
be brought by cc A Sub!cribcr," both against cc X." and tbe editor. Without howe~r no-
ticing any farther his not very decorous cballenge on this 8Core, we would say in conclu-
sion that while as a matttT of fact it is quire probable that there are and win be, in des-
pite of all precRution, unsuitable men engaged in this function, it Is yet a very que~tion­
able policy to pleadfor th, propridy of such men's being em ployed in the work. With aD
endeavors to close the door against their entrance they may still crowd in, but sllall we
on this account open the door wide for their adm ission and make a providential perm ission
a virtual warrant or license for an acknowledged evil? We do not see that le A Sub~ri·
ber's" view of the matter comes Dluch short of this, and believe therefore, that his s~nti­
menta err as much on the side of laxness as do those or cc X." on the Bide of stringency.
The following paragraph trom Swedenborg bears so directly . . on the general subject,
that we close our remarks with iL
U A man who is in corporeal and worldly love, and not at the same time in spiritual or

celestial love, has no other than evil spirits present with him, even when be is in a holy
external; for good spirits cannot in any wise be present with such a perSOD, inasmuch as
they per~eive immediately what is the quality ofman'slove; it is the sphere which is e~·
haled from his interiors: wh:ch spirits perceive as manifestly as man perceives by smeU
tIle fetid and filthy substances which float around him in the air. That nation, which is
here treated of, was in such a state as to good nnd truth, or as to love and faith. ~ever­
thcless that they might act the representative or tL church, it was miraculously provided of
the Lord, that when tbey were in a holy external, and were then also encompas..-.ed aboot
\vith evil spirits, still the holy in which they were might be elevated into heaven; but tbis
by good spirits and angels not within tbem but without them, for within them ,vas no-
thing but emptiness or uncleanliness. Wberefore communication was not given ~itb
the moD himself, but with that holy, in which they were when they put into act the stat-
utes and precepts, which were all ~presentative of the s?iritual and celcstial things of the
Lord's kingdom: this is what is signified by th~ Lord's being representatively present
with that nation. But the Lord is present in a different manner with those within the
church who are in spiritual love and thence In faith. With these there are good spirits
and angel" not only in external worship, but at the same time a150 ill internal; 'where-
fore with them is given communication or heaven with theoJselves, for tbe Lord flow's in
through beaYen by their internals into their externals. To these latter the holy of \\~or~hip
i. profitable in another life, but not to the former. Th~ case is similar with priests nnd
presbyter., who preach what is holy, and yet live wickedly, and believe wickedly. 'Vitb
such neither are good spirits, but evil, even when they arc in worship w'hich appears holy
in ita external form j for it is the love of self and of the world. or the love for securing
lionors and acquiring gain, and thereby reputation, which inflames them, and prc!oents
an affection of what is holy, sometimes to such a degree, tbat nothing of pretence is per-
ceived, and then neither is it credited by themselves; when yet they are in the ID idst of
evil spirits, who are then in a f'imilar state, and aspire and inspire. That evil 'pirit5 ean
be in such a state, and that they ,are so when they are in external,_ and are infla.ted by
telf-)ove and the love of the world, has been given me to know from manifold experience,
 •
1849.] The JeuJUA Tabernacle viewed in it. Spiritual Import. 367
concerning whioh, by the divine mercy of the Lord, In the relations which follow at the
end oftbe chapten. These penons have no communication with he"ven in tbemselYe!,
bot they. who hear and apprehend the ~ords which they speak, iCthey are il\ a pious and
holy internal, have cOlnmunication ; for it i. o( DO consequence Crom whom the voice or
Iood and truth flows forth, provided their lire is not manifestly wicked, for this scandal·
izes."-~. C. 4311. ED.

ARTICLE VI.

THE J~WISli TABERNACLE VIEWED IN ITS SplRlTUAL IMPORT.

No.-IV. \

IT is 8,\ favorite notiQri With the Je\'\"s that the Tabemacle possessed
in fact tbe tvVo-lold cha.racter of a Sanctuary and 8, Palace-of a
place ofWorship and of a royal reridence. Viewed in the latter light,
the Tab~rnacle was regarded as the peculiar dwelling-place of Jeho-
vah as King of the Jews, where he held his court, whenee he issued
his edicts and laws, ~nd where he received the tokens of his people's
homage. They everi carry out the analogy so far as to regard the
utensils of the Tabernacle as palace furniture and the priests as min-
isters of state, and suppose, as a kinghas an ante-charnber and an apart-
ment exclusively appropriated to himself; so in this edifice the Holy and
Most Holy Place were designed to ans\ver a similar purpose. We
recognize a degree of truth in this so far 8S the Tabernacle, in its su-
preme sense, denoted the Lord, who combines in himself the sacerdo-
tal sanctity with the royal dignity, and who is represented as" sitting a
prie.t upon his throne," in Zion or the church-the kingly prerogati,"e
having relation to truth, and the priestly to good. But the full im-
port of the structure in all its bearings will disclose itsel f as 'Ye pro-
ceed.
TBB HOLY AND MOST HOLY PLACB.

The grand division of the sacred edifice was into the two apart-
ments thus denominated, and which were separated by a curtain ex-
qnisitely embroiderf'd, and called the " vail." The dimensions of the
two rooms differed in length nearly as three to one, the outer being
thirty-seven feet long and eighteen broad, while the inner was of a
cubical form eigbteen feet each way. The general relati\"e appear-
ance of the two apartments may doubtless be inferred with some COD-
siderable approximation to truth from the annexed engraving, in
which the three pil1ars in front are cut o~ and the separating vail
drawn up to afford a more unobstructed vie\v of the rooms with their
respective contents. ThA further extremity of the Most Holy place
is represented as partially open, whereas in fact it was closed like
every side ofthe room except the front-this appearance being simply a
 •
36ij The J~1CUh Tubunacle tJielDtd in iu Spiritual Import. [Aug.

dlWicf! of the artist to ob\'jole tbe difficulty of representing the Cheru-

bim o\"r.r the Ark on a dlirk background.

As will bf' seen from this representation, tbe only objects in the
out~r room were the Cftndlestiek, tbe Table of Shew.Bread. and tbe
Altllr of Incense, the Candleslick on the left, the Table OD the rigbt,
and the Altar in tbe centre Dear the Vail. These several articles we
shall describe in d~tail. commencing with the

TABLE or IHEW-••CAD.
The order for the construetion of tbis article runs a! follows... Thou
aft1l11 11180 make a table of sbittim.wood, two cubits sb&11 be tbe length
tbereof, and a cubit tbe breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half thl!
height thereof. And thou shalt overlaf it with pure gold, Md mak!!
thereto a crown uf gold round about. And thou shalt make unto it
a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden
crown to the border tbereuf round about. And thou shalt make fot it
four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are OD
the four feet thereof. Over against the border shall the rings be for
places of thr: staves to bear the table. Anti thou shalt make the
8ta\'es of Ilhittim.wood, and overlay tbelll with gold, that the table
may be borne with them. And thou shalt make the dishes thereof,
and spoons thereof, and coven thereof, and bowllf therooJ~ to corer
•
.......)
withal: o(pore gold ,htt.lt tbou make tbem. And tbou llbalt 6et upon
...
the table .hew.bread before me Blwav." The annexed eut ill supposed
10 be ao approximation at le&.'Il to tbe (rUf! form of this tnbll.', sur.
mounted by the twelve loA.vl"! which were 10 slalld constantly upon
if.

The table itself Was constructed of the same malerilll with the
frame work of tbe Tl\bernaclf!, the Ark, &c., ,,'iz;. shittim-wood, over·
laid with gold. It was also furnished with rings or stnplell, through
wbich were paasetl the staves by which it was carried. in the same
way as tbe Ark. These staves. however, did nflt remain in the rings
Wbl"D at rest, like those of the Ark, but werfl, all Josephus inforRUJ U8,
removed, tbat they might not bf' in the way of the priests in their
weekly ministrations at the table, The table was inferior to the Ark
in breadth by half a cubit; but it was of the same height, and stood
lengtbwise, east and welft, at the 1I0uth side of thl'l Holy Plllee,
From the oblfcurity nf the ancient terms there is some difficulty in de-
lennining with precision the details of its form; but what we Sf-em
~ learD from the text is, that the platform or surfaee of the table had
Its edges faced with a perpendieulAr border, or enclosu~, somewhl\t
resembling & window-framf! before it is inserted into tbe wall of a
building or the sl~hefl put in. This border was 10 be of a hand's
~rudtb and ornamented on its upper Ilnd lower edge with 1\ bean-
tlfu.! golden corniee or moulding, which is bere also as in the ease of
the Ark, ealled a " erown." The upper rim rose CIf eourse somewhat
above tbesaperfieial level oftbe table, and was well 'adapted to pre-
Tent what was deposited thereon from falling 00: Thfl Table, as
leen in the Areh of Titns at Rome, on which the spoils of the Temple
&te.repre:Jentecl, shows but very little of tbe ornament.-I work deserib-
ed ID tbe text; but thie, it is supposed, was not the Table oQ~elTa~
370 The JewUh Tabernacle viewed in it, Spiritual Import. [Aug.
ernacle. It is generally agr~ed that this was among the spoils carried
away by Nebuchadnezzar, and that when the Je\vs ,vere restored to
their own land, they made a De\V Table. Twelve cakes or loaves of
this bread ans\vering to the t\velve tribes, were set upon the table in
two separate ro\\"s of six each, which were renewed every sabbath:
when the old were taken away and eaten by the priests. This is DO~
particularly mention'ed in th~ present text, supplementary to \vhich i~
the information more expressly given, Le,~. xxiv. 5-9, " And thou shalt
take fine flour. and bake twel,~e cakes thereof; two tenth-deals shall
be in one cake. And thou shalt set them in t,,"o rows, six OD a ro,,·,
upon the pure table before the Lord. And thou shalt put pure frank-
incense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for & memorial.
even an offering made by fire unto the Lord. Every sabbath he shall
set it in order betbre the Lord continually, being taken from the chil-
dren of Israel by an everlasting covenant. And it shall be Aaron's
and his sons'; and tb~y shall eat it in the holy place; for it is most
holy unto him of the offerings of the Lord mule DJ fire by & perpet·
ual statute."
The denomination given in the Hebrew to this sacred bread is
khem p~nim, bread of face., or, b,·ead of p!elfmee (prelence bread).
This tit.le is usually supposed to be derived from it~· being continuall}·
set before the face or presence of God, as manifested in· his \'isibJe
symbol in the sanctuary, and that too althougH tli-ey were deposited in
the Holy, and not in the Most Holy place. The Gr. of the Sept. ren·
ders it by .,ro", ,,,~Jtco"'tfore.placed loaves. and that of Sym. aprns 7'lIff ..".8(~C6Jft
loaves Qf proposition; which is the constant reading of Jerome in the
Latin Vulgate. The true import of the phrase U bread of faces" can-
Dot well be determined apart from what ,ve are to gather respecting
the spiritual meaning designed to be conveyed by this symbol. In the
attempt to compass this it will be important to advert to the usage in
regard to the term "faces" which will be seen to be somewhat pecu-
liar. In the first place, it is "ery obvious that the expression in the
originalleheln }Jb,ni,n, bread offaces or presence, is strikingly analo-
gous \vitb rpaluk pb.nim, angel of the faces, or angel of the presence, Is.
Ixiii. 51, "In all tlieir affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of hi$
presence (malak ph.nim, angel of hi.., faces) saved them," &0. So also.
Ex. xxxiii. 14, 15, " And he said, My pre.,ence (panai, myfaces) shall go
with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, if thy pre-
sence (paneka, thy faces) go not with with me, carry us not up hence."
Compare with this Deut. iv. 37, "And because he loved thy fath~rs,
therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his
right (bepanuav, with, by, or tltrough his presence; i. e. the angel of his
presence), with his mighty power out of Egypt." But this angel of
the presence or of the faces was the Lord or J ehovah himself as to the
Divine Human, for it is in this relation only that he ever was or
could be seen, and the termfaces, has reference to manifestation or
revelation, part.icularly of interior qualities. It is said in Ex. xxiii.
20,21, "Behold, I send an ungelbefore thee, to keep thee in the \vay.
and to bring thee into the place which I have preparE'd. Beware of
him (mippanauv, of 'tis faces), and obey his voice, provoke him not, for
1849.] TAe Table of SAsw- Bread. 371

he will not pardon your transgressions; for my Dame is in him." i. e.

my nature is in him. Jehovah when he appeared to men, before the
Lord's coming into the world, appeared in the form of an angel, for in
passing through heaven he clothed himself \vith that form, which is
the human form; for the universal heaven, by ren~on of the Divine
principle which prevades and constitute.s it, is as one man, i. e. the
Grand MaD, which is the aggregate of heaven. Hence then is the
Divine Human of the Lord, which first manifested itst'lf in an angel
,vhom Jehovah infilled ,vith his pres~nce and made a medium of com-
mnnication, and afterwards in a human bod}" on earth as the son or
the virgin. It is therefore the Lord as the Divine Human wbo was
anciently seen in the angelic form, and thus to hinl pertains the ap-
pellation of face or faces of Jehovah. Now the face, our author in-
forms us, is the externarrepresentative of the interiors, for the face is
so formed that the interiors may appear ill it, as in a representative
mirror, and another may thence know what the person's mind is to-
wards him, so that when he speaks he manifests his mind's meaning
as well by the face as by the speech. As face then is a common ex-
pression in the original tongue to denote the affections peculiar to
man, and which are seen mirrored in the countenance, such as mercy,
favor, benevolence. aid, kindness, and also their opposites, unmerci-
fu)oess, anger, revenge, &c., it may be easily inferred that by the face
orfacu of Jehovah, or of the angel, is denoted the divine mercy, corn-
lniseration, complacency, peace and beneficenco manifested to\vards
anyone, as is evident from the follo\ving passages: "The Lord
make hisface (Heb.faces) to shine upon thee, and be gracious .unto
thee; the Lord lift up his countenance (Heh. faces) upon thee, and
give thee peace," Num. vi. 25, 26. "God be merciful unto us, and
bless us; and cause his face (Heb. facel) to shine upon us." So in
the opposite sense by theface of Jehovab or the Lord is signified an-
ger, revenge, punishment, evil, which form appearance, but in reality
pertain to him, as, "Bewar.e of him (Heb. of his face), provoke him
not," &c. Ex. niii. 21. "Whosoever shall eat any blood, I will even
,et my face against that soul," Lev. xvii. 10. "I have set my. face
against the city for evil," Jer. :xxi. 10. "The face of the Lord is
against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the
earth," P8. xxxiv. 16.
From this exhibition of the usu, loquendi ill respect to the phrase
., faces of the Lord," " angel of the faces," &c., ,ve are furnished with
a key to the appellation bestowed upon this portion of the sacred fur-
niture-Table of tl"e Bread of'FaceI. The expression, " Angel of the
faces or presence," is but the Old Testament designation of the Lord
the Saviour Christ, and therefore the phrase, "Bread of the faces or
presence," is brought into immediate identity of import with bread of
the Lord, who was the true presence indicated by the term. But
what i.~ the bread of the Lord or of Christ, but tha.t divine good, that
spiritual sustenance, which maintains the inner, higher, and eternal
life of his believing followers 1 That bread in the supr{Ame sense de- J
notes the Lord and in the comparative sense the good of love which iR
from him, thus the Lord as to celestial good, is abundantly manifest
 372 The Jewi,h Tabernacle viewed in it, SpirituaII"!port. [Aug.
from his own ,vords, John vi. 32, 33, 47-51. "Then Jesus said unto
them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread
from heaven; but my Father gi\·eth you the true bread from heav~n.
For the bread of God is he \\'hich cometh down from heaven, and
gi\"cth life unto the ,vorld. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
believt'J:h on me hath e,"erlasting IifEa. I am that bread of life. Your
fathers did ~at manna in the \\'ilderncss, and are dead. This is the
bread which cometh do\vn fronl hea,·en. that a man may eat thereof
and not die. I am the living bread \\,hich CRIDe do,vn from bea\"en :
if any man eat of this bread, he ~hal1 Jive forevf»r: and the bread that
I \\,jll give is ITIY flesh, \vhich I will' gi,"e for the life of the world."
This it i~ \vell kno\vn is the great evangelical truth which is·' sig-
nificantly shado\ved forth in the sacrarnental bread ofthe Lord's Supper,
the lively emblem of that spiritual nliment which he gives his faith-
ful househuld. The my.'leryof the Table ~f Shew-bread is mbstantially
tI,e same with tltat of the Table spread with the enlbleml of the Loraa
body and blood. Not that it is confinrd to this; for as the los\l'cs
\vere chnnged every Sabbath, it significantly points to the wet'kJy re-
newal in the sanctuary of that spiritual provision, ill ,the dispensation
arthe· "Vord, by which the strength of the saints is to be sustained in
this house of their pilgrimage till "t'very one of them shaH appear
before God in Zion." But as every thing pertaining to the Taberna-
cle had more or less of a heavenly bearing, so also doubtless bad this,
and we shall fail to apprehend duly its import unless we regard
it as a ~€'nsible and lively, though still inadequate "sbew" of
the nourishment of that holy, hidden, spiritual life which is to
be consummated in the comiug \\'orld of glor)", \\'here the face of
God will be revealed without a cloud, in joyful foresight of which tbe
P8nlmist exclaims, Ps. xvii. 15, "As for me, I shall behold thy face in
righteousness; I shaH be satisfied, when I awake \vith thy likeness~'
- a plain aIJusion to the beatific vision in heaven. Then shall his
servants" see his face," and because they shall" see him as he i~,"
therefore shall they" be like him." "In his presence is fulness of joy,
and at his right hand are pleasure for evermore." This ravishing
and transforming view of the glorious presence of the Lord shall he
an eternal feast to the blessed beho!ders, and it is doubtless from the
intimate ideal relation between this ,eeing and eating that the bread
of the Tabernacle is called the bread of th~ face 0'· pre,ence. 'l'he
whole points directl)" to Christ, and is fulfilled only in him when he
shall come the second time '\\rithout sin unto salvation, shedding the
light of hi, countenance in one endless and ,oul.satisfying blaze upon
his redeemed on~s. Their vision shall be eternal fruition. 1~bus \ve
have obtained a view of the subject which shows the intimate con-
nexion of the ideas of " Bread" and "Face" or "Presence," and with
how much propriety the adjunct pllnim,facel, is applied to the 'faber-
nacle-table, while it is withheld from every other article of the sacred
furniture.
G. B.
J849.] Mucelllln". 373

The fo~lowiDI communication. received some months since, is from a gentleman of

high political standing and was written under lhe pres~ure of sevt're domestic affliction.
A number or New Church works were furnished him, but of the result 01 hie reading we
have not beard.

I1EAR SIR,
I beg that you will send me from time to tilne such works of Swedenborg
as you may think will profit me. N~ver was anyone more anxious ,to be a
christian than I am. I have read a very large nunlber of books on the ~videD­
ces and am satisfied to a great degree with the arguments drawn from the evi-
dences. But then when I take up the Bible I 'find things to which Iny rea-
son will not assent. I cannot help this, for by \\"ill iog it I eau no more control
my reason than I could change the color of my hair. Great will be my hap-
piness if Swedenborg shall furnish a theory to make the ~cripture8 intelJigible,
and therefore credible.
I beg leave to present to you the following statement of facts attending the
last siekness of oue infinitely and inexpressibly dear tome. She ,vas a lady of
exemplary piety. Humility, gentleness, cheerfulness, and benevolence in all
its forms were the promineut points in her character, with a perfect sincerity
which never dissembled in the smallest things. For some days before her
death she thought she bad visions of angels-that 8he was carried to a beau-
tiful palace filled with delicious fruits, and angels ministering to her. Some
hOUfS before she expired she \vould say, U I teel very strangely, I feel as if I
were two persons. Nowthathand looks as if it were my hand (raisingup her
hand), but it is not.; I feel as if I were two persolls, or there were two me's."
Shortly after this she breathed her last, saying with her last breath, CL I am at
rest." Now was it the spiritual body separatiug from the physical before
death, and becoming conscious of that separation 1
Have you ever read the account of Mr. 1·enuant, an English (American) cler-
gyman, who fell into a trance, and ,,'as thought to he d~ad! If you eau pro-
cure it for me I will thank you to do so.
With great respect,
Your obedient servant.

From a gentl~man in the far West.

DBAR 81R,
1 send inclosed one dollar for its value in the pamphletS you are now pub-
lishing of a Swedenborgian character. I have seen one oC'casionally and have
just received from some friend aud read the oue containiug your reasons for
elubracing your new faith. Perhaps it will be best to send me the sixteen
numbers to be published as they come out. I lvisb very much that I were 80
situated as to be able to get hold of Swedeuborg"s works at large. What I
have read, has, for the most part, heen intensely iureresting. I am not yet able
to credit his statements as actual knowledge; but 1 have no objections to
their being true. His general views of heaven an,d the spiritual world are to
me both rational and delightful. His theology is sublime and simple. Swe-
denborg is the most singular phenomenon of the~e latter days.
Yours, for the truth.
374 MUcellaay. [Aug.
With the writer of the annexed letter we have no personal acquaintance, nor are we
acquain~d with his present state of mind, in reference to the teachiDgs of the New
Church. His reading, we believe, was continued and we hope with happy results. It il
not clear to us that his U!e of the term I f material," in reference to the soul, as he explains
it, if' wholly incorrect, as he probably intendd it in the sense of nb.tGfttW, yet we should
have preferred another epithet.

IlEAR SIR,
Since writing to you first, I have obtained through a friend two volumes of
the works of Swedenborg, to wit, his "Heaven and Hell," and U Tme Chris-
tian Religion," alfO the 1st, 2nd, aud 3d numbers of the Swedenborg Library~
together with the Life of Swedenborg br Hobart. These three numbers, his
Life, his Heaven and Hell, and a part of hIs True Christian Religion, I have read,
and with peculiar interest. His ideas of the soul delighted me exceedingly.
I have entertained the same views on this sUbject for several years, and that
without finding a single individual to agree with me. I have been denounced
as a materialist, a heretic, rea, an infidel for these very opinions; and you
can judge of my gratificat!on when I found an author of the character and
standing of Swedenborg to sustain me. You will see by mr
first letter how I
arrived at my conclusiollS. They were simply the result 0 philosophical in-
vestigation. Yet when we admit that the soul is a positive existence-that
it is a substance-that it occupies the whole or some part of the body, is it Dot
the dictate of common sense that it is a body and must have at least one of the
essential properties of all bodies, to wit figure, and is in fact in some sense
material ~ How strange then that 80 much time and talent should have been
expended ill trying to make out that it has 110 partS-DO outside or inside, and
is Immaterial; and stranger still, if possible, to rest its immortality upon such
foundations. Who does not see at a glance, that any tl1ing, no matter what.
if it be not infinite in magnitude, must have boundarles t consequently figure,
and must be a body' We do oot of course say that it is a substance such 88
is cognizable to any of our senses; and it may be as much more ethereal than
electricity, as elecuicity is more ethereal thatl the most ponderous metal, still
it is a body-a substantial body.
But I imagine you will be somewhat curious to learn what I think
of S,,"edenborg'8 revelations. Would to God I could place implicit con·
fidence HI them. Ever since I have read his works I nave been constant·
ly asking myself-eau it be possible that these things are true 1 They
come to us in 80 imposing a {arm, they are written in such a simple, artless,
truthful style, equalled by nothing in these respects, except the New Testa-
ment itself, that we can scarcely help believing them. One thing I am certain
of, if they are not true, he himself was deceived. I have no doubt of hi!
honesty, no doubt of his sincerity. He was a great, good, and most extzaor·
dinary man. I am amazed with his productions. I know not what to think
of them. My reason yields to them entirely. I am not minutely enough ac·
quainted with Scripture to say whether that too does not 8ustaip. them. So far
as I can see, it does. Still, after all, I fear I am somewhat faithless. Will you
say then that I am skeptical1 I am a little so, I admit. But there is some-
thing so strange in the Idea, so contrary to all myoId fashioned preconceived
notions, that there should be trees and houses, and gardens, and even marriage
in Heaven, and rocks and caverns in Hell, that though my reasol\.cannot say
nay, still I suppose it will take some time before 1 can so change the current of
my thoughts as to become reconciled to such novelties as to realize the truth
of them. However, I am determined to read on, and I should not be surprised,
if in time I should become a convert to Swedenborg's doctrines. In fact I can
see very little objection to them now. They are decidedly more in accord-
ance with my present views, than any with which I am acquainted. It is his
revelations which most puzzle me. 1 cannot help entertaining some doubts
iD regard to them, though as you have shown in your introduction to the li-
brary there is much reason to believe them. You, I suppose, have DO lODger
1849.] 875

any difticolty in receiving them. I sincerely wish it was so with me; for
although it may be said we have enough in the Scriptures to confirm us in the
truth and realities of a future state, yet these have been doubted-are now
doubted by thousands of honat, intellig,nt meo. In regard to myself it is a
truth, and I see no good reason for concealing it, that amongst the greatest
trials I have are the trials of faith; and I have reason to believe it is so with
many-very many others. Nothing then, can be more intere8tin~, or more
welcome to us, than new \vitnesses going to sustain Scripture testimony.
These revelations of Swedenborg ha,"e this tendency, and if we could believe
them, and put full and entire faith in them, what a Ueaaure they would be to
11&
With the highef't respect and cODsideration,
Yours, &c.

From the gentleman, resident in one of the British Provinces. several of whose commu-
nicatiolll haye already appeared in our page••

DRAR 81R,
I feel 80 much interest in what 1 have read recently in relation to Sweden-
borg, that I a~ desirous of knowing more about his dildo,url', and of ~gettiDg
his writings into the hands of others, which I hope to do to some extent at.
least. Several persons have already requested the loan of the worksl pur-
chased in Boston in June last. I shall endeavor to gratify them as 800n as 1
am able.
The basis on which his teachings are founded, and relied on by the re-
ceivers of them, appears to me to be sound. If anything in Swedenborg's
writings contravened the Scriptures, or weakened t.heir sanctions, I should be
disposed at once to rej ect them; but, so far -as I can see, on present know-
ledge of them, they do not, but appear to me greatly to strengthen the motives
to a virtuous life. The dictates of enlightened (right) reason must be in har-
mony with the sacred canon when rightly understood. The cODstitution of
our nature, equally with the written Word, is from the Supreme, and there can
be no antagonism between them. A faith that supersedes reason must be an
erroneous faith. I do not see how it can be otherwise. I would not be un-
der6tood to say that nothing is to be believed which reason cannot compre-
hend, but nothing is to be believed which mauifestly contradicts it. A ship
may as well dispense with its rudder as a man with the exercise of his reason.
Such a man would be prepared to assent to anything, and really believe na-
thing. The warring elements of theological dogmas sadly need a Aarmmai• .,."
and perhaps may find it in the doctrines of the NnD ChUf'M. 80 far as at ".".,.
adwftl, I am pretty strongly inclined to think they will, ultimately. The world
we live in is miserably out of joint, socially, politically, economically, and
morally. When will all men be brethren 1 They must be before the,. are
Christians, or rather when they are. I feel that it would be doing a servIce to
poor humanity to give circulation to these writings, for the doetrina they con-
tain, whatever may be thought of the unwiling,. of the spirit-world, and I shall
be a willing auxiliary in this service.
Youn, &c.

The ensuing ia from a YOUDJ man in New Hampshire. almeet entirely blind, al i. evi-
dent trom the band-writing.

DBAJL SIR,
My object in addresaing yoo, sir, instead of the pnblisher of the Library, ia
to add a few word.. on the sUbjects you are brillling before the public. Those
YOL. D. 24
 [Aug.
who receive Swedenborg·s dieclosuree as an infallible plde mnst excuse me
if I am slow in D1Y journey towards their position. If I am really moving
thitherward, 80 be it; J will Dot judge before the time. But OD cenain areat
features of the U New Church" 8)'8tem I do Dot hesitate to a40pt a favor-
able and decided opinion. The dogma of a Mauriol resurrection I R...,. be-
lieved, and have for years been shaping my faith into a form which had abIIod
(Dot quite) matured itself when I met with 8wedenborg. I feel sore that be
is right OD t.hat point. I cnuld name an iofluflntiaJ clergyman of this pan of
N. H., who recorded his dif,sent from the commonly received doctrine on tbe
stone at the grave of his wife before you published the work on u Aoaeta8is,"
and had also read an able vindication of his views before tbe aS80ciation, of
which he ,vas a menlber, wherein he contended unau8werably tbat the doc-
trine of CI"ut', resurrection, as taught in the N. T., is almost paralyzed and
destroyed by the gross ideas of the Church 011 the subject.
The!'e is no doubt in my mind but that all tAin~ po"ibll, i. e. all thinp in loT-
"'11 with other things, may lJnd {to receive an objective reality throogb corres-
ponaing affection and faith existing sobjectively. There can be therefore no
doubt but that the soul m~ its Ot.lm heaven or hell. Nor can there be doubt
either that God also makes it/or each one in some sense. If my place is the
sphere of my presence, aud if others approaching see me and it in a~~ord·
&Dce with my real character, so the universe is the sphere of God'S presence,
and nothing can be seen in it, or can hi at all without Him.
Perhaps I should make myself clearer by illustrations, loo.; at any rate I
milht add much on the foregoing and other topics, in which I should approve
the N. C. doctrines entirely. Especially this, I may say, J can see no reason
to doubt the honuty of Swedenborg, or the truth of his visioDs, but much
reason to the contrary; but might not Swedenborg often misjudge in his Dew

.... ,
and 80metimes strange field of observation! Coltld he (do you see reaeOD to
be 8ure) always himeelf discriminate between the 'nu and the/al. in appear·
Again-even 8uppoee he bad the means of certainty in his own mind j sup-
})OM the ftmft' he saw were always the best ones for hi.. of the variety he
contemplated, are those same forms necessarily the best for mankind'
Would Dot a U&e of his rich imagery in part (together with other) in the way
of illustration or for the race of analogy, be wonh more to Christendom
than to make of tbem for the church another hierarcby cast in iron!
Such questiona as the above lie between me and the N,. CAurcA. I am
afraid to Ibe IDIl88 of men this new system, even more tbau the old, would
verify the word. of Jesus the Son of Sirach (Eecl. xxi. 19). I doubtless make
m,self but very imperfectly understood, yet enough I hope to 6f"¥g.t some
~int8 OD which, it may be, IOfU of those interested in your discU8SloD8 woald
rejoice to He li,lat.
Yours, troly.

REPORTS OF NEW CHURCH SOCIETIES.

The two foIlo.IDI J1eportl, one (rom die 800iety at Bolton theotlaer Crom that oC
Batb, Me., preeeoted at the late meeting of the Convention at Pb pbla, COIl.. i._oh
o(tbem ltelMl of 10 mueb iDterelt to New Church readerl, that we have cODcluded to
transfer the. CO our papa.

BOSTON.
This Society uumbel'8 tA,." hundred aM /OTty-tfJJO memben ; t~1DO bave
joined it during the past year; and thrH have been removed by dearh ; Itl'O to
other societies; and Oft, from other causes. There are about tvoAunrlral otber
receivers -eoDoecled with it. The public worship of the Sooiety is reguJar and
conetant; beiDI conduoted by ltev. Thomae Worcester, putOI\ It is BtteDded
 an
It....
1848.]
by about . . . GM fiflJ pel'lODSt including the ebildzeD of members
aDd receiYera. The Half SUpper is administered quarterly, and ia attended by
about'. luad,. Gnd r_~ penona. Tile Society ha. a sabbath School, COD-
sisting of about OIIe lMt:liwd a_tm pupiJs; divided into 011' cia. for adults.
and dirtem cl. .es for childreD; and under the care of a auperioteodent, and
/"'7' male and _... female teachen. The number of peraona baptized duri. .
the put year i. Jift,..p&ree. There is in BORtoo a Library of Swedellborg'e
works, aod a Sabbath SchOOl Library, containing about eAr«la.ad,.«l volumee.
The BeDeral aft"ain of the Society, ita meetillgs for publio worabip in 'the
morning, and putoral instruction in the aftenloon, together with tlte Sabbath
School and social meetings, are coDducted much as heretofore; and tbey were
10 folly stated in la8t year's Report, that a repetition now seems uDuece88ary.
We would remark, however, that our public meetings continue to be well at-
tended, and that the Dumber of those who make OlJr Church their re~lar
place of worship is constantly increasing. Several of tbis clalS, who have
not yet made profe.ion of the Doctrines, have hired pew. and aeats, and
thus become regular contributon to the expenses of Ibe SocietJ.
We would also notice, that, 80 far as we can Judge, the Doctrines cootiDue
to be more and mOl'e fa'Vorab1f regarded bf the public. We do Dot mean by
&hi. remark, that BOy 'Very considerable pOrtlon of tbole connected with the Ola
Churcb have examiued the writings of Swedenborg, and are inclined to re-
ceive them; though it is well kll0wn that many of the minieten, espeoially
of the Unitarian8, read the writings; and that their preaching is to some e~·
tellt modi1fed thereby. Of thi. tbey appear to make DO secret, but eooVe188
freely concerning the New Churoh with receiven of 'he Doctrines, and Dot
unfreql1eotly speak of S\vedeuborg. and recollllDend some of his teackio«& to
their own people. Tb. is dOH both in private conversation and in their ser-
moos, and no doubt has an influence iD removing prejudice, and in preparing
the way for the full reception of the Doctrines. Thus it has a tendency to pro-
duce the 28neral state of public sentiment to which we referred. a8 becomjol
more and more preva)t,nt,-a "tate in which the New Church is not merel,
tolerated as harmless, but respected u beiog useful and serviceable to the
community.
We are aware that this aspect of things may be in a considerable dea-ree
Hmited to Ma88achusettB ; but it seems to us to be ioteresting to the Church at
large. It al80 presents Unitarianism, or perhaps we should rather eay, tb.
work which Unitarianism bas effected and is IiOW tdreeting, in a somewhat
DeW point oC view. In the early movements of this secl, the chief effort waa to
oppose and break down Orthodoxy, which then held the uodentandinp of die
~at mus of men in spiritual bondage. In this elOrt UDitariani~m has IUC-
ceeded in a considerable degree i and while intent and earnest in tbe warfare
agaiost the fal8ities of a ttinity ot persODs in the Godhead, of th.. atDllement,
and of salvation by faith alone, the necessit.y for positive doetrine& to be su}).
atitllted ill their ltead was overlooked. But now that the work is accom-
plished, and tbe power of an absurd and false faith is so nearly 9\'enbroW'Dt
It is gratifying to 8ee indications that Unitarians are not entirely satiefied with
&heir present position and attainments j but feel, to some e.xtellt at lease, the
neceuity of a more positive and sustaining faith and system of doctrines.
While they were simpfy opposing Orthodoxy. they made uee of locb wea·
poos as readill came to hana, and were theJ'llselves sustained in «reat part by
me strength 0 the barrier against whicb thff were suiving. But aa that falle
before them. it becomes neceeeary that diey should inqaire, Dot only what
thtty have gained, but what is to be done next. And it is a hopeful sign, that
Unitarianism is beginningto examine itself, and to ~roeive the oece.iry of cou-
vemn, its weapoDs of warfare into iDstrum~nt8 adapted to the promotion of
a liCe of peace.
But, on the other hand, we must be careful not to take these indications for
more than they reaUy 8ft. 80 far a8 8wedenborg is read, we may tnMt that
bie writings will produce a ~od effect j alld we must also rejoice to Me the
light of the New Jerusalem illuminating in any degree the regione of the Old
Chnrch. But when we heir that 8wedenb6r, ie read aIMl adiDiNd, ud IOJII.
 878 l4ng·
of the troths he teaches acknowledged, it may often be necesl18JY to inquire
how his writings are regarded, and how his teachiDls are understood. For
there are those at tbe present day who profess to admire the writings of Swe-
denborg, and at the same time deny the great essentials of the New Church
Doctrine, which it was his appointed office to teach. This 8tate of thiDgs, of
course, exposes the New Church to new trials. While we were surrounded by
DODe but profeased opposers, we were kept together by external I?res8ure as
well as by internal agreement and attractioD. But as t.his pressure 18 removed,
it becomes neces8ary for U8 to examine more closely our grounds of union
among ourselves, and to see that they are placed upon the tnJe aud revealed
foundations on which alone the holy city can stand. And the result must be
that the New Church, instead of becoming confounded with the Old, will stand
forth with new Bnd increased distinctness; rejecting and excluding none, but
embracing all who cau be made willing to unite together ill a cordial recep-
tion of the fundamental truths, BS revealed in the writings of Swedenborg.
In accomplishing this work, and in coming into such forms of order as may
be neeessarr for the purpose, there will don btless be occasion for the exercise
ofmucb patience and mutual forbearance. And we trust that the General COD-
vention may be guided by a sense of justice and propriety, and also by an en-
lightened love of the goods and truths of the Church; 'and that by its mode-
ration, and by abstaining from all nssumption, and exercise of mere arbitrary
authority, aa well as by its firmness and uDcompromising adherence to the es-
aentials oC the Church, and to everything which is necessary to their prater.,-
tion and preservation, it may continue to deserve and receive the confidence
and the respect of the great body of receivers of the Heavenly Doctrines
throughout the United States.
The Society COD tributes 150,00 to the funds of the Convention.
BATH.
Mr. President :-Siuce the last meeting of your body, the labors of our Pas-
tor, Rev. S. F. Dike, have.heen.continued without intenuption. No removals,
or additioDs to the Society have taken place. The number of baptisms by the
Pastor has been/our; marriages two; and tlDO funerals have been attended.
The Sunday School, numbering about ttHnty-fiw pupils, is continued; and of
late our Putor. Laas commenced a course of instruction to a small Bible-elasa
, of young persons; aDd it may 110t be imprqper here to mention another means
ofpublic usefulness to whioh he has been caUed the past and present years, as
Chairman of the School Committee of the city, which gives him the superin-
tendence of all our schools, with a large share-of care and responsjbility.
Some few instances of new reception of our Heavenly Doctrines have be-
come known to us as existing in different parts. of the State; but in general,
at the present time, there seems to prevail an unusual want of life and interest
in regard to subjects of a spiritual nature.
Before closing tbis report, Mr. President, we would beg leave to submit for
the cODsideration of the Convention one or two queries. And, in the first
place, whether it would not be in accordance with the general use to
which the Convention aims, that, w bile the several Societies and Associations
composing it, from year to year bring to its altar the offering of their reports,
aud lay before it a representation of the condition of the church with them,
lome official and distinct respoDse should be made in return, calcuJated to
complete the circle of life through the whole body, and unite all its parts by
a livelier sympathy and stronger bond of union.
During the many years that we have been in the practice of annually pre-
senting our reports, which we have done BS a matter of order, as a privilege,
and .with pleasure, we believe th.t in but one instance have we received iD
return the response that has seemed to us in accordance with the usages, the
health, and, the orderly growth' of bodies constituted and related as we are.
We have read with edification the annual communications of the English
Conference to .the societies connected \vith it, and have thoulht them calcu-
lated to warm, enlighten, aud strengthen those who cherished the common
8ympathJ and felt the commOD b~Dd of their union. '
 1849.] MUcellany. 8'79

In making these suggestions with fratemal freedom, we would not presume

even to propose any definite thing as best to be done at this or any given
time; aoa much le88 would we complain on account of the omission of any
thing in time past, but leave our suggestions confidingly to the concentratea
wisdom which we pray may descend and rest on our brethren of the Con-
vention.
Anotber subject which we would beg leave to bring to the consideration of
the Convention is, that of appointinR a Committee to inquire into, and report
upon, tbe uses which properly belong to it 8S a general body of the Chcrch;
and, as far as practicable under the light now afforded, to present some definite
scheme for their accomplishment.
We are a,vare that repeated attempts have been made in the Convention to
obtain such a committee, and there may have existed at the time good reason
why ther should have been defeated; but these reasolls mar not now exist,
and 80 ftuetuating is the condition of all things and relations In this country,
that we apprehend the investigation may be usefully gone into at every meet-
ing of the Convention, if 'done for .ttling its general WI', or directing most ju-
diciously the meaDS in its power, to its various uses, and secnring to each its
due proportion of consideration and suppon, and at the same time leaving to
Societies and Associations such pans 8S they would most freely and usefully
perform.. And it is in no small degree in reference to a judicious division and
concentration of our labors that we make this second suggestion.
In this communication we are constrained also to bring to notice Bn euter·
prise which has now been many years in progress of execution by the Con-
vention, and which was, when commenced, regarded 8S promising as great a
use as the Convention could expect ever to attempt the perfonnance of.
This enterprise purposed to supply to the libraries of all the colleges and
theological seminaries of this country, complete sets of the theological writings
of Swedenborg, 8S speedily as they should be produced from our own presses.
Partially 8S this work has yet been accomphshed, we believe that abundant
evidence has, from time to time, come to the knowledge of your committee
to whom the work was assigned, and al80 to others, that its importance had
not been over-estimated; and it is well-known, that the accomplishment of a
similar work in England, thongh vastly less extensive, hu been there regarded
by rhe Church as of vast importance.
Shall this work continue to progress as tardily as it has done hitherto 1 And
shall a large number of institutiolls which have flolicited a supply of the
works, remain without a volume, and others continue supplied with only par.s
of sets of the most important works, while whole generations of men pass
away, and many successive sets of tltudents come and go; while at the same
time- the books to complete those sets lie moulding in the closets of those who,
with eommendable zeal, have obtained their publication 1
Or, are the requisite means in prospect for speedily supplying these deft-
ci8Dciesl Or, again, can the work be so divided with the Associations as
to be speedily accomplished by existing means' .
These questions we would respectively suggest, and that if a Committee
should be appointed to inquire into the subject of the general uses appropriate
to the Conventiou, and the extent to which the execution of these uses is con-
sistent with its present means, that Committee might find it expedient to pro-
pos~ a division o~ some .of these uses with the several Associ~tions now ex~t.
ing In Pennsylvania aod In the Western and Eastern states, 80 far as tbose bodIes
might feel disposed to undertake the finishing of the work which the Convention
has begllD, especially for supplying the colleges, etc., in their respective neigh-
borhoods. This would aWord the Associations appropriate local work to do,
and leave to the Convention greater ability to prosecute the same, and other
objecte, on grollnd not occupied by Associations.
Trusting that the freedom and fraternal feelings ,vitb which the fore(roiDI
suggestions have been made will be justly estimated, they are with confidence
and re8pect submitted for consideration. '
In behalf of the Society, Z. H YD.&. CAainnaft of StoM;", Co".,.;","
I

j
 The fol'elOiDI was referred to the Committee of L.ymea. WON reported apon it .. Col-
lows :-

The communication from the Bath Society embraces several important sug-
gestioDs. The fiT,t ur~e8 the importance ofa response from the Convention to its
several members. This is now provided for substantially by a standing resolu-
tion recommending pastoral addresses · and this Committee would recommend
to the consideration of the Presidelltand Pastoral Coullcil the expediency of hav-
iDg a pastoral address prepared and printed with the Journal. The ,tcmad re-
lates to matters pertainl1lg to the organization of the Convention, which. under
present circUDlstances does Dot appear to require action. The lAird relates to
the slow progress which has been made of late years towards carrying out the
original plan adopted by Convention years· ago, to 8upply the literary insti-
tutions and Libraries of this country \vitb the writings of Swedenborg. Though
the progress referred to has indeed been slow, the Committee believe the object
has never been lost sight of ; and if funds shall be forthcoming, it is believed
that the Convention is ready at any and all tiDles to give effect to the original
plan.
J. H. WILKIK8, for CoaailU,.

NOTICE S OF BOOKS.

Two LKCTV••• Oft d. COflraldiora bdwlft tle BI.LICAL AIID PHYSICAL HIlTO.Y
01' MAli. By JOIJAJI C. Non, M. D., of Mobile, Ala. New-York: Banleu &
Wellord, No. 7 Astor House, 1849. 8vo. pp. 146.
The following extracts Crom the Introduction to this work will show how
little quarter the author has to expect from the mass of the religious commu-
nity for results 80 directly at war with their pre-conceived notions and
dOIlD88.
It has been 80 long tBIIght, as a fundameutal l'art of the Christian religion
that the wbole human family de8Cended from a SIngle pair, and 10 few have
had the bardihood to 0PP088 this betieft that the popular opinioll ha. seeded
down upon it 88 unimpeachable; but during the last twenty ~eara a may of
Dew facts has been accumulated which throw an entirely different light 011
the subject, and it is doe to the cause of truth that the whole qnestion should
be fully and fairly met. A dispulionate investigation, we have DO hesitatien
in believing, will show that the Bible itself afford. a much 8tronger array of
facti in ra.or of the diversity, than of tbe unity of species.
Aa the groulld we are compelled to travel over in this diacuuion, briop 118
directly in collision with the religious prejudices of a very large portion of the
community, for wh08e opinioD8 we have the higheat !espeet, and a. we do Dot
wi$h to be placed in a false pOlitioD, we beR leave, at the outset, to disclaim
any intentioD t or any feeling t which would prompt 11S to call in qnestion the
well-authenticated and imponant portions of the Scriptures, ow to deoy tIIeir
iDe8timable value to mall. We beg leave further to state, that 80 far from ap-
pealiog to the authority of infidel write18, we shall advance DO opinion in re-
lation to the tut" or interpretatioDs of the Old or New Testamenta, which ia
Dot hased OD the researches of the most learned and autlloritative theologiaDa
of the pre8ent century.
 Not_ of Boo/u. 881
Several other of the branches oC science, such as astronomy, ceologr' &c.,
have had to struggle Ion, and hard with religious prejudices, but., as al truth
must, they have finally triumphed. Now we claim for the natural history of
mao, not.hing more than the same liberal construction of the Bible which bu
been conceded to nther acientifill subjects; and we assert that the inspired
writings must be abandoned, unless they can be reconciled with the clearlyas-
cenajned facts of science; aud our object now is, not to war against genuine
revelation, but agaiost false texts and false interpretatioD8.
* • • * • * * • * •
We ehall, in this discussion, claim the same latitude of cODstruction which
has been allowed by these and numerous other able commentators, and though
we shall not have time for statin~ our reasons at length, we hope, incidently,
to bring forth facts enough to justify the foIlowing conclusions: 1st. That the
Pentateuoh, jf the work of Moses, has Dot reached us in aD authentic form.
~. That the texts, both of the New and Old Testaments, have suffered Dluch
from the hands of transcribers. 3d. That' the lI.lission of the inspired writers
was a moral one only, and. that their inspiration did not extend to matten of
.eien~.e. 4th. That the weight of eviden08 of the Old and New Testalnentl is
oppo.ed 10 tbe unity of the bumaa species.

This will be sufficient to secure the condemnation of the book in advance,

from the Qnhodo~ ceusors of the age, as poisoned with the rankest infidelity.
Judeedthe work i80ne for \vhich no favorwhatever is to be expected from allY of
die prevailing christian denominations, save and except that comparatively un-
known ancl diminutive handful of religionists, who have received as of divine
authority the doctrines and revelations or the Church of the Ne\v Jerusalem.
They are Dot atartled at all by positions founded on the inspired Word, or even
in contraventioo of ita I,""., which would absolutely horrify the mass of the
Christian world. At the same time they yield to DO body of men within the
bounds of Christendom in a profound .veneration for the oracles of God, the
Word divine, which the Psalmist tells us the Lord bath magnified above all his
name. It is OD this ground that while we have no hesitation to admit the
general soundness of the aut.bor's concluaions in regard to the diversity of race8
among men OD the earth, we are still constrail1ed to di1fer i. 1010 with him in
. respect to lome of the logical processes by which he reaches bis results. It
is plain thar he leprds the Scriptures of the Old' and the New Testament as the
IfaDd ob.truction in the way of the comparatively ready reception of his
theory-and this stumbling block he iabors very aaeiduously. aDd with much
shrewdness and acuteness, to remove. This he essays to do, not by an abso-
lute and unqualified rejection of the Bible as a whole, but by ignoring ita iQ.
epiratioD OD particular points, and limiting the extent of ies informatioDs on
physical and scientific subjects to th~ consciou8 personal knowledge of ita ha-
man authors. The" strict cODstructionists" among all the sects would, we
fear, live Dr. N ott small credit Cor a professed respect for 'these ancient oracles
chat could consist wjth imputing to them the least degree of actual or p088ible
error or ignorance on any subject whatever of which tbeJ treat or to whioh
dIey allude. Not 80 \vith U8. We can easily conceive that a man may cherish
aD unfeigned respeet for the sacred writings, ill the sphere which be considera
them intended to occupy, while at the Bame tioie be rep_djatea maDy of the
doctrines that are popularly attributed to them as a part of their divine
eaebiDga.
 882 [Aog.
To us then who are fully aware of the principles 011 which the Book of books
has been for ages interpreted, and of the forced deductions which have been
drawn from it, it is no great matter of surprise that our author ahould have {alI-
en into a cun-ent of reasoning that has drifted him somewhat near the break-
ers of a skeptical disparagement of the authority and inspiration of certain
portions of the Werd. His avowed object, is u to cut loose the natural history
of mankind from the Bible, and to place each upon its own foundation, where
it may remain without collision or molestation." To thia he doubtless deems
himself driven by the intractable character of the Scriptural records in their
liUr"al ,.,ading, as bearing upon the' origin, history, and physical peculiarities of
the human species. But if he were acquainted with the teachings of the New
Church he would find himself happily relieved from embarrassment on this
score, as we there learn that 88 the Word is an emanation from the bosom of
the Infinite Truth, 80 there can be no real conft.ict between this Wold and any
sound 8cientific induction whatever, 8S the truth of science flows from the same
source with the truth of Scripture. Taking this for granted as a datum absolute-
ly unquestionable, if we find the first ten or twelve chapters of Genesis irre-
concilable with the cleaTly mablishtd facts of Geology, Ethnology, Chrouology:
or any other science, we are certain beyond peradventure that the ImIe of tA,
l,tter in that portion of the Sacred volume is not the "ns, of tU lpirit, anti we
set it aside accordingly as far as it interposes the least barrier to the irresistible
conclusions of reason. We ,vould propose it to the consideration of Dr. N.
whether the solution proffered in the following extract from Swedenborg is
Dot preferable to a recourse to his expedient of lowering the age, and together
with that, the authority of the Pentateuch, as a veritably inspired and canonical
portion of holy writ, though we still would not refuse to meet his objection
on the legitimate ground of biblical criticism.

It They who do not think beyond the sense of the letter, cannot believe other-
wise than that the creation, which is described in the first and second chapters
of Genesis, denotes the creation of the universe, and that there were six days
within which were created the heav~n, the earth, the sea, and all things ",·hicb
are in them, and at length man to the likeness of God: but who cannot see, jf
he ponders deeply on the subject, that the creation of the universe is )Jot tb~re
meant; for such things are there described as may be known from common
,ense not to have been 80 : as that there were days before the 8nn and the mOOD,
and that there was light and darkness, and that the herbsl and trees budded
forth; and yet that light was given by those luminaries, and a distinction was
made into light and darkness. and thus days were made. In what follows in
the history there are also similar things, \vhich are scarce acknowledged bv
anyone, who thinks illteriorly, to be possible, a8 that the woman was buiit
from the rib of the man; also that two trees were set in paradise, the fruit of
one or. which it was forbidden to eat; and that a serpent from one discoursed
with the wife of the man, who was the wisest of mortals, and "y his discourse
which was from the mouth of the serpent, deceived them both; and that the
universal human race, even to so many thousal1ds of thou@allds, was on that
account dammed to hell: these and similar things in that history must needs
appear at first thought paradoxes to th08e, who entenain any doubt concern-
log the sanctity of the Word, and must needs afterwards induce them to deny
the Divine (being or principle) therein: nevertheless it is to be noted, rhat all
and singular things in that history, even to the smallest iota, are Divine, aDd
contain in them arcana1 which before the angels in the heavens are evident
lStCO.] Nozicu cif Boob. 888
as in clear day; the reason or this is, because the angels do not see the sense
of the Word according to the letter, but according to those things which are
therein, which are spiritual and celestial things, and in them Di viue things;
they, when the first chapter of Genesis is read, do not perceive any other crea-
ture, than the new creation of man, which is called regeneration; tbis (rege-
neration) is described in that history; and by paradise the wisdom of the
man created anew; br the two trees in the midst thereof the two faculties of
that maD, viz., the wil of good by the tree of life, and the understanding of
b'Uth by the tree of science j and the reason why it was forbidden to eat of
tllis latter tree was, because the regenerate man, or he that is created anew,
ought no longer to be led by the understanding of truth but by the will of
good, and if otherwise that the new principle of his lire perishes; conse-
quently that by Adam, or man, and by Eve his wife, was there meant a new
Church, and by eating of the tree of 8cience the fall of that Church from
good to truth, consequently from love to the Lord and towards the neighbor
to faith without those loves, and this by reasoning from the intellectual pro-
prium, which reasoning is the serpent. From these considerations it is evi-
dent, that the historicals concerning creation, and concerning the first man, and
concerning paradise, are historicals 80 framed, which contain in them celestial
and Divine things, and this according to the manner (of writing) received in the
ancient Churches; which manner (of writing) also was thence derived to se-
veral who were out of the Church, who ill like manner devised historicals,
and involved arcana in them; as is evident from the writers of the most an·
cient times. From these considerations it may be manifest, what is meant by
heaven and earth in the first verse of the first chapter of Genesis, viz., the
Church internal and extemal.'·-.i1. C. 8891.

The following are the heads of the chapters and the titles of the various
subjects which are discu88ed, more or les8 fully, in the course of the volume.
-Physical History of Man,-Man intellectually viewed,--Geography of the
Bible,-Ethnography of the Bible,-Chronology,-New Testament,-Universal
Terms,-Original Language of the Bible,-Pentateuch,-History of the Text and
Canon of the Old Testament. Under all these heads the author has embodied,
in brief compas8, the latest results oC biblical and arcbmological research,
although placing more stress upon certain authorities, such as Norton, Strauss,
aud Gliddon than we are disposed to ascribe to them. But we think, on the
whole, bating nothing at the same time of our extreme repugnance to his mode
of dealing with the Scriptures, that he has adduced a mass of evidence in dis-
proof of the prevailing theories in regard to the origination of the various
races from a single pair, and at a single centre, which sternly demands to be
Jooked full in the face. The conservators of orthodoxy will be sure, however,
to blink it, as it is vastly easier to dmouRu than to dilpr01Je. As for us of the
~ew Church, we have long ago been taught and fully believe that Adam is a
collective and not an individual appellation, and therefore agree that science
may designate as many co-ordinate species of men as she pleases, and to have
existed as loug on the earth as she may find occasion to maintain, provided
all along that she leaves them still men, possessors of a common humanity,
and standing OD a common plane of moraJ responsibility, social prerogative,
and interest in the Christian redemption. We arenotsure that Dr. N. is ready to
concede to us a,ll that we demand on this score. We suspect him of a dispara-
ging estimate of the African race with which we are so rar from baving sympa-
thy that, on New Church principles, we are constrained to repudiate it al·
together. Psychologically viewed, the blacks, in their native simplicity and
 884 [Alii-
choeen isolation, are if anytbiDl a higher order dae the whiIee. becao&e
though les8 in intellect they are more in affection. Africa. in the spiritual
world, Swedenbors informs U8, lies in the eastem quaner, which as being
the region of the lun, implies more of &he celestial poiD8; uM1 u the good of
"ection will be certaiD, in the other life, to conjoin itaelf with tile appropriate
wisdom oC the uodef8tanding, the colored and the Circassian races wiU doubt-
less evince OD a large scale the truth of our Lord's declaratioD, that, "many
that are I.., shan be fin-t, and the first lut."
The following extract from Kiumont's U Lecture8 on the Natural BislOry of
Man" strike, on this 8ubject, a chord to which all the kindlier promptiop of.
Christian humanity breathe a respoD88 :-
U It is certainly a remarkable fact, that the Negro family oC the human spe-
cies should have been naturalJy confined to the peninsula of Africa, and
should never have travelled beyond it from volulltary choice. Philosophers
have found & constitutional adaptation in this case to the climate and local
. circqplstauces ol tiJ.is their natIve and allotted bame. end there can he DO
quesnon that there is, aud that when the epoch of their civilizoticm arrive!, in
the lapse of ages, they will display in their native land some very peculiar
aud interesting traits of character, of which we, a distinct branch Of the hu-
man family, can at preseot form no conception. It will be-indeed it m118t be
-a civilization of a peculiar stamp; perbal?s we might venture to conj ecto r8t
~ot so much distinguished by art as a certaIn beautiful nature. not 80 marked
or adorned by science as exalted and refilled by a certain new and lovely
theolo~y j. a reflection of the light of heaven more perfect and endeariog than
that which the intellects orthe Caucasian race have ever yet exhibited. There
i. more of the t:4ild, of unsopbisticated nature, in the Nerro race ..han in the
EUrOpe&D, a circumstance however, which must alwayslGwer them ill the es-
timatIon of a people whose natural distinction is a man1r and proud beariog,
and an extreme proneness to artificial society, and 80cia institl1tioDs: tbe pe-
culiar civilization which nature designs for eaeh i. obviously different, and
they may impede, but never can promote the improvement of each other. It
was a aad error of the white race, besides the moral ,oilt which was eon·
tracted, when they first dragged the African, contrary to his genius and incli-
nation, from his native regions: a voluntary choice would never have led the
Negro ioto exile; the :peninsula of Africa 11 his home, and the appl'opriale
and destined Hat oC h18 future glory 'aDd civilization,--a aiviliabOD which,
we need not fear to predict, will be as distil1ct in all ita features from that of
all other races, as his complexion and natural temperament and genius
are different. But who can doubt that here also humal1ity, in ita more ad..
vanced and millennial stage, will reftect, under a Iweet and meUow light, the
softer attribute. of the divine beneficence. If the Cancaaiall raM is destiDed,
as would appear from the precoeit.y of their genius and their natw:al quick-
ness, and extreme aptitude to the arts, to reflect the lustre of the divine wis-
dom, or, to apeak more pro~erly, the divine BcieDcet shall we envy the Negro,
if a later but far nobler civilization awai& bim,-to retum the 8}Jleodor of lbe
divine attributes of mercy and benevolence in the practice and exhibition of
all the milder and gentler virtues! It is true, the present rude lineaments of
the race might seem to give little warrant for the indulgence of hopes 80 r0-
mantic j but yet thOle who will refleot upon the natural conatitlltiOll of the
,African may 88e 80me ground eveu Cor such &oticipationa ;-can we DOC read
an aptitude for this species of civilization I refer to, ill that singular light-
heartedness which distinguishes the whole raee,-in their natural want of so-
licitude about the future, in them a vice at present, but,et the natural basis or
a virtuet-aDd especially iD that natural talent for mUlle with which they are
pre.eminentJ1 endowed, to aay Dothini of their williDJn8aa '0 _ _ the most
beautiful trait of humanity, which we, from our own Innate love of dOluinioD,
and in defiance of the Christian religion, brand with the Dame of .-rtJilily, and
IS• •] Eililorial lle1lu.
abuse DOt lea. to our own dishoDor than their injury. But eyeD amid theee
untoward circumstances there burst forth.occasionally the indications of that
better destiny, to which nature herself will at last conduct them, and from
which they are at present withheld, not le88 by the mistaken kindness of their
friend@, than the injustice of their oppreseon: for 50 jealous is nature of her
freedom, that she repels all interference, eveD of the most benel'olent kiDcl,
and willsu1ler oDIy that peculiar good or iDtelligence to be eliciled~ of which she
has herself deposited the seeds or rudiments in the human bosom."-p.191.
The work from which the above is quoted ·is one of rare talent, maiotainiD,
in many points a theory akin to that of Dr. N., bu' beillg written by a New-
churchman finds no necessity for cashiering or mling out oC court any portion
of the Sacred Volume in order to reach its conclusions. Among these cODeIu-
,ioos are the following ;-That the human race is OfI,-that this one race or
family is composed, ab origin" of several very distillct and different members,
some of whieh are very well defined and obviously separated from each other,
18 for example, Ibe Ciroasaiao aod the Negro, and otherl Dot less dietinct, though
Dot eo easily sAoW'll-tbat .. this dwtinction in the cue of these ~wo nees ca..
Dot be proved to have been bred out of any combiDatioo of C&oa88 Dataral or
artificial with which we are ae~uainted, it must bt referred 10 a slate of 'hin..
indefinitely distant && in the dark backward and abylm of time,· in the"",.
iaeogwiltJ oC oor planet's lInrecorded history-tblt Dot only is the variety of
races, as well as their unity original, but that certain local centres are to be ac-
knowledged, if not recognized, from whence have proceeded allliviog forms,
consequently that the idea oC the unity of the. human race beina to be traced
to any single pair is altogether chimerical and vain.
Aa to the work of Dr. N. t while we dissent from every thing in it that finds
an apology in the physical peculiarities of different races, for the enslaving of
one by another, and the perpetuation oC the system OD tbat ground, we are OD
the whole pleased with it, and none the leas .0 for ite straightforward, ont-
spoken, uDblenchiDg style of a8lrming conclosiooa knowa to be ObDOxio08 to
the retigioua mind of the age. It will well repay pel11laJ.

IDITOIlI!L ITIMS.
BeY. A. ClllIOld, of LoDdon, wbose Lette'r to the Arobbilbop or Dublin Is 10 well
known and 10 highly prized in the New Churoh. I, engaged. in the publication or a Dew
work OD the Apocalypl8 in three yolumes, or which the first win probably be completed
ill &be 8nllliaa al1l0lllB, me ..ODd durinr the winter, aDel the dlird darlDl the .... lam-
m.r, mattDl ia all aboQt toal188D bud. . p.-.
M,. Lord laYS of his" Theological and Literary 100rnal:' 'I that each oftbe eubee-
qoenc numbers wiD cODtain a dilCuuion oC ODe or more queltions that reapect tbe pro-
pheei.. The tbem. that require to be treated are Dumerou and of lteat IDeereal.
AIDOD' themale t 1." Tbe tIaeori. oC ..riten OD me Apoea1lP18 who haYe not yet been
Doticed. It i. cI.iped 10 oontaDDe an anuy811 or them, till a tall OODyio,ioD •• wroDIhl
tbat the y!ew. OD whlc~ tb.,. proceed are miataku. 2. A Ilmllar vial. by tlae la"'l or
Jp_ aDd IJIDbolI. or the ,opal., apUoauODa or the prop_ _ 01 &be Old T..,...·
886 Editorial lte... [Aug.
This is a large and most Important field. A jult interpretation oC the anelent propbeLJ
win !et aside maDy crude and mistaken views that prevail in relpect to the present dill-
pen_don, and that wbich i. hereafter to be exercieed. 3. A CuDer exempUlcalioD or the
laws of8l11re. and symbols 4. An enumeration aDd clusUlcatioD of thelprell of the
ancient prophets. . This wide aDd attractive ground, which is moat favorable to the cul-
tivation or the undentanding and refinement oC the taste, and of the utmost importance
to tile interpreter, is almost wholly unexplored. 6. A. fuller exemplification oCthe anal-
"ea OD which symbol. are fouDded. Thi. subject. which ia one oCtbe mOll interesting
aDd DlOltim~ortaDt to the expositor. is almost totaUyneglected. The question has scarce-
11 been asked, and never I8.tisfactorily answered, by those who have treated oC the Iym-
bolic prophecies, why it is that a star is employed by Christ aa a representative of a
teacher of the gospel, and a candlestick of a church; why lamps in the temple are used
as aymbol. of the Holy Spirit; waters, of nations and multitudes; or a rain and bail
storm oC a slaughtering and devastating army. An understanding oCthe principle, bow-
flyer, on which they are employed, and a facility in applying it, are indispensable in order
to determine from the symbols what the agents are which theyareueed to repreeent. ? A
definition a1ldexempllfication of the office of figures and types. in dwtinction from .,mbolt.
8. hplicatlon. of the propheciee oC the Old and New Tesaament. 9. Especially or thOle
which respectthe powen deDOIed by the wild beast. 10. OCthOl8which show_home wit-
D ' " are; whatthelroftloe is; what their.laulhter andresurrectiou denote, and whether
they are yet future. 11. or those which show who the)" are who are aymbolized by great
Babylou. 12. A. determination oC the question, Who the agents are who are the subjecu
oC the fifth vial 1 13. Who are to be the subjectl of the sixth vial 1 14. What tbe rail oC
pat Bab110n denotes 1 15. What predictions of Daniel and John have met their fulfil-
ment 1 16. What the groat events are that are to precede the millennium 1 1 "I. Whether
the nations aro to be converted by the mere instruments which are now employed by the
church, or by extraordinary and miraculous means? 18. Whether the Israelites are to
be restored to tbeir ancient land, re-established as a separate nation, and subsist there for
ever 1 19. Whether Christ's second advent is to take place anterior to the millennium 1
20. Whether the.nctified who.hall have died are to beraiaed before the millennium 1 21.
Wheth. Cbriet ia to reilll on earth during tbat period. aDd what theofticesare whioh the
rileD and glorified eaints are to fill in hie kingdom 1 22. The nature oftbe milleDDial dis-
pensation. 23. The nature or the .,vay that ia to be exercised. over the earth after that
period. 24. Wheth"r mankind are Cor ever to subsist here and multiply, as they would
had they not fallen 1 25. The views with which mi.ion. and other endeavors to Chris-
tianize the Dations .hould be conducted. 26. The duty of thOle in the sacred office to
.tudr the propbetio Scriptures, and make them the subject of instruction to their people.
1"1. Tht-ir adaptation to exalt the views of God, enlarge the knowl~e oC his government,
and Dourish the faith, awe, love, and zeal of his people. 28. Their relation to the duties
of the church at the present period. 29. The grandeur of God's designs. 30. The sub-
lime prospects oC hil people."

Among the announcements in the last No. of the "Intellectual Repoaitory,· le the fol·
lowing :-" Married at GlasgoW', on the 5th of J UDe, iD the Temple, by the Rev. W. &UCf'
oCEdjnburgb, Re". T. O. PrelOott to Miss Jeaie Mackie. daughter of the lal8 RC'bert
Mackie, EIq. of Glasgow."
Mr. Clapp hasjLlst i..ued a new edition of Swedeuborg's ., Canoos oC New Church
TbeolOlY." The first edition was eshaulted in a short time after its appearance. aDd it
11ft. UI pl.sure to _, tbat tbe rreeent edition in the style or its pttlngup very eoDs:d·
erably surpueea the first, thoagh the price contibues the same-1' 1-2 cents per copy.
with a liberal diecount to those who order in quantities. IC ODe wishes to . . the power of
1849.] .7
coDdenation, iD the letting COlth of the pod doctrinal truths of tbe New Cburch, car-
ried to its utmost point, let him procure tb is golden compeDd of our iUumiDed aathor, who
has here shown hilDlelf as well entided. to the appellation of Cl Master of Sentences," as
any of the IChoolmen ora former al8. It is ~ wonderful syllabus of a wonderfulayltem.
We hR.'Ve recently received from our indefatigable brother in tbe New Church, Mr. Pit-
mao of Bath. Eng., a copy oC the New Testament prioted in the new character of which
he is the iDventor, aDd whioh is becomiog widel, known under tbe appellation of Plaoao-
trPY, as is the written character alto uDder that of PIaOf&OgrtJp1&,. Thil is a Dew and phi-
loaopbic method oC writing and printiog the English langaage by an alphabet computed
or sign. mat represent the MOund oC spoken words. It is designed as a .impUfyiog aDd
labor·• •iDB process brought to bear upon the multitudinous and 'Vexatious anomalies
that mark our language. By those who have made themselves masters of it, the system
i:s spoken or in terms of the highest approbation, and even eulogy. While it is safficiently
lesible, it is briefer than ordinary stenography, and admirable for the ready expression of
thought in composition or correspondence, for occasional notes or memoranda. for making
extracts from learoe and nlued works, and for noting the pronllnoiatioD tn the acquisi-
tion of foreign languages. For ounelfts, though we fear we ,hall fteYer summon the
requisite degree of resolution to attempt the maltery of the new art, yet from what we
have witnessed of its resulLl, we have no hesitation in pronounoing it, in the above rea-
pects, a decided reform on the existing state of thinp in OUf language j Rnd it is Dot a
slight commendation of.the system that it has originated in the promptings of a New
Chuch spirit intent upon ... and upon the removal of all obstacles to man'e hilhest effi-
ciency in every sphere of action. .A.s to the works in question they are eZ8Cated in the
most beautifal style of English typography, and cannot but be deemed very desirable by
those who have made Phonot1PY and Phonography a Itudy. We wish oar worthy friend
all success in his undertaking_
Mr. WilkiDIOD, the well known and acoomplished translator of.veral ofSwedenborr'a
Scientiflc Wurks, has lMcome the London oorrespondent of the New-York Tribune, aDd
his racy and brilliant .,18 gives new attraction to what in most other hands would prove
a dry aDd prosy kind of catering for the news-appetite of the public. In a recent letter he
gives the following item of intelligence iD respect to a new mode of treating bodily pain.
~6 I have come to the end of my news prope., and so let me mention as amoog fre8h acien-
tific works, the publication oCDr. Amott on a new treatment of pain and of certain di..
ease., by freezing. The Doctor's work is (ha thl 7'reatmmt. Df BlcultlcM, Eryripcl... f-c•
.. lNwwnbift' Cold. He makes use of a mixture of ice and salt, in the proportion of 1 to
1-2. uhis frigorific mixture, and this he applies by meane of a little pone of silk gauze
with a rim of gatla peroha, to limited spots on the forebead or other parte or the lCalp.
where rheumatid headache is felt. Many cues are cited oC instantaneoua relief in head-
aches oC'Yery long ltaDding, and which had resisted an other meanB. The skin issubject-
ed to the proceaa for from half a miDute to one and a half miDutes, and is rendered bard
and white. The .me treatment hu been most &ucc8lllul in erysipelas oC the head aDd
face, a uuly formidable dile8le. Also in akin diseases attended with terrible itehiDI, and
iD ahon in all inflaromatioDl of the surface, whether having a tendency to gangrene or Dot.
JcE'J, he remarks. oolJ irritates, and the surface reacts against it i but thil severe cold at
once knocks down all opposition, and causes total yielding and insensibility. Hence he
has used the lame means in surgical operations, and in those where the whole part call
be commanded, as iD amputation oC fingers, cutting out of superfioial tumors, &0., the
painle'lneae is complete. The mode il well worth trying, and for severe biles and many
akin di. . . . will no doubt prove a good domestio renledy. It has the grand benefits of
immediate power and easy applicability; add to which it causes no pain, nothing like
the inconYeDience of small degrees of cold, aod leaves behind it, with moderate care, DO
- EdiloritJlI,eru. [Ang.
UI consequences. It I• •Id to be particalarl,.lnlaeatla1 in ftriODI dJ8Ir8III., well known
1bnnl or prwilttt in both 8eses.,.
At a recent meeting or the U Scientific ASlOCiation," at Cambridge, Prof. Agasaiz, as re-
ported in the Tribune, introduced the rollowing interelting view. or the Zoologict&l CIuJ-
.-t",. of roung Mammalia.
N He remarked that Zoologists. in their In\'88tlpdolll. ba\'e aadJy nes1ected one aide of

their Bubject, which, when property studied, will throw a great amount oCnew lil'ht UPOD
their observations. In studying animals In general, be continued, it has been the habit to
observe them only In the full-grown condition, and not to look back at tbeir earlier Btal'es.
We lCarcely find, in any wort OD Zoology, an esplanalion of the many difFerence. be-
tween the early and late 8tageS oC the growth o( the lame animal. Preciee 1DY88tiaationa
orthe subject are utterly neglected.
I f But there is one point which has been most thoroughly Investigated, ror a period of

twenty-five years, viz: the early changes witbin the en. But after the fonnation oCme
new being, we know little of tbe changes of form which it 81tlUmeS up to the ruu-grown
condition. This i. the point whloh hu been neglected, and to thi, he would now caU at-
tention•
•• We find that young animals, of almost all 0Ia'189, within the egg. difFer Widely from
what they are in their fun-grown condition. We find. too, that the young bat, or bird. or
the young serpent, in certain periods or tbeir growth. all resemble each other 10 much
that he would defy anyone to tell one from the other-or distinguish between a bat and a
snake. or a robin and a bat. [To iUustrate this, the Prof'eslOr had a number of preletftd
Ipecimens of these animals In tbelr embryonic state for exhibition.] ]Q considering cbe
subject further, be laW IOrraelhlng of high .,alue in these investiptions-a thought behind
tbe phenomenon; tbat they are aD growing in 10 many durerent shapes onl1 to fUUiJ the
objects for which they are introduced. A knowledge of these gradaal changes ginJ8 a
natural eeale, wbete we mar ~J:amine the pbeaomena .of -aimal UJe in all their parts.
The obJeet oC Prof. A. wu oDly to lead attention to Cacti which be hM ob.rveel alDool
the Mammalia, in order to correct our classification of thOle animalt. He weat on to de-
.I,oate, Ob blaok-board dlagraml, the peculiaritiel which he bad ob-ened-elemon.1"Ma
1nl the remarkable limllarity lpoken of as oocurri\nl ac certain periods. by sbowi. .,
.moDI other thing., that the wins and leg cif the Robin In one ttate oCthe poWlh cIoea
..ot material1y differ ftOln the wlnl and ftngen of the Bat !
•• Prof. Rare _Id the obse.utions of PlOt: Agauiz appeared to him or the bigbelt iD-
tereat j ana he _oeld be &lad if an,. light could be thrown uporl tbat power, in . . .
ItIIpI ofanfmallUe, that prodaeM the subseqaent chaopt. He ooalldered thu tile ob-
.rfttions of Prof. Apestz completely proftd that within the ~ oC Yllalitylbere is.
power entirely diltinct from that of chemical action. Be could Dot at all ubdentaad .....
these tbings we", derind f,om lenerallaw.. There mint be, he tbough" .peoi.a"wabJ
which the animal II formed-sbowinr, 10 bi. mind, that ~ phenome..& of life and".
talit,are after an peculiar power•• and not at all to be esplained by cllemJaaI propertl-..
A Yenerable brother in England, the Rev Mr. Braa of Bristol, gives us the following
Interesting items respecting the early history of the New Church in this city. .. Aboat
three years aDd a hallorm1 earlyUCe were spent, partly in the oity of New-York, aDd
partly at school, with a Scolcbman named Todd, at New Utrecht, on Long Istud. . ,
father, John Breg, died at New-York of the yellow fever in 1'795. My parents were
both sincere and pious members of the Independent denomination from their r oum , tiB,
In the year 1'791, they, together with my maternal grandfather and two aunts, receiftd
with joy the doctrinea of the New Churoh. in the firlt place ever built In Eopnd (may
I not lbereCore . " i. tlM world). expressly for the New Church worship. Thi8 \YId iD
BirmiDIham. My parentl bo&h continued In thi. proleuioD, with Increuilll JOT, tlD
1148.]
death-nl, rathe, for ___., mother . . ~". ,ean. III the rear 1'93, my father
lapprehead 10 haft been the ant ......bl' for New Cburch worlbip ever held iD that
city. There were pNleD', OD the Int ooculoD, my par6ntl, 8" other adult perIODs, and
-
wen'
with hie family to New-York, aDd ID Ilia boa., iD the par 1'IN, I beli8Ye, . . . h~ldt wb., ~

a few obild.... Tile Bey. \Villiam HiD. wboee Dame and c_ _&er I doabt Dot you
blow, aDd wbo wa. a frieAd 0(.,. lather, wu 'be odloiatlDl miDisler. I know the
aame oCbQt CIIl8 CJlher perIOD preeeDt, aocl that was Banks.. How long &heee meeti• •
continued I ctnmot tell; bat I .ppOle a.long u Mr. Hill cODtinued in New-York, or it
may haft been tiD the raftllDI feyer entered our dwelling, proatrated m, mother for lis
weeks~ aod,justas .he was becoming coavalescenl, .,izecl my tuber, ad carried hllDo6
in a week. M1 Cadaer's hoole, at that time, was ND. 340. and not ver, Car from Peck
Slip. M, Cather also IDterested himeelf to procure eome CIf the works of S.edenbol'l, . . .
present 10 the Cit,. Library. They were procored tbrough the nledium of the Rev. loeeph
Proud, and sent, With a letttsr from him, to the president or principal of the Library.
What cbe works were I do Dot know. When m1 motber was aboat to returD to ber na.
t:'Ye COIIDUY. at the la&l8, end of the par 1'196••he called OD &be pl'8lident, to oWer to be
the bearer of a letcer to Mr. Proud; but be did Dot send. He said, speaklngorSwedenboll.
that he wu • tI ~ old ...... ;' and he dasired my mother to tell Mr. Proud, that he
would be pleated 10 corN'Pond with him OD aay literary .UbjecL
ca Slight as the above circumstancel are, I tbink they will not be unfn1erestlng to yoD.
The book.,0U ma, perhaps know in the librar1t without haVing aD idea how tbey JO'
there. I woold laere oa.e,,", dlat I aaDftot.,. whe&ber the 1ibrarr wu one opeD 10 1be
pab!ic poeralJ" or whether it was the library of 80me particular Institution. The term
C presidebt,' which m1 mother ueed in relatin, it to me, would rather teem to imply the

I.teer. At all eVeDla, it . . . a prinoipal library of tbe oity. You, lirt oan perhapa inform
me with certainty, wbat with me is only a probable 4!onjecture, aba1 my rather'. houae
wa.-.or it may be, W81 Dot-tile Irlt place for a worshiplul ueembl, oC New Churcla
Christians in ,oar city. All that I baYe toJd JOG ia ioformatioD deri\'eCl fiom my m~.
I was too you111 to bear thete thiDglln mind; belnl 0011 between niDe Bnd leD yea...
old when we left America. I can, however, welt recollect Mr. Hill.
U M, fatber had a New Cburch fr,endnamed Motl. who ltlftitJratecllOOll after Id..eelC.

Be bad been tn Ne..-York but a few day. when hie wife died. He lOOn returned 10 Ear.
laod with all hi, ch ildren except hi, eldest IOn William, whom be left under my lathe.'.
care. Havilll8sed hi. children be relllmed to America jus' iD time to be .iud with
the f"Yer In my father's boa. and oompany, and at the .me momeDll aBd the1 died
within an hoor of each other. Is &be name of Mott known to you In the American New
th,.
ChDrob 1 aDd, if it be lOt can it belo. . 10 William You or hi. c1eeceDdaD&a. If aU...
be mall be DOW .beN, ee or 61 J'flUI or ap."
A _ _ Cftml • H.rtIord cot188poadeat or the :N. Y. Eftnpliat Informs liS that eccleal...
deal action is to be anticipated in relation to tbe Rev. Dr.. BuehneIl.-" The position ot
DJo. Baabnell coatinuea to attraot iDtereat bere al ell8where. His brethren all feel grea,
re.peet for him 81 a Dlan of talents, aDd man)' wbo are intimate with him regard him allo
wich frieadship for hie ...oy penonal qaalities. Still they eannot CGlpC tbal the truth is to
be couo1ed more precious than prinlte C,lendtblps, and that it willllftel' answer. before
God or maD. to allow \heir reprd for aD individual to binder the diecbarp of their duty to
&be cb.rell ia oppoeiDI error. At ,be lalt meeti. of the Hartford Central .A.ociatioa, a
committee of Sw was appoinled to ofllclally esamine Dr. Buslmell's book, to confer with
him penoaaU1i and report whether he had been uttering important error, and whether
&be AlIOOiatiOll . . . . ., duty to 4ilOb.... in &be premieee. The committee conlisted or
ReY. Dr. Portert Chalrma.., and BaY. Dr. Haw. . alld 1leY. M.... Clarke,lIclAaD aM
 890 Obituary. [Aug. 1848.
Riohardeon. In the composition oC the committee coDlUltation wu had with Dr.. Bulb-
Dell, aDd certain persons were appointed u a part of it, who were penooaU, friendl110
him and to previous views whioh he has published, so.that there migbt be no apparent
• or real prejudgment of the case. The oommittee are to report at an adjollrDed meeting or
the Association, in UoionYille, Tuesday, tbe24th prox OC coune the nature of their te-
pon will be koown only when It is read, aDd the' subsequent action of the A..88OCiatioa, it
is not within my power to predict. ODe thing may be afel)' assumed, however; that they
will disown and condemn all the errors charged with more or leas truth upon Dr Bosh-
Dell'l book. I hear of onl, an occasional convert or pervert to his system, thOUlh the
book IDay gradually effect other mind8. u

OBITUARY.
DJED, in this city, on the 8th of August, Mr. IIolUCB FULLEB., aged 4', mercb8lJt, after a
protracted illness of many months. The disease which at length resulted in freeing the
spiri t from it! clay tenement was of slow and gradual progress, and left the mind so com-
parati vely at eal8 that he had much tilDe for reading and reflection. A kind Providence,
at an early stage of his illness, directed his thoughts to the grand truths ol the New
Church, and the interest and nrdor with which be pursued bis inquiries into the doctrines
there unfolded. has probably seldom found a parallel. As the nature or hi8 disease was
not sucb as to indicate to him a fatal result, he read. and received in freedom, and the de-
light with which he drank in tbe precious revela.tions laid open to him, and which were
to hhn as cold water to a thirsty soul, enabled him to say that the last few months of hi.
life, passed upon a sick bed. and often in great distress, were the happiest of hi. liCe. The
fact, however, tbat he was providentially prevented from carrying out hi. DeW truths
Into a new life, and evincing by appropriate cc uses" the sincerity of his faith and cba-
rity, gave him occasionally moments of uneasiness, but those who had the high privilege
of access to his bed-side and of listening to his conversatioD, will Dot hesitate to bear
witness to the mOlt cheering and comforting tokens of a profound conviction of
truth and of an earnest longing to "bring forth the fruits meet for repentenoe." Tbeir
'pontaneous testimony to this effect would naturally utter itself in the exclamation.
Cl Thou hast done what thou couldst." Such calm and rational conviction, 8uch tho-
rough eelf-exploratioD, such humble acknowledgemeot of hereditary evil, suoh dad,
reference of all good to the Lord, such patient and quiet submission under eutrering. such
tender solicitude for the spiritual welfare of others, and such generous benefactions in the
way oC ultimating his good wishes, all conspired to give aSluranee of the integrity of hll
.pirit in regard to the grand concerns of eternal life. If an)·thing were previously want-
ing to the satilCaciton of frieoda on thil score, it could scarcely rail to have been complelel,
supplied by the sweetness and serenity of the closing scene. His end waa emphatically
peace. His breath may almost be said to have expired in song, SO elevated aDd exqui-
lite were his comforts in partaking or the Holy Supper a few hour. before his departure.
It would be easy to give still strooger relief to the bright points in the portraiture of our
friend and brother now entered within the vaH. To those who were acquainted with tbe
ionate noblenes8 oChis nature. with the magnanimous qualities so strikingly imaaed forth
iD hie symmetrical form. and open countenance, and with that delicate sensibility which
added the charm of almost felninine delicacy to the strength and dignity oCmanhood,-to
all 8uch it was easy to see how beautiful was the exhibition of the New Church characler
when grafted upon loch a native stock. But as we know that all eulogistic etraia8 OD
this score would have been repugnant to the sentiments of their subject, we consult his
Impulses rather than our own in paying the present tribute mainly to the memory of what
he was made by the tranlforming power oC the truths and loods oC the Lord'. New
Cburoh.
Dmo OD the 28th day of July last, at the residence oC Mr. Jam. M. Watdes. iD this
city, Mrs. ELIZAUTB BUllDSLY, aged sixty-five. Within a few years past she had em-
braoed the faith oC the New Jerusalem. She was formerly connected with the Episcopal
comrn union, but being of an inquiring mind and earnestly desiring to see the grouDds of
her Cahh in a rational Iigbt, ehe thund in the New Jeruaalem what sbe bad before 80IIIht
in vain. She embraoed the Lord the Saviour Jesus Christ u the ODe God, and was in the
earnest endeavor that her faith should be united to charity, and that they should be one

dren, to whom in a very uncommon degree she was endeared, and man,
In keeping the commandments. She left a numerous family oC children and grand·cbil-
of whom from
her bright example, have been induoed to turn their thoaghts towarda tbis IUppoeed new
faith. And we may well believe that she may be more useful to them in the .phere
wbere the is. than while In &he world.
 THE

NEW CHURCH REPOSITORY

AND

MONTHL 1:'" REVIEW.

'01. 11. O£TOBIB, IStt. 10. It•.

oRIG I NALP APE RS.

ARTICLE I.

THE LETTER AND THE SPIRIT.

No. V.

THZ question whether the oracles of the prophets annODnee the

literal return of the Jews to Palestine, and their re-establishment in
that land, under a covenant of peculiarity, as a people distinguished
above all others by the nearness oftheir relation to God, has been long
debated in the Christian Church, and may there still be said to be rub
judice. From the confident tone, however, of Mr. Lord in the affinna-
tive, one who had paid but little attention to the subject would be
led to conclude that it was a self-evident proposition, and that there
m11St be an unwonted stretch of presumption in cherishing a COD-
trary opinion even for a moment. That this has been the case to a
wide extent in Christendom he could only account for from the fact,
that the true laws and canons of interpretation as laid down by Mr. L
have been but recently promulgated to the world, and he would there-
fore find excuse for their temerity in the plea of ignorance. But
what apology can be offered for the audacity of the Newchurchman
who flatly denies both the soundness of the premises and the truth of
the conclusion, is not 80 obvious. Meantime, while sentence is SWl-
pended, he hopes he may be favored with a hearing in the attempt to
develop the grounds of his dissent from the dogma 80 categorically
propounded. In so doing he will no doubt seem to lay a ruthless
hand upon much of the romance of the theme, and to make havoc of
the devout expectancies of many minds which have nourished so kind-
ly an interest in the descendants of Abraham, those" tribes of the wan·
VOLe 11. 28
 T1uJ Letter and tie Spirit. [Oct.
dering foot and weary breast," as the poetry of pietism has been fain
to denominate them, notwithstanding the stern testimony of truth
would operate as a powerful styptic to the !3ffusion of a very tender
sympathy in their behalf: The course of our discuHSion will lead us,
moreover, directly athwart the track of the most majestic march of
Mr. L.'s rhetorical, logical, and hermeneutical forces, and in the very
outset a collision is inevitable ,vith the vanguard or his line of argu-
ment in th~ principles laid down in the follo\ving paragraphs.

le Another error into which those who have treated oC these predictions

have fallen, is the assnmption that besides the natural meaning with which
they are fraught, as interpreted by the proper laws of the language in which
they are expressed, they have also another and higher signification, which is
denominated their spiritual import. This view is held, indeed, by the Christian
world generally, and has been for a series of ages. It was the theory of
Origen, Theodoret, Jerome, and other early writers, and of Cocecius and
Vitringa, especially, among the moderns, and is the basis of a large share of
the current interpretatioDs of the ancient prophets. . . . • . No theory
however could be more groundless, or lead to a \vorse perversion of the pro-
Jlhecies. Language neither has, Dor can have any menning except that which
IS either literal or figuratiye. The power or uee of certain words, literally to
expres8 certain thoughts, is not inherent in them, or founded on their nature,
but is the result of arbitrary convention. It is because meD, for reasoDs of
convenience, have chosen to appropriate them to their several offices, and
use them a8 they do, that they are indebted for their import; not to any in-
trinsio adaptation more than any other Decents of the voice, to represent such
meanings. No word, therefore, can possibly have a literal signification,
except as it acquires ii by convention and usage. But besides their literal
meanings, words have 110 unport except that which is figurative, nor -is there
any principle except that on which they are figuratively used by which they
caD attam another meaning. ]f a word is employed without a tifure to
denote two things that differ from one another, then it has two litera mean-
~DgS. If it has two meanings, only one of which is literal, or is employed to
signify two things, only one of which it denotes literally, then by the defini-
tion it is approyriatetl to a use that difi"ers from its literal signification; and
that is the precISe peculiarity of the use of a word by a figure. Jt is accord-
ingly by a "metaphor that all the terms employed in the Scriptures that have
obtained what may be called a spiritual mealling in additioll to their literal
import, have acquired their ne\v signification. Thus, the ,vords redenn, ,..an-
,om, regenn-att, 'crtatt, rmetD, and other kindred terms that are emplnyed to
denote the work of Christ, the agency of the Spirit, and the effects of hie in.
llueDCea, have obmined their spiritual meaning by 8 metaphorical use. Not
an in8tance cau be found in the Old or New Testament of the use of a word
in both a literal and spiritual sense, in which the spiritual does not lie in the
merc metaphorical use of the literal. It may, indeed, be said with truth, not
only that it is not possible, but that it is not conceivable, that a significa-
tion should be given to a word that is not either literal or figurative. If it is
not figurative, then ita meaning must be assigned to it arbitrarilr, not because
of any relation which that which it denotes sustains to 80methIng else. If it
is not used arbitrarily, but because of some relation vlhich that \\,hich it is
employed to signify sustains to something else, as, for example, that which
it literally denotes, then it is used figuratively, as that is the precise peonliarity
of the tropical use of a word. The theory of a spiritual sense of tIXIIYb, there-
fore, in contradistinction from both a literal and a figurative sense, is demon-
strably false.
U This consideration proves the utter impossibility, also, that, in any instance,

all tlte terms of a prophecy should have even a figurative sense; inasmuch as
we have already showD, it is an invariable and necessary law of figures, thee
1848.] ne LIIIB aad ". Spirit. 441
sub;i,"
tlf·fItIIAU of tIN to which they are applied, should be ueed literally.
The figure lies wDolly in that which is affirmed, or declared, not in that of
which the affirmation is made. On the supposition, therefore, that all the
prophecies of the Old Testament, respecting the Israelites, have a spiritual
meaning, t1&e Israelites themselves, and not any other people, mwl ,till be tl&e IU6-
jerb of that which the spiritual meaning denotes, 88 certainly and absolutely
BB though the prediction was literal. There is no possible or conceivable
process by which tIlt oomel, 1l1'ael, House of Jacob, JudaA, or JetJ)" when they are
the subject of the affirmation, can mean anything else than what they literally
denote,-the descendants of .Jacob, the Jewish people. These writers are
accordingly wholly mistaken in the 8upposition, that the spiritual meaning,
which they ascribe to the ancient prophecies, is a meaning of their tlJortU; or
is indicated by their language, in distinction from the agents, objects, acts,
ana events, of which that language treats. Their theory really implies, that
those agents, objects, and acts, are representative of other agents, objects, and
events, of an analogous species; and that they fill the office, therefore, oC
prophetic symbols, and are to be interpreted on the same principles."-(Tluol.
mad Lit. Jour. No. V. p. 26-28.)

It is evidently the policy of OUT author to draw a circle round his

opponents, as the Roman Popilius dealt with Antiochus of old, and
to demand submission to terms before their stepping over it. He
would hem us in within the magic ring of his symbols and figures,
and extort & concession that no word can have a signification that is •
not either literal or figurative. The thing, he affirms, is not only Dot
possible, but not conceivable. To this peremptory requisition we demur
till we are informed as to the extent of meaning which he would give
to the term figMratitJe, and the legitimate authority of the laws by
which its application is to be determined. His object evidently is to
exclude a truly rpiritual or internal sense from the province both of
the literal and of what he denominates the figurative use of language,
and yet with a very anomalous kind of consistency he admits that
such words as redeem, ranaom, regenerate, create, &c., have a spiritual
import, but holds that this is wholly due to their metaphorical use.
This, however, leaves his real drift somewhat dubious. Is the spirit-
ual sense a metaphorical sense, and nothing else 1 If it be, it is un-
doubtedly a figurative sense, for a metaphor is a figure. If the spirit-
ual be something distinct from a metaphorical sense, though arising
from it, in what does the distinction consist 1 But we need not mul-
tiply interrogations. The inference is plain enouJth, on the whole,
that hig theory sinks the spiritual entirely in the figurative. "Not
an instanc~," he says, "can be found in the Old or New Testament of
the use of a word in both a literal and spiritual sense, in which the
spiritual does not lie in the mere metaphorical use of the literal." If
this does not imply that what he would denominate the spiritual is
identical with the metaphorical, we could have \vished the author had
been somewhat more luminous in his phraseology. We assume then
that according to Mr. L. the literal and the figurative comprehend
all the actual and possible senSes of language, and as his definition of
figurative senses utterly excludes what Origen, Cocoeius, Vitringa,
and still more Swedenborg, have termed a qJiritual sense, therefore
the assertion of such a sense is according to him altogether groundless
and idle.
 Tie L~ arad tIN Spirit. LOet.
Now we would have it understood that it is to us of DO kind of con-
sequenc~ what arbitrary definitions of figures Mr. L. may adopt and
parade with such dogmatic assurance. The simple question is,
whether there is in fact such a spiritual or representative sense as is
denied in the following sentenee occurring above :-" There is no p0s-
sible or conceivable process by which the names, flrael, HoJUle of Ja-
cob, Judah, or Jew, when they are the subject of the affirma.tion, can
mean any thing else than what they literally denote,-the descen-
dants of Jacob, the Jewish people." We care not a rush what assert-
ed laws of figures or symbols are arrayed in support of such a posi-
tion 88 this, and by which it would be attempted to rule DU' the grand
principle affirmed by Swedenborg and constitl1ting one of the distin-
guishing doctrines of the New Church. The issue is to be distinctly
made on the naked proposition above enounced by "Mr. L., and by
the decision resulting the whole controvet:SY respecting the literal res-
toration of the Jews is to be determined. We pause not for a mo-
ment before the filmy breastwork of metaphors, metonymies, and hy.
pocatastue8, behind which he would intrench himself: They are to
us as 80 many spiders' webs in relation to the real merits of the ques-
t.Jon in debate. Have the tenns Juda1&, brael, Jenualem, Zion, and
a hundred others OCCUrriDg in the Old Testament prophets a repre.en-
'ative, i. e. a 8piritual, import in mu,ltitndes of passages where the!
occur 1 This is the point to be determined t and to this point we shall
hold the debate in despite of all the centrifugal tendencies impress-
ed upon it by Mr. L. The whole ma.tter hinges exclusively upon the
truth or fallacy of the position, that throughout both the historical and
prophetical portions of the Word there is an involved, inner, or spirit-
ual senle in addition to the outer or literal sense-a sense which has
respect exclusively to things of the Divine Spirit of the Lord in its
regenerating influence upon the souls of men-and a sense which is
not only Dot recognized in Mr. L.'s system of figures and symbols, but
the eDatence of which he labors strenuously to disprove.
In Buch an elaborate working up of' the figurative elements of
Scripture as Mr. L. presents us withal, it is not a little surprising
that he has nowhere attempted. to found his system upon a philosoph-
ical basis. The idea of tracing back the laws of language to the
psychological principles of our nature seem8 never once to have
occurred to him, although it is indisputable that they lie at the foun-
dation of the whole subject. At the- present day, when every branch
of researc~, scientific, IBsthetic, and theological, is remounting up-
wards to the sphere offlrst principles and primary causes, it were fairly
to have been expected of one who claims to have opened new views
of the genius of the sacred tropes and figures, that he should have
aimed to cast some light upon that interior ground-work in the
human mind npon which the true canons of exegesis necessarily build
themselves. It is only by gaining somewhat of a clear insight into
the relation between the moral and mental constitution of man and
the principles which govem the structure of the Divine Word that
we can obtain an adequate clew to guide us in threading the laby-
rinth of its mysteries. Yet it is here that we are compell.ed to chron-
1849.] TAe Letter _ u.e Spirit. 448

iele one ot the most Sen01l1 defects in our author's lucubrations.

His mode of treatment of the subject, notwithstanding his astuteness
in many particulanJ, is superficial as well 88 fallacious. and fallacious
mainly because superficial.
Now, whatever else may be said ~f tile interpretations taught in
the New Church, it canDot be denied that they profei. to rest upon
fundamental laws which refer themselves «I~rectly to the Ilature of
man, iBtellectually and moraUy considered, and it is olll,. by all expo-
sition of tae la'~8 in question that we can hope tG be a91e to detect
and confute t.Ilose dogmas of literalism asserted by 1\Ir. L., which
carry with them a total corruption and vastation of the revealed
truth of heaven. That with us there is an admitted claim of divine
authority iD the assertion. as there was of divine ilh.lminatioa in the
discovery., of these laws, is undoubtedly true, but we rest not the stress
of oar argument OD this fact in the present controversy. We rely
upon the internal evidence of the soundness of the principles affirmed,
and upon this ground alone de we claim to be met in the field of debate.
A statement, in the briefest compass, of what we regard as the
central and fundamental doctrine on the subject before us would per-.
haps embody itself in the proposition, that man /uu aqiritual nature
to which a rpiritval ,eme i6 adaptMl. There is evidently in every
human being the potentiality of tlie opening of an interior facolty by
which he becomes conversaat with that class of subjects deoommated
3piritual, and having relatlion to the Lord, to his kingdom, te the life
after death, to regeneration, and to the Holy ScripklreL This is in
fact the grand distinction between the natural and the spiritual man.
The ODe has a perceptien of these spiritual trutbs which tae other
has not-truths entirely rSIDoved beyond the sphere of the Ilatural
and the sensual, which constitute the more congenial elemellt of the
QDrenewed or natural miJld. Such an one oonaequently DOt only has
Dew v~ew8 of truth, but he exercises a new clasa of aEectieB&, and. in
a word, lives a new life; and as all life is supported by appropriate
nourishment, he necessarily hungers and tairats fer that species or
8ustenaDCe which is suited to the newly de'leloped appetencies of
his soul. This 8I1steoanC8 is treasured up in tlte written W onl, 88
grain is trea8W'ed up in the garner. ·It js Dot found simply in the
.sense of the letter. A new-born instinct prompts him to penetrate
beyond the letter to the spirit. Having now a spiritual principle
awakened within him, he extracts from the Word a spiritual sense,
for in this ho finds the nutriment of his life. Under the promptings
of this higher impulse, such an one in uttering, for iuatance, the peti-
tion in the Lord's prayer, "Give us this day our daily'bread," does
not .limit his ideas to the thought of the natural bread by which the
body is support;ed, but advances onward and inward to the idea of
that spiritual food. by which the soul is nourished to eternal life ; ac-
cording to the divine declaration that "man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
Consequently the words convey to him a spiritoal sense 8uperadded
to the 8el18e of the letter, and it is a small matter with him whether
such a sense is recognized by the rules of rhetoric, or whether it will
444 ~ Letter arul tM 8piril_ [Oct.
come into any such categories as be finds detailed in :Mr. L.'s her-
meneutics. But he cannot withhold a smile at the intimatioD, that
the same word cannot have both a literal and spiritual meaning at
the same time, when he looks at the won! "bread" in the Lord's
prayer, and 80 in thousands of other instances.
The matter may receive a familiar illustration. It is well known
that the caterpillar, grovelling on the earth, has enwrapped within
it an embryo butterfly which is finally to be developed out of it, and,
when developed, is to enter upon another mode of life, and to be sus-
tained by another medium than that of its parent worm. It is thence-
forth to Jive in the air instead of creeping on the ground, and is to
draw its nourishment from new sources. The eaterpillar may stand
as the emblem of the natural, and the butterfly of the spiritual man.
Suppose, now, that the butterlly life should begin to be quickened in
the caterpillar body, Rnd there to put forth its new instincts, is it not
elear that it "'QuId crave something for its sostenance more sublimated
and ethereal than the gross food of the worm 1 But situated as it is
-enfolded within the caterpillar form-it can only receive the DU-
triment of its life through the medium oC the reptile organization.
Yet, upon thiH, in the crude state in which it enters the body of its
parent, it cannot live. The raw material must be, by some process,.
elaborated and refined, in order to be adapted to the sustentation of the
delica.te life within. By and by, when developed and detached from
its present tenement, it will seek its food. itself from such sources as
will yield it; but until the period of its elimination arrives it must
nbsist upon elements received through another mediwn, and adapted
by a mysterious chylopoietic process to its wants.
The application of tllis is easy. By the divine inft1lence operating
on the soul, in conjunction with man's action in pntting away evil,
the internal spiritual nature is quickened into incipient vitality, and
begins to crave the appropriate food upon which it must live when
separated from its present fleshly iBtegument, like the butterfty from
the caterpillar.· The natural man, answering to the creeping wonn"
receives the grosser literal sense. The spiritual man, within the na-
tural, extracts his needful pabulum out of a sense interior to that er
the letter, but it is a sense of which the letter is the receptacle or
continent. The letter must have the finer element essentially iD-
chIded in the grosser, and this interior element is the spiritual sense.
That there is snch a spiritual sense within the letter of the divine
Word is just as cE'rtain as that there is a spiritual nature in man.
The one is the necessary correlate of the other.
It is obv\ous, from the vein of the above remarks, that maD, consider-
ed in -reference to the spiritual department ofhis being, is in close rela-
tion with the inhabitants of the spiritual world; that he is, in this
respect, abiding under substantially the same conditions and laws;
and consequently, that a.ny reliable light which might be thrown upon
the state of spirits disembodied, would naturally reflect itself upon

• In a letter lately received by the editor from a friend and relative, now a miasioDBJ'1
in Slam, the writer remarks that a butterfly, in the languap of the Dat1. . oC that coun-
try, is indioated by two terms ~ipifying •• a .pirit'. robe!'
 184:9.] I,ne Letter a,d tAB Spirit. 445
the coBditioD8 of the spiritlJ . sojourning in tee.; just as tlae·mere
we know of the butterfly as a butterfly, when released from its gro-
velling shell, the more \ve know of it in its rudimental germ witAin
the primitive organism. Of this advantage we deem ourselves to be
possessed by means of the spe'cial revelations made through a chosen
instrument to the Lord's New Church. Through this medium we are
instructed in the intimate relation subsisting between angelic ideas and
those of the s.piritual man, \vhen acting upon the contents of the inspir-
ed Word. Cf That the Word is spiritual," says Swede1)borg, " is known,
but its spiritual does not appear in· the letter, for in· the letter it is
worldly, especially in the historical pa.rts; bot when it is read by
man, the \vorldly, \vhich is therein, becomes spiritual in the spiritual
world, that is, with the angels; for they cannot think otherwise than
spiritually of each thing containoo in it." But as an entirely accurate
idea of what we mean by a. spiritual sense, as well as of the grounds
of it, is extremely desirable, we adduce a few extracts exhibiting the
matter in its true light•
•c If yon will believe it, the very interior thought ot the man who is in good
is in the internal Fense, although the man when in the body is deeply ignorant
of it, for the interual sense, or the spiritual sense, which is of the interior
thought, falls, without his knowing it, into material and sensual ideas, which
partake of time and space, and of such things as exist in the world, and thus
It does not appear that his interior thought is such; for his interior thought is
of a quality lilie that of the angels, inasmuch as his s~irit is with them in so-
ciety. That the thought of the man who is in good, is according to the in-
ternal sense, may be manifest from this, that after death, when he comes into
heaven, he is instantly, without any infonnation, in the intemal sense; which
would in no wise be the case, unless he had been in that sense, as to interior
thought, ,vhen ill the world. The cause of his being in that sense is, becau8e
there is a correspondence between spiritual things a.nd natural, of sueh a Da-
ture, that there is not the ~mallest thing but what has its correspondence; there-
fore, inasmuch as the interior or rational mind of the man who is in good is
in the spiritual \vorld, and his exterior or natural mind in the natural '\Vorld, it
must need be that each mind thinks, but the interior mind spiritually, and the
exterior naturally, and that the spiritual falls into the natural, and they act as
one by correspondel1ce. That the interior mind of man, whereof the ideas or
thought are called illtel.lectuaJ, and are said to be immaterial, does not think
from the expression of any language, consequently not from natural forms,
may be manifest to him who can reflect concerning them; for he can think in
a moment what he can scarcely utter in 8U hour, thus by universals, which
comprehend in them very many singulars. Those ideas of thought are spirit-
~ ual; and no other, when the Word is read, than as is the intemals8Dse; al-
though man is ignorant of this, by reasoD, as ,vas said, because those spiritual •
ideas, by influx into the natural, present natural ideas, and thus the spiritual
ideas do not appear; insomuch that man believes, unle~s he have been in-
strueted, that there is no spiritual but what in quality is like the natural, yea,
that he thinks in the spirit no otherwise than as he speaks in the body; in
such manner does the natural overshadow the epiritual.n-A. C. 6614.
" The intemal sense of the Word is principally for those who are in the other
life; they, when they are with the man who is reading the Word, perceive it
according to tile internal sense, but not according to the external sense, for
they understand no human expressions, but only the sense of the expressioDS,
and this not according to the natural thoughts of man, but accordmg to his
thoughts which are spiritual: into this spiritual sellse the natural sense, which
is with man, is instantly transmuted, comparatively as one turns the language
 448 [Oct.
of another into his own, which ia different, which is done 811c1c1eDly; thus
the sense of human natural thought is transmuted into spiritual, for spiritual
language or speech is proper to the angels, but natural is proper to the man :
that the transmutation as It were of one language into another is so 811dden,
is because there is a correspondence of all and single things which are in the
natural world with those which are in the spiritual world.ft-A.. C.6648.
cc The sense of the letter in most places has respect to persons, and also
mentions them, but the truly spiritual sense is altogether without respect to
~eI"30n8; for the angels, who are iD the spiritual sense of the Word, in every-
thing which they think and speak, have not any idea of person or of place,
inasmuch as the idea of person or of place limits and coJifines the thoughts,
and thel'eby renden them natural; but it is otherwise when the idea is
abstracted from persons and places; and hence it is that they have intelli-
gence and wisdom, and that angelic intelligence and wisdom are ineffable j
for man, 80 long as he lives in the world, is in natural thought, and aatural
thought derives its ideas from persoDs, places, times, and things material,
which, if th-ey were taken away from man, his thought which comea to per-
ception would perish, for he comprehends nothing without those things ;bnt
angelic thought is without ideas derived from persons, places, times, and
things material; hence it is that angelic thought and speecli is ineffable, and
also 11lComprehenaible to man. The man~ hDwever. who has lived in the
world a life of love to the Lord and of charity towards his neighbor after his
departure out of the world comes into that ineffable intelligence and wisdom,
{or his interior mind, which is the mind itself of his spirit, is then opened,
and in such case the man, when he becomes an angel, thinks and speaks
from that mind, and cGnsequently thinks and speaks such things a8 he could
not utter or compreb.end in the world: every man has such a spiritual mind.
which is like to the angelic mind: but in the world, inasmuch as he there
8peaks, sees, hears, and perceives oy the material body, it lies hid witbin the
natural mind, or lives above that mind, and \vhat man therein thinks, he is
altogether ignorant of~ for the thought of that mind then flows into the natural
mind, and there limits itself, closes, and presents itself to be seen and per-
. ceived. Man knows not, whilst he continues in the body in this world. that
he possesses inw81'dly 8'Cch a mind, in which are contained allgelic wisdom
and intelligence, hecause as was said, all things which there engage attention
flow into the natural mind, and thus become natural according to correspond-
ences. These things are said in order that it may be knowll what is the
quality of the W old in the spiritual ~ellse, wben that sense is altogether ab-
stracted from persons and places, that is, from such thiugs as derive their
quality from what is material pertaining to the body and the world."-..d. E.
625.
In making our deductions from the principle abo'vc affirmed and
illustrated, we see nothing that makes incredible the assertion of a
spiritual sense couched under the names of kingdoms, cities, and men
. occurring in the Word. Even in cammon parlance nothing is more
common than to speak of the true church under the denomination of
,. ZioD," and of the false under that of tC Babylon.'t A spiritual im-
port is coached under the terms in both instances, and the mind is
conscious of no violence in tlte transition from one to the other. Why
then should not a principle which holds here hold in thousands of
other cases? In a word, why s"hould not S\vedcnborg's statement
in the following passages be regarded &I perfectly reasonable and
BOund?
U In the spiritual world, or in heaven, perSODs do not come under the mind's
view, but things, for persons limit the idea, and coucentre it to something
 1849.] 447

finite y whereas thiDgs do not limit and oollcentr~ ~ut extend it to the infinite,
thus to the Lord. Thence also it is, that not any persoD, which is nalDed in
the \Vord, is perceived in heaven, but instead thereof the thing which is re-
presented by that person, so neither any people or nation, but the quality
thereof. YeBt funher, not a single historical of the Word concerning person,
nation, and people, is at all known in heaven, cODsequently neither is it ltnown
tJJko Abraham is, who Isaac, tDM Jacob, WAo the Israelitish people, and ",,",
the Jewish nation, but it is there perceived tJJhat Abraham is, 1/Jhat 18a&c,
what Jacob, what the Israelitish people, tDhat the Jewish nation, and 80 in
all other cases; hence the angelic speech is respectively unlimited and also
UDiversal."-A. C. 5115.
Cl In the internal sense persoDs and words are not reflected OD, but only their
signification. In heaven they do not know (in readill~ the Word) who Lot is,
but the 9uality represented by him. . . • InasmUCh as the name signifies
the quahty oCany persoD 1 it comprehends in one complex wbatever is in him j
for in heaven DO attention is paid to the name of anyone, but when anyone
is named, or when the term " name" is mentioned, there is presented the idea
of the person's quality, or of all things which are his, which are with him,
and are in him.-A. C. 1434, 2009.
U Names, countries, nations, and the like, are not at all known to those who
are in heaven j they have DO idea of such things, but of the realities signified
thereby. It is from the internal sense that the Word of the Lord lives, this
sense being like the soul, of which the external sense is a8 it were the body;
and the case with the Word is as with man; when his body dies, then his
8oullives, and when the 80ullivee then he is no longer acquainted with the
things that relate to the body: thus when he comes amongst the angels, he
knows not what the Word is in its literal sense, but only what it is in its
8oul. Such was the mall of the Most Ancient Church; were he Jiving at this
day on eanh, and were he to read the Word, he would not at all remain in the
sense of the letter, but it would be as if he did not see it, but only the internal
sense abstracted from the letter, and this in such a manner as if the letter had
no existence; thus he would dwell in the life or soul of the Word. The case
is the same with every part of the Word, even with the historicale, which are
altogether such as they are related; but yet not even the minutest word is
given, which does not in the internal sense involve arcalla, which never be-
. come apparent to those who keep their attention fixed on the histoJical con-
text."-~. C. 1143.

The application of this to the particular theme of our present dis-

cussion is obvious. To a spiritual idea the names Israel, JudaA, Ja-
cob, Jerusalem, Zion, &c., so far from denoting the veritable persoDs
and places indicated thereby, assume normally and necessarily a
a representative significancy, which is to the letter what the soul is
to the body. On the same ground the predictions respecting both the
captivity and the restoration of the Jewish nation, as in fact the his-
tory of its whole career, couch under them an esoteric sense and scope
applicable primarily and predominantly to the Christian Church and
the Christian man, who is individually a compend of the Church.
How far and in what sense a literal accomplishment is to be affirm-
ed in connexion with the spiritual will be hereafter considered. What
we now assert is, that to a. spiritual state of mind the spiritual sense
is the sense of the Word-the sense that is present and paramount
above every other. ~'
We cannot of coarse anticipate anything else than that the view
now advanced will be denied and rejected as the mere dreaming va·
 [Oct.
garies of a distempered brain, or a string of uns11pported assumptions.
But we would fain interrogate skepticism as to such a rejection. Why
should this view of the subject be deemed unwortby of notice 1 Is it
not a fact that man possesses a spiritual as well as a sensoal nature?
Is it not the native effect of regeneration to open or unfold tJ:.lls na-
ture 1 Is there not a spiritua.l world replete with objecbJ and verities
with which this spiritual element becomes more and more conversant,
till at length, when separated from the body, it merges into the midst
of them 1 Will l\fr. L., or anyone claiming the name of Christian,
deny this 1 But if this be the truth, what is there in the above repre-
sentations of Swedenborg that is in the slightest degree inconsistent
with it, or that does not in fact grow legitimately out of it t Can we
rationally conceive that the truth respecti0l$ the operations of this
spiritual principle shoold be other than that which he has stated!
If the asserted phenomena, laws, and conditions of the spiritual world
do refer themselves to a. psychological basis inwrougbt in the very
constitution of man, what fair objection lies against the enunciation
of them in the form in which they are above presented t Take, for
instance, the following parag-raph, with which we conclude, and let
any candid, reflecting man pronounce whether it be not perfectly con-
sistent ,vith the most rational ideas which we can form of ,the actiogs
of the spiritual nature in its relations to a spiritual revelation.
Cl Inasmuch as at this day it is altogether unknown that in the Word there
is an internal sense, yea, what the internal sense of the Word is, it may be ex-
pedient to say a few words further concerning it. The ideas of the thought of
angels are not natural, such as are the ideas of the thought of men, but they
are spiritual; nevertheless the quality of their spiritual ideas can hardly be
comprehended by man, except by interior thought and reflection on the first
rudiments of their thoughts, which, that they are without expression of speech,
is known from this circumstance, that they are such that man can in a mo-
ment comprehend more things than he is able to express by speech in any
givell tjme; these ideas of thought appertain to his spirit; but the ideas oi
thought which man comprehends, and- which fall into expreaioQs, are natmal;
and by the learned are called material; whereas the former or interi91 ideas
are called spiritual, and by the learned immaterial; into these ideas man
comes after death, when he 'hecomes a spirit, and by these ideas he conso-
ciates in discourse with other spirits. There is a correspondence between
these ideas and the former, and by correspondence the former are turned into
these, or spiritual ideas into natural, when man speaks. Th}s is 110t known to
plall, because he does not reflect upon it, and no others are capable of re6ect-
ing upon it, but those who think iuteriorly, that is, who think in their spirit
abstractedly from the body; sensual men are utterly unable to do this..... Now
since there is correspondence between spiritual thought and natural, and since'
the angels are in spiritual thought, hence the angels perceive spiritually what
man perceives naturally, and this in an instant without any reflection on the
difterence; this is effected principally when man reads the Word, or when he
thinks from the Word, for the Word is so written, that there is correspondence
in all and singular things. As, for example, ,vheu man reads these words of
the Lord in Matthew, ' After the allliction of those days the sun shall be ob-
8cured, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall Crom hea-
veD, and the vinues of the heavens shall be moved; then shall appear the
sign of the Son of Man, and then.shall all the tribes of the earth mourn; and
they shall see the Son of ~an coming in the clouds of heaven with virtue and
glory,' xxiv. 29, 30. These words the angels apperceive altogether otherwise
than man; by the sun which shall be obscured they do Dot apperceive the
1849.] P,ychologieol Phenomena. 449
sun, but love to me Lord; by the moon they do Dot apperceive the moon, but
faith in the Lord i .nor by stars, stars, but the know ledges of good and truth;
by the Son of .Man they apperceive the Lord 8.8 to Divine Truth; by
the tribes of the earth, all the truths of the Church; by the clouds of heaven,
they apperceive the Word in the sense of the letter; and by virtue and glory,
the Word in the internal sense. Into this understanding of those words tlie
angels come in an instal1t from correspondence, when man reads tbem; DOl
do they know that man thinks of the suo, of the moon, of the stars, of the
clouds of heav~D, &0., the reason is, because the angels are in a spiritual idea,
and a spiritual idea is such, that the things which are of nature are turned
into things of heavenly light, ,vhich is the Divine Truth from the Lord.
Another reason why the all gels 80 perceive the Word, when man reads it, is
because angels are attendant on men, and dwell in their tUfectioDS; and be-
cause man as to his spirit is in 80ciety with spirits, and as to interior thought,
which is spiritual, with the angels of heaven. Hence also man has the facul-
ty of thinking. These observations are intended to show what ~he internal
sense of the Word is, or '\vhat the interior things of the Word, of the Church,
and of worship are, which are called celestial and spiritual things.n-A. C.
10,604.
The fuller bearing of these principles upon the scope of Mr. L.'s
interpretation of the prophecies respecting the destiny of Israel, will
be dwelt upon in our next.
G.B.
(To be connntUtl.)

ARTICLE 11.

PSYCHOLOGICAL PHENOMENA.
FAOII a Dote accompanying the ensuing communication we are aSlured
that it is the record of a veritable experience, and the writer is desirous of
some suggestions enabling him to form a correct idea of the nature of the
Tisitation and of the importance to be attached to it. We fear we shall not be
able to satisfy our correspondent-certainly not if he is disposed to lay much
stress on the kind of ghostly monition of which the present is a specimen.
The facts detailed indicate to us all exceedingly morbid condition of the ner-
vous system, attended with a consequent opening, to a certain extent, of the
spiritual senses, but in a disorderly ,vay. It is like opening a postern in a be-
sieged citadel into which the enemy msheslike a Hood. That such an infest-
ation, however, might be overruled for good in the final issue, we have no
doubt; and it is possible that tire spirit of a pious aud devoted nlother may
have succeeded, in its approach, to these infernal visitants and have insinuated
its gentle counsels and uttered its mournful wamings to the inner ear of her
son. But she could have had but little satisfaction in entering the interior
chambers of the soul through ,uch a door, and if her happiness were to be con-
sulted, no effort. would be spared to clos8 it by a cOUl'8e of strenuous self-sub-
jection and eameatlookingto the Lord. j
TaB events related in the following narrative occurred a few years
ago in the month of September and in the city of New-York. Struck
450 [Oct.
with their singularity, I Doted them down within a .hGrt time after
their occurrence, and now offer them to thf!' consideration of those in-
terested in the study of our complex and mysterious organization.
Omitting then all preceding circumstances, let me say, that having I

spent the hours of a bright September day in traversing the great

tliaoroughfares of the city in quest at once ofexercise and ofthe amuse-
ment found in watching the aspect and movements of the buS)·
throngs, I went to my lodging somewhat early in the e\"ening, more
than usually fatigued, but, so far as I knew, in my ordinary state o£
healt'b. The remains of twilight on the one hand, and the just rising
moon OD the other, made it considerably light abroad, and I stood for
some moments, looking from my chamber window towards the gold-
tinted West and listening to the manifold hum of the mighty cit)~.
While standing thus, my attention was arrested by sounds of which I
despair giving any adequate or definite notion by words, though at
the distance of some years, every particular concerning them is fresh
in my mind &~ at first. At one moment there were murmurs, as of
the voices of several persons talking rapidly together, interrupted oc-
casionally by a loud, discordant laugh, In the tones of which was an
inexplicable something that caused an involuntary shudder. The
sllbstance of this talk 1 could Dot at first catch. At another moment7
I could hear a single strong voice repeating several times without in..
termission what seemed to be the same sentence in a measured sort
of chant, aod in what was so chanted I could hear my own name, as
also something relating to myseI£ I was so startled at this strange oc-
currence (and alarmed too, I may as well admit), that I strove to make
out that it was but the Doises of the city I thus heard, especially those
of a nigh-neighboring bowling-alley, which sent forth a host of dis-
cordant clamon, with small cessation by day or by night, and to ex-
plain away the apparent utterance of my o\vn name, as a mere trick
of fancy acted on by disordered nerves. But, after listening sotne
time with the utmost attention, I ascertained that the sounds in ques-
tion did not come from tile bowling-alley or from an,. other quarter
of the city, and I did not mistake in supposing I heard in them bo·th
my own name and remarks concerning mysel£ I could not, however,
determine \vhat direction they came from, or whether their origin was
out of doors or within. In tact, they seemed to come as much from
one quarter as another, and the impression they made upon me ,vas
(as nearly as I can describe it) that they had no relation to localit9,
and were not in apace at all.
As I gave them this increased attention, the sounds grew more dis-
tinct and more intelligible, and I was able to hear perfectly the substance
of conversations, alternating at intervals with the measured chant
above mentioned, intermingled with peals of laughter so dissonant
and grating, 80 overflowing with malignity in its tones, that my blood
perforce ran cold as I listened. Again and again I thrust my head
from the window and strained. my hearing with the hope of finding
that it was from a human source these noises came, but it was all in
va.in. The myriad various sounds of the city might all be distinguish-
ed as usual, but these were separate and different from them all. After
1849.] 461

my utmost endeavors to account for what I heard on knm.ma pnftciple6,

the irDpreRsion was forced upon me, whether I. would or no, that a
band of duembodied beings were nigh me, though invisible, with in...
jurious intents. For what was there to suggest to me, that these
phenomena sprang from a 11IOf*bid state of my system when I had all
day been mingling in the city throngs in apparently fall possession
of all my faculties, and was at this very moment exercising my whole
capacity of perception, of discrimination, and of reasoning 7 But
while the impression was thus forced upon me, that disembodied be-
ings were present, it was manifest from their every word, that they
must be evil spirits or fiends. For they plied me with bitterest sar-
casm, and heaped upon me abuse without measure. Wrong or doubt-
ful acts, and even thoughts, imaginations, and wishes ofmy long past
years, going back even to early childhood, were called up and com-
mented upon in those sneering accents and with that subtlety of soph-
istry, which would go nigh to make the purest things look dark or
dubious. And not content '\\ith this, they attacked and strove to slur
what I had counted my life's best deeds and my most estimable traits,
by the imputation of aeljilh motives and by glosses the most malignly
ingenious. As I sat listening in half stupified amazement, my amaze-
ment was still further increased to hear my unuttered thoughts and
feelings of the moment, of the workings of my mind upon these very
circumstances, caught up and talked of Qloud in the same strain of
perversion and taunt.
The great drift and chief intent of these assaulting fiends (if luch
they were) seemed to be to drive me to despair, despair alike of my-
self and my fortunes, and of God's love and providence. Over and
overagain they declared that it was utterly in vain that 1 struggled to
emancipate myself from my evils either of soul or of body, aDd in con-
firmation of this, they recalled and dwelt with endless, minutest itera-
tion on every attempt in this behalf I had ever made, which had
proved abortive. At the same time they poured out the most appal-
ling blasphemies upon the name and character of God, interchanged
at intervals with clanging peals of demoniac laughter. (And by the
way, what is there on earth so capable of expressing intensity and
depth of malignity, as the laugh 1) To give a specimen of their bIas...
phemy, they concluded one of their outrageous tirades against my
unhappy self with the awfully impious words," He is almost as bad
88 God himself I"
That I should be cast into no small commotion, and that my nerves
should be strained and racked by finding myself the subject of pheno-
mena so inexplicable, will readily be apprehended. I succeeded, how-
ever, in keeping myself measurably composed for a time by recalling
much that I had read, as also something I had experienced, of the
power of diseased nerves to falsify the reports of the senses, and re-
tired to bed with some faint hope, that sleep might descend and scat-
ter the megrims that plagued. me. Bat sJeep came DOt. On the con-
trary, the assaults of my ~tormentors grew more violeD~ their tannts
more stinging and their abuse more rancorous, while darker and yet
darker, under their subtle gloues, grew the eDvelopmeDt they were
striving to wrap about me.
 [Oct.
" Why struggle longer," urged theYt "against your etJiU, as you
childishly name them 1 Of what avail have been the thousand, thou-
sand pra}~ers you have poured forth for pardon of your derelictions ;
for strength to resist the wrong and cleave to tbe right; for ability to
overcome the tendencies leading you astray and to tread the onward,
upward path conducting to beaven and to God 1 What iota of bene-
fit have you drawn from the myriad instances of self-abnegation and
self~restraint,which have cost you so dear; from the many long years
of ~effort you have made to serve God and benefit your fellow-men;
from the energetic, persistent, uD\vearied endeavors you have put
forth, year after year, to conform your thoughts, feelings, and inclina-
tions to the precepts of Him who bears the name of the Son of God 1
What have all these things availed t Do those fellow-men of yours,
for whose good you have 80 labored, esteem or love you for all the
kindly, disinterested acts you have wrought in their behal~ for the
long years of virtuous endeavor and incessant self:denial, to which
Y01lr consciousness bears witness 1 Bethink yourself 1 Who are they
that have caused you most suffering and sorrow, and from whom you
have proved the darkest ingratitude and wrong 1 Is it not precisely
those, on whom IOU have heaped benefits mountain-high; to whom
you haYe rendere a devotion the longest-continued, and the most ab-
solute~ self-forgetting; on whom, in fact, you have lavished your
heart and life, as though they belonged not to yourself; for any other
purpose 1 Bethink yourself I "Vh~re are they who have even re-
cognized the ezistence in you of self-denial and virtuous endeavor 1 Is
it those who adjudge your quality and pronounce upon your character
from single, i1l8Ulated, rare-occurring acts, instead of the unifona
te1UJr of your life 1 who look on montlu of reproachless purity, devot-
ed to the zealous service of good with unnoticing dumbness, but catch
up and trumpet abroad with clamorous, unmitigated censure the
lap.ea of momtmUt no matter under what circumstances occurring or
under what resistless pressure of instigation t In one word, so far as
concerns your present social positioll and your estimation among men,
what avails it, that from early childhood it has been your paraJIwuRt
aim and .triving to govern your life by the law of right at whatever
cost. instead of following inclination whether wrong or right 1
" Of what avail, too, have been your endlessly reiterated prayers to
God 1 Has He given you the strength ~"ou besought to preserve you
from every lapse into error and all dereliction of his commands, and
to enable you to tread without deviation the narrow path He pre-
scribes 1 Ba1Hed in the leading purposes, and disappointed in all the
fondest hopes of your life ; robbed of the very things your heart held
dearest, and from home and home's ties and a compassing multitude of
relations sent forth a tieles~ lone "yanderer over earth's face ; in fine,
made tbevictim of a multiplicityaod complication ofill ,fortunes,wearing
rather the aspect of a malign, peculiar doom, than of the average lot of
mankind, how can you, of all mortal being" fancy that God listens to
and heeds your petitions 1 '\Vhat ODe circumstance is there in your
condition and prospects intimating that His favor rests with )"OU, or
that your prafen and efforts exert, or ever have exerted, the slighust
1849·1 458

inftuence OD your lot 1 What folly then, what absolute idiocy, to

struggle longer against your nature, for evil u your nature, aDd the
sooner anQ more completely you yield to its promptings, the better
will it be for you and with you! There is always a pleasure in action
which is suited to one's nature, when it is spontaneous, full and un-
impeded by internal clash and jar. Taste thi6 pleasure-be yourself
-be evil heartily and wholly-and fight no lon~er, as aforetime,
against your own essential being I Have you not foes and ill-wishe1'8
enough already, that you must also be your own enemy 1"
Reader, I have given you some portion of the substance of what
was thus strangely nrged upon me. But I have not (for it was beyond
my ability) given you the manner. Not in my prosing,onemphatic
continuity of speech, but in curt. pungent ejaculations, steep~d in a
hellish subtlety, and hurled with electric force. the above train of
thought was pressed upon me, along with a recapitulation of all my
life's errors of deed, thought, and desire, painted in night-black hues,
and a delineation of my present shattered fortunes and of the hopel. .
future stretching before me; pressed upon. me too, as I lay there
wearied and aching in body from head to foot, and depressed. discon-
solate, and lonely in spirit. There was, moreover, a seeming of plaus-
ibility in this train of considerations, inasmuch as in my calmest mo-
ments I could not help feeling wounded at the grievous wrong 1 knew
had been done me by calumnioU8 tongues and the foolly unjust esti.
mate quite generally put upon me by many who had the meaDS of
knowing better ; neither was I at any time able to trace the swal-
lowing up of my brilliant early hopes. in the gloom that now spread
arouwl and before me, to any errors of mine at all adequate to pro-
duce such results. It may easily be imagined, then, that the mingling
of so much of truth with this preternatural sophistry and falsehood
must have given the latter a power not its own over my now exacer-
bated, perturbed and morbid feelings.
I cannot at this moment help shuddering, as I recall the night I lay
there, the seeming object of the fierce attacks of a throng of subtle
fiends, assaulting me with the weapons of my own past errors, weak-
nesses, and sins, and I the while outwearied, exhausted and bewilder-
ed by the strangeness of such an experience. Exhausted and bewil-
dered, however, as I was, I did urge in my defence, that to one prin-
ciple I had never, through all temptations and vicissitudes, proved re-
creant, and that one was love to my fellow-men. Overborne and
clamored down, I still clung, like the drowning man to his plank, to
the one remembrance, that I had never retaliated upon or striven to
harm even those who had (as I deemed) wronged nle most cruelly,
but had ever cast from me, as a deadly poison, all feelings of hate,
bitterness and even contempt, be they aroused by whatever cause ;
and, on the other hand, that I had habitually endeavored, to the mea-
sure of my abilitl", to benefit all wearing human shape without refer-
ence to what might be <UUled their deserving.. But even this re-
membrance I was not suffered to repose on unassaulted. The sup-
port it might have given me, my fiendish assailants strove to pluck
from me by every species of open oharge and indirect insinuation.
 [Oet
My forgivingness and kindliness, said they, was but a constitutional
ealloumes8, apathy, weakness, which could not be quickened into a jut
wrath and rMrited hate, and therefore constituted DO ground of ap-
probation, neither was a.ny matter of deserving.
I felt myself growing feeble and disheartened, BDd my firmness
giving way to this Iengtbened series of storm and siege, sap and mine,
Dor do I know wbither the depraving and destroying influence at work
upon me might have bome me, when an ineident occurred which &r-
J·ested the course things ~re taking. At the very moment, when I
felt most worn and exhausted, and all hut ready to acquiesce in the
conclusion, that it was indeed hopeless for me to strive longer for the
• attainment of good, for that my place was with the foes of God, and
that, therefore, the sooner I gave over a bootless struggle and sarren-
dered myself unreservedly to evil impnlses, the wiser I should be,-
at this moment I heard a voice utter distinctly the words, " Arouse
and defend yourself!" The voice seemed to come from the direction of
my window (so far as direction could be predicated of it), and on turn-
ing thither my straining gaze, I thought I discerned a shapeless, &ha.
dowy something cross the moonlight, which was bright without, and
the instant after I feft, I knew not why, that another being was ill
the room and near me.. Previously, notwithstanding my impr~.ion,
that I was the object of assault to a troop of veritable fiends, I had
not experienced that shuddering awe, which I bad always imagined
I llumld experienee at & visitation from the bnseen world. But no",
I did feel it, and it left all I had ever imagined far behind. A thrill of
terror passed over me unlike, both in degree and in lcind, all foregone
experience, a.nd utterly beyond the grasp of words. Suffice it to say,
that, for a moment, my blood seemed absolutely to cordle in its ohan-
nels, and the functions alike of soul aDd body were stricken as with
palsy. I had the sensation, a8 if my bair were rising erect, and it was
only by a strenuous effort, that I could draw my breath. I strove,
however, after a brief interval of prostration, to rally my powers and
address thee unearthly visitant. For some moments, my chattering
teeth and my parched, stiffened lips and tongue made utterance im·
possible, but finally I succeeded in framing the question, "Is it you,
Mother 1" I cannot tell why I put tAi. question, or why the thought
occurred to me that it was my deceased parent who had 80 visited
me, but thus it was. After listening a moment, I heard the reply,
" yes.11 It was not spoken aloud, but in a whisper, soft, slow,
and solemn, but perfeetly distinct and as audible as the thunder's own
voice.
This visita.tion lasted (so nearly as I could judge), something like an
bour. I cannot reeal the whole that occurred or was said during this
time, or the ol-der in which it occurred and was said, for the moments
were too awful. Much however I do perfectly remember, and a few
particulars I will note down.
The spiritual presenee appeared to be stationed upon the foot of
my bed. And here let me state a fact which perplexed me eveD
more than the rest, if that were possible. While conferring with my
visitant, I felt upon my lower limbs (which were denuded on accouat
of the heat) a slight breeze, producing a palpable sensation of cool....
1849.] 466
Not a breath of air was stirring abroad, nor did I experience this sen"
sation anywhere else than on a particular portion of my limbs, but
tkre it seemed precisely as though some one were breathing upon
.me, inasmuch as the coolness came and went at intervals corres-
ponding to the expiration and inspiration of the huma~ breath.
I asked the spirit, if she were happy? " Not entirely, as get," was
the reply, coupled with the intimation that she '''as advancing towards
that consummation. I questioned her upon many of the great, mo-
mentous topics relating to the nature and destiny of man, and espe-
cially concerning Jesus' Christ and the significance and effects of his
life and the work he wrought. I distinctly remember that specific
ans\vers '\-vere made to all these questions, but what those specific an· -
swers were has eluded my grasp (I cannot tell why), nor could I recal
them the very day following. But one thing was left behind by these
ans\vers which has neither been obliterated nor even weakened by
the years ela.psed between that 8\vful night and this moment
when I am transcribing the record made shortly after. This thing
was an immeasurably deepened impression concerning the magnitude
and the momentousness of the topics to \vhich my queries related.
Human life and man's destiny seemed more weighty and awful than
ever before in moments of most absorbing thought aod high-wrought
feeling, and a most sQlemn and overwhelming grandeur and mystery
was made to gather round the name and office of Jesus Christ. Ana
here I may mention, that the result of the entire experiences of this
night was an infinitely enhanced impression as to the malign nature
and intense degree of the evil existing in the universe. I was appall-
ed and overwhelmed by the revelations made of the extent and fran-
tic inveteracy of the hostility to the Divine Being which seemed
to burn and rage in that sphere of the unseen world wherewith I
was then connected. All I had ever experienced or seen or read of
evil "vas faint, was good itsel~ when compated with the evil, of which
I thus gained an impression.
I also questioned my visitant about the fidelity and trustworthi-
ness of several persons, in whom J then put great confidence. Some
of the replies saddened me, as they bade me beware of some whom I
had trusted unreservedly, though others imparted not less gladness by
confirming the faithfulness of those in whom I had " garnered up my
heart." Both predictions, or rather declarations (I have reason to sus-
pect), have since been verified by facts.
I should sooner have mentioned, that instantly on the coming of the
maternal spirit. the assailant fiends ceased their mocking, clamor-
ous attacks, and removed apparently to some distance from me, and
I should have supposed they had departed entirely but for an occa-
sional brief comment on the conference I was holding. Such com-
ment, however, was made in a subdued manner, as though a restrain-
ing influence was upon them with which they were unable to cope,
and a protecting power abou~ me which they could Dot break
through.
Another notable circumstance was, that soon after the coming of
the spirit, the pain I was suffering through every part of my frame
VOL. 11. 29
418 ne JevJUh Ta6erMcl, _lIJed in iU 8piritruzII",port. [Oct.
began to subside and ere long had passed wholly away, leaving in
its stead an ease, so marked as to amount to a positive sensation of
enjoyment. On ft.sking the ca.use of this snrprising change, the spirit
answered, "It is my love for you which has remoyed your pains and
given you rest, for snch is the natoral effect of true affection."
But after a considerable interval occupied by this interview, it
seemed that sorrow on my behalf got full possession of my compan-
ion. De~p grief:.fraught sighs broke incessantly on my ear, mingled
with lamentations over some incidents army past life. At last, how-
ever, sorrow for the past appeared to give place to an agonizing
dread of some cala.mity awaiting me in the nigh future, for, with burst-
ing sighs and bitter sobs, she uttered again and yet again the single
word" to-morrow! to-nlorrow t" and as often as she thus exclaimed,
she uttered also the simple injunction, "be good I" My very sou) was
wrung b~' the thought that I bad caused such anguish to her who
had endured for me a mother's pangs and performed for me a mo-
ther's manifold offices; nor were I to Jive to Methuselah's age, could
I ever forget the agony of Borrow with which she referred to some
event lying before me, or the anguished earnestness of entreaty, with
which she bade me "be good." Of what precise nature the event
was which she fores8w and deplored on my bebal~ was not specified.
I gathered only from her broken exclamations, that it was some ca-
lamity of that crt1!i'hing description that endangered my being pros-
trated by it beyond the probability of recovery. She intimated,
however, that overbome as I should be on its occurrence, yet one per-
son would be brave and kindly enough to step forward, 8S friend and
helper, and that through his instrumentality, unless I were unpardon-
ably false to mysel~ I shOUld eventually recover reputation, peace,
and prosperons conditions. I may here mention, that a series of ca-
lamitous events has since actually befa.llen me, which bear a general
correspondence to what were thus foreboded. I should snppose them
to be the identical experiences referred to by my visita.nt, were it Dot
that their magnitude and results appear to me scarce adequate to ex-
plain the intensity of anguish with which they were spoken of:
And here I must close, though much as this narration has been
drawn ont, it has noted but a small portion of the incidents that
orowded the hours of that momentous night.
1011.

ARTICLE Ill.

THE JEWISH TABERNACLE VIEWED IN ITS SPffilTUAL IMPORT.

No. VI.
TilE ALTAK OF ISCENSE.

" AND thou shalt make analtar to burn incense upon: ofshittim-wood
shalt thou make it. A cubit shall be the length thereo~ and a cubit the
breadth thereof; four square shall it be; and two cubits shall be the
.-, eight thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same. And thou shalt
1849.] ne .Altar of InceaH. 467

o,\"erlay it with pure gold. the top thereof and the sides thereof round
about, and the horns thf!reof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of
gold round about. And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the
crown of it, by the t,,1'O corners tbereot;upon the two sides ofit shalt thou
make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal.
And thou shalt make the staves of shittim-wood, and overlay them
with gola. And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of
the testimony, before the mercy-seat that is over the testimony, where I
will meet with thee. And Aaron shall burn thereonsweetincen8e every
4

morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.
And when Aalon lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense
upon it: a perpetual incense before the Lord, throughout your genera-
tions. Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt-sacrifice,
nor meat-offering; neither shall ye pour drink-offering there~n. And
Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year,
with the blood of the sin-offeri~g of atonements: once in the year
shall he make atonement upon it througho.ut your generatioDs: it is
most holy unto the Lord."-Ex. xxx. 1-10.
The original denomination is t1-.cp ~I'~ ro~, midJeo.h ,.ilttar keto ~
retA, a71 incense-altar of ince1Ut, or an altar, a pe"-fumatory of perfu'fM:
Gr. hrc",,",pCO. hl'(lJptlTOS, an altar of incen8e. Chald." l'hou shalt make
an altar to offer upon it incense of s,veet spices." The origiDal im-
plies an altar on which odorous substances were to be burnt and re-
solved into a fragrant and grateful fume. In the subsequent account
of its construction, Ex. xxxvii. 25, it is called simply an " altar of in-
cense," 8S rendered by the Greek here, and in Num. iv. ] 1, "the gol-
den altar," as the other covered with brass was called "the brazeD
altar." Bot as the Hebrew term for altar (rQ'~, mizIJeah, from n:a,
zabaA, to 8Iay), legitimately carries with it the idea of ,lain sacrifices,
and as no such service was performed upon this, it is for distinction
sake termed .,~t't1, miktar, from "t)~, katar, to fume, to fumigate, to make
to amoke. The practice of bumiofP: incense upon altars as a religious
rite is to traced to a very remote antiquity; but we have nothing more
ancient, in the Wfty of historic record, rellitive to this custom, than
what the present chapter eontains. It eeems scarcely probable, bow-
ever, that the custom originated OD this occasion in the order here
prescribed. Incense altars appear in the most ancient Egyptian
paintings, and when it \vas required to be compounded" after the art
of the apothecary (perfumer)," it would Beem to be implied that this
was an act which was practised, and which the Israelites had learned
in Egypt. Plutarch moreover assures us. that the Egyptians offered
incense to the sun; resin in the morning, myrrh at noon, and about
SUBset an aromatic compound which they called k'!IP i. But the cus-
tom was in ancient times by no means confined to Egypt. It pervad.
ed all the religions of antiquity, and like many other features of the
Hebre\v worship, derived its origin from the Ancient Church: On
this point Swedenborg speaks as follows :-" Inasmuch as the
fuming of incense signified such thing~ as are elevated upwards,
and are accepted by the Divine (being), therefore also they
were applied by the Gentiles in their religious ceremonies; that
 .68 T1ae JelDuh Tobmtack vielDfd in ill SpiritlUJl I-port. lOet.
frankincense. censers (dutribula), and censers (aCltrnB), were in me
amoDgst the Romans, and amongst otber natioD!, is known from his-
to~; luch religious ceremony was derived from the ancient Chureb,
which was estended through &en'ral regiODS of AAia, u through
Syria, Arabia, BnbylaR, Egypt. Canaan ; thia Church had been a rep-
resentative Church, thus consisting in exteroals, which represented
things internal, which are celestial and .piritual things; from. thia
Church several religious ceremonies were translated tOl the nations
rouDd about, "od amongst others the fwniDgs of incense also; hence
through Greece into Italy; in like manner &150 perpetual fire, for tbe
guarding of which chaste virgins were appointed, ".hom they called
vestal virgins."'-A. C.I0,177.
As to its materials and form this altar was mBde, like tbe ark. of
shittim·wood overlaid \vitb plates of gold. When it i. said to have
been" foul'-!qunre," the meaning is, not that it WAI, as a whole. of a
cubical form, but that upon its upper and unde.r surface it showed
four equal sides. It was, however. twice as hiKh as it was broad,
being twenty-one inches broad, aud three feet six inches high. From
the four corner po.'Ita arose four Mrm or pin7llJClu. doubtless of aimi-
lar form to those of the altar of sacrifice., which were covered with
gold like the re5t. and its top wu surrounded with an ornamental
ledge or border of solid gold, here called .. a crown," like that which
adorned the upper edges of the ark of the covenant, and of the table
of shew-bread. Beneath this were placed two golden rings, probably
OD the opposite comera, for the conveniency of carrying it on staves
during the marches of Israel in the wildernefi:, and afterwards when
removed to different places in Canaau. The nnnexed cut will give
an idea of its form.

As in the CllSCI of tbe branches issuing from the trunk of the can.
dlestick, so here the phrase respecting the hom~. "'they shall be of the
same:' properly signifies" they shall be of it. or out. of it ;" i. e. of the
body of the altar. The Heb. for top is the usual word for roof, and im.
plies that its top was fashioned like the flat roofs of eastem hOWJeS,
These were furnished with parapets, battlemenls, or balUltradf'.s, to
which tbe border or CroWD of the altar bore. on a small KAle. a
striking t'f'scmhlance. The rendering of the Greek "XW!""., ht'drtA, &Dd
the Let. V ulg... Cratic~l.." pule, is eDtirely erroneous. u the original
1849.] 7'1lt .A/tar of Incerue. 459

woi'd is different from that applied to the grate of the brazen altar.
and there is Dot the least mention made of cleansing the altar from
ashes, or oC anything to receive them. The incense was not burnt
upon 11 grate, but in n golden censer, which was placed, filled with
coals. upon the altar, 1I0 tbllt no ashes or refuse whatever fell up'?n
tbll'l altar. The term in the original for ,ides denotes wa1l8, as lf a
designed analogy were kept up between the form of the altar and the
structure of & house.
M to the position of this altar in the tabernacle, it is s3id, "thou
shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimon)", before
the·metey-seat that is over the testimony;" i. e. before the separat.
ing vail l!Illspended between the Holy and Most Holy Place of the
Tabernacle. It would of course be "before the mercy~seat," thougb
the vail interposed. It was stationed about midway between the
candlestick and tl\blc of sbew-bread, though eonsiderahly nfl\rer to
the vail than either. 1'0 remind the reader more distinctly of its lo-
cation, we re-insert the cut of tbe interior of tbe Tabernacle given in
a former number.

,f And Aaron shall hum tbereon sweet inceDse every morning."

Heb. It.dorctJa lammim, inct1Lle of Ipicel. Gr. ..,.,_/'_ . -.... A-., in-
cen.e delicately compounded. It might seem from the letter, that
A1lron or the High Priest alone was entitled to bum incense, qR this
altar. But the word" Aaron," is often used to designat'~ lh~ IDhole
 460 The Jewh Tabernacle NUJed in it, 8piritUtlllmport. [Oct.
p!ieatlg order. There is no doubt that Aaron did in penon perform
this service on the present occasion, and the High Priest, whoever he
was, did the same on other great occasions; but it was ordinarily
executed by the inferior priests in their courseR. Whatever priest
was appointed by lot to be in waiting during the week. he every
morning and evening filled his censer with fire from the brazen altar,
and introducing the sacred incense went into the hol)· place, and set
the censer upon the altar. This offered incense was ca.lled a "per-
petual incens~," because it was regularl)p offered at the appointed
time without cessation. By a like phraseology we are exhorted to
"pray without ceasing," i. e. to continue in the da.ily practice of
prayer without omitting it. The command to have the incense burnt
at the same time that the lamps were dressed gives occasion to Henry
to remark in his ordinary spiritualizing vein, that it was designed
cc to teach us, that the reading of the Scriptures, '\vhich are our light
and lamp, is a part of our daily worlc, and should accompany our
prayers and praises. When we speak to God, we must hear what
God sa.ys to us, and thus the communion is complete." It will appear
on a subsequent page that this comes very near to the spiritual
sense. .
" When AarOD lighteth the lamps at even." Heb. behaalath, 1DAea
he cauaeth to ascend. The rendering" lighteth" is rather a paraphrase
than a literal version. The meaning of the original will be plain if
we bear in mind that the "lamps" or sconces were to be detached
and taken down from their sockets in the top of the candlestick.
When they were cleaned, filled with oil, and lighted, they were to be
put up again in their places, and this is the exact sense of the Beb.
haalah, to make to a,cend, i. e. to raise, to elevate. Gr. ITI6"crc., ""' ~.xnw,
thou shalt put on the lamps. So also the Vulg. "Thou shalt set them
upon the candlestick." As the lamps were thus put up in a lig/lted
state, it is easy to sce how the term came to be rendered by the verb
to light. When the lamps \vere all lighted below, and duly raued up
to tlieir proper places, the candlestick might be said to be lighted.
The spiritual scope and design of the altar of incense now claims
our attention. Its primary or external use is sufficiently evident from
its name, and from the explanations already offered. As the table
,vas for the bread, the candlestick for the lights, and the brazen altar
for the sacrifices, so the golden altar was for the incense which wos
to be burnt upon it. That the general import of inceme has a near
relation to the constituents of true ,Yorship, such as prayer, prai8t,
con/eslioR, adoration, &c., as prompted by and proceeding from their
appropriate affections, is obvious even from the letter of many pas-
sages of the 'Vord. Thus Ps. cxli. 2, "Let my prayer be set forth
before thee (as) inceme j and the lifting up afmy hands as the even-
ing sacrifice." Rev. v. 8, .. And \Vhell he had taken the. book, the
four beasts and four and t\venty elders fell do,,"o before the Lamb,
having every one of them lamps and golden vials full of odors, mAicla
are the prayers of saints." Again, Rev. viii. 3, 4, " And another angel
came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was
.gi¥en unto him much incense, that he should offer it with tAe prayer8
1848.] ne Altar of IncBDle. 461

qf all .sava. upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the
saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand." Here it is
evidently implied in the letter that while the sacerdotal angel was
olficiating at the golden altar, the saints were to be at the same time
engaged in offering up pra.yers which might, as it were, mingle with
the fragrant incense. and both come up in a grateful and acceptable
cloud before the Lord. In like manner it is said, Luke i. 9, 10, that
while Zechariah was "executing the priest's office according to the
custom, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of
the Lord. And the ~ whole multitude of the people 1De7:e praying with-
out at the time of.the incerue." Here the two services were perform-
ed together, the one being an emblem of the other.
But as every thing is resolved, in the teachings of the New Church,
into its primary principles, so the spiritual elements which enter into
worship are mainly love and charity, and the mounting upwards of
the cloud of incense denoted the grateful hearing and reception, OD
the part of the Lord, of all the spiritual offerings made in worship
that were grounded in love and charity. "The reason," says our au-
thor, " why the altar of fuming incense represented the (Lord's) hear-
ing and reception of all things of worship which are grounded in love
and charity, was, because by fume, and hence by fumigation, were
signified that which is elevated on high, and by the odor of fume that
which-is grateful, consequently that which is heard and received by
the Lord; and that alone is grateful and is received by the Lord
which is grounded in love and charity: hence also it was, that that
altar was covered over \vith gold, and was called 'the golden altar,'
for gold signifies the good of love and charity. • • • And \vhereas
love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor are from the Lord,
and love is spiritual conjunction, therefore whatsoever proceeds
thence, is heard and received by the Lord: but what is holy and
pious, which is not grounded in love, is indeed heard, but is not re-
ceived gratefully, for it is an hypocritical sanctity and piety, being
only external without an internal principle; and a holy external
without an internal principle penetrates no farther than to the first
threshold of heaven, and is there dissipated; but a holy external
principle derived froln an internal penetrates even into heaven, ac-
cording to the quality of the internal, thus to the Lord.-A. C. 10,177.
Taking together then the articles of the outer room of the Tabernacle,
the Table of Shew-Bread represented love to the Lord; the Can-
dlestick, charity and faith; and the Altar of Incense, the worship
thence derived. By fwning or burning incense in the opposite sense
is signified worship from opposite loves, that is the love of self and
of the world. This is alluGed to by burning incerue to other goih,
Jer. i. 16 and xliv. 3, 5; by burning incense to ido18, Ezek. viii. 11 ;
and by burning incense to Baalim, Hos. ii. 13.
The materials of which the incense was composed were fragrant
substances or spices, such as stacte, onycha, galbanum, and frankin-
cense, of which the latter signifies specifically the truth of faith,
which never fails to co-exist with genuine good. Therefore our au-
thor remarks, "Inasmuch as the good which is oClove cannot be given
462 The JewUh Tabemacle viewed in ill Spiritual It/lport. (Qc&.

but together with the truth whicl,t is offaith, since good produces faith,
it was from this ground that upon every meat-offering (Heb. meal-
offering) there was frankincense; and also on the breath Qf facu,
which were on the table in the tent of the congregation." By turn-
ing to the cut of the Table of Sbew-Bread in a former No.• the reader
will see that the loaves are surmounted with incense dishes, whicl1
are to be understood as having the import here assigned to them;
i. e. of the truth which is ever to be the accompaniment of good.
"The horns thereof shall be of the same." Or, as better rendered
by Swedenborg from the Hebrew, "Out of it shall be its horns." It
implies an extension or continuation of the very substance of the
altar, 8S we have already remarked respecting the import of the same
phrase in relation to the branching forth of the arms of the Candle-
stick from its central trunk. The general scope of "horns," ~])iritual·
ly interpreted, is to denote the power of truth from good, and in the
opposite sense the power of the false from evil, and the close connec-
tion between the fl1ndamental principle of good and ~he power of
truth thence derived, is indicated by the issuing forth of the horns
from the very substance of the altar. That all the power of truth is
from the good of love cannot be apprehended, sa)"s our author, by
those who have only a material idea concerning power, nor by those
who have an idea of truth simply as a principle of thought; ,vhere-
as in fact a man's principle of thought derived from his will-principle
makes all the strength of his body, and if it were directly inspired
from the Lord by his Divine Truth, man \\rould have the strength of
Samson. That "horns" correspond to this po\ver of truth derived
from good may be more clearly seen from the usage in the following
passages. Ezek. xxix. 21, "In that day I will ma1ce a horn to grOID for
the house of Israel." 1 Same ii. 10," Jehovah will give strength to
our king, and will eXlllt the horn of his anointed." Ps. cxlviii. 14,
" Jebovah bath exalted the horn of his people." Ps. lxxv. 10, "All
the harm of the wicked I \vill cut off; let the hlWl'U of tile ju.,t one be
exalted." Lam. ii. 3, 17, cc The Lord hath cut off in the wrath of his
anger all the horn of Israel i and hath exalted the horn of thy foes."
From the explication now given a strong light is reflected upon the
symbolic diction of the prophets, especially Daniel and John, by whom
mention is frequently made of the c, horns," of the monster-beasts to
them described. It is evident that something of the kind must be in..
tended when it is said that a horn" made war with the saints and
prevailed." Let this be understood of the power of the false.from
evil prevailing over and devastating the truth of the Church and all
is clear. Our author moreover remarks, "that inasmuch as by
horns is signified truth in its power, and in the opposite sense the false
destroying the truth, therefore speech is attributed to a horn."-Apoc.
h. 13; Dan. vii. 8; Ps. xxii. 21.
The position of the altar immediately adjacent to the ,"ail before the
ark was not \vithout its significanc)". The Holy of Holies denotes the
inmost and the Holy Place the ioteriorheaven. Thevail between these
two represented the uniting medium between the interior and inmost, or
second and third heaven, as will be shownin detail in a subsequent num-
1849.] ne Altar of Incen8e. 483

~r. Bot it is evident that the state of good and the worship prompt-
ed thereby represented by the altar of incense is what brings one into
the nea.rest proximity to the inmost heaven, with the spirit of \\1'hich
his prayers and ascriptions most intimately blend. .
• And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning; 'When
be dresseth the lamps he shall bum incense upon it." This direction
to the high priest receives a beautiful exposition from the particnlars
of the spiritual sense as heretofore unfolded. As the burning of in-
cense denotes the elevation of a.ll things of worship and a grateful
hearing and reception of them by the Lord; as the morning denotes
a clear state of love; and as the dressing of the lamps represents the
reviving and brightening of the light of intelligence and \visdom, it is
therefore implied that the divine acceptance of our worship is more
signal \vhcn it is offered in a clear and lively state of love, and con-
joined "rith 8 consequent luminousness of intelligence and wisclom.
.. The light of truth with man is altogether according to the state of
his ]OV~; in proportion 88 the love is kindled, in the same proportion
1he truth shines bright, for the good of love is vital fire itself; and the
truth of faith is intellectual.light itset~ which is intelligence and wis-
dom." Now as our spiritual lamps are lighted at the Divine Word of
Truth, the lesson clearly taught us by this feature of the Tabernacle
economy is, that whenever our understanclings are especially enlight-
ened by the perusal of its pages, We should then strive to have our de-
Tout affections proportionably enkindled, so that the incense of our
altar may al,vays ascend in conjunction with the lighting of our
lamps. .. Truth comes into its light when love comes into its clear-
ness." \ The sound saying of One of the schoolmen,-ubi charitas, ibi
claritlU-where there is charity there is clarity-was prompted by
somewhat of a perception of the same truth. 'fhe order for burning
incense on the altar a.t the time of lighting the lamps in the e",ening,
denotes elevation of all things of worship in an obscure state of love
when truth like\vise is in its shade. "The states of Jove ill hea,"en
vary as the times ofthe day and the year in the \vorld, and truth is in its
light as good is in its heat, that is, in its love; wherefore when the
love is not so much in its heat, neither is the truth also in its light.
This being the case, mention is made of adorning the lamps in the
morning and causing the lamps to ascend (be lighted) in the evening,
for to cause to ascend is to elevate and increase the light of truth on
the occasion as much as possible." It would seem to be implied by
this that we are not to remit or intermit our \vorship because our
frames are dull, our affections languid, or our perceptions dim. In
the evening as well as in the morning-in obscurity as well as in
clearness-we are still to make our oblations to the Lord, and to stir
ourselves up to the utmost degree of earnestness that we can command
in our worship.
" Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor
meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon." The
prohibition of strange incense denotes that no other love than love to
the Lord was to be the prompting principle of worship. 'Vorship, in
fact, grounded in any othe~ love, is not worship. The other things
484 ne JewA TabtsrntJCle _ _ ill iu' Spiritual Import. [Oct.
forbidden in this conoexion are such as represent regeneration by the
truths and goods of celestial love which are inappropriate here, as
the subject of representation is not regeneration, but the wOrHhip of
the Lord. "Regeneration," says our author, "is one thing, and wor-
ship another. For regeneration is the first thing, and according to the
quality thereof with man there is worship; for in proportioD as man
is purified from evils and consequent faises, and in this case in propor-
·tion as the truths and goods of faith and love are implanted, in the
lame proportion worship is accepted and is pleasing j for by worship
is meant all that proceeds from love and faith with man, and is elevat-
ed to the Lord from the Lord. Inasmuch as this is the completion,
therefore the altar of incense, by which worship was represented, is
described in the last place; for all things follow in order according
to the series in which they are described;" for first is described the
testimony, by which is meant the Lord; next the ark, in which was
the testimony, by whioh is signified the inmost heaven where the
Lord is; afterwards the table on which were the bre~s, by which is
signified the good of love thence d~rived; also the candlestick with
the lamps, by which is signified the Divine Truth proceeding from
the Divine Good of the Lord; then the tent itsel~ by which is sig-
nified heaven and the Church which a~ derived from those Divine
principles: at length the altar of burnt-offering, by which is signified
regeneration by truths derived from good; and lastly the altar of in-
cense, by whioh is signified worship from all those things in heaven
and in the church."-.A. O. 10,206.
" And Aaron shall make atonement apon the horns of it once iD a
year." Atonement or expiation is the term which answers, in the
spiritual language, to the idea of purification. In the present case it
is more speoifically purification from evils by the truths of faith
which are from the good of love. The reason why it denotes purifi-
cation by the truths offaith derived from the good of love was because
expiation was made by blood, and by blood is signified the truth of
faith which is from the ~ood of love, and all purification from evils is
effected by the truths of faith which are from the good of love. That
expiations were made with blood on the horns of the altar of burnt-
offerings and of the altar of incense, is manifest from Lev. iv. 3, 7, 18,
25, 30, 34. Upon this general subject of the pw·ificatioa oCholy things
by a process of what is termed atonement or expiation, Swedenborg
remarks as follows. "rhe reason why altars were thus expiated
was, because holy things were polluted by the sins of the peopl~ for
the people represented the Church, wherefore those things which were
of the Church, and were called its sanctuaries, as the altar and the
tent, together \\·ith the things which were therein, w~re defiled when
the people themselves sinned; for those sanotuaries were of the
Church. This also may be manifest from Moses, ' Ye shall separate
the sons of Israel from their uncleanness, that they may Dot die in
their unoleanness, in polluting ill!! habitation, whioh is in the midst
of them,' Levit. xv. 31. And again, ' Aaron lhall expiate what u holy
froll' the uncleanne" of the 101U of /n-ael; thus he shall expiate the
sanctuary of holiness, and the tent of assembly, and the a1~r,' Levit.
1849.J
xvi. 16, 83. The case herein is this ; those things which are called
the holy things of the Church are not holy unless they be holily re-
eeived ; for unless they be holily received, the Divine does not flow-
in into them, and all holy things with man are not holy but from Di-
vine inftnx. For instance, sacred buildings, altars thereiD, the bread
and wine for the holy supper, became holy solely by the presence of
the Lord; wherefore if the Lord cannot be present there by reason of
the sins of the people, the holy principle is absent, because the Divine •
is absent; also the holy things of the Church are profaned by sins,
since they remove thence the Divine. . This now is the reuon why
the 88Dctuaries are said to be polluted by the uDcleanness of the pe0-
ple, aDd why on this acconnt they were to be expiated evtJr1 year.
The reason why expiations were made by blood 011 the horDs of the
altars, and not on the altars themselves, was, because the hOrDS were
their extremes, and nothing of man is purified unless the extremes be
purified; for the extremes are those into which interior things flow-
in, and according to their state the influx is effected; wherefore if the
extremes be perverted, interior things are perverted therein, for wheo
they ftow-in, the forms receptive of interior things aceommodate them.
selves to the state of the extremes. The case herein is as when the
eye is disordered, on which occasion the sight which comes from with-
in sees no otherwise than according to the state of the eye; or 88
when the anns are disordered, on this occasion the powers whioh come
from within must needs exert themselves accordingly, and in DO other
way; wherefore if the natural man is perverted, in this case the
spiritual has no opportunity of acting into him but in a perverse man-
ner: hence it is, ~hat in I1lch case the spiritual or internal man is
closed."-A. C.I0,208-
G.& t
(TQ ", cnlit~",d.)

.ARTICLE IV.

SPINOZA AND SWEDENBORG.

T . . ensuing articlo owes its origin to the suggestions contained In the following extrtOt
(rom a letter recently received from an intelligent gentleman residing at the West. The in-
itials (orming the signature will show that the reply has fallen into the rigbt bands.-U J
have lately received from Dr. S. D--, of A - A.-, in this State, a pamphlet or 3&
pages, entitled I The Doctrines oC Spinoza and Swedenborg identified la far as tb~y claim
a Scientific Ground/ in four letters (said to have been written by Col. E. A. Hitebcock,
of the 3d In(antty, United States Army), published in Boston by Munroe & Franch, and
in ~8W-YorkJ by Charles S. Francis & Co., in the year 1846, which I do not remember
to have eeen noticed either In t" Repository or N. 1. Magazine. I am not aequainted
with the writings or Splnoza and cannot conveniently procnre them. but judging from
the extracts ,i'en in the pamphlet, it il a we~k and d1lbooesl attempt to create an lID-
 46'S (Oct.
presslon among persons not well acqnainted with the writings or Swedenborg. that he
borrowed most oC his ideas oC God and creation from Spinoza. It has, to IOme extent,
produced this Impression on the mind of the gentleman who sent me the pamphlet, and
as it may do 10 OD etb\rs, I think, 1l it has not been, it should be exposed. If 1011 should
think preper to notice it in the B.ep08i~r.r~ will you pleue IeaCl Dr. D. the namber COD-
taining roar rernarks.'"

To lu Editor of t/w RlpOSitorg.

I ha.ve received the pamphlet entitled" The Doctrine, of 8pinoza fDId
8UJedenborg Identified, 80 far as they claim a Scientific Ground." It is a
work which I noticed and read at the time ofits origiDal publicatioll, se-
veral ye"an ago. It seems to be the impression in certain quarters that
the matters here discussed, or the points here claimed to be made out,
bear, inferentially, against the truth of Swedenborg's doctrines, or
against his claims to & supel'l1atural illumination. Ana it is cODsid~.red
somewhat essential that some esppcial or particular reply should be
made to the tenor ofthe charges. I i)oniess, bowe\~, that I am unable
to perceive anything in the manner or in the matter ofthe work calling
for such an especial notice from aNew Church pen. It is not professed-
ly written against us, nor are any of the doctriaes which we hold
called in question in it, or attempted to be d.isproveD, except the illu-
mination of Swedenborg. It is well always to keep our eyes upon
such things, and not 8uffE'r ourselves to fall ioto ignorance of the
various manifestations of thought going on around us. Were I to
ventnre an opinion, I should say that the title of the work was not
very properly chosen. It is said, "The doctrines of Spinoza and
Swedenborg identified," &c. We think anyone possessing correct
conceptions concerning ,vhat is conve)ged by the term identity, or
what is implied by it, would be very far from predicating it of the
two systems of Swedenborg aDd Spinoza, 'Or of including them both
under it. A moment's reflection \\"ill convince any person of the very
, wide difference there is between an identical teaching and a marked
coincidence upon certain points. Now all that the writer of the work
before us has made out, or, in our opinion, has attempted to make
out, is a similarity on several points bet\veen the doctrines of Swe-
denborg and some of the, opinions of Spinoza; and that such a simi-
larityexisted and was acknowledged by well informed Newehorch-
men generally, we supposed ,vas not very ne\v. The extent of these
coincidences we think overrated by the' author of this worlc, while their
trae nature perhaps has not been carefully discriminated.
What are we to infer from the fact that Spinoza entertained some
ideas in the i'ear 1500 which Swedenborg taught 250 years later in 8
more comprehensive and systematic form, and superadded a large
lwst of other ideas not found in Spinoza or any other writer? That
Swedenborg borrowed his sJ·stem from Spinoza 1 Not at all. But
that Spinoza, in co~mon with all great thinkers, caught some glimp-
ses of the truth himsel~ and gave utterance to some true thoughts.
But the .~anae idea, are truer in Swedenborg than ill Spinoza, because
in Swedenborg~s system they are brought out in harmony with other
tl'llths to which they stand related, and surrounded by the proper views
and teachings which serve to exhibit them in their proper light, and to
1840.j Spi1lOUJ and Swedenborg.
give them their proper relie£ 'Vhile in Spinoza·s system they are ob-
scured by the shade thrown over them by surrounding errors, and dis-
torted by the false position in which they are found and the inadequate
exhibition which they receive. The \vriter has given about twcnty pages
of partially ooincident matter; or from eight to ten from S\vedenborg,
and about the same amount from Spinoza. But we could, we think,
without ml1eh trouble, eJthihit a far greater amount of teaching coinci:'
dent 'vith Swedenborg from the writings of Zoroaster~ or of Plato, or of
Schelling, or pelehars eveD of Cud\vorth and Coleridge. But ,vhat
does all this prove l'hat Swedenborg borrowed his system from
them, or that the modern ones did from him 1 Not at all. But that
all great mind&, while traversing ·certain regions of thought, see many
of the more Qbvious trutbs alike. And they thus afford a mutual cor-
roboration of each other. Because \ve perceive such similarity
between distant thinkers on certain points,.we do not therefrom dis-
credit both; but on the contrary have additional testimony that on
such points both are true. The writer seems to express great sur-
prise~ that while Swedenborg is looked upon as an inspired man,
Spinoza was regarded as an infidel, while holding very similar vic\vs.
But this ill a very superficial view of the matter on every side of pre-
Beatation. First, because SpinozH, was not called an infidel for teach-
ing the views generally set forth in the extracts 'in this pamphlet, but
for denying the general doctrines of Revelation, and the inspiration
of the sacred Scriptures. No\v Swedenborg on the contrary did not
deny these, but made it the prime object of his mission to set forth,
elucidate, and enforce them; and therein has been very properly dis-
criminated from such teachers as Spinoza.
Secondly, the appellation infidel was applied to Spinoza by Catho-
lic and orthodox theologians of his day; and the same class of men
JIOID apply the same term to Swedenborg, because he calls in question
the common Calvinistic scheme of doctrines. Witness the Princeton
Review, an~ a multitude of like \vriters. Anyone who has paid much
attention to the history of opinion has learned that the word infidel,
like many other words, means very different things at different ages of
the world. Now the difference between Spinoza and S\yedenborg on
the nature and attributes of God is a very simple and definite one,
and easy to be understood, and is the same which exists between the
God of revelation and the God of the pantheists the \vorld over. They
differed in this, that while SpinozR sunk the being and substance of
God into an identity with the innermost essence of nature, and made
nature the de factI) presentation of God himsel~ as he unrolled him-
self phenomenally to view, Swedenborg ascribes to him a separate
and independent personal existence, above and out of nature, capable
of rolling out into space an infinite number of "nature'," or natural
universes, without exhausting the fountain of being.
They approached each other in this, that \vhile, as ,ve have seen,
Spinoza saw God every \vhere in na.ture in actual presence, Swe-
denborg also teaches the universal immanence of the Spirit of God in
all things of the Wliverse, and hence that God is every where ex-
pruBed in nature. And this last is a ver)'-different idea from the one
 {Oet.
current in the time of Spinoza, that God had made the "Dive.. at
first endowed with certain mechanical properties, and winding it up
something like a clock, had left it to ron by itself until it should nm
doWD, and the end of the ,vorld OOInfl. Throogh the system of Swe-
denborg we are enabled to percei\"c the tmth the~ is in pantheism,
and to guard oursel,"es against its errors.
One of the " identities," spoken of in the pamphlet, is the three kinds
of knowledge spoken of alike by Spinoza and Swedenborg. These
are the three fonns of our knowing faculty, and are recogubed not
only by Swedenborg and Spinoza, but also by every metaphysician
of any repute from Kant to Cousin. They are the three fonns of the
human understanding which have been defined with more or less ac-
curacy by almost every respectable system which has made its ap-
pearance-namely, the sense-perceptions, the logical cOllsciousness,
and the intuitions of the reason. These are ,wery clear distinctions.
which ha\~e been recognized by nearly all profound thinkers. ADd
the natural illference from this we think is, that Swedenborg, hanD!
built upon ground 80 universally admitted, must have been OD a very
safe foundation, and the circumstance is calCl1lated to inspire the
greater eonftdenee in his superstracturt.
The instances of alleged identity, Cited in the pages before UB, are
of course too lKUIlerous to be followed in detail; but many. jf DOt I

most of them, do not exhibit anything more tban a re""* likeness to

each other. Thus on page 14, instance No. XI., we have 8rDetle.
IJorg. "lehovah God is esse in itself • • • beginning and end, &c.,
ftometernity to eternity."-T. R. C., page 17. Spinoz,a-- Substance
is that which is in itself: and is conceived by itselt:" Elm, part I.,
de£ 3. And M Wbate,~er is is in God."-Prop. 15, and "God is eter-
nal."-Prop. 19. I

Here we see that the author has broogat together detached acrapl
from different portions of a work, in order to force aD apraraDee of
similarity; and aft~r all, what especial identity is there "God is
eternal." Who denies that, or ·who claims the idea as original with
himself? Why does not some one say that Swedenborg copied 1his
from IsaiaA or Paul J .
Again, the next "instance," No. XII. Sweden1Kwg-" The anity of
God is intimately inscrib~d OIl the mind of man."-T. C. R., page 20.
8pi7lO'ZO.-" The human mind has an adequate kuowledge of the eter-
Dal and infinite nature of God."--Ethic8, part IL, prop. 47.
In our view the two writers are here referring to two very_
tinct thoughts; so distinct in fact~ that while one proposition might
be affirmed as true, the other might, without inconsistency, be deDied,
unless its wording were somewhat modified. We think the work, if
intended to lead to the inference that Swedenborg lKnTOI«d any ma-
terial portion of his system from Spinoza, a total failure. Bat we are
by no means certain that the author had this intent in view; nor are
we warranted, from anything which occurs in his pages, to sup~
that he wilfully labors to throw an unjust discredit upon &IIy troth
\vhich may be C?ntained i!1 SWedenborg's system. It; however, this
was the object, It can have that effect only to a very limited extent;
and that among those only who do not take sufficient time to con-
1848.] 469

aider what the charges do in reality amount to. That great simi-
larities exist between Swedenborg and a great many other writers,
both ancient and modem, cannot certainly be a, new thing to any
well read N ewchurchman.
Have we not seen within these few months, one of our most able re-
viewers tracing the system of Immanuel Kant to that of S\vedenborg,
and charging the great German with having oopied or derived his
chief fundamental ideas from the pages of the illumined Swede 1 So
others find wonderful coincidences between Swedenborg's views and
many things found in Plato, Leibnitz, Des Cartes, La Place, Huggins,
Schelling, Jacob Behmen, &c., &c., and so far from denying this,
'he New Church has usually been very ready to affirm it. And
what kind of inference is most naturally to be drawn from this mark-
ed and acknowledged similarity on some points in Swedenborg and
some points in almost every great system which has exercised an
inftuence upon human thought from the days of Confucius to the times
of Coleridge, Jacobi, and Schleiermacher 1 We suppose that there
are very numerous and often very great approaches made to some one
or the other of the various parts of the New Church system in every
great &)1Stem which has ever succeeded to gain any prominent and
continued sanction from the mind of the human race, from the first
publication of the Zendavesta down to the issue of Sir William
Hamilton's edition of Reid. And we are in the' habit of accounting
for it in this way; namely, that, Swedenborg's system is a system of
Tru~h; and all those original and profound thinkers who have shed
the light of their wisdom over the progress of the race, have enjoyed,
in their measure, views of truth, and have consequently given utter-
ance to a greater or less amo~nt of correct thought. And in so far
as they have done this they have of course approached Swedenborp;;
and in so far as they have not done this, bot have given utterance to
error, they ha~e receded from Swedenborg, and disagree with" him.
This seems to us a very simple and satisfactory theory, and one
which thoroughly harmonizes all the facts of the case. If any person
has one to offer which he thinks performs the office better, we shall
. be very ready to hear it and to examine it.
While we very readily perceive the various approaches which a
multitude of authors make towards certain portions of oor system, we
also think we clearly perCeive a great many points, and those relating
to subjects of vast moment, in which no kind of similarity exists be-
tween him and any other writer. While so many writers, ancient
and modern, exhibit, what may be called, patches of Swedenborgian-
ism, here and there, the system of Swedenborg contains all the essen-
tial truth which the other systems contain, and in fuller degree than
they express it, and at the sa~e time contains vast tracts of stupendous
disclosure, lying beyond their field of vision altogether, upon which
no other writer has anything to say. For our own part, and we sup-
pose we express the general sentiment of the New Church in this
matter, when we say that anyone will show us a system of doc-
trines containing more truth than the one we now advocate, we will
readily join them in going over to it.
W.B.H.
4'70 Singular PAa,e of Soul-Ezperience. [Oct.

ARTICLE v.

SINGULAR PHASE OF SOUL-EXPERIENCE.

(From the Letters of Lavater).
MR. EDlToB,-The following extract from one of the letters of La-
vater will probably be new to most of your readers. It illustrates vef}'
well the distinctness of spiritual from natural thought, the great su-
periority of the former, and the impossibility of comprehending it bl-
the latter. The dream-to ,,,,hich it alludes has also its interest.
" There comes over me very often, I might almost say dailJ', or
at least whenever I go to sle~p with some collectedness of thought-
a singular state. At the moment of beginning to slumber, an extra-
ordinary and indescribable serenity diffuses itself over my soul, which,
while it lasts, is in a state of the purest moral or intellectual acti\-ity
--an activity that is so regular, and at the same time so unspeakably
serene, that it is not only quite distinct from every thing that could
be called dreaming, but immeasurably excels the most lively repre-
sentations in the waking state of the body. This state, which in its
effect is either exceedingly elevating or exceedingly depressing to
me, seldom lasts more than a second, although innumerable distinct
ideas, as well of the moral as of the metaphysical kind, pour in upon
me. 'fhere always succeeds a sudden, cODvulsi\ge agitation, "1'hich
wakes me. That this state does not continue longer, at the utmost,.
than a second, I know from several circumstances. I hear, or see,
for example, immediately before falling into slumber, that the light
is on the point of being extinguished, and have been several times
awakened in the way I have mentioned before the light was yet put
out, or the snuffers fully closed upon it. It is out of my power, im-
mediately on awaking, to call back a single p~rticular idea or seDti-
ment. I can remember, for a few moments, in a vague and obscure
manner, with what subjects my understanding or my moral feelings
have been occupied; but even this obscure recollection departs en-
tirely when I endeavor to make it more distinct. There remains .
nothing but the pleasant or unpleasant impression whiah this state
has made, on the ,vhole, upon my mind, and this usually continues
almost the whole of the following day. During this condition of
serenity I have not the least clear recollection of my waking state;
no forms of men or of visible corporeal things surround me. I feel
mysel~ in fact, in a new kind,of existence, of which I can as little
conceive, in the waking state, as one born blind can of colors. J udg-
iog from my feelings, I am in the invisible and eternal world. My
faults in general, and in the abstract, oause me unspeakable pain;
that is to say, I feel a horror at mysel~ 80 far as I am conscious of
having contravened the order of God, whom, at this time, I feel to be
my Creator, and the wisest and kindest of beings, wi~h a liveliness,
which, from my waking ideas, I should scarcely venture to expectfrom
an immediate intuition of the Godhead. Equally inexpressible is the
rapture which pervades me, when I find myself in a state 80 moralJy
1849.] 471

good, that I can yield myself unreservedly to these brilliant thoughts

of God, and of the moral perfection of Christ. I am not able to r~
member a single good action in particular, but I feel thus much at
first obscnrely, that this moral serenity is the result of all previous
good endeavors. I remember my friends also, at time~ in this state,
whom, however, I cannot represent to myself under any form, and
am sensible of an unspeakable longing that I could describe to them
a situation which passes all description.
" I have related to you honestly the observations I have made in my
own case, and will now add to them, 88 affording some ground of
conjecture concerning the state of the soul after dea~ the remarkable
dream which you yourself; my dear Zimmerman, .had in Nov. 1765.
A faithful narrative of this kind, from a man who is I1ICh a sworn foe
to all 8Uperstitio~ and who despi8es every thing that makes the moa
distant approach to eBthl1siasJD, i. ofgnaat value. Thildream 88~
my purpose in a double point of view-fint, beoaul8 it may be re-
garded as in general the effeet of a peculia... state of the soul, whiob
perhaps resembles its state after the death of the body; and second.
ly, because is contains some very probable ideas of the state of the
soul after death. You saw your wife, of whom it was told you that
she was dead, in a delicate, ethereal form, wearing her usual )ovely
expression of modesty and gentleness, though mingled with a seri-
ousness that excited something of surprise. She approached you
with an indescribably charming dignity, and told you tha.t she had
experienced things which no one could ever have imagined; that her
faculties had been vastly elevated and enlarged; that she looked
through the past in all its causes and effects; that each present mo-
ment was to her a sea of ideas, though the future was still somewhat
obscure; that she was exceedingly happy, but not entirely so; that
the whole of the life she had passed on earth was ever before her
mind; that every thought and every feeling that did not lead directly
whither her wishes were now directed, was now a sin to her and
a torment; that 'he felt a kind oC palsy when she looked at the
way to heaven; that she was exceedingly happy beca1l8e God had
greatly exalted her, but that still she was not perfectly at rest; that
she knew all that went on in the hearts of the persons she had known
in the world-all that went on with those whom she saw on the
threshold of heaven, without their telling it to her, for that they never
spoke, since they: were all contemplation, and y~t that they all under-
.toad one another; that the end .of the days had not yet come; that
she dwelt among millions of souls in regions of serenity, peace, and
contemplation, but that she was not yet in heaven, for that God had
Dot yet executed judgment; that bright clouds still for a time cOVer-
ed this blessed place from her eyes; 'thither, thither,' she added,
, you should endeavor to come.' Yon told me further that yon put a
nUmber of important questions to your ,vife, which she answered in
such a way that you saw clenrly what the greatest intellect among
mortals would never be capable of seeing, even in the remotest de-
gree, but that you waked up, in the act of writing down these things,
&Dd found that, with the utmost exertion 01' your memory, VGn ".
VOLe u. aD
 [0cL
not call back the great and novel ideas relatiDg to the future world
which you delired iD your dream to put on paper."
A- E.F.

_ .. ,_#_.-..-~

ARTICLE VI.

THE GENERAL CONSTITUTION OF THE NEW CHtTRCR.

Ta .....IDI ardaIe we iDleJI .. a lOIMdcDae for the 1eC0Dd iD the . . . of _ , . bp
....biu OD 1I1e Col. Propoeed eo.ti.tioa or the Geaen1 eoaveotiODJ " wMoh will be le-
.med ID ODr DuL la refneDee 10 the p.....t. .. well .. maIlJ otber oc.am.aDiaalioD.
wh10h aa, a~ iD oar papa, we would. In remiad oar . . . . ., 1bM we do DO'
thereby..... the _pcIGIibllity or .., , ad.-ecL The OPportaaiCf is
IiftID for the .p_.loD et dUreren' -.1..., when the poeral taDe aDd aplrit of dae WIi_
_e
iIMUca1eI ..., love and the uo-mbuD_t of nth la hia .nmd objecc. ID the ~ ,
lMtaDoe, altho1llh. o. cor_poIlt1eDt oacui8DaU, atten IaiJUeIC lOIDewbat .m.••• , .
tile pDera1 princi,. propounded and lu.... apoll . . well worth, of ". .DOD.
N IllItltudoDI tor meD, noe men tor 1natit1l'llou."
U Be that would be rreateat-let him " .. he tha' dotb 1Brft.-
To the opinions already put forth for consideration, the wn~r also
would add ideas to which he would invite attention. He boasts oC
little experieDce-is not a very old receiver of the Heavenly Doe-
trines-and ought therefore to exercise humility. Still 80 far as he
has correct views of the subject he has a rightful claim to a respecZ-
{ul notice.
We are taught by Swedenoorg that every whole is a congeries oC
individual parts,. and thus that the heart is made up of little hearts-
the lungs of little lu~the tongue of little tODiUeS. &c. By cor-
r~oDdeDce,. the Church, as a General Assembl}"~ and to imply the
MazimlU. Homo, must be made uJ> of little churches, i. e. of individual
receivers. Its organization interiorly is of Divine Order. The ass0-
ciation of societies only in a General Convention must be and is an
excl\1lion ofsuch brethren as cannot conveniently be members. Yet
there are 'Very maDy New Church people in this situation. To be a
General Convention of tne New Church, we repeat, is to be the ass0-
ciated body of the individual members, without respect to local Socie-
ties or State AssociatioDs. It must be a Convention oC persons--not
of corporations.
Such ought to be the form of local societies i persons of like faith
and sy~patby associating for fraternal conference and religious wor-
lhip. Mutual affection from divine love draWl them together; &Dd
it is the provinoe of intelligence filled with influeat wi8dom to shape
their action.
Hierarchical domination is not necessary. Every society or con-
vention of receivers is 8uch by divine appointment-a8 concurred iD
))y action of their OWD. Loc&laocietiea ahOll1d act as is appropriate,.
1849.]
without dependence upon a General Convention, or State AIIooiatiOD ;
and these larger bodies should act only as locallOCieties upon. a more
extended scale ; neither the larger Dor the smaller body being suffer-
ed to impede the other's coone.·
The individual receiver is prior to the society; the lIOCiety to a
clergy. We object, therefore, to every thing which iDverts thiS order.
It is DO part of the duties of a General Convention to deftne what
shall coDstitute a society or religious teacher: to endeavor to secure
uniformity of worship; or a uniform method of indacting cle~eD
into office. For these thiDgB have the Old Churches done before 118,
and by reason of their Babel-jarrings, their arrogance, their despotism,
and their ursurpations, truth ~as perished from among them; they
are dead, and become an abliorrence to all flesh. .
We cannot regard a General Convention as having a ri«ht to 1etIia-
late. It is the love of role and nothing el88 which impels anJ mau to
prescribe faith and :religioUIJ practice to his neigbbor. It ill DO matter
whether it is a Papal Council, a House of Bishops, a Methodist Con-
ference, Presbyterian General Assembly, or New Church Convention.
All laws prescribing to each individual what he shall heHeY8, how
he shall think and act, are compulsory and destruotiye. They are
clubs with which Cain may kill his brother; towers of Babe) aspir..
ing to heaven; ordinances ofJeroboam to set up uniform golden-calf-
worship and ordain priests from the lowest of the people to perform
the rituals, and kiss the calves.
In the social economy of the New Church we must-regard UIeI 81
the paramount idea; not power or individual aggrandizement. Local
societies should be fonned where enough can be found to sustaia
them in healthy action. They m)18t provide Cor pastorships by ac-
knowledging in such a manner as they deem expedient those penolll
as their spiritual guides who prove themselves suitable mediums of
trnth. If the Lord d~CJ not impart the goods of the New Jerusalem
to a teacher, human ordination Ctm1lOt remedy the deficiency. .ADd
when the Lord has thus commissioned a person, that p8l'8On can be
the instructor of any society or individual only 80 far as his authority I

is perceived and acknowledged. This was the ease with the Lord
wlien upon the earth; also with his apostles. It was true of Swe-
denborg and of the first preachers of the New Church. It is true now
of every teacher whether ordained or unordained in accordance with
church rituals.
Let no legislative authority be given to a clergymaD as such. We
must have a clergy umong the people, not above them. Every man
must be employed according to his ability to do service, not because
ofms rank. .
We fear not that this policy would open the way for delusions to
overspread the church. It carries the only antidote against them.
Each one receives the same influx from Jehovab, there being no dif-
ference exce~t in the capacity of receiving. We might .and would
have many phases and degrees, but as in heaven all would perfect
the general unity. The leaven c1t Popery and Epi!copacy now preva-
lent, would thus be purged out as an evil persuasion, origil1ating in
Jut of dominion, aad Dot in love of God.
Cf4 B.l..... lOot.
It'is of DO 1JII8 to let Up a hierarchy in the New Ohucb. The good
I8D88 of the people will not submit to it. Imposing ceremonial&--
high-sounding titles-BabyloDish clerical robes, corresponding to the
long clothing of the ancient Scribes, would only 8o.bje~t all the ~­
ties concerned to pablic ridicule. They all come to us from the dark
ages, and are demanded by that spirit which prefers' show and ex-
terior things to the &doming of the hidden man of the heart. When
will men learn this and be wise t
We admit the expediency of a general Convention, formed upon right
P01lDds, for madest reasoD8. Central New Yark; the wide West;
the world all around, are destitute of teachers. The very name of
Swedenborg is UDlmown to the masses of our population. The doc-
trines of the New Jerusalem are unheard of by the multitude. A
milaionary 8~ needs to be adopted, and the writings of the Church
di1Faaed abroad. Other uses should be done for which general c0-
operation is required. Anel may we Dot hope that a time will come
when the New Ohurch will give a voice against war, slavery, and the
other standing abominations of the age 1
Let 'DB haye this OODYeation composed ofthe masses of the Church.
Let its rules of order be the truths of the Word. Let its business
be not the ca~g out of a sectarian scheme-the aggrandizement
of any 01888, or the grave discuuion of nihilities, but the uses of the
ChurCh. Such & body will receive an influx from the Lord, which
will enable them to achieve more for the universal welfare than have
all the exploded ohurch-despotisms which have ever existed. Good , I

common senle will show this to every mind. The long drawn argu- '-i
ments which occupy 80 many hundreds of pages should be disposed :-)
e£ as the maJority of the church have already; i. e. passed ov:er with- ".
out notice. Not one in ten know, or desire to bow, the merits oftheae ;~
questions, .which are discu88ed 10 leogthily and 8Ophistie&lIy. They.":,
know their real wants; that they are not a mitred prelate or trine _I

ministry, but a simple, rational, effective system, in w4ich all can

oo-operate to a good purpose, and be benefited. IThe shorter and
IlimpIer the better. ,£,'

A. w. ~,

SE LE CTION·S. '0 ..,

"-:
;-';.i
'l~
Tbrouah the kindD811 o£ a friend whole readiDI COY8rI a wide portiOD or the llelcl of ~I
~n
human knowledge, aDd who 1lnda in the writiDp of the New Church a ItaIldard by whi. ~
to try the truth and value of all philosophies, theologies, opmiooa. faitha, facts, &Dd ~
theorie., we hope &0 be favored from timo to time with the results, in the form ot EZCf'11b, ~
of hi. ItUdioua le m&enDed1lDp iD. all wilClom:" We C8IUlOt perhapa. promiee oune1vee do
01" oar leadeD mOle thlUlaa occuiODal cOIltriblltion .tpraen&, but we trUIt that with the do
1849·1 4'71 .

obtaiDment or m... ~ he wiU ..., more larpl1 .poa. lit. reaoulO8I and .pcm oar
dumb. .

BXOBBPI'A KISCELLANu..
1. cl Throtlghot1t almost the whole of real ancient history, biblical as well as
profane, some great Asiatio kingdom and some great ~tian kingdom are
striving for the mastery. Palestine and Syria are perpeiUany the Flanden of
the war between the two continents. For a long penod after the final settle-
ment of the Israelites in Canaan, their annals are vague and fragmentary; not
even a complete and continuous history of the Jews themselves, stillles8 of
the contermlDOUS nations. Durintr the great period of the Hebrew monarchy,
that of David and Solomon, the kmgs of. Judah may be imagined as holding
cbe balance,perbapskeeping the peace between the rival empires. But clUl'inl
all the later and more disastrous Jleriod, the Jewish kings are alternately com-
pelled into alliances, or su1Fer Invasion from these hostile powers. Onone
side Nineveh and Babylou, on the other No-Amon (Thebes) orMemphis, claim
their a1le8iance or invade their territory. The conqueat of Egypt by the Per-
aians clo8ed for a time the rivalry which broke out again between the suocee-
lOre of Alexander; when the Antiochi and Ptolemies renewed the strife, till
both were cruahed by BD.e. But for how many ages befoee this contest for
supremacy had been goina on who shall presume to declare."-Quar. Rft. fqr
Dic.l849. ~,.,.IY. (Layanl. Ni....), p. 79.

In eonnexion with the above it ma,.1KK be uninteresting to have the histor-

ical record respecting these nations translated into the spiritual dialect. With
this view we give firSt the words of the prophet, Is. xix. 23-25, U In that day
shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come
into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with
the Assyrian8. In that day ahalllsrael be the third with Egypt and with As-
syria, even a ble88ing iD the midst of the laud. Whom the Lord of hosts shall
bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands,
and Israel mine inheritance." .To tliis we append an extract from the ArcanL
le That Assyria signifies the rational mind, or the rational principle of mao, i.
very evident from the prophets; as from Ezekiel : 'Behold, the Assyrian has
a cedar in Lebanon, WIth fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of
a high stature, and his top was among the thick boughs; the waters made
him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about
his plants' (xxxi. 3, 4). The rational principle is called a cedar in Lebanon;
the top among the thick boughs signifies scientifics in the memory. This is
still clearer in Isaiah: 'In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to AI-
syria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assytia,
and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be
the third with Egypt, and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the
land, whom the Lord of Hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people,
and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance' (xix. 23, 24,
25). By Egypt in this and other passages is constantly signified 8ciance, by
Aaspia reason, and by Israel intelhgence. As by Egypt 80 also by Euphrates,
are signified sciences, or scientifics, and also the knowledges acquIred through
the medium of the senses of which scientificl are formed: this also appears
plain from the prophets, as from Micah: 'She that is mine enemy . . . . . .
said, Where is the Lord thy God' . • . . . . In tbe day that thy walls are to
be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed; in that day also he shall
come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities of Egypt, and from
the fortre. even to the river Euphrates' (vi. 10, 11, 12). Thu8 tbey expressed
themselve8 concerning the commg of the Lord, who was to make man regen-
erate, that he might become celestial. So in Jeremiah: 'What hast thou to
do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sibor 1 or what hast thou to
do in abe way of .A.uyria, to driJIk the wa1en of the river Euphrates 'It (ii. 18) : ~
4'78 "ueIIlltJag.
where Egypt and Euphrates in like m8.DJler signify ICieDt.i8oe, and ~
reasonings grounded therein. So in David: l Thou Jiut brought a vine out01£
~t; thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it j she sent out her
boughS unto the sea, and her branches unto the river [EupArate]' (Psalm. J.xxx_
8, 11) ; where also the river Euphrates signifies the sensual and ecientific
principles. For Euphrates was the limit or bound~ of the dominion. _
larael towards A.asyria, as the scientific principle of the memory is the limit or
boundary of the intelligence and wisdom of the spiritual and celestial mao =
the same is signified by what was said to Abraham: 'Unto thy leed have I
given this land, from the river of Egypt, unto the great river) the river Eu-
phrates' (Gen. xv. 18). These two lliriits or boundaries have similar significa-
tioDS."-A. C. 119. 120.

s. The following geographical information is commended to the notice of

Dr. Pond. The source from which it is drawn being perhaps of more au-
thority with him than any statement of Swedenborg to tlie same e1fect.
&I Equatorial Africa is one immense table-land, of which, however, we e8Il
only conjecture the advantages, whether from the difficulty of approach, the
distance, or the diversion of the current of adventure to other quarters of
the world, tAil cAill ~ 01 UN .tf/rietIIA CORti""" CORti. . . alfaoIt . . . . . .
to EuropIGfII. The central region is a blank in our maps, but 0CCtI6i0JllJl1tll"
,.IGQ\ UI of tAe plmty, tJu pomp, and ft'm of tAe civili2ation aM iratlUII!J of tM , . .
laftd."-Bllu:ililootl" Nag., .April, 1849, ,. 408. Rn. of loAMlOA'. PAp. Gfo6.

We find the following in a speech of the celebrated Parliamentarian John

Pym. while prosecuting the Earl of Sta1ford (or high treason.
8. "Truth and Goodneu, my lords-they are the beauty of the soul, they are
the protection of all ereated nature; they are the image and character of God
upon the creatures. Thi8 beauty, evil spirits and evil men have l08tj but yet
tfiere are Done 80 wicked but they desire to march under the show ana shadow
of it, though they hate the reality."-FOItfr" Lif, of Pp, iA lA BID,.,.. qf
Eng. COlllmontl1ftlltA, p. 185.

MISCELLANY.

Tbe follo~ing is a letter or very recent date. received rrom a gentleman at the South,
who hu been a reader but a few months.

DU. 11ll,
Since 1 last had the pleasure of writing to you,'I have devoted as much time
a8 I could spare from other engagements, to the study of the theology and phi.
losophy of the New Church. With the philosophy as propounded by yo11J'88lf
and Des Gnays I am greatly delighted. It throws open an entirely Dew field
for thought, and deep reftection-a field which, if lroperly and candidly u·
plored, mtut satisfy the most sceptical. To my min the doctriDes of the New
Church are far more simple, and accord more fully with right re88On, dum
the dogmas of any of the branches of the Old Churcb. Although these doe>
trines are branded " materialism, mysticism," &c., there is not a moiety of the
mysticism iD them that there is iD me Old Church notioDl of die l8I1DHOtioa.
18a] 47'7
justification, k. Tile religion of the New Church is the religion of the Bible;
it addre88es itself to our re&looiDg faculties, and then eaU. upon 118 to act. It
recognizes, to the fullest e~teDe. freedom of action; holds out before us good
and evil, aDd makes u. respeosible for our choice. If this be ~t the tme re-
ligion, what motive could our heav-enly Father have had in endowing ue witll
such noble powers, lDotal u.d intellectual 1 How can we believe, without
some 8ubstaMial basis upon which to predicate our faith' I confess that I
cannot conceive of such a theory as what I call (for want of a better expres-
sion) involnntary faith. I cannot and do not wisll to possess such faith as a
"fery resp~ctable clergyIIlan in this region says he has; to wit, that jf the Bible
had said that JOfUJ1& ItDCIllmNd tu V1IuJh, he would have given it entire credence.
It is for waut of such involuntary faith that I have ever thought myself a
sceptic. I now believe iIltellilently, and I have ever believed ignorantly, it
may be, that my Bible does Dot require of me faith iD such monstrous absurd.
ities, giving thelanguap ita literal signification. This is the primary caU8e
of 80 much infidelity. Men must renounce an faith in the inspired writingB,
or become subjects of a withering fatalism. Such an alternative is not forced
lIpon UB by the doctrines of the New Church.
I eonfeI8 that the d.iscloaarel of E. 8. in his Spirkual Di~,are almOlt UD·
iIltel¥ble to JDe. I have not yet arrived at that point, wbere I can readily
ooncenre it polBible to hold OOnVel'88 and have direcl, interceurse with the in-
laabitallts ofdte·' spirit-land," as E. S. proleaees to have done. I cannot deny
that such mat have been the fact" and liave DO valid reason to doubt his aver·
mental in the ~mise8, yet I do Dot entirely comprehend it. Perhaps (and I
think such WIll probably be the cue) after a more thorough investigation of
the subject, it may all appear plain. As I said to you OD a former OocaaiOD, I
must undel8tand somewhat of a subject before I can fully believe it. The
&rat opportuDity that offers, if I am able, I design to buy all the writing. of
the New Church. I feel a deep and lively interest in the adoption and spread
of the New Church doctrines, and 80 far as my limited means will justify,
1rill aid in the good work. ,
Very truly, .
Your obedieBtMIVaDt.

We cannot, perbap" do better thaa to submit tbe following le.r to oar readers•. jult
.. it comes to 111, in the hope that It may arlest the atteDtton '" thOle who have duI,
weighed the SUbject and are prepazed to offer lugestionl that _haD 10 to relieve die miDd
ofoQroo~ndenL

DBAB 8JJl,
I am extremely desirous to be ealiallamed, either by an essay in yODr excel-
lent Repository, or by letter, as to the mode in whiCh the Lord'8 day is to be
kept, according to me doctrines of the New Church. Sunday, Dot beiog the
Jewish Sabbath, is not therefore to be observed with the same ceremonial
8trictne88; Devel't.heh!ss, many sects in this country seem very anxious to ap-
proach as Bear to the Jewish mod-e of keeping it as pos8ible, especially die
Preabyterian&. NGW what, for example, would be the proper mode of observing
Sunda7 iu a &ChuGI ()f young boySt after they had been confined to tlleir reli-
gious mstnIction as long as was thought proper for the day, morning and even-
ing, besides attending church 1 Are they to be debarred from all amusement or
play for the rest of the time on that day 1 Can they Dot enjoy innocent games
andsport8, as on week-days 1 or must they be confined to the house, or re-
stricted to quiet walks around the premises and forbidden to make a noise 1 I
have myself been brought np to keep Sunday very strictly, but {or the life of
me eanuot see any reason why occupatioDs innocent in themselves (always
ucepting dOWlU'ight week.day .ori) should be righton week-days and wrong
tJ'an.
on Sunday. Swedenborg says that Sunday is. to be devoted to deeds of chari-
religi0tl8 instmction, but we C&W1ot teach or be caught the entire day,
 478 MUcelltlny. [Oat-
and we are at Gll times boimd to do good works, 80 that this 8tatement of S.
is to me somewhat general and vague. As others, doobtlesa, besides myeelC
would wish to be informed on this matter, would you have me
goodneas to
state the New Church news with regard to iL
Very respectfully,
Y01U8, &c.

Fm the insertion in our pages or tlae fonowing extract rrom a recent letter of one oC on r
valued OoneepondeDtlt we trust to the writer'. induIpDae. and a1Io for a slight modi1lca-
or
Don ODe or two apreulonl of a pel'lODaI bearing. Hie article. haw been Le8d ~ith . ,
much gratifieation by oor .nbscribers that they 08DDot bllt ell8em it a bappin. . to be
brought into somewhat neazer acquaintance with ODe to whoa they feel deeply lDdebttd
for his able expo~onl of the N. C. philosophy.

DEAR SIll,
I take the liberty on the preeent occasion or making somewhat more dum
a mere busines8 communication, announcing the faet that I have forwarded
another article for the New Church Repository. However agreeable my con-
nection with you as an Editor mar be to me, our common interest in the dis-
eovery and promulgation of truth 18 a stronger tie..•. Parson's Eeaays first at-.
tracted my attention to the system. Des Gnays' Letters confirmed me in tJut
opinion that it was worthy of serious consideration. But cl Mesmer and ~
denborg." which fell into my hands when I was a medical student at Philadel-
phia in 1846, scattered my doubt8 more than anything I had met with before.
A careful perusal of the "Angelic Wisdom ooncerning the Di.in. Love and
Wisdom," finished the work of I}onviction, and I gave in my cordial adhesion
to a theology from the study of which I have already derived more pleasure
lhan from all the other combined circumstances of my life. I have 88 yee
merely mastered the outline, or 8careely even that, and look forward with de-
light to the patient and thorough investigation of the whole. I possess neith-
er the Arcan8 nor the Apocalypse, and have never read them. All of E. 8.'a
minor works, the Swedenborg Library, and some twelve or fifteen volumes of
Chmcb Jiteramre, cODstitute my theological library. The t, Animal Kingdom,"
and the U Economy of the Animal Kingdom," contain stores of invaluable
knowledge, and their perusal and re-perusal will amply reward the time and
labor employed upon them. The former, which I procured at Louisvl1le re·
cently, I have not yet finished; but in it J have already di8covered prindplG
of thought possessed of a universality of application truly wonderful. An
epitome of that work illustrated with ,vood-euts (which could be easily taken
from the curreDt works on Anatomy) and supplied with explanatory notes,
Ihonld be in the hands of everr NewcbnrchmaD. It would more impress the
value of E. S.'s scientific invesugations upon llledical men.
You have perbaps been Surpri8ed at the infrequenoy of my commnnieatioDS.
My professional engagements during the S11mmer mODtbB entirely precluded
me from both readin~ and writing. Sinee the sickn888 has abated, I have had
more leisure for the prosecution of my spirituo-physical inquiries. r eaDDoI
however promise that my essays, shall be forthcoming at shorter intervals, and
for reasons which yoo will readily appreciate. I feel like the child picking up
pebbles on the sea shore while the \vhole ooean lay undiscovered 1:ief0l'8 him.
By the aid of onr great teacher I have obtained enough. iusight iota nature to
discover my present incompetency for the elneidatioll of ber mysteries. With
the little knowledge of the system I now possess.. IIlr speculations must ne-
cessarily be crude and open to the criticislD of minds POse8SSed of clearer
light. I am eO'MCiOUl, however, of a rapid mental progress towards the di&.
covery and appreciation of truth, and [ cherish the hope and deaip of occa-
sionally contributing my mite to the treasury of the New Jemaalem. I pro-
pose, therefore, to devote my leisure during tbe whole coming winter to the
ardent study of E. S.'8 scientific works, and to their dilligenl comparison with
''''.8 atandard_ worU 011 Anatomy and Physiology.
 1849.] [4'79
Another subject also is knocking loudly at the door of my mind and de-
manding investigation. I allude to Homaopatky. I have long looked v-pon
systems of medicine, like systems of religioD, as temPo/a!'!! pr01JUion~ for the ne·
cessities of mankind. A SJsteDl of P~d&ologicalmedicint nas been slowly loom-
ing up from my mental horizon ever SJnce my acquaintance with Swedenborg,
ma is daily &88~ distincter form. To that NetIJ MediciM, Hommopathy is a
forerunner. The prmciple, limilia ,imilibw tuTanda, and the efficacy of attm-
tmtima" appear to me to be explicable by spiritual laws. With HomCBopathic
literature r am 80mewhat conversant, and have not been altogether pleased
with it.· Nevertheless I am candid enough to say, that I have used
Rommopathie remedies with considerable tJPJ'GTmt succe. and that I intend
to give the whole subject a full and fair exammation. This branch of inquiry
will take up a large portion of my leisure time. I would like to Bee Dr. ~),{id.
del's pamphlet, for every' attempt to point out the spiritual origin of diseu8
must be interesting, a1thoulJh to all appearance yreTll4tuf"e in the present seep-
ical pbaaia of the human mmd;
YOUlSJ&e.
. W.B.H.

The ensuing comnumicatioD il Crom aN. C. mend in Cbarlestou, S. C., who will not.
we presume, be unwilling to han hie 8ugestiQnl propounded for the oonsideratioll or
tho88 among our reader. who may _I more COlDpeteDt than we do to form a deiDite
opinion llpon them. They &reandoubtedl, worth, oC refleodon. For the information
I'MpeOtiog tbe state of the N. C. Society in that place we are much oblipd to Ol1r carrel-
poDdent.

ID' DBAB 81B. AIm BaoTIIBB,

I observe, by a statement made in one of our daily gazettes, extracted from
eome foreign Joumal, that of all the-deaths caused by Cholera in the citl of
London, there was not a single instance of a Jew falling a victim to that dis-
ease. It would be, it occurs to me, an interesting inqu~, how stands 'the fact,
iD the same relation in other large cities, New-York, Phl1adelphia, &te., on our
own continent 1 A cause has been assigned {or this exemptIon, viz., a 8trict
observance, on the ~art of the Jews, of the Mosiac prohibition as to the eating
of certain articles of food; which articles correspond to evil, and of which
Christians partake freely, they in fact, makinl1 no discrimination between clean
and unclean, prohibited or not prohibited anlDlals. If the fact were so; if the
Jews were strict in their adherence to their faith; if they really hearkened
unto Moses, there might be some plausibility in the reason, but die fact is not
80. The Jews are about as regardless of the laws of their great Lawgiver as
are the Christians of those of the Lord. Exceptions there are in both cases
we hope, but in the main the Jews are emphatically fond of good eating,an~
consult their palate much more than they do the Pentateuch.
May not the cause, if the fact be as stated, be resolved into the difference of
degrees or planes in man 1 In man there are three plR.nes or degrees, and
these are discrete, viz 0' the natural, spiritual, and celestial; and as a church iD.
the least form, so a church in the aggregate, has the same planes or degrees in
it. yet neither has the church in the least, or in the aggregate, all these planes
~pen; but it may, in the process of regeneration, ascend from the lowest to
die hIghest. Each of these planes makes one of the three heavens in man, and
in the church; and they have their opposites or hells, and both the heavens
and the bells have their outbirths In this mundane world. For the purpose of
our argument.we pass the heavens by, and advert to the hells. To those who
are in the perversion of tbe Will or Love, or celestial church, may Dot the dis.
eases of tile body be of the most interior or f~arful kind, while to those who
are in the perversion ofthe Truth, or spiritual church, they are of a less fearful
kind, yet bad enough, Cholera for instance' Those of the natural again bave
their diseases corresponding; namely, such u are of an exterior kind i and Jf
 [Oot.
the natural maD. the Jew for iDetaDce has not the 9hitnl or celeetial plane
open in him, he cannot pervert the truth; of those ptanes, and c0nBe<l,uendy in
die ultimate world cannot be UFected by the diseases corresponding WIth them.
I am well aware of the constant and useful appropriation of your time, and
therefore am afraid of trespassing on it, 10 much as to ut any special atten-
tion to this matter. I am allured if you think the prosecution or the inquiry
....ill in anI W&ysubserve.the ~a11ie of hamanity you will give it the attention
fOu rna, think it entitled to.
With atrectioD and respect,
Y01D'l fratemally.
P. S. Since writing the foregoiq, it oee11l8 to me you would like to hear
aomething of our state and condition in CharleatoD. Our numbers do Dot in-
ereue with the ratio of our desires, but we have a h~ppy time in our little cir-
cle. We assemble every Sabbath for worship from fifteen to twenty, and after
worship we Ipend an hour or more in sociil converse; and these conversa-
tions we hope are profitable. We appropriate an evening in the week for the
like purpose, but our evening meetings are now thinly attended, owing to the
preftlence of yellow or Itranger'S fever, during which season, it is found daD-
ReroDs for 8traDJen to be out in the night air, and of our little number there
are several commg within the stranger's clue. We met last night, and read
from the "Economy of the Animal Kingdom," but most of the evening was
eonsumed in readmg your last article in reply to Mr. Lord j we read it with
heany approbation. I have been especially gratified with your explanatf'oDl
of the furniture of the Jewish Tabernacle. They not only strike me as beauu-
ful, but they serve a better p~o8e,-they give me, I hope, a profound rever-
for the Word, as i1!uatratiDg the soul of the Word througll ita tiody.

• The followiq oommunicadon 11 &om an e:ltemplary and warm-h-.rted reoeIWtr ot . .

New Ch1UCh, written to a brother (or whOle Iplritual lDtereet he CeeIa a deep edDcem.
The Writer makel DO pretenllon to Utera~ accomplishments, to which his caDiDg iD ua
ha ever been Corelin; but he aiml limply to Ipeak the words oflObemeu aDd a.aecUOIlJ
with the hope that the dime bleulq may attend it.
DILU BaOTBD,
I have on several former occasions endeavored to draw your attention to •
abject in which your present and eternal interests, and those of lOur family
alsO, are most deeply involved-I mean the subject of the Lord's Second Ad-
vent, predicted agel ago in the Holy Scriptu1es. That time has actually come,
.. is satisfactorily known to thousands ilready, and might be known to thou-
uncia more if they could be persuaded to examine the evidences of it with
caudor, and an honest desire to know and do the truth· for these evideDcea,
when thue examined, are so full and complete, that they expel eve~ doubt
from the miQd. If the Jews were thought censurable for rejecting the Mea.
aiah at Hil first ~oming, how much more so are Christians at the pre8ent day
for rejecting Him at His second coming, seeing that the evidences of His se-
oond coming, and of His true Messiahship, ate, when examined and under-
ltoo~ found to be a thousand fold greater than those which were aftorded to
the Jews at Hi, first advent. Indeed the difference, when fully investigated,
is 80 great as almost to exclude comparison, the proofs on this he~ panted
tD the Jews being of luch a character as would have but little weight with
Christians at theJ>resent day. What were they' In the first place the preach.
ing of John the Baptist in the Wilderness, and afterwards his more public pro-
clamations at the river Jordan and elsewhefe: and in the next place the ap-
pearing of the Lord himsell, bom iD a manger, and, as was supposed by die
Jews, of very obscure parentage; and in all outward appearance di1leriog in
nothing from other men. Bear in mind that the transfiguration was in private.
before Peter, James, and John only, which the Jews knew nothing of, nor ~
lieved anything of i and again, HislUU1unciation of Himself u the Son of God.
Was this likely to be credited by a people as iinorant. 8enl~ BIld unbeliev-'
1840.] 481
iD8 a. the le... were. 11~ Bisown bare _rti~D of Iqch a claim' You will
readily perceiw that it could DOt, and therefore in that metance miracles were
resorted to by the Lord as the only thing that could hav~ any effect upon a
Jewish mind. It is true tllat the miracles were performed not so mucli with
a vie~ to convince the Jew. as for the sake of the establishing of the Christian
church which was to follow. 1I0t consider the nature and eft"ect of miracl88
.pon the mhids of men at this day. What,would they be '. What could they
do more th~ conwel an Unwilling blli'lwithout atlecting the moral condition
of the IOul in the least degree 1 Row SOOD, when religious belief is founded
upon miracles ·only, will doubt take the jlace of conviction, and gradUally
erase every vestige of belief from the min 1 You see then that there is some-
dUng wanting besides miracles for the human mind to anchor its faith bpon;
and that something is DOW given. I say nothing of Christian influences that
~ve been,enjoyed in times past, and are still to some utent continlled, for
this is foreign to my present purpose, which is to satisfy you, if I can, that the
time of the Lord's Second Advent has now actually come, the prl)ofs of which
are of the most abundant and satisfactory character, ~d ate continually in-
creasing with him who lives as a Christian ought to live. But it is not to be
8uppos~d that thes~ evidences, however pl~n and satisfaetory they may ~e
to the JUlt and upnght man, could be any eVJdenceat all to the scoffer ancl
infidel, or to the bigoted sectarian, or the mere formalist, who carries all his
religion in his garments, or in his mouth· for they are of such a nature that
they can be available to DO others but to those who seek ttoth for truth's sake.
and are wi)ling to live as trUth teachers. . To such they are all that his heart
or his head can desire. I meim by this that both his affections and his intel-
lect are satisfied, and he is thus,made cOntent and happy.
Verr little blame can be attached to the mass of profeasing christians for not
having received the .Doctrines of the New Church, becaufJe they have known
comparaf:ively nothing 9t them; consequently, they are at least in the ~no­
cence of Ignorance. Whether we say that a man has received the doctrmea
of the New Church, or the Lord in His Second Advent, it is one and the same
thing, as you will learn and see if IOU should ever be so fortunate as.to be-
come a receiver, which I hope an trust you will in the next world if not in
this. But what is here said of the laity cannot be said of the clergy.
are greatly to blame, because the evidences of the Lord's second coming have
n"
been brought more manifestly before them, notwithstanding which, they have,
for the most part, rejected them with little or no examination. There are doubt-
less many honorable exceptions amongst the clergy of all denominations, but
it 1illa one with sad emotions to reflect upon the state of the clergy at the pre-
8ellt day, deemed, as they are, the lawful and authorized expounders of the .a-
cred oracles, and placed at the veJI head of the social man, and yet proving,
as they do, the perverters and falsIfiers of 10 many of the divine truthS of the
Lord'. Word. What injury to the 80uls of men is to be put upon a par with
thia 1 If a man draw upon me his dirk and throat it through my heart or into
my head and thus kills the body, the crime of 80 doing is trifling, is nothing, iD
comparison to the crime of preaching falae doctrines which lead the soul into
captivity and spiritual bondage, and ultimately kills it with death etemal.
Bot I would be explicit, and state that the 'R' of the Lord's Second Advent
commenced in the year 1767, almost a hundred yean ago, since which it is
Dot only lawful and allowable, but not very difiicult, to become as well ac-
quainted with the world to come 88 with tbis. Why should it not be 80 ,
That world is our real and permanent home, while this is but a temporary
abode, to be forsaken in a very few years. Whatjl time in compariaon with
eternity! As a general thing It is Dot more than (orty-eight houn after a maD
cuts o1fthe body, that is, when he dies, as it is termed, though good men never
di~ that he comes into a full and COD8cious enjoyment of all the faculties that
he enjoyed in this world, only vastly increased and perfected, if he be in good.
Be is then enabled to behold the stupendous and wonderful things of that
world, which are 80 innumerable and 80 wonderful that they cannot even be
,lanced ., iD the oompua of a letter. But thia privilep is gnmtecl to maD OD
482 Editorial IteN. [<let.
one condition, and one only, and that is. :that he forsake iniquity ill all its
forms and disguises j and not only that he forsake evil, but error also, and the
following of blind guides, and tate up his cr088 dailr, and follow the Lord in
obedience to His commandments. rr he does this faithfully and- persevering-
~t and with an honest purpose, that is, with an cc eye single," looking to the
Lord alone for 'Decor and for guidance, he will gradually begin to discern
some of the deeper arcana of the Word, and these will continne to unfold
themselves more and more, until finallr he will be enabled to behold the Lord.
as He is in His Glorified Human, not WIth the bodilYj but with the mental eye.
Continuing faithful to the divine monitions the Lord will lead him deeper and
deeper into the very wisdom of the angels, but Dot probably until he has p&l&-
eel through manI severe conflicts, temptations, and trials, both within and
without, by which he is made more meet for the reception of this high order
of heavenly truths. Re thus attains to a heavenly state, for heaven when we
come to know what it is. will be found to be nothing else but the perfection of
dle human {awlt';'" viz. 'the perfecting of the moral \lrinciple in love and char-
i~, and the perfecting of the intellectual pnnciple m under8taDding and wis-
dom. God ia then loved supremely, which love is foil of all blessedness and
Ilappiness, and the understanding is illuminated 80 as to enable it to compre-
hend and appreoiate all that comes from Him. This is heaven, and let me u-
lure you that you will never find any other heaven, either in his world or the
next, for the Lord says, Cl The kingdom of heaven cometh not by observation
for behold it is within you." If I state an~ing that you do not find to be
fruI, when you come into the other world, which will not be long first, you can
there call me to account for it, for there are lawl there as well as here, but
very different from the laws which have place in this world, 8S there is not a
jot or tittle of moral obligation remitted unto man on account of his PB.S81ng
ltom one world into another, any more than there is from his passing from one
territory into another in this world. The death of the body is a matter of no
importance whatever, 80 far as concems the moral condition of the soul.
The church which was fonned at the Lord'8 first coming is now passing
away; it has been U weighed in the balance and found wantin,," and a New
one 18 now forming in lieu of it, which every man may know, if he wishes to
know, and is willing to make use of his faculties for that purpose. '111e
means are not wanting to enable him to do so. Sach are the known and
t'roveable. facts in reference to the Lord-s Second Coming, and it is utterly im,.
!ossible for Christian ministers, or Christian laymen to shut their eyes against
them much longer. If I can do or say anything mote to help your belief. or
rather your unbeliefJ I will most gladly do it. For the trntli of what I have
said, God is my witness-alld I can have no doubt but that in this instance it
is His will that I should be His.
With much a1Iectionate interest,
Youn, &c.•
S. H.

111'10&1,&1; ITIMS.

T1m .1fttle work by Mr. Ba_en, announoed in our last, hal made Its .ppea.ruace~ _cl
but for the press olother matter would have been notioed In the present No. We trast,
however, that no one to whom the essay is accessible will delay procuring It till they
learn our opinion of ita merits; fOr we oan sal in advance that richer reading for a New-
.bllrohmaa t. Dot olt.eu 10 be met with. At any rate a ehilliq pamphlet. .lOOm CODtaiu
• maoh of it. A columa artiele iD the N... York EftDPlitt or Oat. 4th. ftoJD the pea
fit ProCeaor Tappan oIdl1a olty, epeaks oClt iD YeryoommeDdatorr terms, ad ......,
declares that • new ialu la to be opened between both TriDitarilUll uad l1Ditariau OIl
1849.] Editoriallteflll. 488
ODe aide, ad Swedenborgianl OD the other. We are happy to leam that OtU orthodos
friend. are beginning to lee this. H they hsd heeded 0111 intimatioDs, they would have
found themselves admonished ora-is remit long ago. They wIll doubt!. . realize in the
end that the old doctrinal debate. on the Trinity, Incamadon, AtODemeDt, Regeneration,
Ice., will have to be .hifted to a new platform, aDd to a,sume entirely another phue
ti'om that which they have bome in bY-Bone days. The DiviDe Providence IignUlcant11
refen us to le the coming on of time'"
ODe oC cnu New Church frieoda iD Indiana, who haI not forma1lyl8nred his COl1l1ec-
tion with the Methodist body, has within a few months put furniahed a eeriea oC inter-
..liD. devOtiO,Dal articles forUle cc Western Christian Advocate," under the lignature oC
" Pauvre Hommel t (poor man), in which. without diatinctly refeniDs to the writings or
the New Church, he has stili WU8ed the leaven oC its dGctrinea aud lpiriL ID one of
t.heM &dicles, which he entitles" Sabbath Soliloqui.," he had occasion to introduce the
phrue .. Divine Humanity,t, whereupon a faithful brother, E. H. Field, dating from Dun-
baltoD, Ohio, is ami tteD with a Imall leDBauon of alarm at the inroad of • new term ili
theolOS1 t and thus writes 10 the Editor oC the .Advocate :
".8Ba.rBD. SUINOlf,-I do not feel captious. nor do I wiah to appear 10; but finding
iD your ilaue of April 23, in the oommunication of JOur amiable aDd pioUl correspond-
ent. f Bomme PauVJ8,' whose artioles bear the lmpr818 of deep thought and humble
piety, aD upre.ioD repeated, the meaniDg of which I do not understaDd, I wish, through
you, to ask of the author an explanation. The expreuioD alluded to is Cound in No. 4,
of the media in which God has made himselfkuown to man, connected as follows: 'To
doubt. even in thought, as to the Divine character oC God the Saviour, to doubt whether
the Divine Humanity in heaven be God, to disobey the law of the Gospel,' &0. ; and a1Io
in the author'. apostrophe to hi. own lOul. thU8: I Art thou, this day, with the Babe of
Bethlehem, the Boy oCNazareth, the Man of Galileo, of Gethaemane, and Calvary-the
DitritN H. . .it, in heaven l' What is meant by I Divine BWII4ftit,,. la it that the
human nature of Christ, by its union with the divine, has changed ita oharacter, and be-
come divine 1 Or iI human nature, in its perfect state, divine 1 And If 80, where is the
dildinouOD between divinity in God and divinity in man 1 Might we Dot, with equal
propriety, apeak of 1. . . . dit1itail" thus implyiDg that the DiviDe Dature of Christ, b,
ita union with humanity, became hllman, which is an idea none can entertaJn. If the
.'.,.,a'
I two in Christ be C wlaole «till ptrf,et'-a doctrine which, I presume, is ac-
knowledged by your correspondent, Gtherwiee J should Dot desire him to write for m.,
'instruction in doctrlne'-it follows, I think, that however ,load, MAited, or i.tifruJl",
eOAflld. in his pellOn, each nature lull retains ita peculiar ell8ndal oharaoteri.tlCI;
Delther Dature pining or loeing anything, but by the mysteriouI UIOD, OODltitatiDf •
perIOD, perfectly adapted and rully competent to the work he came ~ accomplish-both
Divine and humau, Dot a Di,,* mat' any more than a A...... Go&. !Cby the expreuiOD
C DiviDe HUIIlIUlity" he means the complex being Cormed. by the UDiOD of Gocland man ID

the pencm of Christ, I have only to sar, that the langoage i. obecure. andJ without an u-
plaDation, would Dot convey the idea to common reader.. I do Dot 8Uspeot the author of
BtMlftlborgiatriMl. although hialanguage might justifylUch IUlpicloD. I onl1811P~
that, iD the ferYor oC hla pietyt and the ovedlowings of ~i8 love, he wu led to appl., to
Chriat, iD the uae of hyperbole, term. which are Dot only unscriptural, bat which, if COD-
atnaed literally. are exprellive oCUlti ecriptural ideal•
.. I hope we ehall have the benefit of his explanation."
Brodler Field ia manuestl, in steal want of light on the lubject, and iD order that he
aa, obtain it iD the m08t e1reowal maDDer, by openiDg his own mind to the ~cr
or Ita beams, "Paone Homme" o1f'era to hi. reflection the follOWing queries. I' I {
Rot dea1n to draw from ml brother Field &DJ UplaDatiOD, duo. the columD.I of'
 Obituary. ' (Oct.
Adyooafe; for I dllClalm aD)' taste for dilCuaioD or controYe!'l1, and bYe neither the
ability.leamlq. Dor leiawe to enable me to carrr on the aame. It would not prolt. But
I will .ubmic, Cor brother Field'. priva&e eonsldemtion and reflection, a few propoeiti--.
which natunD1 000111 to mr mlDd, OIl readiDI hll comlDUDioatloD, published in the Acl-
yocate. .
et 1. la it not poIIible fOr IDJIDlte aDd oamipot.eDt DiWlitJ to . .1UDe hlllDUlity. ucl
make it divi.e 1
.e t. Ifwe adml& that tile proper ooDaequeDC8 oC DlYin1ty UIUIIllDI hlllD&Dity it, that
the h1llD&Ditr la thereby made dinne, doea it therefore Collow that there m. . be a like
poIIlbllity , that the divine Dature of CbrUt, by itlonloD with h1llll&D.lty. became hOlDall ,.
If 3. Brother Field worahlpl and adores our ucended Lord.] In 80 doing. does he wor-

Ihip and adore the Divinity tJfI4lhe hamanitr? or does he I8parate them iD hi. mlDd'
ad while he reDden wonhip aDd adoration to the DiYinlty, does he widlhold like· ador-
ation and worship trom the humanity 1 wm he wnt1ue upon a formula of prayer ex-
pretl1r aceptiDl the humaDlty from adoration or petition?
.. 4. IfblOth- Field wonhlpe aDd pray. to both the Dirinlty and the humanfty. with·
out admitting that tbat humanity Iaaa been made a' Dl'rine hlUl1&Dlty: doeIlt DOt follow
that he worships and prar. to a mere humanity 1
U Now I have DO jot of difBculty OD thisaabjeot. To my miDd ani. clear. Bat per-
bap. brother Field may lee, fiom these proposldons, and &om a review or hla own com-
munication, that there I. really DothiDl or hyper})ole, Dor yet anythiDI exprelliYe of Ul-
tl-lOrlptura11deu, ID the Upreea(OD wbich I uaed to oonV8J m1 deYOtiODa1 idea or Rim.
who il IUrely DOW' Ilorlled with the Father. with the glory which he had with the Father
before the world wal, lohn xvii. 5; iD whom • dwel1eth all the iullneaa of the Godhead
bodily' who 11 c the way, the truth. aDd the liCe '! who la I the re.urrecdOll and the lite·
-to whom 'all power il given in heaft'D. and in eanh,' and of, and to whom. I.J,
with the (Cor a time) unbelievlnl Thomu,' My Lord, and ml God.'"
· PAVYDS. . . .

OIITU,ay.
The Rev. Lwwll Bau departed this Ufo on the evening of the 4th of September, at
hil residence iD DaDby. N. Y., at the advanced age 0181 year.. This event has cauted
a deep I8Dation iD &he cOIDmaAit)' ofbil residence. He huU.ed 100 long aDd too well
to pUl from time to etemlty without leaving a void too obvioul to eecape common ob-
IervatioD, aDd too lup to be easily filled. As a separation from those united 10 him b1
the ItroDl bonds oC IrleDcUbip and brotherly loft, the eftDt is palDftll. Bat In couI-
deratiOD that Ihe CluildaD pbiloeopbeJ' h.. found bit 1001 oovetecl resI tiom tile baJdeas
oC mortality~ the mind repoees in joyfLll 8ubmi.ion lO the PlO\'ideDtial arraqemeDt.
When the youthful and middle aged are taken soddenl, from the active duties o( life, iD
YideDoe, and intuiliye!y dealra that it milb& ha•• been otbenriee 0......
the micllt of health and vigorJ tbe m ind la oppreseed by the mllteriouI and painful Pro-
Bat wIMm
death comes aner the lapee of It three ICON Jean aDd leD," lpeDt in the c0DlCi8lltlolU
performance of UI8I in all the avocationl oC life. be comet .. a reaper to a ripe ha~
od neither Inflloll a sting. nor gives a viotory to the pan. The death or the bod)' f.
but the 8ntlauc8 of the Ipint into life-le I. death ODly to tile bod,,1rith ita b.rl~ of
loil, di..... and luft"erbll' but to the lOul it is resutrecuOll••puitaal &Dd immortal, inllO
the clear light of eternal day.
The depa.rtwe of ODe ocoapyiDI 80 prominent a place In oar aI'eodou, DahlraD1
brlDp die mind iDto a ft'riew of his biarory and cbaraotBr. W. euIT aDd CODda8ecl ...
Ildeoce in the country j hil UDceuiq indutry in ftriou clepartmeDta; bitl1UlCloabred
luperlority of mind; his peat ap and wonderful retention of hi, IDental powen UDtil
the lut. make him aD objeo. of uncommon iDterea&... a CODIleodD, UDt behreeD .. pal
&Dd preleDt era.
 1849.J 481
Doctor Been was a .ll-made man iD the truest _DIe or the phrue, ad ha dJadD-
pOOed himself in the variOUl duties he has been called upon to perform. Born in Strat,-
lord iD the State of Connectiout, in 1768, hi8 minority was spent during a period oC civil re-
vollltioD, whea &be boDda et lOCiu order were DeOe.ari1y Jooeened, and each mind wuleft
to ita own reeourcel. The countl7 wat eDppd in its war of independence, and al"ord.
eel DO leieure 10 ita oitizena to study the ecieDC8I, or oultivate the re1lnementa of peace.
It was dwiDg this UDpropitious period, when the mean. of eduoation were leanty, and
alm08& lIDaaainable, that he laid the foundation or hie medical proleeeioD, in which he
aftenvarda beoame-emiDeDL The spriq-tide and romance of his youth were apent iA
hie native SJate. He there became attached to and married the daughter of Stephea
Curd.. Esq., with whom he loon a1ter removed Into the county of TompkiDS, N. Y., aDd
Uwed happily with her for the 10Dg period of Dearly sixty years. Be 1lrst came to the
GOODly of Tompkina, &hell Cl &Ae far Weet." iD April, 1191, with hie brother Jabez (now
deceued), and together the, built the 11rat framed hQuee within the bouncb of &he Co,.
poration of the village oC Ithaoa, UDder a convact with General Simeon De Witt. In the
fall foUowlug he removed hi. mmU,. to the farm of his future residence, and where h1a
Dlottall8maiu DOW repOle, COD.1UDing four week. in the proeecution of a iOl1m~e~=
performed in le. than two da,.s. Hexe has been the priDcipalephere or hi. ueefi
here he hu 8peDt something over halt a century, maintaining important relations iD 10-
ciety. u an aplculmriat, a macietrate, a judp, a physician, and a teacher oCre11gI01l.
trutb8. When he ant oame here tbe country wu wild, thinly inhabited, withoul the
meana of o.rdiury lnItruotiOD, civil or rellpoua, and almost destitute of the Ueceu&ri.
oflife. A colony IOOD after fonowed from Stratford and its vicinity, and l8ttled aroUDd.
him UDder the name oC Cl B...' Sdtlanctat," which name appears upon the early map.
oCtbe 00110'1. &Dd \VU 10Dl reta1Ded. The 1lnt busin. . oC an infant I8tdement io the
wildemeas is to provide itaIf wi&h the bare neoeuariea oCUre from the soil No time i.
dorded for the improvement of the mind, or even for the exerciee of thought, be100d
whac is bestoWed in the acquisition oC the most extemal wantl. Doctor Beers lOon be-
came aware of the mental DeCeeaitlea of the pioneer eettlemenca around him. aDd under
the impw.e of that love for the Deighbor which ever charaoterWed him, he became &be
preacher, as well as the friend and physician of his fellow..oitizens. In the exercise or
c:beIe 8'f'OO&tionS be hu threaded trackless forests, exposed himself to illclement seUOlll.
aDd endured prifttiou and haldship., which nODe but the oldest inhabitant can appre-
ciate. The lapae of balf a centUlJ. under the rapid march of Anglo-Suou en~n.,
has levelled forests, built rail-roads, canals and steam..boats, erected. villagee aDd oili. .
loaded iDatituuoD.l of leamiog, and produced all ~e retlnemenr. and luxuries oC civil-
ized life. We can lO&rcely realize that the theatre of theee chaDgel was ODce a howliDB
wilderneea, and that the eabject oC thit notice, 80 law.)' yi.ible to us as weak and eick11
in body, belODled to that cl... of mind. whoae euperiority and indomitable pereeveranoe
made them, under Providence, important apnts in producing these resultl. In 1'19'1, or
'98, he wu appointed ajuatioe of the peace. a poet which he held for a number ofyean;
and at a later period he diach&rIJed for a thon time the duties of a judge in the then
county of TiOBL But political oiBce was not congenial to his inclinations or pur-
8Uits~ aDd as he never aought for it, 10 he fel& AO Wldue elevation wllen coaferred upon
him.
It i ... a teacher or reltgiou truths that hi. memory will be most cherlahecl, by the
member. of 1he New Church. He WaI a very earl, reoel""r of the doctrines, and has au..
laiAed a eommandiDK inJIueDoe iD the Church. He commenced preaclLiD,1lI the advo-
CAte ofwaiv.-l aaJvatiOD. &Dd 10 continued until the winter of 1812...13. when he beeaDle
aoquaiDted with, aDd reoeiY8d the doctriDeI of the New 1eruaalem. Hieltst introductioD
10 &he doctrines waa b, meaD. of the Halcyon LumJnary. a monthlyperiodicaJ. then pub.
lished iD the city oC New York, aDd hia reception of them was warm and decided. ID a
leuer &0 the edi&on, dated JaD. 1, 1813, he .,....-
, " It is indeed to me a happy new year, becaule the clouds that bve heretofore hover-
eclover the moral wo.rldare now eoattered,adminin, noW and then a raJ' Crom the In1lnite
fowa&ain oC lllh& &0 the 1001. To e . t this the In1inite God hu, u a meaue, 1Dtroduced
the HaloJOD LamiD~, by iupiriDt a few oC hie beloYed oJrspriDI man with 80Dle
knowledge of the 8pirllual treuurea or his holy Word. It has been to me like the dawn
of • cloudless day to a lost traveller, when the gloom of the night has been heightened by
8IOrma aDd ch1ll1Dc b.....JJ_ " Eaab IUOOeIIlve number hu, like the approach of the na-
cural sun, WumiDated moze and m01'8 the Eut; and I hope ere long to see the N. J.
Chwch blUltiDg forth fiom the veil oC the le"". like a bride adomed tor her buabaod,
even ' as 8 perpemumommg, a Dever endiDl epriDg, aDd an UDclouded EUL'"
He poueued a mOlt happy faoalty of eluoidatiDg di8lcult poiotl, both iD the pulpit and
in CODyeraaUOD. H1a mincleeemed to be a traDalucent medium for the transmission or
liabc. Al1houp. entbel, del&itll&e oC prel8llliona to popular oratory, he yet polleS8ed aD
..., flow of 1aDpap aJUl ua eloq1llDQ8 pecul1arIJ hiI own. both losiol1ancl penuu1yp
 486 [OcL 1&&9.
which eeldom falled to produce conviation in the mind oC the heuer. Kw public dOrta
'Were mostly extemporaneous :--a few brief notel containing the heads or hie nbjectl and
Jeferencea .rved as a guide, and for the rest he trusted to the lnepiration oC the time aDel
occasion, nor did he trust in vain. His thoughts flowed more freely iD oral, than iD.
written discourse, and in their most lu"id moments, would udaJIy 1* ueompaniecl widl
a gashing forth of the aft"ections, iD a way which could not easily be controUecL It is.
matter of regret that he was not more in the habit oC committing his thoaghts to paper, by
which they might have been preserved in a permanent form. in the writiDp of the Choreh.
In his Intercourse with members of the Old Church, he wu uuiformly kind aDd eoar-
~U8. He disliked any thing and every thing in the shape of religious controversy. Re
inew that in addition to the engendering a spirit of atrife, it was usually attended with
Ibe evil oonlequence, of more strongly confirming the parties In their preriou prej lldiees.
Baving the ability to overcome in argument with 10 much eaee, U to I8em devoid or
dOlt, be never put it forth, except when driven to it by the pen8Y8JaDCe ofhia &dYer-
Ialft and on sucb occuionl would always endeavor to IOOthe the mortUled feelings of the
discomfited party. He knew that the great light whioh the ProvideDce oC the Lord bad
vouohsafed him made him the strong man armed, but he knew too that It wu given him
for __, and not for the selfish gratification of triomphlng over his oppoDeDt. OnIer wu
the first law of heaven in his mind j and he was disturbed at any thing which .vom 01
.nfe or disorder. He insisted that the subjects oC the New Jerusalem mult be wWas
captives; and that the glorious city had walla for defence, but DO w.pou of otreasiftt
warfare-no batteries or squadrons for attack and parsulL
ThelabjectofthisDotice wall an uncommon man, lnwhatever••peat9'lewed. Saperadcl-
eel to the ordinary llapCity ofbusineu men, which secured to him the aoqllilition of propet-
ty, he enjoyed a high order oC intellect, which found itself at home in the whole ran. of
of thougbL He was a close and practical obsernr of men and thlDgl, and thesabjecll oL
obaervation were easily grasped, analyzed and elucidated. His powell were . .Uy COD-
GeDtrated, and he appeared to be free from the indirectness, circumlocntion, and sur-
plussage of super1lcial pretenders. These qualifications made him a succeesfol physiclaa,
in the absence of the modem facilities oCbooks, lectores, and medical institutions. lie
wait in a measure, compelled to make his own experience his medical instructor, and
ander this I8vere tuition, he became at a later period a common referee iD diflloolt Cue&.
He was too good u. jud.r of human nature to neglect those mental appUanoee, whiela
-c. medicine to a mind diseased," and it is perh:rs no exaggeration to . , . that the wont.
of 100thing enoouragement, which always flow from his aft"ectJonate heart iD the pre-
8eIlCe of the sick, produced a strong effect in aid of his medical skilL
It is difficult to say in what be was most capable or excelling. He poaeeeella com-
pact genius, in which '\\"e find a harmo,nious combination of the thoughts aDd afFections
of the mind. Hence his mental discipline seemed as perfect as any to whioh the mind
can attain in this lower sphere. Nothing ever appeared to rufIle his temper, or throw
him from pis balance; and yet he mUlt have paued through emerpnciea in hi, long life,
which severely put hi. intellectual training to the telt. But who ever.w him angry, or
even excited beyond the animation necessary to the Intelligent communicauoa oC hJI
feelings and thoughts? He was indeed the tranquil stream, which I.,.. on thfOUlh.
quiet land, fertilizing and enriching In its whole course.
He waa a remarkable instance of an aged man keepiDg up with the times in whioh he
liyed. He was Dot outatript by passing eventa-he was Dot left behind by the ever roB-
Ingtide oC human advancem.ent. brooding over the degeneracy of the preeeot, or iDduJt-
Ing in gloomy foreboding' for the {uture. Poaealng ,reat wnadlity. he kept hilDeel(
famUiar with a large range of the- SUbjects of human Interest by reading aDd re8ectiOD,
and a retentive memory enabled him to use his resources as occaaiOD required. His col-
loquial powen were therefore of the hit order, and made him an imereltlDl COInpusi_
m the youthful, as well u the aged. His conversation was muoh IODghlfor bY~iDkiDa
men. He had always lOtne new thought and new mode oC illustration, whicb gave iD-
atruction, while it imparted pleaaure.
Alwa;YI cheerful, there was at times a quiet and beautiful play of the jUcy, like the
lighting up of a rich landl!lCape by the beams ofthe sun, which conferred amueemeDtUlCl
delight in his social intercourl8. Theae enviable qllaliftcatioll8 he retained to the I~ for
Ibough hi. body gradually wuted under the double effect oC dleeue and age, yet there
\VU no visible decay of mental power.
. What wonder then that those who molt delighted iD hI. eoclety .hoald feel oppressed
with a eenae oCtheir loss 1 But who 10 eelfish as to wish that hia departure should haYe
been tor a sinlle moment delayed, or to call him back to the shadows of time from the
nalitiea oCthe heavens I
B. G. F.
1lMaI, Sept., 1849.
 THE

AND

MONTHLY RE~VIEW.

Vel. 11. NOVEMBER, 18t9. No. 11.

. _ - - - - -_. ------~-_._----

oRIG I NALP APE RS.

ARTICI.E I.

THE LETTER AND THE SPIRIT.

No. VI.

FROM the tenor of our previous remarks it will have been see~ tha~
we regard Mr. Lord's system of interpretation as essentially defective
and erroneous from his not recognizing a spiritual element in man to
which the spiritual sense of the Word addresses itself: His system
accordingly makes no requisition upon any thing beyond the intelli-
gence of the merely natural man. Precisely the same order of facul-
ties is demanded for comprehending the rules of rhetoric and the deep
things of the Lord's Spirit. He that can understand and apply the
rules of Quintillian, Campbel]', or Blair, can master the profoundest
arcana of Isaiah, Daniel, and John, and that too notwithstanding the
eminent apostle of the Gentiles says expressly that 'c the natural man
discerneth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him; neither can he know them, becau!e they are spiritually
discerned." So far as we are able to discover,- Mr. L.'s theory pro-
ceeds upon as total an ignoring of this averment of the· apostle as if
it had never been made. It makes 110 account of that t'lement in
our nature \vhich is the result of regenerating influence. The conse-
quence is, that it virtnally brings the Bible into the eategory of hu-
man compositions, and subjects it to precisely the same canons of in-
terpretation. This is a grievous disparagement to the holy Word,
-the Book of God and not of man-and which, as such, must
nece~sari]y have a quality of Divinity that lifts it entirely out of the
range of any and every thing of merely human origin. It is in the
VOL. 11. 31 t
488 T1uJ Letter and the Spirit. [Nov.
internal sense that this impress of Divinity essentially resides. "The
Word," cal"s Swedenborg, "being of tHe Lord and from the Lord,
could not possibly have any existence unless it contained, interiorly,
such things as relate to heaven, to the church, and to faith. For if
this be denied, how can it be called the Word of the Lord, or be said
to have any life in it 1 For whence is its life. but from those things
which possess life 1-that is, except from this, that all things in it,
both in general and in particular, have relation to t~e Lord, -who is
real and essential life itself? Wherefore, whatsoever does not in-
teriorI)· regard Him does not live; nay, whatsoever expre~sion in the
Word does not involve Him, or in its measure relate to Him, is not
divine. Without such a living principle, the Word, as to the letter,
is dead." The soundness of this cannot well be questioned by anyone
who yields an implicit faith to the divin~ declaration, "l'he '\vords
that] speak unto you, they are spirit and they are liJe."-a declara-
tion to which Paul responds; "~"or the letter killeth, but the spirit
gi'Del/l life."
We endeavored in our last to array itH appropriate truth against
the error now adverted to. We sought to trace the internal sense to
a psychological source, and to connect it with t.he opening of an in-
ternal perception essentially involved in the process of regeneration.
In thus bringing the spiritual sense of the \Vord into close relation
with the spiritual nature of Dlan, we do in fact bring it, at the same
time, into an equally close relation with the spiritua.l world; for the
spirit of man is necessarily, even \vhile in the botly, an inhabitant of
the world of spirits. By the spiritual world we do not mean simply
the world where spirits dwell, but the world where causes act, for the
~piritual world is continualJy acting on or into the natural world-
the world of effects-by influx.; and with the mind established in the
truth of this relation there is a perpetual recognition of the activity of
spiritual causes in all natura.l phenomena. It is here that it finds the
,. sufficient reason" why the tacts and objects of the natural sphere
are \\that the)- are. The natural is genetically from the spiritual, and
the causative efficacy of the latter on the plane of the former is im-
plied in the term corre.'pondence, which affords the true key to the in-
terior purport of hply writ. -It is a terln expressive not merely of
a dead similitude but of 1\ living relationship, equivalent, in fact, to
that of cause and effect, between the things of the inner and the outer
world. A spiritual influx. determines itself into a natural form or or-
ganism. This form or organism is expressed in the terms of human
language, and this language is, in the first instance, the language of
the letter. But to a spiritual mind conversant \\7ith the principle of cor-
respondence, the terID emplo.)7ed will suggest the idea of the cause in-
stead of the eUect. If the ~piritual affection of meekness, for instance,
which constitutes the essential nature of a dove, clothes itself with the
body and torm of a dove, why should not the name dove suggest., to
such a state of uJind, the idea of uleekness rather than that of the ma-
terial bird so denonlinated 't And so in thousands of other in~tances.
W ho, under the appel1a:tion U Lamb of God," predicated of the Saviour.
ever thinks di8tinctl~r of a literal lamb 1 1'0 whom is any other idea
··.uggested thau that of innocence or the lamb-like nature 1
1849.] TAe Letter and the Spirit. 489

Such then is the rationale of the spiritualsens8 in its intimate relation

to the spiritual nature and the spiritual world. That the views pre-
sented on tb-is head are intrinsica.lly reasonable, we think will be ad.
mitted, because it is merely recognizing the operation, in the other
life, where man's nature remains radically unchanged, of the same
laws which obtain in their measure, in the present life. The only
objection which we think likely to be urged" against the theory, if 80
it is to be termed, is that it assumes to know \,'hat 'entirely trans-
cends the limits of human knowledge in this \vorld-and consequent-
ly that all such statements can be regarded only in the light of in-
genious, it may be, but fanciful conjecture! and as having no logical
force in argumeQ.t. To this we can only say in reply. that '\vhile our
own credence on this score _is built upon the most ample evidence-
evidence which no ODe has a right to call in question but upon the
ground of the most thorough examination-\ve still do not rest the
~"eight of our plea upon that which may be deemed supernatural in
the matter, but upon asserted principle, of our common nature which
cannot be gain~ayed except by those who deny every thing spiritllal,
whether in relation to ma.n or the sacred Word. We affirm that as
man is a spirit as well as a body, he is, from-thf' necessity of his being,
in fact a denizen of the spiri~ual 8S well as of the natural world, and so
far amenable to the laws of that world. In affirming this, we are not
conscious of having pressed speculation at all beyond the limits of
just inference. We feel wholly at liberty to conclude from what we
are to what we shall be. If, however, assent is withholden from the
tenor of our remarks, and the main positions called seriously in ques-
tion, we would then fain demand of the gainsayer, whether there be
any such thi ng as a spiritual perception of revealed truth 1 Is there
tll1ything of this nature which distinguishes a spiritual from a natural
man T If there be, what is it, and how does it operate 1 What spe-
cific relation does the state of mind termed spiritua.l bear to the writ-
ten revelation of God contained in the Scriptures 1 If the above posi-
tions do not state the truth on this head, what i8 the truth 1-that
truth, we mean, which stands directly over against the alleged error 1
Meantime, while tile response to this interrogation is forthcoming,
we proceed to apply to the question respecting the restoration of the
Je\vs the principles affirmed in the foregoing pages. And we remark,
in the outset, that the process of spiritualization of the Word in the
manner we have already indicated, and of which the terms "Zion,"
· and" Babylon," afford a pertinent example, is a process which comes
into play on a very broad scale in dE;aling with the sncred volume.
It is in fa.ct but little short of a species of subjective translation, in
which the spirit becomes, as it were, emancipated from the restric-
tions of time, place, and person, and expatiates in a region where
every thing is superse.Dsuous--the region of abstract and absolute
truth. The earthly envelopes fall off and the heavenly verities dis-
close themselves. The terms of human language, as employed by
prophets and evangelists, are perceived to be a mere swathing
band that en\vraps an interior import distinctly related to the psych~
logical state from which it is viewed. Beheld from this elevated
 490 The Letter and the Spirit. [Nov.
mental state, the universal contents of the Word BSSUDle a new as-
pect. The truths it embodies range themselves in nearer proximity
to the source from which they emanate. A certain inetl:1.ble Di\'ine
element is seen t.o pervade like a soul the body of the literal truth of
Scripture, and the clear intuition of spiritual realities opens at the
same time to thA mind the reprelentalil'e character of the words and
phrases of human speech employed to shadow theln forth on the lower
na.tural plane. The names of persons and places b~come mere
indices of qualit.ies and principles. 1'he namf'S of the various objects
in thE' mineral, ve~etable, and animal kingdoms resolve themsel,·es
into signs of the multiform attributes of affection or thought, and
terlDS denoting bodily action or pas~ion are transmutt'd intt> expres-
sions significant of m~ntal or moral states.
t No grel'l.ter error, then, "WC strenousl)' contend, can be fallen
into than to treat of the spiritual sen8P of the Word irrespec-
tive of the psychical state of th~ reader of the 'Vord. Our position all
along is, that a necessary inter-relation subsists bet\,·een the two, and
consequently that to a spiritual state of mind nothing is more spon-
taneous than to recognize under such terms a~ Isr8flll, Judah, Jeru~8.­
lem, Zion, &c., an ulterior sense above a.ntl beyond and without the
sense of the letter. The idea at once sugge~ted is not that of persons
or places, but or the Church, or the true people of God in all ages
and countries; Rnd this surely is confirmed by the apostolic tea.cbing,
that ,. he is not a Jew who is one outwa.rdly, but he is a Jew ,vho is
one inwardl~·." There is therefore an inward body of Jew in contra-
distinction from the out\vard. So als6 from the words of the Lord
himself; John viii. 37-40, we learn that there is a sense in which the
Jews were not Abraham's seed, as \vell,as one in which they were.
With this accords the language of Paul in repeated instances in his
epistle to the Romans and elsewhere :-" For they are not all I&~el
which are of Israel; neither because they are the seed of Abraham,
are they all children." Again," They which are the children of the
flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise
are counted for the seed." And who are these children of the promise 1
Those assuredly of whom he speaks as spiritually born to Abraham
in virtue of the promise made to him of being the" father of many
nations." "And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the right-
eousness of the faith ,vhich he had yet being uncircumcised: that he
might be the father of all them that beJievE\ though they be not cir-
cumcised, that righteousness might be imputed unto them also; And
the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision
only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abra.
ham, \vhihh he had yet being uncircumcised. For the promise that
he should be the heir of the world ,\'as not to Abraham, or to his
seed, through the la\v, but through the righteousness of faith• . . . .
\Vho against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father
of many nations; according to that \vhich \vas spoken, so shall thy
seed be." Indeed throughout 8. very considerable portion of the epis-
tle to the Romans, Paul is laboring expressl)r to show that while the
Jews were cast off by reason of their unbelief; the Gentiles were called
1849.] The Letter and. the Spirit. 491

and adopted in their stead, and that the promises· and predictions
mad~ to the literal Israel neverth~les8 held good of this substituted or
surrogated people, on the ground of which he says :-" For in Christ
Jesus neither circumcision availetb anything, nor uncil;cumcision, but
a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace
be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God." Who are meant
by" the Israel of God," but the spiritual seed of Abraham, and who
are they but the spiritual Israel, for as the apostle speaks of "Israel
according to the flesh," it implies the existence of an "Israel accord-
infl to the spirit," and this is no other than the Israel which is the true
subject of the spiritual sellSP, ,,'hether in the prophets or the Psalms.
The drift of the apostle in all this is at once so obvious and so em-
phatic, that we marvel hOlY l\Ir. L. should conduct his reasoning in such
~ntire disregard of it. As he professes to regard the apostles as of
equal authority with the prophets, he must either have overlooked
the testimony lve have adduced, or he must have some cryptic
canons for interpreting it in such a manner as to deprive it of all its
force. At any rate, we see not but that he goes directly athwart the
scope of the apostle, and consequently warrants the inference that he
makes very light of his authority in the premises. Like Jacob bless-
ing Joseph's sons, he crosses his hands in putting them upon the heads
of the prophets and the apostles, and gives his blessing to the former
instead of the latter, quite unlike the benedictive policy of most of his
brethren.
But leaving our author to conciliate his grand positions with the
drift of the New Testament writers as best he may, we adduce in this
connection a passage from Swedenborg, which, though having refer-
ence to the name Jacob, ,,-ill be se~n to be equally applicable to that
of Israel; and we "pould remark also that for the present purpose all
the authority \ve claim for it i~ that \vhich results trOIn its accordance
in principle with what we ha\"e already advanced as the truth not
only of Christian experience. but of apostolic doctrin~, viz.• that a
spiritual import is couched, in the \Vord, under the denolnination of
Israel, or seed of Abraham.

U They who abide merely in the sense of the letter, believe that by Jacob in
the 'Vord is meant all that people which was from Jacob, and therefore they
apply to that people all those things \vbich we) e spoken both historically and
propheticall~ concerning Jacob; but the Word is di vine~ princi pally in this,
that all and sIngle things which are therein, do not respect one nation. or one
people, but the universal human race, viz., that which is, which was, and
which shall be ; and what is still more universal, viz., the Lord's ktugdom in
the heavens; and in a supreme sellse the Lord himself. Because it is 8~, the
Word is divine; if it only had respect to one nation, it would then be hUlnan,
and there would be nothing more of the· divine in it, than there \vas of the
holy of worship with that nation; that such holy of worship was not with the
people, which is caned Jacob, may be known to every oue ; hence also it is
evident, that by Jacob ill the Word is not meant Jacob, nor by Israel is meant
Israel, for in almost every part of the propheticals, where Jacob is named,
Israel also is named, and no one can kno\v what is specifically understood by
the one, and what by the other, unless from the sense \vhich lies more deep-
ly concealed, and contains in it the arcana of heaveu."-.A. C. 3305.
 492 Ti,e Letter and the Spirit. [Nov..
On the grounds of this strong mode of speE'ch adopted b~r our ant.hor
both here and elsewhere, that Jacoh does not mean Jacob, nor Israel
Israel, ,\ve shall have occasion to remark here8ft~r; but we would here
submit to the reader a few passages from the prophets and the
PHalms illusqative of the same law in regard to the names Zion and
Jerusalem.
Ps. ii. 6, " I have set my King upon my holy hill of Zion."
Can the import of these \vords be exhausted in a topographical allu-
sion to the city of David 1 Is not the Lord Christ now King of Zion!
and is the seat of his kingdom at Jerusalem 1
Ps. Ii. 18, "Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: baUd thou
the walls of Jerusalem."
Is not this an invocation of blessing upon the church 1 Had the
walls of tbe literal Jerusalem fall~n down in the days of David ?
• Ps. Ixxx\'ii. 2-6, " The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all
the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, 0 city of
God. And of Zion it shall bfl said, this and that man was born in
her: and the highest hirDself shall establish her. The Lord shall
count when he writeth up the people, that this man was bom there.
Selah."
To a morally elevated state of mind is it possible that this lan-
guage should not at once refer itself to the Divine complacency in the
church and to the privileges of those who are enrolled, in virtue of
their new nativity, among its members 1
Ps. cxlvii. 1-3, "Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises
unto our God; for it is pleasant, and praise is comely. The Lord
dotb build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.
He ,healetb the broken in heart, and bindeth up their woonds."
This is a SUlnrnons to devout ~ratulation in view of signal mercies
conferrf'd, and such as addr~sses itself to t.he uni,"ersa] hf'srt of thA
church in view of its prosperity. ~he Jerusalem that is bailt up, and
the outcasts that are gathered, are manifestly spiritual. So in what
follows, v. 12-14, "Praise the Lord, 0 Jerusalem; praise thy God, 0
Zion. For he hath stren~thenerl the bars of thy gates; he bath hless-
ed thy children \vithin thee. He maketh peace in thy borders, and
filleth thee with the finest of the \vheat." IIere the scope is tht' same.
"The fine~t of the wheat," cannot Murely be understood literally; and
if the ,vbent denotes spiritnal food, \vhy does not Zion and Jerusa-
lem denote a ~pjritual city 1
Is. lxi. 3, "For the Lord sball comfort Zion ; he ,viII comfort all
her '\vaste places; and he \vill Inake her wilderness like Eden, BDd
her desert lilie the garden of the Lord; joy nnd gladness shall be
found thf'rein, thanksgiving, and the voice of tne)ody."
l\lr. L.'s canons \vQuld require tbat Zion here should denote the
portion of Jerusalem so denominated, but if tliis be so, what is to be
understpod of the ". wilderness," alld the "desert," pftrtaining to it 1
The mount of Zion was \vitbin the compass of the city· of Jerosalem
which teemed \\rith population. The" wilderness," and the" desert,"
therefore, must be construed spiritualll·, and if so, the same Decessit)?
~xists in regard to " ZiOD," also. But a spiritual Zion is a spiritual
\urch. .
1849.] The Letter and the Spirit. 493

Is. xxviii. 16, ., Therefore thus sa.itb the Lord God, Behold, I lay in
Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a. precious corner stone,
a sure foundation, he that believeth shall not make haste."
There is surely a Christian sense conv~J'f!d by these words. It would
be an ft.maziftgly jejune interpretation to recognize in the Zion h~re
spoken of simply the Iit~ra.I cit.y of David. The" p~ecious corner stone,
the sure foundation," will not, at any rate, be held to be literal. But
why not, if the Zion be literal 1 Shall a spiritual stone be laid in a
literal city 1 The true interpretation of the passage is afforded by
Peter, in his first epistle: " To whom coming as unto a living' stone,
disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious. Ye also,
as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to
offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion
a chief corner stone, elect, precious; and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. Unto yOll therefore which believe, he is
precioos; but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the
builders disallo\ved, the same is made tbe head of the corner. And a
stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stom-
ble at the word, being disobedient; whereunto also they ,\vere ap-
pointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a ho~y
nation, a peculiar people ; that ye shall show forth the praises of him
who hath can~d you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God,
which had not ob.tained mercy, but now have obtained mercy."
The Lord himself is the living chief corner stone, and all-his trae
people, whether Je\vs or Gentiles, are built up into him, and become
a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and thus come \\~ithin the range of
the original divine promise (Ex. xix. 5, 6), \,·hich in the letter is
spoken explicitly of the Israelites. Nothing then is clea.r~r than that
the words both of Moses and Isaiah point to a spiritual subject under
the title of a holy people and a royal priesthood; and as these are
the living stones formed into the spiritual house, of \vhich Christ is
the foundation, the Zion mentioned must also, from congruity, be
understood in a spiritual sense.
Is. Ix. 14, "The sons also of them that aillicted thee shall come
bending unto thee; and all t.hpy that despised tbt'e shall bow them-
selves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee the
city of th~ Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel."
The force of this depends upon its connexion. It comes into the
magnificent burden of prophecy, announcing the glories of the New
Jerusalem, of which it is said that the sun shall be no mor~ its light
by d&y, nor the moon by night; but the Lord shall be its everlasting
light, and its God it~ glor)9. As the same prediction is uttered of the
New Jerusalem of the Apocalypse. it is unquestionable that thfl re-
ference in the t\VO writers is identical, Rnd t.he Lord's church ~8 the
true subject of each. It is as certain that Zion in Isaiah denotes the
church, as it is that the New J erusalclD in John denotfls it.
Parallel instances could easily be multiplied, ad libitum, but the
above will suffice for our purpose. The point first of all to be es-
494 The Letter and the Spirit. [Nov.
tablished is, tha.t such terms as Mr. L. designates, viz. In-ael, Zioa, Je-
salem, Jew" &c. have, in truth, a spiritual over and above a literal ~I
import. This point clearly made out, the way is open for considering
the use of these terms in connexion \,·ith those predicates which form
the principal theme of debate bet\veen ourselves and Mr. L. Sup-
posing it established that Jacob, Israel, Judah, &c. denote the church,
when spiritually interpreted, how will this consist with those pro-
phetic oracles which announce a restoration or return of the
exile tribes, from their long dispersion, to the land of their fathers T
Our reply must necessaril)~ be governed by the scope of what we
have already determined. The predica~es must be in harmony ,,~ith
the subject. If the Israel, whose return or restoration is predicted,
be interpreted, not of a literal but,a spiritual Israel, then the migra-
tion attributed to them must of necessity be such as shall agree with
their nature. l"his necessity imposes upon us a recourse to the prin-
ciples on 'yhich the internal or spiritual sense rests, by which we
learn that all ,vords denoting locomotion signify, in fact, change, of
mental state. Thus '\vhen our Lord says, "Come unto me all ye that
labor and are heavy laden," it is obvious that nothing like a local
transfer of one's self is implied by the word come. It simply points
to the internal change of thought and affection involved in the fact
of a man's rep~ntiDg of and forsaking his evils, and cleaving to the
Lord in newness of life. ]t will be proper, therefore, in this stage of
the discussion, to accumulate an ~mple mass of evidence going to
show the truth of this interpretation. The mere English reader is
probably but little aware to \-\'hat extent the actual usage of the
sacred writers goes to confirm our position on this head. The fol-
lowing array of texts will throw some light upon the subject.
The leading word in the original Heho appropriated tp the ideas of
return and restoration, is :1,1', .'thoob, (slloov), ill its different grammatical
forms. This is the term employed to denote what Mr. L. considers
the literal return and restoration for which he pleads. Let the reader
judge \vh~ther any other than a spiritual sense can be fairly recog-
nized under it in the following instance8, in regard to which it may
Le remarl<ed, that although in some of them the word tU'71 occurs, Rod
in others ,·eturn, yet the original is the same in all. ·
Ps. Ixxviii. 34, " \Vhen he slew th~rn. then they sought him, and
they returned and inquired early after God."
Eecl. iv. 1, ,e So I ,·eturnedOand considere~ all the oppressions that
are done under the sun," &c, as v. 7. "Then I retJlrned, and I saw
vanity under the sun."
Eec!' ix. 11 J " I returned, and saw under the sun that the race is
not to the swift, nor the battle to die strong'," &c.
Is. xix. 22, "And the Lord shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and
heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be en-
treated of' tbem, and shall heal them."
Is. Iv. 7, " Let the \\·icked forsalic his way, and the unrighteous man
his thoughts; and let him relU1"n unto the Lord, and he \\~ill have
m~rcy upon him; Rnd to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."
~ Mal. iii. 18, ., Then ~hall )'e retul"n and discern between the
1849.] TA8 Letttw and tA, Spirit. 495

righteous and the wicked, between him that servAth God and him
that serveth him not."
Judg. xi. 85, "And it came to pass when he (Jepthah) saw her,
that he rent his clothes, and said. Alas, my daughter! thou hast
brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me; tor
I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back (Heb.
return)."
Ez. xiv. 6, "Therefore say unto the house of Isra.el, thus 8aith
the Lord God: Repent (Heb. return) and turn yourselves from your
idols; 8~d turn away your faces from all your abominations."
Ez. xviii. 30, " Therefore, J will judge you, 0 house of Israel, every
one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent (Beb. ,oeturn)
and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall
not be your ruin." .
In all these cases it is obvious that the word return is significant
of a mental act. It implies a change of sentim~nts and views, or in
other words a change of stare. Although in the letter it is the appro-
priate term for local removal, yet in a more intprior import it unequi-
vocally designates a. purely mental process. When mention is made
of returning to the Lord, the ides is that of a spiritual retrogression
appropriate to a penitent, and which ,vould be properly represented
in outward act by the return of the prodigal to his father. Such in
fact is universally understood among Christians to be the genuine
scope ofthat parable. The language of the letter is tacitly translated
into its spiritual meaning. and the penitent mind is seen to be the
theatre of the entire proceeding. So on a larger scale are we taught
to interpret all those passagas of Moses and the prophets which speak
of the return of the Jews to the land of Canaan. It is the language
of reprelentation. The Jews are the prodigal, and ~ ~Je prodi~al is
the backsliding and recreant church. 'J'he return of the Je\vs is the
rep~ntance and reformation of the Lord's backsliding' and apostate
people, whose mental alienation is th~ truth of Israel's national disper-
sion. With this view of the subject we believe that a sound inter-
pretation of the Scriptures may.be shown to agree, and that too in
strict accordance with what we have already seen to be a marked
peculiarity of the usage of the Word. It is true indeed that in this
process of interpretation the J~ws, as a nation, disappear from the
Inind's eye, as the calyx shrivels \vhen the fruit is fully developed.
The destinies of that people shrink into comparative insignificance,
as do all representatives when the substance appears. Whether they
shall ever return to their own land is a. matter of next to no moment
in reference to the true object and burden of the predictions, and
even if they should, we still maintain that this is not the genuine suh-
ject of the prophecy, to which it has no more rela.tion than a letter-
envelope has to the letter which it contains. If the Jews should re-
turn to Palestine, it would be no more an accomplishment of prophe-
cy than if the Gentile Christians should go thither, who are in fact
more directly alluded to by the inspired oracles than the Jews. It is
very possible that in the increase of the intercommunication between
the ~ifferent nations of the earth, and in the do\vnfall of oriental des-
potisms, a new class of motives, of a secular nature, may operate
 496 . The L'etter and tAe Spirit. [No.,;-•
induce numbers of both J6\VS a.nd Gentiles to migrate to a portion of
· the world hallowed by so many sacred memories. But this, if it oc-
curs, will be merely an adventitious circumstance in relation t.o the
true meant desiA"n of the prophecies in question. In fact, under the
· working of th~ internal or spiritual sense of the Word, prophpcy it-
· self may be almost said to cease to be propbecy, 80 far as the fotnri-
. tion of merely natural or historical events is concerned. The future
and the past are both virtually lost in the present, and the relative in
the absolute. Its essential verities are wholly of an unearthly and
untemporal nature.
But we proceed \vith our citations in proof of. a spiritual sense of
the terms return and restm·e, which in Hebrew are but difft-rent
forms of the same root-word, 8S to re.~tore is to make to return, whieh
i~ indicated in the original by the Hiphil or caulative form oC the
verb. The Hebrew ,,"ord for captivity (t"1,~m, Ihevooth) bas also an
intimate relation, in form and origin, with thA same radical. It will
be difficult to resist the evidence that they all have in the instances
adduced a spiritual import.
Deut. xxx. 1-3, " And it sball come to pass, when all these things
are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which. I have set
before thee, and thou ,halt call them to mind (Hcb. • Aalt cause them to
return to thy heart) among all the nations whither the Lord thy God
hath driven thee, and shalt retu.rn unto the Lord thy God, and shalt
obey his voice, according to all that I command thee tbis day,
thou and thy children, witb all thy heart, and with all thy 8Oul; that
then the Lord thy God will turn (Heb. return) thy captivit)", and
have compasHion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all
the nations \vhither the Lord thy God bath scattered thee."
Tbe same original verb, rendered return, occurs in this passage
four times, in the first of which it denotes in strictness a bringing
back to the thoughtl, or making a subject of reflection the matters men-
tioned. A man does with his own thoughts as the Lord does spirit-
ually with his o\\~ people, i. e. CQ'Illes them to return. The same term
oCfurs, Is. xlvi. 8, " Remember this, and show yourselves men; bri7Jg
it again to mind (Heb. cause it to retuJon), 0 ye transgressors." Lam.
iii. 21, "This I recall to my mind (Heb. cause to return to my h~art),
and theref()re have I hope." It is equivalent to the expra~ion respect-
. ing the prodigal Luke, xv. 17, "And when ',e came to himself (i. ~.
returned to himself) he said," &0. In the other cases it is clear that
returning is an expression for a change of mind on the part of those
addressed, in consequence of which the Lord himself is said to return
to his people, i. e. to demean hilnself towards them as if he also had
changed his mind, just as it is said again in the parable of the prodi-
gal that the father, " when he was a great way off, saw him, and And
compa8rion, and ran," &c. By their being gathered from all the na-
tions wbither they were scattered, is denoted a work of spiritual ac-
complishment in a.ccordance with the returning and compassion as·
cribed to tbe Lord in the connexion. It was 8, signal p"art of the Lord's
redeeming mercy that" hp should die, not for the nation ofthe Jews oolr,
but that he also should gather toget"Mr in one the children of God :who
1849.] The Letter and t1&e Spirit. 497

were scattered abro':ld." This gathering is often alluded to in the

Word. Thus Ps. cxlvii. 2, already quoted, "The Lord doth build
up Jerusalem; hegathereth the outcasts of IsraPl." For the same rea-
son that to a spiritual pere~ption the building up of Jerusalem de-
notes the edification of the church. the " gathering of the outcasts of
Israel," denotes an interior uniting process in respect to the same 8ub-
ject.
1. Kings viii. 33, 34, "When thy people Israel be smitten down
before the enemy, because they ha\"'e sinned agRinst thee, and shall
turn again (Heb. return) to thee, and confess thy Dame, and pray,.8nd
make supplication uuto thee in this house. Then hear thou in hea-
ven, and forgi\·e the sin of thy pf'ople Israel, and briltg them (Heb.
CQU8e them tu return) again unto the land which thou gavest unto
their fathers.".
Here it will be 'noticed that although the Lord's people are
represented as being smitten before" their enemies, as in foreign
warfare, yet they are still spoken of as making supplication in
the temple, or its courts, at Jerusalem. They are moreover repre-
sented as returniflK to the Lord prior to his ctJu8ing tAem to return to
their own land. There is, therefore, a perceytible degree of incon-
gruity in the, letter, which is obviated by the spiritual sense,
for according ·to that the returning in both cases is indicative of dif-
ferent stages in the progress of repentance and regeneration.
Jer. xv. 19, "Therefore thus saith the Lord, if thou return, then will I
bring thee again (Heb. caule thee to return), and thou shalt stand be-
fore-me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt
be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but returIJ not thou
unto them."
This is altogether parallel to the preceding, and the idea of a
mental return is clearly predominant in each instance.
1 Kings viii. 46-49, " If they sin against thee (for there is no man
that sinneth not), and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the
enemy, 80 that they carry them away captives unto the land of the
enemy~ far or bear; .yet if they shall belhink themselves (Heb. caU88
to return to their heart) in the land whither they were carried captives,
and repent (Heb. return), and make supplication unto thee in the land
of theID that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have
done perversely, we have committed wickedness: and so return unto
thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the lan~ of their
enemies which led them away captive, and pray unto thee to\\'ard
their land, which thou gavest unto their father!l, the city ,,·hich thou
bast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: then
hear thou their prayer and their suppli<?ation in heaven thy dwelling
place, and maintain their cause." .
lIere we have the same word rendered bethink thfmBelvea, repent,
and return. It will be observed also that they are spoken of as re-
turning while still abiding in the land of their enemies and captors.
2 ChroD. xv. 4, " But when they in their trouble did turn (Heb. re-
turn) unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of
them."
498 Spirit and Matler. [Nov.
Ps. xxii. 27, " All the ends of the world shall remember and turn
(Heb. return) unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations
shall worship before thee."
Hos. iii. 5, " For the children of Israt'l shall abide many days with- I

out a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and with-
out an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim. After-
ward shall the children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God,
and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in
the latter days."
There is nothing in this latter passage but will receive with ease
a spiritual interpretation in accordance with the import of the term
return in the texts above cited. No mention is made of any place
to which the children of Israel are to return, and every condition
would seem to be fulfilled by understanding return· in the sense of
repentance. .
A more extended arra.y oC texts can scarcely be necessary for the
object we have in view in this part of the discussion, which is to ad-
duce evidence that the interpretation of the words return a.nd Tutore
(i. e. to caule to return), in the sense of an internal change of mind, is
actually warranted by the palpable facts of the usu., loquendi of the
sacred writers. We are of course aware that the preceding train
of remark does by no means cover the whole ground in debate, and
that specific objections remain to be met which shall receive atten-
tion hereafter. But we have aimed to set forth, with some degree of
prominence, the proof subsidiary to our main position, or, in other
words, to showthat aM, to a spiritual perception, the names Israel, J udah, ,
Jerusalem, &c., have a spiritual import and denote the churc~ so the I

predicated return and restoration of Israel are ~o be understood in the

same sense, as implying an interior mental process, or a marked
change of state. Our avowal that we regard this as but one branch
of the argument will preclude all charge of evasion, and our subse-
quent articles :will probably close the door still more effectually
.
against any such imputation.
G. B.·
(To b, eoAtinuttl.)

ARTICLE D.

SPIRIT AND MATTER.

TH~ five senSAS are the only avenues to the mind of the Materialist..
He considers good and truth, thought and affection, analogolls to elec·
tric sparks which are elicited by the ingenious combination of ditfe~­
ent substances. He gives no explRnation of the origin of the UnI-
verse and frames no hypothesis for its destiny. He notices a uniform
sequence of phenomena and entitles them, as he chooses, causes or
1849.] Spirit and Matler. 499
effects. His" law of gravitation accounts for the motions of the plan-
ets and the weight of terrestial bodies." His" progress of develop-
ment" unravels to his satisfaction the IODg chain of geological won-
ders. His" chemical affinity" charms into ready solution the pro-
fonndest mrsteries of the laboratory. To his perception, heat, light,
moisture, &c. are the primary caules of vegetation, a.nd he rpjects the
idea of influent life from a spiritual source as.a ridiculous assumption.
He traces his own being to the spontaneous formation of an organic
molecule, which some electro-magnetic current, self-existing, and self-
acting, quickens into vitality. His physiology is all sufficient to elu-
cidate the subHequent changes of gro\vth and nutrition. The pheno-
mena of animal motion would seem for a moment to puzzle his in-
genuity. .But he hails the discovery of ner\~e-centres generating a
nerve-force or a due supply of arterial blood" as a triumphant ex-
planation." He locates the intellectual facilIties on the cerebral sur-
face and by a blind reversal of cause and effect produces from a con-
globation of minute vesicles, arteries, veins, and lymphatics, a mon-
strous outbirth of thoughts and affections. His memory is the result
of an occult property which every nervous molecule possesses of im-
parting the pictures impressed upon'it to its succeeding molecule.
Love, wisdom, joy, grief: purity, crime, are with him the natural ef-
fects of different states of the nervous and sanguinous systems.
Another class of thinkers gaze ea.rnestly, but from a different point
of vie\v, into the connection between spirit and matter. Convinced
of the existence of a great Creator, aDd of the love anti wisdom of his
nature, they rapturously\race in all his \vorks the evidence~ of benefi-
cent de~ign. Blessed with more warmth than light, with more love
than knowledge, their practice is less objectiona~le than their theory
of religion. When they are brought to consider intellectually the re-
lative bearings of Psychology and Physiology, or of Mind and Matter
sudden clouds of ignorance and prejudice seem to obscure their men-
tal vision. Of the true meaning of spirit and spiritual things they
have as little conception as the Materialists. Their God is an incom-
prehensible Being, without body, part~, or passions.. All objects,
natural and spiritual, were create,d out of nothinl.f by his word, and
have no direct connection with his nature or being. As he spake
matter into existence by the ,vord of his mouth; so by an effort of his
will be established the laws by which matter is governed. But these
la\vs have no more relationship to his Divine Being than hydraulics
or pneumatics have to the spiritual nature of the mechanic who
avails himself of their principles. Their interpretation of nature is
extended to the Holy Bible. With them it is no more than the pub-
lished manda'te of a king to his subjects. They sec no spiritual laws
which give structure to the sentences and meaning to the words of
Scripture. The clouds of the tetter veil from their vision the innu-
merable star-truths that sparkle, eternally in the spiritual sphere.
Their inappreciation of the spiritual sense of the Word reminds us of
the stolid indifterence of one of Wordsworth's heroes to the beauties
of nature:
500 Spirit and Matter. [Nov.
Cl A primrose by the rinr'1 brim,
A yellow primrOl8 wal to him,
And it wu Dothing more."

By a misconception of the divine naturE', the centra] truth of theo-

logy, they have perverted the "'hole current of scriptural (loctrine.
A single pebble dropped into the bosom of a lake ,vill impel the ever-
increasing ripple to the farthest shore. The introduction of a single
link of error into a chain of argument will nullify the potenc)?' of
the ,,~hole. When the premises are unsound the conclusions must be
false, and nothing is more natural than the transit of error to absurd-
ity. And never was there fuller confirmation of these truths than is
to be found at the present day in the doctrinal dogmas of orthodox
christianity. •
We have briefly alluded to but t\\10 prevailing opinions on this mo-
mentous subject, but thfl connection bet\\"een spirit and matter has
weighed upon the human Inind in all ages of the world-for man by
his organization is both spiritual and natural. Well may ,ve compare
him to Igdrasil, the tree uf life-that wild outbirt.h of Northern inlag-
inat.ion. \Vhile its roots p~netrated far and wide into the kingdom of
death, its trunk ascended majestically through the centre of the uni-
verse, and its living branches were distributed interminately in the
light of heaven. Strong, earnest minds in all nations have felt this
and baye expressed it in word or action, better or worse, according to
their capacity of expression. The Egyptian, the Brahmin, the Greek,
the Scandinavian, the Aztec, the Indian, have all left written or tra-
ditional monuments of the struggle of the human soul after a concep-
tion of its true nature and its real destiny. And the whole history of
mental philosophy from the spiritual insight of Plato and the ornate
beauty of Cicero, down through hundreds of years and hundreds of
writers to the elaborate elegance of Brown and the persuasive logic
of Cousin, is so fun of untenable speculations or of reiterated princi-
ples, that it is almost indifferent whether we drink at the fouotains of
ancient or modern wisdom. To.extricate us from this labyrinth of me-
taphysics a heaven-sent Ariadoe has extended us the thread of deliv-
erence. And it is curious, that in an enlightened and inquisiti,·e
age, when the stationary condition of mental science is a subject of
common remark and regret, the greatest of metaphysicians-the pro-
foundest, the clearest, the most comprehensive-should remain to a
great degree under clouds not only of oblivion but even of obloquy. Is
truth so difficult of apprehension or is the human intellect so incapa-
ble of its reception, that the purest rays of wisdom should be mistaken
for' the fitful Bashes of insanity 1 From our illumineo Seer we learn
that physics, metaph~'sics, and theology constitute the perpetual circle of
philosophy~ each running imperceptibly into the other, and each being
necessar~" to the perfection and maintenance of the whole.
To elucidate the teachings of the New Church on the connection
between spirit and matter is the purpose of the present essay. And
to do this in the philosophic manner of our great author, we make the
nature of God and the derived nature of the human soul the fixed
1849.] Spirit and Matter. 501

poiDt~entres of a greater and a less circle, whence we may survey

the, relation of God to the universe, and of the soul to its material
body. We shall thus' compass briefly but clearly every point of con-
nection between spirit and matter.

I. The relation of God to the Univerle a1ld of the Soul to the Body.
Physiologists are still contending about the nature and origin of the
,"ital principle, but our S\vedish sage has cut the gordian knot of that
investigation by a return to the sacred principle enunciated by Paul
in the sentence, "for in Him we live, move, and have our being."
God alone is life and the giver of life, the sole self-exi8ting being, all
things were created from him and are animated by him. This is the
declaration of Scripture and the deduction of reason and science. We
can best delineate our subject by ans,\~ering the following self-applied
qupstions. What things exist in the universe besides God 1 How do
they differ from God 1 What positive and permanent relation do they
bear to God 1 If from our conception of the universe we mentally ab-
stract the Creator, the creation remains, and when ,"pe have divided
this into the natural Hond spiritual '\vorlds "Te are conscious that no
omission has been made. What then are the spiritual and natural
worlds 1 The New Church philosophy cannot be charged with ideal-
ism. It does not represent material objects as phantasmagoria, nor
merge our spiritual b~ings into the" mystic ether of universal thought."
It gives the soul a definite, tangible, persistent individualit.y. It gives
the body an individuality, definite, and tangible, but not persistent.
It pre~ents the spiritual and natural \vorlds in their true and rational
light, and does not annihilate one for the benefit of the other. Matter
and spirit, then, are positive entities or substances and are subject to
modifications from influent forces. Yet they exist upon different
planes of nature, and no relation of continuity can possibly be predi- .
cated of them. Spiritual forms flow into material continents or re-
cipients and are manifested by them. A common influx from heaven
conjoins the two worlds into 8 simultaneous and corresponding life,
Hence it is that natural objects have spiritual forces or forms for their
causes. As every spoken or written word or sentence is the embodi-
ment of an idea in the material fiJrm, so the natural world is an em-
bodiment or permanent manifestation of the spiritual. An ingenious
American author has argued from the intense activity manifested in
extremely attenuated fornls of matter, that if'this attenuation could be
carried onwards indefinitely \ve \vould arrive at pure spirit. But a
palpable error is detected in his prelnise; he supposes it is the atten-
uated matter which is so intensely active. Now since. the abandon-
ment of the corpuscular theories of heat, light, electricity, &0., his
ground cannot be maintained. 'Ye showed on a former occasion that
1notions caused by spiritual influx into the different attenuations of
inert matter gave rise to all the phenonlena ofna\ure. Now tbf\ solid
form offers most resistance to these inlIuent forces, the liquid less re-
sistance, and the gaspous stilll~ss. The lwninous ether and that more
attenuated medium in which the electric current moves are still more
 502 . Spirit and Matter. [Nov.
passive and more inert because more impressible and more thorough-
ly recipient of an 8cting force. Bot even if matter be brought to
its extreme point of tenuity and to its intensest degree of apparent
po\\~er, still bet\veen that matter and spirit there is an impassable
gulf.. And )"et this does not shake our belief in thf\ existence of
spiritual substances, spiritual lands, seas, mountains, houses, gardens,
&c. Thesp make analogous but more vivid impressions upon oar
spiritual bodies than natural objects do upon our material bodies.
They are not subj~ct to natural la,,"s, but their o,vn la\vs are as posi-
tive and as immutable as any natural la\vs.
How do these conjuined \,~oTlds diRer from God 1 'Ve ans\ver this
question in the Socratic manner by asldng anotber"":"'IIo\v do the)"' re-
semble God 1 The)' are whon~· dead and inert per $e; God is all life
and the only life. 'rhe~" are r(~cipient of forces not innate or inherent
in themselves but coming al,vayR from \vithout; God is acted on by
no extraneous foree~ but is himself the fountain-bead of all force. But
they are determin~d into innumPfable forms r~presentative of thoughts
and affections ,vhich exist in God; and this brings us to the third ques-
tion-What relation does the creation bear to the Creator 1 It is strik-
ingly characteristic of the Ne\y Church teaching that the nature of
God is the central point of its philosophy-the common corner-stone
to the t~mples of physics. metaphysics, and theolog)". This is so be-
cause all things were created from him and by him according to the
law of corr~spondence. The subject of correspondence has been so
often treated in the pages of the Repository that it is needless to en-
large upon it bere. The divine lo\"e acting through the divine \vis-
dam filled the universe \vith created forms for the production of uses.
This is the most rational manller in which the \vork of the di ~ine
being can be succinctly defined. But upon what principle or by what
law was this effected 1 By the universal Jaw \\'hich even the ~Ia- ·
'terfalist recognize's in its lo\\'er forms, that" like bcgets like." 'Ve
find no difficulty in apprehending it \\,hen applied to the growth of a
tree from the seed ofa parent and similar tree, and to the constant re-
production of the animal kingdom. But ,vhen the begotten or creat-
ed object is on a difterent plane of nature, the bcgctter or creator
cannot \le repeated or re-produced, but a certain definite correspond-
ence establishes a. relation bet\veen him and his production. 'Vhen a
man writes a book, builds a house. and performs an action, \ve see
that the book, the house, and the action represent or correspond to
certain states which existed in the man's mind. They are his crea-
tions, and they bear the unmistakable imprpss of himself: No\v the
materia.l of the spiritual and natural \vorlds \\~as the basis of pod's
operative energy, and the fOTlns produced therein by his influent life
must be in a certain correspondence \vith himself. These forlns fnust
be finite and recipient of life, for God alone in his unapproachable
and incommunicable sphere is infinite and self-existing.
The highest form which we find in these two worlds is the Human
Form, and all others are accessory and subservient thereto. This is
the image of God, and the divine love and wisdom, of which it is re-
cipient,_ beoomes by appropriation the Will and Under8wnduw of
 IN8.] 101
the individaal-two words whiCh embrace and include all the co...
ceivable phenomeua of miod. This spiritual Haman Form is the in-
divisible uoit of the spiritual worlcL When aggregated into socie-
ties, the lOCiety still bears the Human Form, aDd is represented by a
single Man. The union of societies into a heavellstill develops the
great fact that God is the same in the greatest and the least, and eacla
heaven ap~arB to him 88 a single man. The correspondent of aD
this is found in the natural world, like the shadow of a flying cloud
imprinted upon the plaiD beneath. An aggregate of.individuals fo1'lDl
a nation-an aggregate oC nations the hQID&n race, each dischargiDl
in successively larger circles the fonctioDB of hu.manity. The liviDc
body is an organ composed of minor organs, which are again com-
ponndt'4 of units, each of which is a perfect miniature of its orpu.
The mineral is an aggregate of crystals, and each crystal is an aggre-
gate of atoms, each atom being the unit. oC the material world. And
from this doctriae of units announced by Swedenborg a hundred ye.....
ago, the atomic theory of chemistry might have been dedl10ed lonr
before Dalton proposed his hypothesis. Moreover, the doctrine oC
compound radicals, which is now filling the department of organio
chem~ with light, is evidently here foreshadowed.
God tllen is continually beholding his own though~ affections, ami
UBeS shadowed forth more or lea perfectly in the worlds beneath him,
like the image ofa man in a mirror. God is an iD1lnite man, and m.
is a finite God. Let us now consider what relation this maD, this finite
God, bears to the universe around and within him. AB we beholcl
him here on earth, consciously or UDcOnsciously to himsel( he is aa
inhabitant of both .orlds. For this double existence he is prepared
by a double body;. but he only comes into the oonscioQ8nea of hi8
~iri&ual form by the separation from his natural, which occurs at
death. Dim intimations of lUa higher state of being are presented to
him in dreams, but in his waking &Dd natural Itate he miscoDltruel
his faint memories of this ~irit-world. What then is this spiritual
body, and what is the mooe of its eDtence in the spiritual world'
It is a sabtile organization of spiritual substance for the produotion
of all the leD8&tions. uses, and functions of hlllD&Dity. It Dean die-
tinct relati~D8 to God, to surrounding objects, and to its fellow-
spirits. Its relation to God j8_~rmaneDt and neoel8&l7. It is ani-
mated by iD1luent life from Him, and the withdrawal of that life
would be followed by instant aDDihilation. Gifted with an inteD18
degree of perception, it is aware oC His existence and presence. But
it camaot possibl:y188 Him .. He is, and He therefore appean to it
in a representative form. All human minds iDvol1Ultarily imap
forth to thelDl8lves aD idea of God, from the Atheist witb his etemal
force, aDd the Uaitariaa with hi8 pure ideality, to
" The poor IDCllan whole 1ID&Utored mind
8eeI GoclID c1oucll, aDd hean hbalD the wiDcLIt
But it ii ODly iD. the spiritual world that God can be clearly repre-
88Dted to the mind in a form fall)' _indicative of his nature. What is
this fOlm t The epiritaallR1D, which beams tor ever before the rao.
YOI.IL Si
 Spirit - Matter. LNov.
of the angels in Jieaven. This lun is appropriately and e.en "neees-
I&rily representative of God, because it is the ceDtral point of crea-
tion, both spiritual and .natural. . All substances have emanated from
its bosom, and all forces continually radiate from its centre. Its spi.
ritual heat and light are the positive embodiments of the Divine love
and wisdom. The &ngels.know that sun to be representative of God.
but never suppose fOf'. moment that it is God. A smile represents a
thought, and proceeds from it as a cause, but DO one can fairly infer
from this an identity of the two things. The analogy or correspond.
ence between the spiritual ~nd natural SUDS is the starting point of
the correspondence between the spiritual and natural worldll. When
the knowledge of correspondence was lost by the ancients, the wor-
lhip of images and idols was the result. The Egyptian still adored
the ox, the onion, and the beetle, when their spiritual significatioDS
had eluded his mental grasp. The. most natural and the most ex-
cusable of all idolatries was the reverential worship of the all-beget-
ting and all-pervading sun. .
The nature of the scenery which surrounds every individual spirit
is determined by a fundamental principle. To understand thie we
revert to our central point of philosophy, and ask the question, What
does God see without and below him 1 'fhe answer is i-objects which
bring forth into use, and therefore represent, the thoughts and affec-
tions of hi, own mind. Henoe the individual spirit or least image of
God sees around it images and objects which correspond to the
thoughts and affections of its own mind. For this reuOIl the pure
and upright man will live for eVflr amid scenes of indescribable
beauty, and the celestial landscapes of Swedenborg, filled with
palaces and precious stones, and gardens of perpetual bloom, aU
bathed in refulgent light., are not the creatioDs of a. diseased imagina-
tion. By the same law, the dark and guileful spirit must create for
itself a scenery of dreary caverns and subterranean fires, of whirl-
pools and precipices, of ghastly fonus and desolate places. The re-
lations which spirits bear to each other are determined by the resem-
blance or affinity which they mutually possess. Those whose mental
constitutions are most llear1y alike, must by the above law have the
8&Dle outward scenery, and be as it were in the same place, which
in the ~iritual sense means to be in the same state. UpOn this prin-
ciple the spirit of heaven and hell are cOD800iated in their diWerent
planes of being, and the mind has aD intuitive perception of its ra-
tionality. .
Passing now from the higher to the lower sphere, le~ DB survey the
relation of the spiritual body to its material tenement. We are
taught that every manifestation of God must be ultimatecl in the ma-
terial universe, and that matter is indispensably Decessary as a basis
for the spiritual superstructure. For this r~asoD every individual
• spirit must possess, or have possessed, a natural body. Now God
created the "spiritual world immediately from himse~ but the natural
world is created mediately, or through the medium or agency or the
spiritual, which is the sphere of causes. The iout, therefore, endowed
with a delegated power, is an active force which flows iDjo the or·
1849.]

ganic moleeule wonderfully prepared for its reception into the Datural
wor]d. But this influx does not proceed in an arbitrary manner or
even in accordaace with ~ewly established laws. The lOul is like
the spiral shell which" remembers its august abodes, and murmurs
as the ocean murmured there." It brings from its own creation the
laws or principles which determined the organization of the body.
Like God in his greater creatioD, it has but ODe object or end, viz.-
to produce forms which shall bring into use the thoqhts and affec-
tions that cODsti~te its own being. Let us follow more closely
the analogy between the course of development by God in the uni-
verse, and by the soul in its individual body. The proximate pro-
ceeding, or first effect of the infusion of the vital principle into the
organic germ, is the appearance of the brain and its immediate ap-
pendages-the centres of the nervous system-the spiritual sun of
the body. Here are chambers prepared for the will and the under-
standing, aDd sub-chambers for all possible thoughts and affections.
Radiating thence the delicate nerve-fibres are distributed to the ex-
tremest portions of the body, like ministering angels or spiritual forces
descending from a higher to a lower sphere. This portion of the
system is prepared by the soul to maintain its connection with its
natal sphere. In it are situated the different senses-the avenues
from the outer to the inner world. Upon these senses the dUferent
modifications of matter-the solid, the liquid, the effluvial, the atmos-
pheric, and the ethereal-make their peculiar impressions. Corres-
ponding changes instantaneously occur in the spiritual body, and the'
soul receives cognizance of the propeTt~. of matter, for of matter Welf
tl;te most eminent che~sts in the world agree that we know nothing.
The infiaent life, having now embodied itself in a nervous fiuid and
investing membranes, proceeds downwards to a lower plane. BefQre,
however, it reaches the ultimates of the body, it col\ioins itself to
another element-the blood, which represents the natural forces, and
emanates from a central heart-the natural sun of the organism.
From this point the vivifying fluid is transmitted to the extremest
eircumfe.-enC8 of the body as the solar emanations are radiated OD-
wards and outwards to the most distant planet. The lungs and res-
piratory passages which communicate with the external air are con-
nected with the circulating system, because it is the oonjoined act,ion
of the heart and lungs which retains os in relationship with the ma-
terial world during our natural life. Before. birth the lungs are
inactive, and consequently no relationship with the material world
exists, and the forces which occasion the f<etal development are Dot
material forces, but influent spiritual forces, as we set forth a~ove•.
Let us pursue our history of the descent of the soul into the body.
The nerve-fluid and the blood, conjoined like spirit and matter, .are
found at last in the utmost periphery of the evolving form. There
the blood furnishes the basis or material, which is transmuted into a
variety of organ&, and the nerve-fluid determining the locality, fonn,
and specific functions of each organ, animates it when formed, and
thereby conjoins it with the brain, and through the brain with the
~uL· I) ~_
 [No.,..
Let U8 loot more narrowly into the wonderful pro. . which goes
on at the termination of the nerves and arteries, for it has escaped
the attention, or ballled the qllestioniDg&, of many philosophers. A
gland, a bone, a muscle, an eye is formed. Here is a creation aa
marvellous as the prior creations of the brain, of the soul, and of the
Ipiritualsun. Shall we seek for a new law of development, and de-

=menon
mand a new principle of explanation 1 Or shall we apply to this
the intelpretation which has solved ita kindred enigmas'
n answen, yes, and sci~nce does not gainsay the reply. There-
fore the minutest and most external portion of the human body was
produced by _ through IDiBdom, and for the manifestatien of ...
Be who has acquiesced in our chaiR of argument to this ~int cannot
desert us here, for this .link is as strong as its felloWL In this manDer
is God the same in the greatest and in the least, in the creation of the
universe, and in the development of a single molecule of organized
matter I We see now that the whole body, with the Ea:ception of the
nervous ~em, is a repetition of the brain in a lower form, &Dd that
every gland, muscle, and papilla of the sktn has its corresponding
point in some portion of the brain, through which it is &Ilimated, and
~y which it is connected with the microcosm and the macrocosm.
From all this it results by the most logical inference, that the whole
body corresponds to the laul, and is perfectly adapted to manifest its
a1fections, thoughts, and use. in the natural sphere.
We have thoa drawn a hasty parallel between the relation of
God to the UDivene and of the sow to its body, and we ~

pressing the hope that our reader can interpret any of o.

believe that these relations mutually confirm and iU1I8trate
other. We cannot leave this portion of our subject without ex-
remarks
10 as to substantiate in his mind the charge of Pantheism, which has
occasionally been adduced against Swedenborg. In our conoeptiOD,
the mind which could not recognize the distinct individualities of
God &Dd the material universe, would be 88 ready to confound the
lOul with the liYer, or the angel Gabriel with the planet Mercury.
Oar view of the incarnation alone should refute the miserable
Blander. When it became Ilecessary for the Divine Being to appear
individually in his ultimate domain, that he might contend with evil
on the l&Dle arena with humanity, in obedience to his own laws, and
iD accordance with his own nature, He was obliged to 8MIJIIIe dae
material human form. And whilst he was thu speciaDy uJtimated
in a human body for a particular end, His cHviDe nature or eII8 wall
generally ultimated in the whole _vene, lUBtainjng and renewiDg
all things.
t

.. ne o.ftipraenee, Oaaipotence, and o..Ueier&ee If 60tl ill .-

UaitJer_, and cf de Btmlaft Boul in it. 1xxlg.
The Omnipresence of God is believed in a general..... by all
men who have &DJ idea of religion, but the New Church syst.em pr&-
IleDta it more clearly to the undent&DdiDg. aDd impresses B mOle viv-
idly upon the IIeart than aD.]' o&b.er. God is the oD1J lelf-ezjllting
1840.]
~irituallabstallce. All other spiritual substances are derivatives
from this primary divine substaace. By the withdrawal of the life or
inherent activity from this substance, an inert 8ubstance-a first, sim-
plest, homogeneous material, spiritual or natural, was generated.
By innumerable iniowingB oC the divine life into the dead receptacle
thas prepared for it, all the~henoolella. natural and spiritual, of the
1lDivene were prodl1ced. Every object therefo~ is a form of use,
manifesting and embodying forth some affection and thought of the
divine mind. A constant influx from the great source of life main-
tains every object in its appropriate form and function. Viewed in
this manner, the Omnipresence of God is rendered distinct, and we
feel that in studying the objects oC nature, we are acquiring a divine
language which brings us into direct communion with our Creator.
Under the powerful stimulus of this conception, with what delight
will future philosophers penetrate the arcana of science, and future
poets delineate the beauties of nature I Happy at this day is the Dl&D.
who is 80 filled wita a sense of the all-pervading presence of Deity,
that be traces the constant manifestations of Him in all motioDB
and in all objects, from the evening sky, with its unutterable splendors,
to the worm, and the violet, and the moss 1 Day and night, summer
aDd winter, in crowds and in solitude, in youth and age, in cities and
iD pathless forests, at all times and in all places, he is lmpressed with
the language of the forlorn Hagar, "Thou, God I seest me I"
Motion is the source of all our ideas of power. Things at rest,
however beautiful or sublime, are not suggestive of force. But the
march of a mighty army, the torrent of an impetuous river, the des-
trootive energy of a rushing wind, and the wild heavings of a stormy
sea, ara motions which communicate their vibrations to some kindred
element in our own being, and awaken in us the perception oC
power. When we look at the galaxy of st~rs we are struck with the
beauty of light, Or the indefiniteness of space; but when we think of
an immense globe turning continually on its axis, of a Dumber of such
globes describing almost immeasurable orbits around a central SUD,
and of millions of such SUDS re1'olving at inoonceivable distances
around some undiscovered ~entre, we .are solemnly "impressed with '
the omnipotence of God. All motion, we have rep~tedly shoWD,
is of influx, and all infiux is primarily of God. We readily ac-
knowledge this in the motioDS of masses of matter which are 80
easily presented to our senses. But the same principle is evidently
applicable in every molecular change which occurs during the pro-
cess of crystallization, or in the blossoming of a flower. When we
thus see that every infinitesimal motion is the result of influx from .
the only source of motion, the divine providence, general and special,
is more clearly manifested. It is a common belief that God's omni-
potence was especially displayed by the miracles recorded in the Old
and New Testament. But we cannot see that those miracles were
more intrinsically wonderful than the unappreciated miracles which
occur daily around us, and more particularly within us. That .they ~'
were exhibitions of Divine power in contrariety to the laws oC D&-
ture, we 8trenuoualy deny. True, they were ·the results or the acUPD
 508 Spirit ad Matter. [NOT.
of law, not generally recognized by us in the natural sphere. Bot iD
our higher state of being, where all objects are mental projectioM,
water will be changed into wine whenever a natural is raised to a
spiritual truth, and the blind will be restored to sight whenev"r ig-
norance gives way to knowledge,
An ingenious article appeared not long ago in the French New
Jerusalem Magazine, which showed by the laws of optics that if an
eye could be placed simultaneously in all points of the universe, it
would lee Dot only all present events, but all OCCUlTeDces of the past,
. 88 if actually transpiring in a perpetual present. But it needs no
argument drawn from the phenomena of light to prove that a 8efI-
tienl Being, whose omnipresence is conceded, is also omniscient, for
the idf!a flows intuitively into the mind as a truth. Bnt ~·e may eD-
large and strengthen our apprehension of the subject by a reference
to one of the curious phenomena of mesmeri8m~the transfer of
thought. The mesmerizee enters thoroughly into tbe mind of the
mesmerizer, not only into the thoughts occurring to him at the mo-
ment, but into his mind as it really is, into the accumulated impres-
sions of his whole life. He can recall from the h~dden memory of the
1ndividual, minutim which he himself has completely forgotten. III
a similar manner he perceives the mental changes of every indi'''idual
with whom he is put into communication. But God is in an analo-
gous communication, not only with all men, but with aIf spirits and
the whole universe, for he is the influent life of all things. His om-
niscience therefore is proven.
The omnipresence of the human soul in the body depends upon the
fact which we illustrated in the first section, viz., that every component
part of the body, however minute, is a form of use for manifesting the
aWectioDs and thoughts of the soul. Physiologists agree that the brain
ill the instrument of the soul. Phrenologists see the divinity within
still·further manifested in the shape and proportions of the cranium.
Physiognomists detect many of its minutest workings in the varying
features of the face. All men, savage and civilized, receive vivid
impressions of our states of mind from the intonations of the voice.
And a work has recently appeared in England to prove that the con-
formation and motions of the human hand are indicative of mental
habit and mental capacity.' (SwAdenborg frequently describes the
angels as exploring the hands and arms of novitiate spirits for a
thorough knowledge of their characters. The gipsy practice of ex-
amining the lines in the band for the secrets of life may be a dim
relic of a primeval knowledge of the truth.) These are all valuable
approximations to the truth. But the fact to which we pin our faith
is, that every part of the bod)" is in intimate communication with the
brain. The body bears the same relation to the brain which the
brain bears to the 8Oul. If the brain is recipient of the sou], and the
bod,. recipient of the brain, as is clearly established by logical in-
duction, the body is also thoroughly recipient of the soul. When the
soul abandons it, it is rendered up to the mechanical and chemical
forces of nature.
-To: ~how the omnipotence of the soul in the body, we must prove
~~:~~~tioD or presidency over the motionl of the bOdy- The modoDl
.u..... ~J ......
1848.] 601

:z
of the body, like thole which occur in the material world without it.;
be iltly divided into three classes-the gtnWGl, the local, and the
cular. A general motion produces a displacement or change oC
place in the whole body, or in a part of it. Walking. running, leap-
ing. swimming, &c., are instances of this class, and these are all e1:'
fected by successive contractions and relaxations of the voluntary
muscular fibre. The centres of local motion are the heart and lungs.
These altemately dilate and contract, and transmit their motioDs to
~ parts ofthe body, which arc excited to corresponding local motions,
-.s the leaves of a tree are shaken by a contiguous and impressing
wind. The molecular motion occurs in the microscopic net-work of
the tissues. and is particularly seen in the capillary and endosmotic
movements, which are involved in the elimination of the different se.
cretions from the blood. Now we contend that the soul is the pri-
mary cause in the body, and constant regulator of all these motions.
That it governs the first class or the voluntary motions no person will
deny. Bat we are too apt to consider the second as instinctive, and
the third as chemical, and to think a full explanation is rendered
when we vaguely attribute their due performance to innervation.
But what is innervation 1 Correctly defined it is the inftux of the
brain into the ultima.te of the body. But what can the brain take
down into the body, except the principles by which it was itseIr
moulded or prepared, and to which it corresponds in all its parts 1
These principles are affections and tbo~ghtS; in other words, the soul.
Therefore. as there is a part of our mental being of which we are un-
conscious, for 60 Swedenborg constantly teaches, 80 there ia a part oC
our physical being which is equally shrouded from our common per-
ception. The· beating of the heart, the aeration of the blood, the
different movements of the viscera, are constantly proceeding without
our knowledge or perceptible agency. But -these motions are per-
petually superintended and excited by the cerebellum, that organ of
the will, whose hidden motioDs come 80 seldom into the light of our
intellectual sensorium. The third class of motions the materiali.
would assign entirely to chemical affinity and the play of natural
forces, did not many physiological facts compel him to acknowledge
the controlling agency of the brain. All the secretions ofthe body are
influenced by the emotions of the mind. Tears are proverbially the
offspring of the' passions. Mental excitement will make a person im-
mediately forget the instigations of extreme hunger aDd thirst. The
very thought of savory or acid food increases the flow of saliva into
the mouth. Amongst others of a similar character ~e find the fol-
lowing statement in Carpenter"s Human Physiology: cc The follow;
ing is perhaps the most remarkable instance on record of the effect
of strong meotal excitemen t on the mammary secretion: the event
could hardly be regarded as more than a simple coincidence if it
were not borne out by the less striking but equally decisive facts just .
mentioned :-' A carpenter fell out with a soldier billeted in his house,
and was set upon by the latter \vith his drawn sword. The wife of the
carpenter at first trembled from fear and terror, but suddenly threw
herself fariously between the combatants, wrested the sword from
 110
the soldier's haud, broke it iD pieces, and threw it awaJ. DuriDg the
tumult some neigbbon came in and aeparated the mea. While ia
tllis ltate of Itrong excitement, the mother took up her child from the
eradle where it lay playing, and in the mostperCect health, never
having had a moment's illness; she gave it tile breast, and in BO
doing sealed its fate. In a few moments the infant left off suckiDg,
bflCame restless, panted, and sank dead upon its mother's bosom!7 In
this interesting case, the milk must haTe undergone a change, which
pve it a powerful sedative action upon the 81l8Ceptible ne"oas system
of the infant." By facts ofthis nature, the last link ofour propositiOD
is incontrovertibly established.
The OfImUcimce of the BOW in the bodr is proTeD allO on the prin-
ciple that a 8mtient being which is ommpresent in a body, must also
be omniscient in that body. But maDy things in the body illustrate
it, to very few oC whioh we have space to allude. It is one thiog to
bow what word or sentence to, say, and quite another thing to know
what muscles are to be moved, and what thousandfold wonderful in-
lectioDl are to be made before that word or sentence can be pl'O'
Bounced. Of the first knowledge we are conscious-of the second
We are Dot apparently conscious but soch knowledge must exist, aDd
I Is to be found in a deeper and more interior part· of our being. We
showed that the soul descends into the body in the womb, and de-
velops it. The evidences of design in its organs are 80 many proofs
of the prescience of the soul. The same wisdom which made, c0n-
tinually maintains, and when necessary repairs our material frame.
Physicians and BUrgeons are enthusiastic in recording the marks of
intelligence which the vU medicatriz natur~, as they term the sou),
evinces in resistance to morbid influences, and in the wonderful pro-
eesses it establishes for &the repay. of injured tissues. The higher
phenomena of mesmerittm make it probable that we may be brought
Into conditions in which we are as conscious of the internal mechan-
lam and operations of the body as we are now of the external. In a
future time, and in a more certain atate of mental science, ~is fact
lDay be rendered signally subservient to the cure of disease.
A Newchurchman could Dot conclude an essay on Spirit and Matter
without at least alluding to the connection between heaven and earth,
which is established by the Word of God. The crude and unworthy
opinions oCthe Old Church shoul4 be entirely banished when we co.
lider the inspjration of the Bible. Like ourselvei, it is not only OD
the earth, bot it reaches up into heaven-yea, into the highest heaveD.
~en the Word is read on earth, it is simultaneously read in the dif·
ferent spheres of heaven. To us it is frequently a twilight ray; but
to higher beings it is a brilliant nOOD, and higher still it is a burnillg
lan. At those times the blessed angels flow into our miuds, and in·
fuse into our beings their purer love and their brighter wisdom. Thus
Is the Bible the ladder of Jacob, by which the spirits of men ucend
into heaven, and the angels of heaven descend upon the earth.
W.B.R.
 "
AKTlCLB ID.

THE JEWISH TABERNACLE VIEWED IN ITS SPIRITUAL IMPORT.

No. VII.

• AIID they shall make an Ark of shittim-wood: two cubits and a

half shall be the length thereof; and a cubit and a half the breadth
thereof; and a cubit and a half the height thereo£ And thou shalt
o.erlay it with pure gold, within and withol1t shalt thou overlay it ;
aDd shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. And thou shalt
cast four rinp of gold for it, and put them in the four comers
thereof; and two rings shall be in the ODe side of it, and two rings in
the other side of it. And thou shalt make staves of shittim-wood, and
overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put the staves into the rings
by the sides of the ark; that the ark may be borne with them. The
staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall Dot be taken from
It. And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony whioh I will give
thee."-Ez. xxv. 10-16.
The original term for Ark is Tt.,.,aron. From the identity of ren-
dering, it might be thought that the ark of the Tabernacle and that or
Nosh were expressed by the same term in Hebrew. But such is not
the case. The former is called ".,., anm, and the latter ro&\ tebaA,
but the Greek haviug rendered both terms by .clltnel, kibotol; this
has been followed by onr own and many other versioDl. The object
iuelf was properly a CM,t or CQffer of shittirn-wood, overlaid with
gold, in which were deposited toe tables of the ten commandments,
together with Aaron's rod ~at budded, and the golden pot of preserv-
ed manna. This chest seems to have been of the dimensioDs of three
feet nine inches in length, by two feet three inches in breadth and
depth, according to the common cubit of eighteen inches. Around the
upper edge was a rim or cornice--caUed in'the text" a crown"-oC
pure gold ; and on each side were fixed rings of gold to receive the
poles of shittim-woodcovered with gold, by which the ark was carried
from place to place. The staves always remained in the rings, eYeD
when the ark was at rest. The ark had at the top a lid or oover of
solid gold; for luch was what the text calls "the 1Dercy-seat," and
wW--\.' ~e Septuagint renders lA."..... lailalterion, or the p ~
tbr!J'·~~ which name it is mentioned by St. Paul in Heb. ix. 4, and
w~)l was probably so called, because, on the great day of aton..
ment, the blood of the expiatory sacrifice was sprinkled 011 or before
 it. Upon the two ends of this lid, and of the 8am~ matter with if.
that is, solid gold, were/laced two figures of cherubim which looked
towards each other, an whose outstretched wings, meeting over the
centre of the ark, overshadowed it completely. It was here that the
Shekinah or special emblem of the Divine Presence was represented 88
resting, and as giving forth oracles to the consultiDg High Priest&.
Hence the Lord is sometimes mentioned as he that" dwelleth" or
" sitteth between the cherubim." In its removals the ark was cover-
ed with a veil, Num. iv. 6, and might only be carried on the shoulders
of the priests or Levites. The Rabbin.tJ think, \vith some reason, that
it was only carried by the priests on extraordinary occasions, being
ordinarily bome by the Levites. No other form or conveyance was
allowed, nor were any other persons permitted to interfere with it.
The fate of Uzzab, 2 Same vi. 3, admonished the Israelites, in a very
solemn manner, of the consequences ofeven a well-meant OftiCiOUSDflSB
in a matter where the Divine will had been 80 clearly expressed to the
contrary.
After the Israelites had passed the Jordan, the ark generally occu-
pied its proper place in the Tabernacle, and was afterwards placed iD •
the Temple built by SolomoD. From the direction given by Josiah to
the Levites, 2 Chron. xxxv. 8, to restore the ark to its place, it would
seem to have beeD' previously removed, but it is not known whether
this was done by the priests, to preserve it from profanation, or by the
idolatrous kings Manasseh or .\mon, to make room for their idols. It
seems that the ark, with the other precious things of the Temple, be-
oame the spoil olNebochadnezzar, and was taken to BabyloD ; and
it does not appear that it was restored at the end of the captivity, or
that any new one was made. What became of the ark after the cap-
tivity cannot be ascertained. Some of the Rabbios think that it was
concealed, to preserve it from the Chaldeans, and that it could not
again be discovered, nor will be till the Messiah com6s and reveals
it. Others 8ay that it was indeed taken by the ChaldeaDs, but was
afterwards restored, and occupied its place in the second Temple : but
the Talmud and some of the Jewish writers CODreSS, that the want or
the ark was one ofthe points in which the second Temple was inferior
to that of Solomon: to which we may add that neither Ezra, Nehe-
miab, the Maccabees, nor Josephus mention the ark as extant in the
second Temple, and the last authority expressly says that tltere was
nothing tn the sanctuary when the Temple was taken by Titus. It
certainly does not appear in the Arch erected at Rome in honor GC
that conqueror, and in which the spoils of the Temple are displayed:
although some writers have attempted to identify it with the table of
shew-bread which is there represented.
The following is a view of the Ark and the Cherubim in combina-
tion, derived from a collation of all the different passages in which
they are mentioned or described. As we are compelled tJ! ~
upon coDjecture more or less in regard io the form of these .~6'.
Itructure8, we can propose our pictorial designs only 81 approJJ~oa­
tioDS to the truth.
184G.] fttA.... qf. 0. ..... ala

It is well known to those vened in the sacred antiquitiM of the dif-

ferent nationa of the earth. that similar arh or eAu" contlUciDg the •
mysteri8l!l of their religions, were common &mong them, aDd derived
their origin from the rites and institutes of the Anciant Church. The
Egyptian.a, for instance, carried iD sol.mn proeessiona a laered chest,
coDtaining their secret things and the mylteri", of their religion. of
which the following cot, from the hieroglyphic remains of tha&: COWl-
try,shows a very remarkable conformity to the Hebrew model.

The Trojana aOO had their I!acred cbest; and the palladium of the
Greeka lI.D.lfRomana waa IOmeth!ng not very UDlike. It. is remarkable
 11. De J."" ~ ...,.,.. tu 1pirit-1JaporL [Nov.
too, that .. the Hebrew Tabemaoleand Temple had a hol1of hoD., iD
which the ark was deposited, 80 had the heathen, in the inmost part of
their temples, an adytu. or peraetrale, which none but the priests might
enter. Something very similar may also be tracetI among the bar-
barous and savage natioD& ThWJ, Tacttus, speaking of the nanoDII
of Northern Germany, of whom ODr Suon ancestors were a branch,
8&J8 that they generally wonhiped Hertbam, or the )fother Earth
(Terram matrem) ; believing her to interpol8 in the affairs of mea,
and to visit nations; and that to her, witliin a grove in a certain is-
land, was consecrated tJ vehicle covered with tJ vutJlaent, and which
bone but the priests were allowed to touch. The same thing has beea
frequently noticed iQ connexion with the religious systems of other
heathen natioDlJ, and among the inhabitant! of Mexico and the Sooth
Sea .Islands, very curious analogies with the Mosaio ark have heeD
discovered, of whioh the reader will find an account in Parkhurst'1
Heb. Lex. Art. ,.,.
It Make upon it a crown of gold round about." The Heb. has" a
golden border roundabout i" the Greek, ,t golden wreathed waves round
about." What is here termed" CroWD," was an omamental cornice,
moulding, or border, which went round the top, 88 a kind of enclosure
serving to make firm the propitiatory in its place, and caUed a
" crown" from its encompassing the whole outer extreIJrlties of the
• upper side of the ark somewhat as a crown encircles the temples oC
die head. The term i. only employed in reference to the rimI or
croum.t of gold made round the ark of the covenant, the table of shew-
bread, and the altar of incense. From the rendering of tile Greek it
would appear that the work of this cornice was somehow exquisitely
wrought in graceful flexures or undulations, resembling the waves of
the~a.
" Thou shalt cast four rings of gold," &0. Doubtless of solid gold,
as they were to sU8tain a very considerable weight when the staves
were inserted and the ark bome by the priests. Whether these riugs
were placed lengthwise or breadthwise of the ark is Dot clear. We
. infer the latter, however, as otherwise, when carried, the front part
of the ark with its cherubim would be sideways, which is not likely.
Besides we are told, 1 Kings viii. 8, that in the Temple" the ends of
the staves were seen out in the holy place, before the oracle;" COD8e-
quently, as the ark fronted the entrance, the staves m118t have ran
along the extremity of its breadth instead of its length.
" And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give
thee." That is the two tables of stone on which the Law of the· Ten
Commandmel1ts was written; called "the testimony," for reasons
which will be stated as we proceed.
In.endeavoring to present, under the illuminated guidance which
we have all along followed, the intemal-er this most sacred portion of
the Tabernacle furniture, it may be proper, in the outset, to remind the
reader that the Tabemacle as a whole represented the three heaveDs ;
the outer oourt,' the ultimate or first heaven; the outer room, the
middle or second heaven, aDd the inner room or the Holy of Holiea, the
inmost or third heaveD, whioh last is also represented b1 the Ark of the
 lilG
CoYeDUt, being, .. it were, the inmolt of the inmolt. There is DO
ground for the charge of inconaistency in the fact that Swedenborg
80IDetimes aftirms that the Most Holy Place signifies the inmost hea-
veD, and sometimes that the Ark of the Covenant does. It is not UD~
like the phrueology by which the term" law," is sometimes appropri-
ated to the Pentateach,&Ild sometimes to the Decalogue contained in
the Pentateuch. To a more exact specification of the internal purport
of the Ark it may be proper to obsArve that the law depOsited in the
88Cred coWer represented the Lord as to Divine Truth or the Word;
and as conjunction with the Lord is by means of the Word, the Ark
was therefore called the Ark of t1ae Covenant, inasmuch 88 covenant
signifies coqjunctione On this subject the following remarks of our
author will be seen to throw important light. "The place within the
'Yeil, where the ark was, which contained the law or testimony,
npretlellted the third heaven: the reason why this place represented
this heaven was, because there was the law, by wmch is understood
the Lord as to divine truth or as to the Word (for such is the signi-
jlcation of that law in an extensive sense)t and the divine troth pro-
eeediDg from the LoM is what form' the heavens: this is received in
the greatest purity by the angels of the third heaven, because they
are in coJijanction with the Lord by virtue of love to him ; for all the
angels in that heaven are principled in love to the Lord, wherefore
they see divine truth as it were implanted in themselves, although It
continually flows-in from the Lord, and hence it is, that that heaven
above the rest, is said to be in the Lord because in the DiviDe [prin-
.ple1which proceeds from Him: this heaven was represented by the
ark in which was the law, that is, the Lord: this was the reason that
the ark was overlaid with gold, within and without, and that the pro-
pitiatory was over the ark, and over the propitiatory and from it two
Cherubs, which were of pure gold; for gold, from co~ondence..
llignmes the good of love, in which the angels ofthe third heaven are
principled ; bT the propitiatory was signified the hearing and recep-
tion of all things appertaining to worship, which originates in die
goo4 of love from the Lord; and by the oherub. was signified the
Lord'. providence and guard, that He may Dot be approached except
by the good of love, and that heaven, with the angels thereof; is pro-
tection leat anphing should be elevated to the Lord Himself lmcepC
what proceeds from the good of laTe to Him derived from Him ; (or
all wo~ of God p8l888 through the heavens even unto the Lord,
and ill purifled iD the way, even till it is elevated to the third heaveD,
aDd·. there heard and received by the Lord, all impuriti81 being.
wi~ off in the w&1; hence it is that the cherubs of gold were
placed MWa:.:lropiUatory, which W8I over the ark, and hence that
~ &he l8Dotuary, aDd a1Bo the Holy of Hollee, and W8I
.. · ed from the exterior part of the tatiemaole by the veiL·
.....L .700.
The delipations .ppHed to the ark, la ftrioUII oonneDons In the
Word, are worthy of notice, and more ~alIy from the fact that
tbe meteDoe is iDooDaovertlb1e of its beiDg iD eenral iDItaDceI . . ~
tiDgaiIhed by dle title of JeIaofth him8el£ Th., I Sem. n I, .. ADd
David &rGIe &Dd wlDt with all the people that were wida him 4v
 618 ne JewA T ~ wiswd iri iu Bpiritullaport. [Nov.
Baale of Judab, to bring up from thence the ark of God, tMotc IMaI8
U called by t1ae fUl1ll6 of tle Lord cif H08" that d~elleth 1JetIDeea
the cherubims." So also Josb. vi. 11, " Behold the ark of the covenant
of the Lord of all the earth (Heb. the ark of the covenant, evea the
Lord of all the earth) passetb even before you into Jordan." In
like manner, v. J3, "And it shall come to pass, as SOOD 88 the soles
of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, (even) tAe Lord
of all the earth, shall rest ill the waters of Jordan, that the waters oC
Iordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from
above."
The same import is to be recognized under the expression "before
the Lord," in all such passages as the following, Ex. xvi. 33, 34, cc And
Moses said unto Aaron, take a pot, and put an omer foil of manna
therein, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your genera-
tiODS. As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before . .
tutinlony, to be kept." Here the two forms of expression explain each
other. Laying up the pot oC manna" before the, Lord" was laying it
up "before the Testimony," i. e. before the Ark of the Testbony.
The meaning of the phrase is doubtless the same throughout the p-
Denl tenor of the history recorded in the Old Testament. Thus,
J08h. iv. 13, "AbQut forty thousand prepared for war, passed over
before the Lord, unto battle, to the plains of Jericho;" i. e. before the
Ark. Of like construction are the following: Num. x. 35, 86, " ADd
it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up,
Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hue
thee Bee before thee.. And when it rested, he said, Retutn, 0 Lord,
unto the many thousands of Israel." Ps. lxviii. 1, 2, " Let God arise.
let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before
him. As smoke is driven· away, 10 drive them away 88 wu melt-
eth before the fire, 80 let the wicked perish at the presence of God."
This Psalm is e,titled "A prayer at the removing ofthe ark," it being
8UPposed to have been written on the occasion of David's CODVeyiDg
the Ark to Mount Zion. Ps. cxxxii. 8, "Arise, 0 Lord, into thy rest;
thOQ and (or, eVBn) the ark of thy strength."
Such then is the ~mount denomination given to the Ark oC the
Covena~t. It is called by the high and holy name of the Lord, be-
cause the Lord by his law, that is, by his Word, that is, by his Truth,
that is, by Himsel( was in it, just 8S the theophanic angel is called
Jehovab, because He was in him, and was manifested by him. " That
by the ark," sa~ Swedenborg, "was represented the Lord 88 to the
divine truth, and that it consequently signified the divine truth which
is from the Lord, and thus the Word may appear also from this COD-
IideratioD, that the Lord &pake thence with Moses, for it is said, Ex.
DV. 21,22, 'Thou shalt give the testimony into the ark, and I will meet
thee there, and I will speak with thee from between the two cherubs,
. which are over the ark of the testimony, all that I shall command
thee for the IOD8 of Israel i" 'aDd elsewhere, Num. vii. 89, 'When
)loses entered into the tent of the 888embly to speak with Him, he
heard the v9ice of one speakiDg unto him from over the propi~,
wWeIl. WBI over the ark of the teIRimollf, from hetween the two
1849.] ne ..hie of tie OOt1erMlRt•• 617
cherub!; thus He spake· unto him.t The reaBOIl why the Lord
thence spake unto Moses. was, because the law was there, and by
that law, in an extensive sense, is signified the Lord as to the Word,
and the Lord speaks with man from the Word: the reason why it
was from oyer the propitiatory between the two cherubs, was, because
by the propitiatory is signified the removal of falsities originat-
ing in evil loves, and thence reception and hearing, and by the
cherubs, defence, lest He should be approached except by the good of
love"-.A. E. 700.
It may here be remarked, that this place over the propitiatory,
where the Lord was to meet with and speak with his people, is called
ill the Hebrew ~..,~" debir, UKJrt!-place, oracle, from ~." dabar, word,
and ~ the Law is the Divine Word, and this Law was deposited
within the ark, we may see the peculiar propriety of designating the
propitiatory over the ark by this appellation. But we proceed with
OU~ illustrative extracts. "Inasmuch as the Lord in' heaven and in
the church is the divine truth or the Word, and this is understood·by
the law included in the ark, and whereas the presence of the Lord is
in the law or the Word, therefore where the ark was, there was
Jehovah or the Lord, as may appear from these words in Moses,
Nom. x. 81-36, 'Moses said unto Hobab, leave us DOt, I pray, fol'Jl&'
much as Thou knowest how we are to be encamped in the wilder-
nellS, whence Thou wilt be to us instead of eyes; and it shall be
when Thou'shalt «0 with us, yea it shall be that the good which Je-
hovah shalt do to US, we shall also do to thee. And they went for-
ward from the mount of J ehovah a journey of three days, and the ark
of the covenant of J eaovah going before them the journey of th1ee
days to search out for them a rest; and the cloud of Jehovah was
upon them by day, when they went forward out of the camp. Wb,en
the ark went forward, Mose~ said, Arise, Jehovaht that Thine enemies
may be dispersed, and Thy haters may ilea from before thy faces;
and when it rested, he said, Return, JehovabJ the myriads of the thou-
S8Dds of Israel.' From all the particulars of this passage it is evi-
dent, that J ehovah or the Lord is there understood b)" the ark, by
reasoD of His presence in the law, which was in the ark, thus by
reason of His presence in the Word; inasmuch as the Lord is there
understood by the law, and thence by the aTk, therefore when it w.ent
forward, Moses said, Arise, Jehovah, that Thine enemies may be di~
persed, and Thy haters may flee from before Thy faces: and when it
rested, he said, Return, J ehovah, the myriads of the thousands of Is-
'rael: but the same wolds involve things still more interior, viz. that;
the Lord, by His divine truth, leads men, and defends them against
faIses and evils, which are from hell, especially in states of tempt&-
tiOD, which are specifically signified by the jo~ of the 84H1I
lJf Israel in the wilderness forty years; that He I them contin1J81-
ly by His divine truth is signified by the ark of the covenant of J&-
hovah going forward before them, a journey of three days, to search
oot a rest for them; by the ark of Jebovah is understood the Lorc\ 88
to divine tru~; by its going forward a journey of three daJ8 is un-
derstood His a~piees, and leading from beginning to end, and by
 118 De JewU" T.,.,.". _ _ ill iU 8piritIUIl I-porI. [New.
Ie&rChlDg out a rest is signified I&1vatiOD, wltich is the eud; but pr0-
tection from f8J888 and evils, which are from hell, is signi8ed by the
cloud of Jehovah upon them by claI, likewise by the words of MOIIe8
when the ark went forward, Arise, Jehovab, that thine enemies may
be dispersed, and Thy haters may flee from before Thy faces: by die
cloud of Jehovah by day, is also signified defence by divine troth iJl
ultimates, soch as is the Word in the 88DIe of the letter, for the Lord
by this may be approached also by the evil, and by this He defe_
the interior things of the Word which are celestial and spiritual;
bi enemies and haters are signified falses and evils, which are
from hell; by enemies falses, and by haten evils, consequently
also the hells themselves as to those falses and evils; truths from
good which are implanted in man after temptatio..., are signified by
Moses saying, when the ark rested, Return, Jehovah, the myriads Ol
the tho11l&nds of Israel; but by the resting of the ark il signified the
ltate after temptations, when evils and falses are removed, by...
turning is signified th~ presence of the Lord, which is theJ1 manif8lt,
for in ~mptatioD8 the Lord appears as absent, and by the myriads ot
the thoDBands of Israel is signified the truths derived from pOd, which
are then implanted, and from which the church exists."-A. E. 700.
• It is obvious from the sacred history that a signal potency.. attri-
buted to the ark in the working of variOUJI miracles therein recorded.
.. the dividing of the waten of JOMan when the children of Israel
~ over-the subvenion of the walls of Jericho-the destructic.
of Dagon-the lmiting of the men of Bethshemeah, and of Uzzah-
and the blelliDg of Obed-edom and his h01ll8 on account of its pm-
1leDce, a fb11 uplanation of which will be fouad in A. E. '700. Th. . .
miracles were all wrought through the iDltrwnentality oC the ark,
and sole)y by reason of its representative virtue from containing the
book of the Law, which is the Truth of t~e Lord, the 101UC8 of the Dj.
, vine Omnipotence. On this account the ark is lOIDetimes denomiDat-
eel the Ark of the Lord's ltf8ngth. ·
" Thou shalt put into the ark the teBtimony which I shall give thee.·
From this the Ark is frequently called the " Ark of the testimony,'" •
to the ~rt of which we are famished with the tollowing expli-
cation. M Testimony is the Divine Tmth which tMtijia conoemiag
the Lord, th118 it is the Word, for the Word, in the mpreme _
treats oC the Lord alone, and hence, in the intemall8Dle, tuti~ COIl-
ceraing Him, that is, teaches Him, and the tra&ha which are of faidl
and the goods which are of love, which are from Him. In tbiB _
mentioD is made of 1u1Vltora, also in the Apocal~ 'Who were
slaia tor the Word of 6otl, and for the ~ which daey had,'
U 9. And in anotlier place, 'They overcame the dragon by the
blood of the Lamb, and b1 the Wortl of Bu " " ' , , ' m. 11. The
blood of the Lamb is the DiviDe Tnith prooeediDg from the LoN.
as before shown: aDd the Word or tlie tutitAoa, is the DiviDe
Truth received bylD8D. In like maDDer, cha,. m. 11; chap. xix.
10. That the Divine Truth :proceediDg from the Lord is oalIecl •
~ from this ooDlideratioD, beoaue it tutiJu. ooacenaiDg the
Lord, la IDaaifeIIt iom die wordI of &be Lord HiiiNIf ia Joba, • U.
 t.
1".]

He '-fiN: whosoever receiveth Hi, te.timony, bath sealed that

. 618

wJIG OOIIleth ftrom heaven Is above all; wbal He bath seen and beard
God is true,' Ut 31, B-2, 83. Again,' I am VJIw te8tify concerning My~
.elf. and the-Father who sent Me tatijieth concer"ing Me,' viii. 18.
Again, ' Sfa~reh the Scriptures, for they are they which te8tify of Me,'
v. 19. And again, 'Th~ Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth, He 8hall testify
of Me,' xv. 26, 2'7. From these passages it is manifest, that the Di.
vine Truth is caned 8 te.timony from its testif~"ing concerning the ,
Lord ; tbis troth is tbe Word, for the Word in the supreme sense, as
was said above, treats or the Lotd ft.lon~, hence the Word is Divine, ·
and hence its Holy [principle]. The Ten Words nlso, ot the La\v
which was promullrsted from Mount Sinai, and inscribed on two
tsblea, and 'reposited in the ftrlc, is what is here called the testimony.
That Law aigni6es the Word or the Divine Truth proceeding from
the Lord in 8,"ery complex. That the Lord is the source of Di'9io8
Troth. is e?ident from His words to Pilate,' Pilate said, art thou a
King 1 Jesns an!wered, thou sayf'st I am 1\ King; for this was I
born, snd for this I came into the \,"orld, that I migl,t give testimony to
the truth,' John xviii. 37. By King, in the internal s~nse, is signified
Divine Truth; wherefore He said, I am 'a King, and for this was I
born, that I might give testimony to the truth, that is, that Himselfis
Divine Troth. From thpse considerations it is now evident, that by .
the testimony in the ark is signified Divine Truth, thus the Lord in
heaven."-A. 0.9608.
As to the various remaining minutire of the Ark, the border or .
crown, the corners, the rings, and the stave~t it will suffice to give in ,
&8neral Swedenborg's interpretation, in \vhich the reader will be
struck, as often elsewhere, by the perpetual recognition of the human
form in a connection \vhere be would be little apt to expect it.
" It may be exp~dient here to say from what ground it is that by
the ark and the habitation could be represented heaven, and in this
case by the border of tfle ark, termination; by the corners, firmness ;
by tbf- rings, the conjunction ~r good with truth, and by the staves,
power. It has been shown thflt universal Dature, thus all and singu-
lar the things therein which are in order, are representa.tive of the
Lord'. kingdom, that is, of heaven, and of the Ileavenly things thereiD.
It has been also shown, that the universal heaven resembles one man,
and that OD this account, heaven is called the GIl.\ND MAN; from
which conMideratioDs it now follo\vs, that all the forms, by which
heaYenly things are represented, have reference to the human form,
and have a signification according to their congruity with that form.
Hence now it is evident from what ground it is, that when the ark
or
signifies heaven where the Lord is, the border the ark signifies
termination; the sides, good with which truth is to be conjoined;
the comen, finnness; the rings, conjunction itself; and the staves,
pOwer. For the staves have reference to the arms appertaining to
mao, whence also they signify the like with arms; the nngs have re-
ference to the ginglymoid articulations by which the arms are con-
joined with the breast; the angleff to the eminences themselves,
whSM that eoIIj8noUon is eieeted, the sides, to·the p80toral or thor.
VOLe u. aa
..
 520 Poetry. [Nov.
acia part; the bord~r to the circumfereDce in which i. terminatiOD.
Hence it may be manifest, that by staveR is signified power, as by
. arms; that arms and hands denote power ; .and that by tbe sides is
signified the like &s by the pectoral or thoracic part of the body.
namely, good, for in that part are the heart and the lungs: and by
the heart is fi'ignified celestial good, and by the lungs spiritual good.
Hence it is evident, that .the rings signify the same as the gingl,'moid
I articulations of the breast with the shoulders, and of the shoulders
with the arms, namely, the conjunctioA of good with truth; and that
by corners is signified firmness, for the stnangth of the body there puts
itself forth, which strength and po"'er exists by the arms. From these
considerations it may b~ manifest, from what ground it is, that natu-
ra) forms not alive represent similar things with living forms, or with
forms in the human body, namely, that it is from this ground, because
heaven resembles one man, that the things \\1'hich are in heaven have
reference to those things which appertain to man."-A. O. 9496.
G. B.
(To H wntiftwd.)

POETRY.
The followiq linee were addresl8d to tile late Rev. Dr. Been by a Lady on the occa:
lion or his relating to her a remarkable dream of an iuterview with his departed wife.
• Though written witbout the remotest view to publicatioD, yet it seems not inappropriate
to prelerve them among the interesting mementoes of that much loyed and much vener-
ated man.

TO DR. BEERS.
le I am married,"-tc I am manied,"-thou laid'al,
And the glow of thy countenance proved it,
And thy love-lit eye, as the smile passed by,
Was pure as the passion that moved it.

In dreams thou hast once more clasped her form,

And perceived the dark eyes' revealing,
And tasted the blis8 of her angel.kiss,
The pledge of re-union sealing.

(HIT spirit 'Ptw.)

cc My eart~ly droll il bere pusing a_way,
Interior forms unfolding,
In the fountain clear goods and truthl appeal',
Each anpl-e,e beholdilll.
1849·1 &lectimu. 521
&C The wisdom of angels at onoe perceives
If the thoughts are of things tenestrial,
For the heavens are pure and seek to allure
The soul to its home celestial.

U Oh, haflten, my own, away from the earth,

My joys are not full without thee,
And thy days are long, thy nights are, lone,
Without thine heavenly half about thet'.

et My bosom, though peaceful, often pines

For the joys of our early love lighted,
And, oh, it is plain we shall meet again,
And in heav'n, as on earth, be united."
A. G.

SE LEe TION s.

The following extraordinary document is assuredly to be ranked among the marvellou

things of the present age. Emanating from a Yen~rable Synod of the Preabyterian Church,
we have in the manifesto before us, a bOfta fide overture looking to the union of the Jew-
ish Synagogue and the Cbristian Chu rch! Our roader. will scarcely know how to give
vent to their astonishment on witnessing this specimen of what may be termed ecclesias-
tical coquetting or spiritual turtle-billing. A portion of the Chri.tian Church in our
cO\1n~ is suddenly smitten with a concern for the JewI 10 tender that it lon,s'to take
them at once to its sisterly embrace. Upon inquiring into the ground. oCthi. Dew-born
yearning, it will be seen to grow mainly out of the fact, that the Jewish Synagogue was
the model of th e Presbyterian Church, and that the officers of tbe latter find their express
proiotypes in those of the former. A vein of lavish admiration oC the Synagogue conse-
quently pervades the document It is virtually lauded as aD institution divinely designed.
for the spread of the troth and worship of the God of Israel among all natioDs, and it
strikes our Presbyterian fatbers as a pity that U the standard of Jodah is Dot in front of
the armies of the living God." Altbough we perceive a t}tMUi salvo in the closing para-
lrapbs, in wbich they read a lecture to their in,'ited allies on certain faults recognized in
their mode of worship, and exhort them to the study .of Paul's epistles, yet it is clear that
tkey have" strong disposition to fraternize with cbem as Jews, beeaulB .. Jews they hold
the Synagogue service, and the SynagGRlle is tbe, ecclesiastical mother oC the Preabyte-
rian Church. On the same ground th6 Roman and the Episcopal churchel might claim.
affinity with the IOns o~ Ilraelt' inasmuch as they can trace their priesthood to the • •e
ancient origin.
We do not like to impute to any portion of the so-called Christian Cburch a conduct or
polioy that could jUldy be termed Jesuitical; but we cannot shut our eyes to the symptoms
of loch a 8pirit pervading tbe pre18nt document. Some kind of union is palpably p~
pdIed with the ~atioD oC Israe), aDd it 11 propoeed to them either CII lewe iD unbeliel or
 622 Selection,. [Noy.
&. converted to Christianity. If the former, how doe. I1 fall.on of cIownrlpt traeberr
to the truth-a betraying of the Son of Man with .• kiu 1 If the lauer, what becomes of
die Synqogoe CII 1W11 Would Dot the lame process which conyents Jews into Chri..
dads, convert synagogues into churches 1 Wbat is tbe proposition then but an attempted.
WheedliDg of the JeWI iDto the conceit tbat the ditferenoes that eeparate them from the
Christian world are Dot after aU ""., great, aDd that if they do reject the Ik.iah end ap-
prove the deeds of their fathel'8, yet the, have a HaZtJA in their IJDacogues aaeweriDI to
the PretlbyteriftD Pa.'or, UHt! .l rulers of the synagogue" who are couoterparts oflhe rtJl-
iag ,Id".. or the Scotch nlodel. On the whole we would s~y tbat if tbe Presby1erian por-
tion of Christendom feel. prepared to enter into the proposed compact with the de8CelJ-
dants of Jacob, we trust they will be len to oonsummate the measure aloo", and that DO
other eect will avow itself ready to follow their example.

ADDRESS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN SYNOD OF NEW·YORK TO THE

ISRAELITES WITHIN THEIR DISTRICT.
~r,th,.m, I' NlO11edlOT th, jatherf me,,"
10 taking the usual step of presenting a formal address to yon, we intl'odD~e
ourselves 88 an ecclesiastical body, embracing nine PreslJyteries, six of ",·hich
are in New-York city and the vicinity, and t\VO in China. The ordained min-
isters of these Presbyteries, who, for the most part, are pastors settled iD .
churches, and the lay delegates from our church se8siolls, are, according to oor
constitution, the members of our body. We come together annually u a
Synod, and our chief object·is to devise and carry out the best plans for the
edification of our churches. We are aware of the fact that you have an im-
mense aod increasing influence amongour churches aDd in our country ; hence
we have resolved as a body to acknowledge your presence and infiuence, and
to send you Bn address on our comm9D rela~~u8 and interests.
In respect to botb our faith and our Spiritual offices, we feel ourselves
united to you by strong and pleasant ties. The history of our offices of pastor
and ruling elder runs back into the blstory of your synagogues. It i8 our own
history which we are endeavoring to trace to its fountain bead, when we ex-
amine how it was the ancient custom in Israel to convene, on sacred days, in
the bouses of the prophets, for religious exercises; and how, after the Baby-
Ionish captivity, synagogues were erected in nearly alllhe villages of dle Jews,
for the readiBg of the Jaw, for the expositious of the Scriptures, and for prayer.
According to our view, the local service of the temple, with its bloody offer-
ings, its altars, its priestbood, and its mysterious ceremonies, was never de-
signed for all the nations of the earth, was very incoll\'enient for even the
Jews themselves, and was unquestionably destined to accomplish its restrict-
ed and preparatory work in a few centuries, and then entirely cease j but the
8ynagogue was the institution which God raised up, doring the gradual decline
. of the glory of the temple, that it might carry, simply and yet effectually, an the
esseutuaJ truths, and aJl the e~selJtial benefits of the temple, to eve~ city, to
every village) and to the door of every family. The temple, with all Its awful
grandeur anu dark cerenlollies, was to be di~solved, and every thing in it worth
preservation \\'as to be cornmitted' to the sim'p1e reading, exposition, and prayer
of the synagogue. God was carryillgoutglorlous)y his ownpJaos for the spread
of his truth, aud the promotion of hisglory, in all the eanh, ,vhen he moved the
Jews to multiply 8ynagogues ill Jerusalem, and throughout Palestine, in Alex-
andria, and inRome. We look back on Jerusalem, hefore her final destruction.
by tbe Romans, with her four hundred and eighty synagogues, and ac-
knowledge that there is the mother of us all! We see, in your present syna-
gogues, the clearest proofs that we both have the same origin j and we find a
special proof of our onelless with the aueieut synagogue, in the attestation of
history, that in tbe synagogues of the Hellenist Jews the law was read in the
Alexudrian, or Greek, veraioD. The Christian chur~ was the baptised ay...-
 1849.] 1IeIecIiDru.
gogoe. Our pastor i. your BMlitIIaA Zibbur, angel of the church, or HutlA, and
it is • Presbyterian peculiarity to acknowledge no office higher than this. Our
elders have their origin from the lulers in your synagogueR. The different ser-
vices in our churches likewise run back, in their descent, to the synagogue;
and if the great end of God, in the establishment of the 8ynagogue, was to
spread the truth and worship of the God of Israel among alll1atioDs, we hum-
bly olairn that we are, to 80lne extent, advancing this object, and that the true
spirit of the synagogue is among us. All the oracles of God that were ever
read in the ancient synagogue, are read and. eXJlounded in our churches. Men
go oat from us to establish Christian synagogues in the worst regiol1s of ignor-
ant and depraved population in our country, and there to distribute, from house
to house, your own 8criptures. You observe that two of our presbyteriee are
in China; and some of our most promising and beloved members have gone
far bellee, to the most unpromising and dangerous fields, not for the purpose
of obtaining either the riches or pleasnres of tbiB world, but, if we know our
own hearts, from love to the God of Israel, and the perishing souls of men.
Now, brethren, we most earllestly appeal to you, are we accomplishing the
work of God, or are we not' Mention to U8 any imaginable way in which we
may accompliah mOle for the fulfillment of the promise that all the ea~
shall be filled with the glory of God, than by the distribution of Bibles in eve
family, and the establishment of our synagogues in every neighborhood. t
grieves U8 deeply that you take no part with U8; that you even look on us
with suspicion. We are convinced that you ought to be by ollr side; that you
ought to be among the leaders in this work. Many among U8 severely accuse
our-indifference to the melancboly fact, that the great body of the house of
Israel stand aloof from 118. We believe that the day· of prophetie promise will
never be revealed in its glory while you stand at this awful distance from us.
And why this separation 1 Where lies the fault 1 The standard of Judah
ought to be in the front of the armies of the living God, as tbey ~o for-
ward to invade the kingdom of darkness, why then do you not unite wlth us,
and carry on triumphantly the standard of Judah in our front ,
.There appears to be a r.omplete exhibition of the original design of the syna-
gogue, in the history recorded in the seventh chapter of Nehemiab. The peo.
pie, men and women, collected together in the street of Jemsalem before- the
watergate in a great multitude; Ezra, with several others 8tood l;lP on a pul.
pit above the people, and read in the law from morning till noon; and as they
read, they interpreted .in the language most intelligible tu the people, aud ex-
plained the meaning fully. This was accompanied with bles8inge~ lifting of
tbe hands and bowing to the ground; and all the people attended to the read-
illg8 and explanations, with silent captivated attention and deep emotion.
Another historical fact serves equally to throw light on the original desigl.l of
the synagogue. Two strangers once appeared in the synagogue in Antioch
of Piaidia, and after the reading of the law and prophets, the mlers invited
them to speak, if they had anything which they desired to communicate.
One of them then delivered a discourse on the history of the Jews, and the
consummation to which this history was designed to lead, which awakened
an intense interest, and drew a multitude of inquirers to the strangers. It is
an important que8tion, whether our synagogues have at present the same
liberal, enlightening, sanetifying, and awakening influence III society. It is
necessary that we understand well those principles or influences whieh, 80 far
~ 88 they prevail in any synagogue, whether of the circumCli~ed or of the bap-
tized, necessarily rend er it apostate, and turn it from being a blessing to society,
into a cune. On this subject we ask your attention to a few ~uggestion8,
, which may be equally profitable to ourselves, and which mUlt commend them-
selves to every enlightened reader.
It is a fearful sign of prevailing degeneracy in the synagogue, when the
scriptures and prayers are read in an ancient language, and the words are not ~
understood, and those who read without understandillg, think that they have I
been really worshiping. We hold to the principle, as of vital importance.
that there is no true worship of God in any iostance where the DDder8tlU'-
614 [Nov.
ing is not enlightened, and where the heart is not affected with the tmth. le
makes no di1ference bow sacred the portion of Scripture, or of prayer, may be
Which we read, it is useless and profane to us, unless we ullderstand it. It is
an equally fearful proof that the synagogue is far gone in apo8tacy, \\phen it
has cetemonies of the existence of which amongtbe ancient people of God the
Scriptures do not furnish the least intimation, and of the propriety of which
they furnish 110 evidence. For instance, your prayers in behalf of the dead,
have not even the slightest foundation in the word Gf God.
Let the religious duties and religious distinctious of the memben of a cer-
tain synaRogue consist chiefly in peculiarities of food, of dre8s, of festivals, aDd
such outward things, and here we can infallibiy identify aD apostate syna·
gogue. How plain, and important, and reasonable the principle laid down in
the New Testament :_U For the kingdom of God is not meat. and drink: bot
righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." The prophet Isaiah, in
severely reproving his people for their hypocrisy, introduces his strongest
charge agaInst them in these words: "And their fear toward me is taught b,
the precept of mell." The mean ing is, that their fear of God, or piety, had be-
come lirtle more than implicit obedience to arbitrary human precepts. This
reproof comes to us in all its severity, if we are governed by hnmall preeepts
and traditioDs in our most solemn religioDs duties; BS, for instance, in the
solemn duty of 8anctifying the Sabbath; wheo, before 8unset, ,ve must
commence 1 How we may then read, by a lamp or fire 1 What we may per-
mit another to do with a lamp! What prayers we must say in the morning!
III what way we must put on the ehawl, and handle the fringes ~ How we
must make an offering for the privilege of taking out the 8croll from the ark,
and for the bonor of returning tt, and Cor the inspection of the seven ponioD8
in the passage Cor the day! What gestures we must make in the service be-
lbre the ark' How many meals we m118t have in the day! and bow ,ye most
go through the afternoon and evening services 1 All this looks very like a fear
of God that is a senseless precept of men.
It appears to UB very clear, that the grand objeot of the synagogue among
us ought to be to do good spiritually to all men-to enlighten, sanctify, and
save all men. The temple itself, with all its restrictions, was to b~come a
blessing to aH nations, and God raised up the synagogue out of its mina to ful·
fill this purpose. How lladly, then, does the synagogue forget its origin and its
commission, when its instructions and prayers are for nOlle but Jews '!- Tbe
consciousness that we are debtors to Rll men, Je\vs and Gentiles, Greeks Bnd
barbarians, bond and free, is one of the most essential and powerful senti·
ments in the bOSOID of every worthy member of the synagogue. And \vhen
this consciousness ceases spiritual life ceases. The synagol-tue on earth should
be as open to all men, and its richest spiritual privileges @bould be as freely
and earne8tly pressed 011 the acceptance of all men, as the privilege~ of tbe
heavenly temple are freely offered to all men. Ifyon beHeve that the Gentiles
will as certainly enter heaven, without coming to the light of yonr synagogue
-without embracing your faith aud reading your Scriptures. as otherwise, you
canDot in the nature of things, be prompted by any potent conviction of duty,
or any.sentiment of benevolence, to make sacrifices for their spiritual intere~t8.
It is the love of immortal soul,., and the fear that they will perisb. and the con·
viction of the obligation and privilege to labor for their salvation, that carry
tbe worthy missiollaries of the synagogne, with the word of life, to the ends of
the e8Mh. And where these po\verful motives are Dot felt, it is ea8Y to ac·
count for the want of a missionary spirit.
\Ve anticipate thot the nlost weighty reply which you will make to our Ad-
dress, i8 this--that you ha ve no Caith ill mauy of our leading doctrines, and that,
therefore, you cannot form any union with us. You will admit at once that
there are sorne probabilities ill favor of our doctrines. Jesu8 Christ and his
apostles cert.ainly stand, in history, as worthy of credit BS the rabbis of the
Talmud. 'l'bere is 88 great a probability that Paul understood the original Ju-
daism, and expla~ned it honestly, in his epistle to the Hebrew8, as that the
\Vriters of the Mishna, understood it some handreds of years afterwards.. Per·
.-1849.]
iIIit us to inqaire whether yon have thoroaghly aod candidly examined our
doctrines'J We are afraid that mallY of YOll.have never read the New Testa-
ment. We bope to be able to supply all of you, who are willing to read, with
Bibles containing both testaments; and we pres8 it upon you to examine the
subject more thoroughly and prayerCully. If Christianity is true, it is your
highest interest to embrace it.
Have you ever examined the argument in the epistle to the Romane' Have
you never felt the force of the proofs presented there that the Gentiles are ruin·
ed~D sin, and that the Jews, ,hemselves, nevercall stand justified before God, in
their own rigbteouelJess' Is not all this sufficiently proved by the few quo-
tations from the Old Testament, placed together ill the third chapter'J If the
sinner is thus, on his own account, under the deadly condemnation of the law
of God, is it not clear tbat the righteousness of J eS\18 Christ, if he is the person •
whom we hold him to be, i8 perfect, and sufficient for the most unworthy"
How do you account for the origin of our doctrine of justification, if it is a fa-
ble 1 Do you see llothing grand and attraotive in the doctrine that God has
entered into different covenants with man; and that, as in the first covenant,
all have fallen into sin and condemnation throltkh the sin of the first man, so
we must be restored and justified tbrongh the obedience of the Head of the le-
eond covenant 1 But our request is, that you examine the whole epistle for
yourselves.. .
We comm~nd, especially, the epistle to the Hebrews to your careful and pray·
erful examination. Here you have the arguments and admonitions of the great
disciple of Rabbi Gamaliel, which he addressed to his own people. Firlt, he
argnef' that Chri8t is superior to angels, and to Moses bimself; and then he ad~
monishesus not to destroy ourselves through unbelief, after the example of the
Israelites in the wilderne88, who, through unbelief, lost the promised rest of
God. He argues, further, that the doctrine of the priesthood of Christ has a
foundation broadly and deeply laid in the Hebrew scripture8 ; that, in partICU-
lar, David speaks of the single priest who should be after the order or descrip-
tion of Melchizadek rather than of Aaron; and that Christ's priesthood doe8
correspond to that of l\felehizadek, in havIng no priestly genealogy-in being
88 a priest without either predecesSor or successor, and in having a venerable
antiquity, an establishment alld duration \vhich prove it superior to the priest-
hood of Aaran. He argll~s, that while the Aarooic priests were sinful men,
and needed to bring bloody offerings for themselves,.Cbrist ,vas pel'Rooally free
(rom all sin; that while the high priest repeated his great atonement annual·
ly, Christ bas made one all sufficient atonement, and that while the priests
made their atonements in the earthly sanctuary, Christ has presented his in the
heavenly remple. He argue4l that the sacrifices of animals were insufficient of
themselves to give peace to the cODscience of the offender; and tha~ OD the
contrary, the blood and spirit of Christ are adequate to a perfect reconciliation
and assurance of salvation. He argues that one of the Psalms describe the
time ot the setting aside of burnt oH~rilJgs, and that one of the propbets speaks
of a new covenant uulike the covenant Inade at Sinai. It is true that there is
an impossibility of allY union bet\veen us \vhile there is this difference in our
docttines; hence we urge on you again the examination.oC our sacred Scrip-
tures. We remind you, also, that there may be some millor difficulties in an
argument, while the arguulent itself is, ill its essential parts, perfectly clear
and irresistible.
Brethren, your history, for fifteen hundred years before Christ, is distinguish.
ed by your special favor with God. and, particularly, by the familiarity ot your
prophets with the mind of God; for the last eighteeu hundred years you have
8uffered the most cruel persecutions; your synagogues has, in all probability
been standing irwnovably OD ground foreign to its origina1llurpose ; and 'you
have, apparently been spared only to show the fulfilment of the threatenlDgs
of your law. Your people were almost crusbed through your own violent re-
bellions and the revenge of the Romans; you have experienced, most bitterly, ~
the deceit of the first friendship of l\lohammedanism, and we are 80rry to add,
&hat Chriatendom itself, iD direct 0ppo8ition to tile teaching of our Saviollr,
 LNov.
has let itaelf in the mo.t deadly opposition to you. It humbles as to koow what
10U have suHered from the crusades, and in Spain, France, and othercouotries;
and we, 81 christians, certainly ought to have leu sympathy with your per-
secuton than you have. In all this bloody history, there is nothing which,
:prol»erly understood, should prejudice you agaillst U8. The Ipirit of persecut-
Ing 18 as little chargeable to the presbyterian church as to yourselves. We Dl08t
ardently desire that the God of providence may never employ our beloved
couotry to punish any people for their sios; we especially d"preeate bf'ing
employed to bring Dew chastisements of persecution on the 8008 of Abraham;
we would have our country exclusively consecra1ed to the diffu8ion of the
peace of the g08pe~. Far be it from us to do anything to revive old prejudices
against )'ou. We come to you, notas the friends of war-not with clamorous
accusatlon_not in concealed deceit, but in honesty and love. We come to
you not in the atorm of opposition, but with U a still small voice," a voice that
speaks of the remission of sin aDd everlasting peace-a voice of heavenly,
touching invitation-the same voice that was once heard at your temple and
in your solemn assemblies. Horrible will that day be when this voice ceases
to be heard in our eouatry. Consider anxiously whether God does not come
. to you in this Imall voice, U Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy ladeD,
and r·will give you rest." U I am the way, and the truth, and &he life j DO maD
cometh unto the Father but by me." U Ought not Christ to have suffered these
thinpt and to enter into his glory 1" It remains now 10 be seell if, in the old
apint of the Pharisees, you will still cast the believers in Jesus out of the syn-
agogue, and meet our Addre88 either with aroused. opposition or with silent in-
difference. In any event, as to the reception of our Addre88, we will still COD-
tinue to feel a deep interest in your welfare. Signed by order of Synod.
JOB. H. LzGQ&TT, JlodnfJIor. •
E. D. BaTlJi, I Tllllporary Clera.
E. B. EDGAJl, i
GoIBZlI, Oct. 17, 1849. JOB. M. hZB8, Stalld CirrI.

DR. BUSHNELL ARRAIGNED AND ACQUITTED.

It will be eeen from the following article that Dr. Ballmell ha. heeD made to faD tile
ecclesiastical pUDtlett, and that he has escaped demolition by the skin of his teeth. Qut
of a Committee of Bve, of whom Dr. Ha wes of Hartford was chairmaD, three were agaiDlt.
and two in favor of, regarding the erron of the Dr.'1 book a. fundamental. The laua
unhed in a minorit, report whioh it is presuined will hereafter be liveD to the public.
After much diICu!ioD in thil committee the busiD811 wa, postponed to aD adjoamed
meeting of the ASlOClation. to which Dr. B. belong~, recently held at Hanford. U There,·
..ys the cc Independent," Cl after heari~g a very able and protracted written defence (rom
Dr. BushneU, the members of tbe Association expressed tbeirview8 in rotatiOl1~al is u~ual
in all important matters, And tbe report oC the majority was finally adopted. with 0011
three diaenting votel. The editorial writer in the "UgioullltrGlC. appareDlly ~ mem..
ber oftbe Asaociation.gives us to undentand, that tbe condensed statement of Dr. Bosh-
Dell's viewI, which was drawn up by him as the result of a conference with the ftuen-
ble Dr. Beecher. and which ia incorporated into tbe report oC the Committee, had great
weight whh the Auociation, and was regarded al placing him U on subs1.aDtially ortbo-
dox ground." The Ittdlptfldtft' a)so remarks that U It is Dot to be presumed that the dis-
oD_ion oC Dr. Bnahnell'. book la now at an end. On the oontrary. the way i. now ope..
for jUlt lOch a dieGu_ion a••ball mOlt eJrectuaUT counteraot wba1eftr elTOnI, or tendeD-
ciea to error, may be fairly imputed either to the volume or to its author. Nothing tends
10 much to eX&ftperate religious or theological dilCulsionl. and to make them not only
ueelesl but miachievou., u the disposition to pronouDce every error fundamental. and to
aalude &om Chri.uUl oOllideDoe and feDowlhip thOle who, if Cairl, ud calmlJ alp"
1849.] &leclitnu. ft,
wltb, might be _t!"ght, at l(not let rigbt. 'might be eyidently·pat on the wrong, and thal
deprived of the power to raise a party. We tru$t, therefore, that Dr. Bushne)J'. argu-
ment, in vindication of his book, will be published; and that the discussion will be re-
newed, not on the que,tion whether the Association have done wroDI. bq,on the queltions
whicb Dr. Bushnell'8 book actually rail88."
Oor readen will perceive from Dr. B.'s etattament that be talks like one who is Itll1 en-
tangled in the sophistrles or the old tripenonalecheme. His interior idea may be nearer
the truth than his words would intimate, as otherwise we see not what he ~im8 at by such
a guarded phraseology as three "distinct grammatical personalities." GrarnmaticGl
here mUlt be equivalent to: littral. and by littTQl is doubtless to be understood GJ1IHJret&t.
We infer, therefore, that Dr. B. doe8 iQ fact hold to the genuine truth of the Divine Unity,
and that in bls own mind he interpretlltbe term Cl person" or 11 perlODality" in consl..
1etlcy with it. bat that for prudential reasons be does not care to forego the UI8 of a dio-
tion which has become consecrated in the theological circles in which he still sees fit to
move. As, however, this doctrine of tripersonality is the real source of luch abundant
error and ofia much milOhief to the cause of Christianity, be it qualified. softened. and
tmplicated as it ma" it is to be regretted that Dr. B. cannot lee hi. way olear 10 renounce
even the form of adhesion to it in any senae or degree.
As to the emphatic endorsement of the doctrine of justiflcation by faith. we seele88clearl~
how to find an apology for favoring 80 gro88 aperversion of truth and reuon u is involved
ia that tenet. We are surprised &180 that a diviDe oC Dr. B.'I acumen sholl1d 80 8tate the
doctrine al to convey the impression that ita only opposite i. cc a form of reliaion which
propeees to save mankind on term 8 of merit or deeert." This il the more amanding wben
taken in connexio~ with what he says in a subsequent 'lentence, where the highest and
principal office of Christ is acknowledged to lie in his incarnation aDd the consequent be-
stowment oC a new spiritual life which necessarily operates a new character. How i8 It
possible that Dr. B. should not perceive that justification resta, Dot upon a forensic impu-
tation of rigbteoulnea trealured u'p in the Lord. but upGo the actingl of tbat new life
which is the result or tbe incarnation. A man CRn of courte be jastitied by no other
principle than that by which he il .vEld. and 'be is sBved by charity, the very life and
soul and essence of all true religion. 'the fact ill. the different parts of this brief state-
ment by Dr. B.• like the different palts of his book, are at variance with each other, and
the marvel i8lhat be doesn~t lee it. as ollrreaders unquestionably will.

The Committee of the Central Association of Hartford county, appointed to

examine the book lately published by Dr. Bushnell. under the title of U G.od in
Christ," to confer witb him respecting it, anll to report to the Association
whether they find in it fundamental errors, respectfully submit the following:
The Committee wish it to be distinctly understood, that they are not called
to report whether there are errors in the book to which they are referred, but
to report whether they find in it fundamental errors. Errore belolJging to all
hu man speculations and discussions. These when published are free for the
critic to expose; and 80metimes they are of a character to call for private
Christian admonitioll, and yet not to be taken up as matters of judicial exam-
inatiort. Fundamental errors alone-errors subversive of the Chritttian faith
-and as such, calling for ecclesiastical animadversion, are thOle concerning
which, as an Association, we are to inquire.
With this limitation of the work assigned us, we believe that there is no-
thing ill the volume of Dr. Bushllell which demands our cODsideration, except
what relates to the doctrines of the Trinity, tlu p,rBOft of Cl&riIt, and tA, .Atonemlftt.
Whatever errors OD other subjects may be found in it, there are Done, a8 we
apprehend, apart from these, which anyone \vould consider fundamental.
Respecting the rerson of Christ, Dr. B. has heen extebsively supposed to
den, the reality 0 hil human nature ; and he does explicitly deny the distinct

•
 &~. [Nov. !

tUtioA of bis humanity; p. 155. Yet there are many pau&gel, in the course or
the discussion, in which the humanity of Christ. as \vell as the diviuity, is ac-
knowledged or necessarily implied. That Dr. B. acknowledges Christ to be
trnly God, is 110t, and cannot be questioned. The title of the book U God in
Christ," and the course of argument throughout the book, imply it. He does
not indeed ackllowledRe the personality of Christ 89 distinct from the Father
anterior to the incarnation, neither does he mean to be understood to den,.
this. lIe considers it to be among the uDsolvable mysteries of the Godhead.
But that Christ is truly God, he does most explicitly acknowledge and labor to
establish, p. 122. So also does he as plainly acknowledge him to be truly and
properTy man. He expressly speaks of him as ~'c a human person," p. 169.
He speaks of him as being a man, among ,e other men," and yet differing
from U other men," and tbis not only as he is U better," but as .., he is
God," p. 123. He speaks of him as '1 the divine-human," c'represeoting
in bis simple unity-one persou-the qualities of his double parentage, as
the Son of God, Bnd the ~Oll of Mary"-U the huly thing in which our God
is brought to us-into a fellow relation to us-our brother, not less than
our Lord and Saviour," pp. 163, 4. Such things cannot be truly affirmed of
ODe who is not properly mall. Dr. B. cannot be accredited BS true and [loin-
cere, if he does not believe in the proper humanity of Christ. The only thing
in which he differs from the <-.olnmonly received faith OD this subject, as stated
in his own language, is, his denyiug that U the human 80ul or nature of
Christ, is to be spoken of, or looked upon, 88 having a di,tinet subsistence,
80 8S to live, think, learn, worship, by itsell." He would be undertltood to say,
if we apprehend his meaning, that when Christ is spoken of by the Evangel-
ists, as Increasing in wisdom, as hungry and thirsty, as weeping, praying,
agonizing, the8e are Dot predicated of him a8 man distinctively, aDd 60 al60
when he is Ftpoken of 8S hushing the tempest, as raising the dead, these are
not preclicated of him as God. distinctively; but that whatever is said of him-
is predicated of him, U in his 8imple ullity"-as "the divine human"-" God
manifest in the flesh"-u the Christ;" insisting that u the theory of two distinct
natures or agencies in Christ, is virtually denying any real unity betweel1 the
divine and the human-substitutiug collocation and partnership for unity-so
that insteau of a person whose uature is the reality of the djvine and the hu-
man, we have two distinct persons," p. 154. .
In respect to his views of the Trinity of God anll the atonement of Christ, as
they are given us in this volume, very different constrnctioDs have been put
npon bis language by different persons. We are therefore happy in being
permitted to present them in the follo\ving Al1mmary statement, drawn up by
himself at the request of a distillguished friend, and with his consent handed
to us to be communicated. .

cc 1 start with the conception of the one God. different, I suppoee, in no wiee from the
one substance orhomooawiOfl of the Churcb ; which one God is developed taus or becomes
a subject of knowledge, under the conditions of a threefold personality. I tako the Three
therefore in their Tbreeneas, as distinct grammatical personalities, as they arc practically
employed in the Bible, acting and int~racting mutually towards each other as the Bible
represents; only refusing to investigate their interior mystery-belieying that in ~ucb a
U!'e of them, I receive in the true~t aod fuUest manner the One God. The Trinity in
PDlty 8S there set forth, I coolltantly preacb in pnbllc. regardinl it u·neceuary to the ef-
ficiency of the gospel in saving 50uls. I love tbis Trinity. 1 live upon iL Without it, I
feel that I could Dot work my mind and heart iD the private e~ercises of my own Cbris·
tian life. I hold moat empbatically the doctrine of justification by faith j and that any
and every form or religion which proposes to save mankind on terms of merit or desen ~
Dot Cbrh'tiBDity. As regards tbe grounds of justification, I believe that. without tOme-
thing done, which in Christ is done, to decla re the righteousness of God and maintain the
sanctity of law, a free pardon offered to sinners would be nearly eqlliva]ent to a disso-
lution of government. At the same tin18 I look upon Christ al fulfilling the highest and
prinolpal otHce or hie Messiabship by meaDS of t1le incarnation iuelf, that is, by the re-
velation he makes of God'. feelings toward, us in and tbrougb the human state assumed,
and the immense power he exerts or is to exert in this manner over oar spiritual cbarac-
ter. He i. thuI emphaticaUy' the Life.' tbe new-creatiog Irace of God. the wi.edom of

•
1849.]
God and the power. To preach him in this charaoter is m, deepest 'tud" and my in-
love to him centen here!"
IeD8eSt

It would be easy to point out passages in the discourses of Dr. B. which form.
the body of his book, coincident with this statement, pp. 173, 174, 232, 238,
245" 272. At the same time we are sen,ibJe tbat rhere are oilier passages which
may be thought to conflict with it. Be it 80 that there are. On this point we
are not called on to decide. In this statement he gives not his philosophical
theories, 88 in various parts of hit book, but his views of the facts of the Gos-
pel as be is accustomed to present them in his preaching. and as they form
the basis of his personal religion. Now it is the Jatter, as your committee be-
lieve, rather than the former, which, in our present inquiry, we are mainly to
regard, forbearing all questions as to their consistency with each other. For
whatever philosophical theories men may adopt, if they embrace and pr~ach
the fundamental truths of the Gospel, as they stand in the sacred Seri ptures,
we are not to deny them our fellowship as Christians and Christian ministers.
In view of this statement, therefore, and after careful examination of the book,
and free conference with Dr. B. concerning both, we are satisfied that what
ever ~rrors the book may contain, it furnishes no sufficient ground for ill8ti-
tIlting a judicial process with him. At the same time we think it due to Oftl-
sel ves and to 'the cause of troth, again and most explicitly to say that we are
not to be understood to give our sanction to the book i nor to deny that there
are in it dangerous errors; nor to say that. the theones propounded in it, on
Borne of the most important SUbjects of revelation, particularly the Trinity and
the Atonement, if followed out Ul their legitimate r_nIts, would not lead to
fundamental error; or that there are no passages in it, which, taken alone,
and understood according to the common use of language, are themselves
fundamentally erroneous. But we take the book as an entire work, aud in-
terpret one part of it as explained by another. We also take it in connection
with the exposition which he himself has g~veD U8 of his views on some of
its leading topics. .
We do 'this rather, because the Association, in directing us to a conference
with him, manifestly intended that we should seek his own exposition o.f
whatever might seem doubtful in his published work· and we regard this a8
the more important because, as is confessed by all, his use of lallguage in
public discourse is art to be peculiar, and his ~odes of thinking alld reason-
Ing are not those whIch are common to the theologians of This country. We
regret his departure, in 80me of his statements, from the formulas of the
Church. We adhere to those formulas; but we regard him, notwithstand-
ing the exceptions which he has taken to them, 8S holding to whatever is es-
sential to the scheme of doctrine which they embody. His views of the Tri-
nity and unity of God, of the atonement of Christ, and of justification by
faith, beinR such as are set forth in the statement of them which be has given
us, and recognizing as he does, the kindred doctrines of the entire depravity
of man, of the div'inity and humanity of Christ, of regeneration by the Holy
Ghost, of the future judgment, and the endless punishment of the ilJcorrigibly .
wicked, he could not in our vie,v be properly or justly subjected to the charge
of heresy, and a consequent trial, or be denied tbe confidence of his brethren
in the minisuy.

• These qnotations were commun icated to a friend, without any thought of theil
being used in this manner; and are here introduced with Dr. Busbnell'. conaenL
680 EditoriGlltenu. [Nov.

:
IDITORI1~ IT11I8.
Two new Lives QC 8wedenborg are now being added to the stook oC New Church lit-
erature, ODe already published by Mr. E. Rich, Editor ortbe London N. C. Quarterly.
and the other now in press by Mr. Clapp. written by J. J. G. WilkiDlOn, tbe wen kDoW"a
translator. The latler will probably make its .ppearance In a few week., when we can
speak oC it more particularly. The former has bot recently anived In this country. and
thougb our examination of it hu been thus far bot slight, yet the impression received is
Itrongly In its favor. The plan is different from that of any previous biography of our
author, as it goes more fully into the details of hi. spiritual experience as traced in the
.,riee of hi. successive publications. A peculia, feature of Mr. Ric~'8 work is an able
analrais of the contents of tbe cc Arcana Celestia," wbich of itlelf i.· wonh, to the ap-
preciating reader, the price ortbe yolurqe (~O cent8). We have no hesItation to promise
an ample equivalent for the thne and COlt laid out OD the admirable outline oC the char-
acter and works of this wonderful man.

Mr. Hayd8l1 has accepted an invitation from the drst N. J. Society in this city, to de-
liver a series oC Lectures during the coming winter on various subjects oC interest COD-
aected with the doctrines and revelatiou of the New Church. The ooune will probably
oommeIlce early in December, and be continued eve:r, Sabbath evening Cor ODe or two
months. We are happy to be able to state in this connection that a generous indi vidual
ot the N. C. in Connecticut hu purchased 650 copies oC Mr. Harden's pamphlet for gra-
tuitou. di8tribution among the clergy of all denomination. in that State.

The ClaarultOft (S. C.) Cowi". is pbblishiDI from week to week a series of interesting
essay' under t.he title of "Satu.rday Musing.:' which, comiog from a New Cburch pen
(D. K. W.), are replete with New Church teaching. The last we have seen of this 5eries
·was an adlJ.lirable preleDtation, in the form ofa dialogue between a man and his guar-
dian angel, of the primary trutbe relative to the spiritual world and its eonnexion with
the natural. It i. fortunate indeed for the New Church that luch a mediom is found for
the quiet insinuation of hs doctrines, and that one is found 80 well qualified to avail
himeelf of it.

The (ollowingcaustic communioation lnade itl appearance a few weeks since in the
colnmn. of the Ifttle"rwlmt neW8paper published in this city. We doubt whether the
writer's If suspense" is likely to be relieved by any of the oracles he may cODt'ult in any of
the orthodox temple.., and 8S to the true solution which might be tendered. him, he \\·oltld
probably be acandalized at the idea of finding it in such a quarter, and turn away in utter
Incredulity. But al the article may be raaked among the pregnant li,DS of the timet,
as indioating the latent workings of the f1pirit of unbelief touching the popular doctrine of
the Trinity and the metaphysics broucht to ita .upport, we live it insertion•
. .. Ma. htDBPKRDKIfT.-1 am a country minister, and therefore caDDot be supposed to be
profoundly vereed. in, theology. But I have fallen in with Dr. BosbneU'. book and read it
with pleasure, till I allO happened to fall in with IOme of bis reviewe1'8, who!lle critiqoes
baft been sent to UI country ministers, gratis, thatoor darkness might thus be benevolent-
ly taken away. Since reading these able work., I have been exceedingly frightened. I
dare Dot read the book any more, te8& I Ihould be conyinoed by iL But if oonvinced by
it, I should receive a daogeroul heres,. I am much alarmed, too, by another di@coYelf.
I find the reviewers lpeak with great ~onfldence oftbe orthodox doctrine of the Trinity.
I do most honestly wish to receive tbe doctrine. But the reviewers themaelYe8 c1ifl'er oa

•
1849.' 681
the point; aD ..... that the doctriDe II fllDdamental-bat cUJap. lrom -eh other ..
D1uch as from Dr. B. al to what the doctrinl' il. This frighte... me, (or it leafta me ia
t.be terrible doubt, whether I have eYer bown wlat IJw dOClrine reaD, i.; aDd whether
I have Dot been beU"yinl error aDd heres, all m, life. I am determined that I will be-
l ie'V'e tlu orthodoz dooUine if I caD find Ollt what it is. I therefore ad~re.. myl8lf to you,
in 'Cbe hope of relief. HalteD &0 1I;'e aid of a IderiDg brolber, who mD.t be, who will be
Orthodox.
•• Wbat il &he Ordtodox doctrine of the TdDity 1
k Is it orthodox to believe lbat them are three beiDp, and that the am" oC God i. a

.ocial uni ty 1
•• Is it orthodox to believe that there are three perlOnalities, lbree diltinot Willl,OOD·
eciou30esae. and aIeotiooa ; theee inhering ia ODe and the same Illbstanoo 1
U I. it ortlJodox to believe that there are three. persons, and 1101 three watinct willa, COD·

acioosneue8 aDd aifectionsl

U Is it ortbodox to belie" that there il • awl tI tliltitaeli",,' iD the diviDe nature as

the foundation for osing the pronooDS I, thoa, he, by theae diatintltiona reepeetively1
la,.
CC I. it orthodox to believe that there are three olasses or lets of attrib,uea. iDherinlr

in the one .piritual nature 1

Cl Is it drthodox to beUeye the eternal generation of tbe Son al an ellElDtial part of the

true doctrine 1
" Is it absolutel, nece.ary to ortbodo%J' to believe that tbe ltatementl of the Bible are
designed to teach UI anything metaphy.ically of the nature or God I
cc Is it essential to orthodoxy to believe that the reprelentationl of the Bible were delip-
ed to teach, or do aotually teach anything aa to the interior nature of God. 01 the interior
construction of the spiritual being'
U May a man ut thele questions without being branded with that fearew name, Sa.

bellian' •
., Did any man ever read the writings or SabelliUI ?
" Do answer tbeae questions lpeedily. For, IOme yean since, I adopted IOme • New
Haven viewl j' but I Buft"ered 80 muoh in my reputation for orthodoxy, that I determined
never more to be caught in oherishing an opinion infected with the slightest taint oC
heresy. I should dread, therefore, the pOl8ibility of making a mistake in the 'm atter. Do
put a speedy termination to my StJ'SPKNSL I t
The Rev. E. Beecher, ofBolton,jadging from aD artiole of hi I' in the Ootober No. or the
Biblical Repolitory, entitled cc The Doctrine of the Trinity rational and IOriptunl/~
would probably feel prepared to lolve at onoe the doubts of our qUfiriat. The Dr. beglDl
his essay by propoaing a definition of the doctrine in the followinr terms. cc The doctrine
meanathat tbeone God who made and govern. the uniYerse, exists in tlare, ""'OfII, 8qoal
in every Divine attribute and claiming equal" divinG honon and worship. It does not
mean, as we understaD41t, that tbOle perIODS are 10 eeparated as to destroy their uoity iD
eseence or substano&, por 10 uuited .1 to deltroy their separate existence .. three perIODs.
Of course it doeenot mean that they are three separate Gods and yet one God. Nor doee
it teach that mer are in Iuch a seose ODe God••1 to preyent eacb perIOD from exercililll
his own attribute. and perfonning his own workl. We use the word",.••• because we
think it the best word; and beeaDI8 we think it Dot liable to any reasonable objection.
. . • • In place of it, IOme would DI8 the word diltiffrtliOf&, as implying 1_ than.a
meant by pin., and al appearing le. inconsistent with unity. But tbil seems needl881.
The word " , . . i. Dot liable to any lair objection, and doel not mean too much. • • • •
If we eschew me word JMI"IOtI', ad only -1 of a being that he ha. in him.lf three tIiI·
titldiotN, we cODvey no debite Idea. • • • • But when we . , of God that he iaODe

•
 -united as to be truly ODe beiDg."
This is tbe doctrine whioh Dr. B. ~s to be " " " , " , and the reuonableness 0(
[Nov.
belDlaad yet three perIODa, we meaa tlta& there are three p81'1OD1, pro,..'" .peakiDC_ 80

which he attempts to .bow J but upon oarefully lOaDlling his .rlomeDt we find it simpl,
amounts to tbis, that DObody can prove tbat it i, Dot ~uonable. Tile following p""-
graph contains the aDmtotal or bis showing in a brief oompaaa. le Is it then .... iDet
fact 1 Now all that can be said here i., t.hat so Car as we bave seeD or knowD humaD
beiop, it is a fact that one person is alwayl one being, and without left_tion we do DOl
kDOW any otber order oforeated beings. Now it is realOnable to.y tbat It is a fact Dot
observed by us, by the light of nature, that one beingsbould exist in three persons. Blit
it ia not reuoDable 10 .y that it is apinst fact,·unless W8 aname tbat we know all facti
in all w\lrlds, for if we admit that there may be in other worlds facta not observed by u.a
in-this world the very thing in question may be ODe of those facta, aDd co . .ame tbat it
is not is to beg the question. • • • • If God chose to create 11 mind dUrerent from
tbe haman mind, could he not do it 1 It 80 happens that among men every mind has
uoity in eseence and perIOD. But sappose that God should wi8h 10 create a mind, ODe in
ell8nce, and yet exiating in three persoD8, eaoh able to think, feel, obooee. al£d love, and
each equaL to the rel4t--ean anyone 88Y that it is impoasible 1 If miDd has an eseenoe.
who can deny the possibility of its existing thus'" This will probablyltrike our readers
as a very enlighteDed specimen of reasoning, and fairly upon a par ~ith the position that,
for aught anyone knows to the contrary, God could oreate another being in every way
equal to Himself. 'What would a chri.tian man reply 10 such a bold and blasphemous
luppoIition 1 Would he think for a moment of arraying against it a logical proceu arre-
futation 1 Would he not .y tnt it outraged, in the most horrible manner, wbat Mt.
Motell calls tbe le intuitional con80ioulnesJJ 1" So in tbe Preat?Dt oue; the Yer1 primiliye
perceptioos of tbe human naind. when flot sophiltlcated by the dogmu of the Catechism
and tbe Creed, repudiate .l a glance sucb a Trinity as Dr. B. here sets before us. and
which he would fain dignify witb the title oC ratiOfltJI. How muoh more ,..,iottal is Swe-
denborg's powerful protest against this. doctrine in the followins paragraphs from tbe
~. CanoDs." II What rational mind, when it bean that before the oreation or tbe world

there were three Divine persoD8 called Father, Son, aDd Holy S.)irit, does Dot say withill
It1e1fwhen thinkinc OD tbe subject, What is meant by a Son'. being born from God the
Father (rom eternity 1 How could he be born 1 And what is the Holy Spirit proceeding
from God the Father througb the Son from eternity 1 ADd how could he proceed and be-
oome God by hlmlell I Or bow could a perlOn beget a person from eternity, and both
produce a pe1'8OD 1 Is not a person • perIOD I How caD three persou, of which each it
God, be conjoined in one God, otheryiee than in one person 1 And yet this is contral'J to
theology, and that to this How can the Divinit, be distinguishftC11nto three persona,
and yet not IntQ three Gods, wben yet each person ia God 1 How can the Divine esaeDC8,
which is one, the 8&Dle, and indivisible, rail into number, and consequently be divided
or multiplied 1 ADd how can three divine persons be together and take oounsel with
eaoh other In the non-extense or spaoe, such as wu before the world wu c~ted I Bow
could three equaUtiAs themle1vet be prodl1oed from Jehovah God, who is One, and
tbeDoe Sole, Infinite, Immense, Increate. Etemal. and Omnipoteotl How can a trinity
of perlOns be conceived of in the unity of God, and the unity of God 10 a triDity of per-
lOul-besides that the idea oCplllraJity destroys that OfUDity, and "it-t.".... . . . .
A Trinity oC perIODS is not only above l8&IOO, bot spinet it; it is _inst J'8UOIl
that three perlOns should bave oreated the uniyeree; that there should have been th. .
perIOD" and each perIOD God, and yet not three Gods but one, and then three perIODs
and Dot ODe persoD. Will Dot the future New Churoh eaU this age of the Old Cburola be-
nilbted and barbarou., .s worabipiol three Gods 1 Equally irratioDal are the vario1ll
1849.] BtIiIorit.d lie",..
infereOCel deduced from the 'frinitarlan dogma. . That tbe Divtnlty before
the world was CleRted was believed to consist, according to the Nieene council aDd the
churches afterwards, of three person. of which each was God, and the second born from
the first, and tbe third proceeding trom the other two, is Dot only above comprehension,
but contrary to it, and the faith of a »aradox which does violence to the rational under-
standing. It is a faith in whicb there is not anything of the church, but is rather a per-
I'uasive or the false, luch as obtaibS among those who are iosane in matters of religion.'·
On the whole we fear that Odr seeker for deliyerance from cc suspense," will resort in vain
to the orthodox doctors, and would recommend to him to tum his inquiries in the direc-
tion of the New Church.

We ha Ye recei Yed a copy of the Proceed ings of the Tenth Annual Meeting of t~ IUilloi.
AS8OCiation ortbe New Cburch, held at Chicago, Oct. ~tb, 1849. We have lIloaned the
follo\ving items oC intelligence which will not be without interest to our reader.. Th.
presiding minister, Rev. J. R. Hibbard, 18Ys in his report :_u In viewing tbe preeent
state and prolPfcts of the Church, within oar bounds, though in IOme places &be motion
may seem retrograde, yet UpUD the whole. we have reuon to rejoioe aad be hopeful. Aa
near as I have learned, there are about 125 adults in this association who haY'8 been bap-
tized into the New Church. and rather more than that number of receivers and readers who
are not baptized, but whose feelings and .ymrtathies ara with U9. Of baptized children
and youth there are quite all many as of baptized adults; and of ohildren oot baptized, bat
whose parents !ympathise with u. there are as many more. So that in this State, far
enough South to include Springfleld, there are about five bundred. persons old and yoong
who look to the New Church for instruction. Tb is, compared with the number a few
years ago, is Dot discouraging. And when we remember that there are now more prore..-
ed receivers of the New Church verilies, within the narrow bounds of this aspociadon,
than there were in the whole christian world sixty, or, at farthest, seventy years ago, we
eertain]y have reason to rejoice at the progress truth has made; and from the past draw
encouragement for the future. And while we thus mark the slow but steady progress or
the visible church, may'we Dot know that hefts is no summer growth to perish by the
frosts of autumn? but though, like the cedar, she slowly spreads her branches to the IUD.
they are ,,,er-green i-though slowly she rears her bead towards heaven, her life Is ..
eternal, and her roots as firmly fixed as the everlasting hill.....the mountains of LebanOJl
OD which she grows." .
'rhe following is the report from a Society located at one of the most 1~lportant polntl
at the West:
•• The Chicago Society commenced its }('gal existence Sept. "/, 1843, as a Society
under the Statutes of this Slate. Previous to that time, meetings had been held in the
house or room of J. Young Scammon, nearly every SabbAth, for ,vorship. Tbe meeting.
however, consisting only of Mr. Scammon. bis wife. and from one to two or three persoDt
be!ides. The usual number prelM'nt did not exceed three in all. Th~ first Newcharoh.
man in the placE' was Mr. Scammon, who settled here in 1835. Mr. Vincint S. LoveD.
now residing at Elgin, who recehed the doctrines through Mr. S., was the nt'Xl receiver.
The Society. when legally organized, consisted only of Mr. Scamnlon aDd wife, and Mr.
Lovell. It remained a legal Suciety, gradually increasing in numbers, and holding J'eI1I-
lar meetinf(s for worship in either Mr. Scammon's office, or a room provided for mat
purpose, until Feb. 2fi, 1849. wben the lepl eociety wal cODeecrated a. a religioullOOietT,
by the Rev. J. R. Hibbard, and 'he ordinance of ba.ptism administered to all the mem-
bers present who had not before been baptised.
'C The OOlYCODltitQtion or articles oC faath are the following declaration which 11 aub-

ecribed by eaoh mem bel I

 EditDriGllteru. [Nov. 1849.
cc We wh~ Dam. are hereuDto IUblCribed, haft formed ouieelY" into a religiou
lOCiety, under the Dame oCTbe Chicago Society of the New JerllS8lem, and have adopc-
eel as the platform of our UDiOD, the three euentiall of the church, as cODtained ill No.
~g of Emanuel SwecleDbo'l"s Treatiee OD the Divine Providence. as follows:
cc There are three eMendals of the ohurch. The acknowledgment oC the DiviDe oC the
Lord; the acknowledlmeQt uC the Sanctit, oC the Word; aDd the life which is called
Charity.
ee According to the life, which is Charity, every man has faith j from the Word it
the knowledp of what life musl be; aDd from the Lord is reformation and 8alvatioD.
I f The society have procured and neatly fitted up a convenient rqom in the 8&100.
Buildings, a central situation in the city, for the meetiogs oC the lOOiet,. Meetiap for
worship are regularly held at this place every Sabbath morning at 10 1·2 o'clock; and iD
the aftemClon we have-recently been trying 10 hold a small Sabbath school and Bible class.
The Dumber oC IOholars in the SlI.bbath school is only about half a dozen•
.. We have for leVeral yean past bad tbe preaching of the Rev. Mr. Hibbard (or a por-
tion oCthe year, and hie eervidea have proved 10 very acceptable that we bave DOW made
an arrangement to baye him reeide among us with a view of devotiDg hi, entire services
to us as pastor of our lOCiety. The society DOW consi. . of twenq-one membera • •
reside in the city, and three otbers who reside e1lewhere."

We should hardly perhaps have given insirtion to the following from me Spriagfleld
Republican, but from the fact, that the lady clairvoyant alluded to is me .me thAt our
reader. will recollect to have seeD·8n account of in our notice of Mr. Haddock's wOlk OIl
Paycheism aDd 5omooUem in a previou8 NOe of the Repository. As to the intrinsic truth
oC what rhe affirms respecting Sir John Franklin anti hi, shipe, as we form DO
opiniou ourselve•• we have none to propound to our readers. A. they have all the data
before them tbat we have, we leave them to judge 'for them sel YeS of tile degree or credit
to be attached 'to the statement. cc M&8J1&JUC ANNOUlCCEJlEKT.-Sir John FnmkliD has
been seen by a clairvoyant oC Boltt'n, EDllaod. This diacovery was i.Qed several days
before the veaael arrived which brought the news which we have ealready given ouz read-
ers of that unfortunate navigator. The clairvoyant was uninstructed, and unable to reed
·and write. but when asked 10 pOint to the place on the map where she had seen Sir John,
she put her finger OD the north-west side of Hudson's Bay. She says that it is Sir John's
upectation to be iD England in nine and a half months. There are three compa.oioDJ
with him. Some of his men are Crozen in the anow, and parties oC them are following OD.
She visited Sir John ROil'S shipl, and 8aye that they are Crozen into the ice, and that he
can't turn his ship round. When asked to show where he Will on'the map, ebe poiated.
to Banke's Land. She apreaaed great astonishment that clocks varied 10 much between
the points occupied by the two navigators. aDd said that a watchmaker should be lent to
repair them. She described the person of Sir John Frallklin. and mentioned, respecti-.
ly. that he was bald. The account of this mesmeric announcement is authentic~ and GO-
curring before the arrival of the vessel which brought the news. occasioned much 8peCa·
latioo, and haelast none of hs interest since it has in a measure been verified.- From
lubsequent DOtiCes in the English papers, we find the fact of these announcement&. abu·
dantly confirmed. and that they are continuinl to attract more and more attention eveo
in the b ighe.t circles. .

Intelligenoe has jolt reached U8 of the remo~.l to the spiritual world or

Thoma. Goyder. New l'hurob minister a' Challord. EDllaDd. iD cOJlleq1leDoe at •
.8 Rev.
panI,-
tio shock.
 THE

NEW CHURCH REPOSITORY

AND

MONTHLY REVIEW •

.,..1. 11. DEeEMBER, 18&'. Ne. 12.

ORIGIN AL P AP~R s. ·
ARTIClaE I.

THE LETTER AND THE SPIRIT.

No. VII.

IT is very easy for us to conceive that Mr. Lord and his adherents
will be-ready to charge upon us a very unsatisfactory, if not evasive,
mode of conducting the present discussion, because we do not meet
his arguments in all points precisely upon the ground on which they
are urged. He would fain have us step forth upon the very arena
which he has chosen, and consent to the code of combat which he
may please to read out to us. As he has been at great pains to
elaborate an imposing system of figurative interpretation, so he
would demand of us that we shall agree to recognize that system &s
sound, and to abide by the results to which it may logically bring us.
He has apparently no idea of any other style of biblical strategy than
that which he has adopted, and no conception that his asserted la\vs
of figures and symbols are not to be regarded as an infallible criterion
of whatever interpretation of the propbetical Scriptures may be pro-
posed. But the train of remark to which our preceding articles has
been devoted has probably conveyed a hint, at least, that "re deem
his whole tropological 8)"stem a mere mass of arbitrary technics de-
void of one particle of authority in determining our construction of
the import of Holy Writ. By what we are forced to deem a species
of hallucination or "hariolation" (to adopt a term of Pro£ Stuart·s)
Mr. L. has wrought himself into the belief; that a correct theory of
metaphors, symbols, similes, etc., will afford an infallible clew to the
deepest arcana of the Spirit speaking through the Word, ,,-hich is in
VOL. 11. 34
&86 ne Letter and ,~ Spirit. [Dee.
our view a phantasy little less extravagant than if he had supposed
that the kingdom of heaven might be opened and entered by an iron
key. It is a species of self-imposition effected by virtue of the spell
of namea; and such is in fact the case in regard to a great portion of
the so-called learning both of the past and present. It is little else
than sporting a grand array of name, and fancying that we come
thereby to a truthful knowledge of tking8. .
Mr. L., for instance, has a series of articles in his Journal, entitled.
"A Designation of the Figures," occurring in several consecutive
chapters of Isaiah, of which the whole drift is to discriminate, specify,
an~ classify the different rhetorical figures, as he would term them,
occurring in the prophet. We give a specimen, slightly varied in the
form of presentation.

18. H. 1. U All nations shall flow unto it." A metaphor in the word flow.
Nations cannot flow in the same manner as a river runs. The expression is
used to denote that as a river glidt!s in a perpetual current to the point where
it enters the sea, 80 the nations are to go in a continuous line, 8S it were, or
in great numbers, habitually, to the Mount of the Lord's house.
Ver. 3. "For out of Zion shall go forth the law and ~he word of the Lord
from Jerusalem." A metaphor in the word go, as the law aDd word of Jeho-
vah did not literally go from Jerusalem, as persons travel from one place to
another.
Ver. 4. U And he shall i l1dge among the nations, and shall rebuke many peo-
pIe: and they shall beat their swords into plougb-shares, and their spears
moo prnning-hooks: nation shall Dot lift up sword against nation, neither
shall they learn war any more." A synecdoche, the species put for the geDus-
swords and 8pears for such instruments generally as shall be in use at the
period when the prediction is to be fulfilled, and plough-shares and pruning-
hooks for the implements generally of husbandry.
Ver. 5. "0 house of Jacob.u A metonymy in the nse of house, in place
of the family residioR in it.
Ver. 11. u 0 house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord."
A hypocatatasis, as walking is to the body \vhat the exercise of its faculties
is to the soul.
Ver.1. U There is no end to his treasures; there is no end to hie chariots."
Two byperboles in the use of the word end.
Ver.19. "Go into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord,
for the glory of his majesty." An apo8trophe.
Ch. iiL 1. U For behold, the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, doth take away from
Jerusalem and from Judah tIle stay and the 8t~ the whole stay of l>read t
and the whole stay of water." Hypocatastasis in the use of stay and
8taff:
Ver. 8. U For Jerusalem totters, and Judah falls." Metaphors iD the use of
totters and falls.
Ver.9. "They declare their sin like Sodom." A similitude.
Ver. 13. U The Lord standeJh up to plead; and 8tandeth to jndge the people:"
A hypocatastasis. It is not metaphorical, inasmuch as the altitude and act
ascribed to God are possible to him, and appropriate (1). That visible attitude
is put in the place of tbe analogous acts by which he was about to vindi-
cate himself, and manifest his judgment of the people.

Now in all this, what real accession is made to our knowledge 1

Certaill names are besto,,"ed upon certain forms of speech. gut ,vhat
then 1 Do these names develope the rationale, the philosophy, of the
peculiar usages of langua.ge \vhich are thus denominated 1 What
 ,
1849.] ne Letter and tA, Spirit. 53'7

do I, in fact, learn simply from being told that the expression, "Jo-
seph is a bough running over a wall," is 8 metaphor? Does it afford
me the least hint of the rea807l why Joseph is so termed? Does it
conduct me to the inner grounds of this mode of diction? And so
when the phraseology is varied and it is said that" Joseph is Q,8 or
liAe a bough," and it is then called a similitude, what real importa.nce
attaches to this distinction, when every one sees at a glance that the
two forms of expression amount substantially to the same thing,
and consequently that Swedenborg's remark is well founded, that
the comparisons occorring in the Word have their. origin in corres-
pondences, and that therefore it is essentially the same whether it be
said, for insta.nce, "my doctrine is dew," or " my doctrine is Q,8 dew," 81
in either case the phraseology is formed on the correspondence sub-
sisting between dew and doctrine, since water, in all its forms, has re-
lation to truth, as an effect has relation to its cause. That this as-
sertion should appear, at first blush, exceedingly fanciful, is alto-
gether probable; but Jet the formation of water be traced backwards
through its various stages to its primitive constituents, and it will be
found that ""e are conducted to the light of the natural sun, as the
proximate source of its formative gases, while the light of the na-
tural sun resolves itself back to the light of the spiritua.l sun, which
is but another name for the Divine Wisdom or Truth. In this way
we come to the origin of the correspondence, as affording the true
key to the interpretation of the biblical language in this case, the
inner philosophy of which is thus disclosed. Compared with the
light thrown from this source on the fundamental principles of lan-
guage, how utterly insignificant is that mere nomenclature of figures
which Mr. L. would fain have us believe is the true cc Open, sesame I"
to the treasures of revelation.
Let this then be oor apology for proceeding in the discussion in
entire disregard of his so much vaunted canons founded on the pecu-
liar nature, laws, and functions of rhetorical figures. We recognize
in them not the smallest iota of authority. They stand before us merely
as so many arbitrary terms imposed upon certain formulas of lan-
guage, but which cast not a single ray of light upon the interior
ground-work of these linguistic phenomena. We would deal with
thing" and not with mere words. If Judah is termed a lion's ,vhelp.
-if Peter is denominated a rock-if the Lord is said to make the
clouds his chariot, and to ride on the wings of the wind-if David
says that his bones are broken, and that he eats ashes like bread-
if the fowls of heaven, and the beasts of the field are represented as
called upon to assemble themselves together to eat flesh and to drink
blood, and to be filled at the Lorcrs table with horses and chariots,
with mighty men and men of war-we are desirous. to know why
such expressions are employed, or, in other WOrdM, what is the genuine
and definite meaning couched under the figurative form of speech.
We say definite meaning, because for the most ,8rt we believe that
but a very dim and vague perception is had 0 the analogies npon
which such expressions are founded. We are satisfied, on the other
1
hand, that there is in truth nothing loose or indeterminate in these I
 T1uJ Letter and tM Spirit_ [Dec.
80 called tropical modes of expression, but that they are as rigidly
exact in thf'.ir ~aring as the plainest and most unfigured diction,
and that nothing is needed but the ascertainment of the underlying
Jaw of their use to resolve them into equal explicitness of imporL
The principle of this law we claim to have developed in what we
ad vanced in our preceding number in regard to the relation subsist-
ing between the spiritual nature of man, and .the spiritual or internal
sense of the Word. The nature of this relation is such as to enforce
an entire disregard of all those arbitrary names and rules which the
rhetoricians have made so prominent, and which Mr. L., in his pecu-
liar wa)· of treating them, \vould have us believe to be clothed with
the authority of il1diRputable axioms.
By v.ya.y of illustrating the principles of interpretation as applied
by Swedenborg to eyery species of figurative language, we adduce
the follo\ving specimen. The passage under exposition is Rev. viii.
7. "The third part of trees ,vas burnt op." That the import of this
language is something more than literal l\fr. L. himself teaches in his
conlmentary on the Apocal~rpse. " It must belong to some other de-
partment than the physical world, and exert its agency OD some dif-
1erent and analogous class of subjects. There is no counterpart to
the ph)'sical world, but the intelligent (world)." It is men, therefore,
who are denoted b:)" trees, and we would ascertain, if possible, the
fundamental grounds of this usage. \Vc tUfn then to the human
oracle of the ~ ew Church.
u Trees signify "nch things as are with man in his interiors., which pertain
to his mind; the boughs aDO leaves those things which pertain to the snow-
ledge of truth aJld good, aud the fruits the goods of life themselves. This sig-
nification of trees originates in the spiritual \\"orld, for in that world there ap-
pear trees of all kinds; and these trees correspond to the interiors of the minds
of angels and spirits; beautiful and fruitful tree8 to the interiors of tholfe 'Who
are in the good of love, and thence in wisdom; trees less beautiful and fruit-
ful to those who are in the good of faith t but trees bearing leaves only, and
witbout fruits, to those \vho are o11ly in the kuowledge of truth; and trees
of a dismal hue, with malignant fruits, to tho~e who are in knowledges and in
evil of life; but to those 'v ho are Hot in knowledges and in e,~il of life, there
do not appear trees, but instead thereof stones and sands. These appearances
in the spiritual world actually fio'" from correspondence, for the interiors of
the mind of the inhabitants of that world are by such effigies presented actual-
ly before their eyes. Hence it is, tbat trees are so often mentioned in the
Word, by which are signified those things which pertain to the mind of
man."-A. E. 109.
" That fruits signify the goods ,vhich a man does from love or charity. is
known, iudeed, without confirlnatioll from the Word; for by fruit in the "Toni
the render understands nothing else: the reason \vhy by fmit are meant the
goous of love or of charity, is} because man is compared to a tree, and is also
called a tree. That fruit signifies the goods of love or of charity, which in
common language are called good ,vorks, may appear from the following
passages: 'And !Jow also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees j therefore
every tree which bringeth not forth good/ruit, is he\vn do\vn, and cast into the
fire' (Matt. iii. 10; vii. 16-20). ' Either make the tree good, and its fruit good,
or else make the trte corrupt, and itsfruit corrnpt; for the tr. is kn<twn from
its fruit' (Matt. xii. 33' Luke vi. 43, 44). 'Every branch that beareth DotfTWil
shall be taken away, but e,:ery branch that beareth /FUit shall be purged that
it may bring forth more:!rutt: 'he that abideth in me. and I in him, the same
brillgeth foith m1Uh/ruat (John xv. 2, 6)."-A. R. 984.
18&9.] 839

Again :-
"By a tree is signified man; and as man is man by virtue of ai"ection, whioh
is of the will, and by virtue of perception, which is of the understanding,
therefore these al80 are signified by a tree. There is also a correlpoudenoe
between man and a tree; wherefore in heaven there appear paradises of
trees, which correspond to the affections and consequeut perceptions of the
angels; and, likewise, in some places in hell there are forests of trees, which
bear evil fruits, correspondent with the concupi8ceoees and coneequen&
thonghts of those who are there. That trees in general signify men as to their
affections and consequent perceptions, may appear from the following places:
'And all the tr", tf the field shall kno,v, that I, Jehovah, have brought down
the high tree, have exalted the low tre" have dried up the green tTa, and have
made Lhe dry tree to flourish' (Ezek. xvii. 24). 'Blessed is the man tbat tmsteth
in Jehovah; for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, neither shall cease
.from yieldin a fruit' (Jer. xvii. 7, 8). 'Blessed is the man whose delight is in
the law of lebovahj aud h~ shall be like a tre~ planted by the rivers of watu,
that bringeth forth rruit in his season' (Psalm i. 3). • Praise Jehovah, ye/mit-
.fuJ tred (Psalm cxlviii. 9). & The trets of Jehovah are full of sap' (Psalm civ.
16). & And now also the axe is laid at the root of the tre", therefore every
tree which bringeth not forth good fruit, is bewn down' (Matt. iii. 10; vii. 16,
21). & Either make the tre, good and its fruit good t or else make the tru cor-
nlpt and his fruit corrupt; for the trt, is known by his fruit' (?tfatt. xii. 33;
Luke vi. 43, 44). 'Behold,] will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour
every green trl', and every dry t,.,e' (Ezek. xx. 47). Since a tree signifies man,
therefore it was ordained, that the fruit of a tree serving for food in the land
of Canaan should be circumcised' (Levit. xix. 23, 24, 25); as al80, ' When any
city is besieged, they shall not put forth an axe against any tree with good
fruit' (Dent. xx. 20, 21); and, 'That at the feast of the tabernacles they should
take frUit of the free of honor, and rejoice before Jehovah' (Levit, xxiii. 40, 41) ;
besides other passages which are not here adduced by reason of their abund-
ance."-.A. R. 400.
Such then being the internal sense of the term tree, the application,
in the passage before us, is as follows :-" Hereby is signified the per-
ishing of the perceptions and knowledges of truth and good by the
cupidities arising from evil loves;" or, as it is otherwise expressed in
another place, " that with those who are in the internals of the church
and in faith alone, every affection and perception of troth, \\'hich con-
stitute a man of the church, had perished." It will of course be per-
ceived that this species of explanation removes the prophecy from the
sphere of the natural or temporal to that of the spiritual, and recog-
nizes its fulfilment in the moral state of the church rather than in any
outward events that may be conceived to have transpired in the
bounds of the Roman Empire. The reason of this is that Sweden-
borg professes to give that sense of the inspired Word which is ap-
prehended by the ~ngels and cons~quently b)' those who in this world
are in & spiritual state allied to that of the angels. The nature ot
this spiritual or angelic idea is somewhat clearly developed in the fol-
lowing extract, which will be seen to have a special bearinf( upon
the more general tooto of oaf discussion, the restoration of the Jews
to the land of Palestfne.

"The reason why by being introduced into the land of Canaan is eignifiec
the establishment of the Church is, because by the land of Canaan in the Word
nothing else is meant in heaven but the Church; for in heaven all things of
 NO (Dee.
the Word are spiritually perceiYed, wherefore, when mention is made of any
land there, they think of such things there as relate to the Church in that land,
or as appertain to the nation which inhabits it. The angels cannot keep the
mind in the idea of land, since the idea of land is material; Dor iD the idea or
any nation, 88 this idea is a180 materiali wherefore a epiritoal idea in8lanlly
occurs to them, which idea is conoermng the Church. A spirit_l idea jg
aeneral is concerning the Lord, concerning his kingdom, concerning beave~
concerning the ohurch, concerning love and faith in the Lord, and eanceming
innumerable things which relate to faith and love, thus \.hich relate to the
Church; and if you are willing to believe it, it is impossible tb•• any material
idea should enter heaven, it being put off at the very thresbold. This is the
ease with all and singular .things of the Word. Hence now it is tbat by
Ming introduced into the land of Canaan is signfied the eatablisbmeDt of the
Church."-.4. C. 10,668.

Here it will be seen we have in fact the assertion of a grand psy-

chological principle as the basis of the spiritual sense, and nothing
can be more obvious than that the only legitimate ground of pro-
nouncing upon the general subject is thn.t of the abstract truth or
_ falsity of the fundamental principle. Yet, strange as it may seem,
this is precisely the ground on which the opponents of Swedenborg,
with one accord, refuse to meet and encounter the system. We be-
-lieve DO single instance can be cited in the whole history of the con-
troversy, in which the slightest show of an attempt has been made to
refute our positions on this head; and yet this is the very pivotal point
on which the whole matter turns. The fact is, nothing can be said
against this. feature of the system, except, that it assumes tp know
what lies without the limits of human intelligence-that the human
mind is incompetent to reach assurance on the point in question--and
thus all debate is to be foreclosed by the plea of ignorance. To this
our reply is, that if onr opponents persist in the assertion of tAeir own
ignorance on this score, we are content to take them at their word ;
but we protest against tneir making their ignorance the measure of
ours. We admit no such incapacity to compass the radical truth of
the int~rior relation of spiritual and natural things. We knolD tAat
toe know it, and consequently that no dissentient can possibly knOlD
tAalwe do not know it. It is only from compulsion, however, that we
venture thus to speak. We reluctantly assume an air of infallible
assurance, but we are clearly dri~en to it by the pressure of the only
argument which can be urged against us. It is 'the simple denial, on
the one side, that we know certain truths, and the simple assertion OD
the other that we do. Who is empowered to sit in judgment on our
consciousness 1 If any man fails to perceive the evidence of such a
spiritual sense as Swedenborg affirms, let him be content to say that
lee does not perceive it; he is not competent to prescribe limits to the
perception of others. He may blindly deny, but be can by no possi-
bility dUprove, the truth of our assumptions on this score.·
By recurrence to the foregoing extract (.A. R. 400). the reader will
perceive that men, in some of the texts cited, are expressly denominatE-d
• The above paragraph, by the writer of &he PreleDt article, is relbserted from another
publication (Sweel. Lib., No. 66), on account of its peculiar pertlnenCf 10 the point iD
'-Dd.
1849·1 De Letter _ Me Spirit.

treu, and in others they are lilcened to trees. 0', 88 Mr. L. would say,
in one case a metapAor is employed, and in the other a compari6on.
But what avails this distinction towards a more ample grasping of the
genuine interior idea conveyed by the use of the term! Is it not
clear that all such pfltty discriminations vanish before the grand and
striking development thus made of the philosophy of figurative
language 1
We give, in this connection, one more instance of the same kind,
founded upon Rev. ii. 27, "As the vessels of a potter shall they be
broken," by which, he says, is signified in g~neral the total dispersion
of falsities, 88 a potter's vessel denotes those things in the natural
man which are from self-derived intelligence exercised upon the veri-
ties of heaven and the church.

CI.That a potter's vessels signify such things as are from self-derived intelli-
gence, thus falsities in the natural man, appears ftom various pusages in the
Word, of which the following are adduced in confirmation, 8S in David:
'Thou shalt break them (me nations) with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them
in pieces like a potter', 'Vesscl' (Ps. ii. 9). To break the nations with a rod of
iron, signifies here also to chastise and subdue the evils which are in the
natural maD. The term rod here used has the same signification as sceptre
and staff in other passages. It is added, '1ilc8 a potter's vessel,' because by it
is signified the falsity which is from self..derived intelligence. In the literal
sense this is a comparison, for it is said tU a potter's vessel, and tJI earthen
vessels, but in th~ internal sense comparisons are not perceived as compari-
80ns, inasmuch as comparisoDs are equally from significatives. The gronnd
and reason why a potter's vessel, or an eanhen vessel, signifies what is false,
is, because a potter is one who forms, and a vessel is what is formed. When
man forms it it is falle, but when the Lord forms it in man it is true; hence it
is that a potter's vessel in the Word signifies either what is false or what is
true, and a potter signifies the former. The Lord hiolself is in the Word called
a potter, from the formation of man by·truths, 8S in Isaiah: '0 Jehovah, thou
art our father; we are the cloy, and thon our pott"., and we all are the work
of thy hand' (Ixiv. 8). Again:' Woe nnto him that striveth with his Maker!
Let the tot,hnd strive with the potaMrds of the earth. Shall the aa, 8ay to him
tluJtfaMaoneth it, What makest tbou' (xlv. 9). Again:' Surely your turning of
things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter" clay j for shall ,the work
say of hIm that made it, He made me not' or shall the thing framed say of
him that framed it, He had no understanding l' (xxix. 16.) Inasmuch as the
Jews and Israelites falsified all the truths of the Word by applying them to
themselves, and to their own exaItatiou, above all the nations and people in
the universe, therefore their falsities are called the broken vessels of a potter,
as in Isaiah: 'Whir,h say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy
)lot unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits. Get
you out of the way. Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready
to fall. And he shall break it as the breaking of the ,otter'. wael Mat it broiM
in pieu.,. 80 that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take
fire from the hearth, ·or to take water withal out of the pit' lXXX. 10, 11, 13, 14).
That they wholly deprived themselves of truths, and immersed themselves in
fallacies, is described by their saying to the seers, I See not, and to the pro-
phets, Prophe8y not unto us right things, speak unto us smootb things,
prophesy deceits; ,et ye out of the way.' That they had thus immersed
themselves in fallaoles, 80 that nothing of truth remained, is described by the
breaking of ~he potter's vessel, so that there should Dot be found in the burst-
ing a sherd to take tire Cram the hearth, or to take water out of the Fit; where-
by is signified that there should not remain with them 80 much 0 truth a8 to
enable them to perceive any good and truth from the Word; for fire aigllifiea
 ne Leller _ ,ie Spirit. [Dee.
lood, and water signifiea truth. Agai_, in Jeremiah: & The word came to
Jeremiah, sayiDg, Arise and go down to the ,*'er" house. Then I went down
to the potter'. house, and behold he wrought a work 011 tbe wheels. A.nd the
tJeuel that he made was marred, so he made it again another .,,~~, 8S seemed
good to the J!.otter to make it' (xviii. 1-4). In this passage is likewise uDd~­
8tood that WJth the Jewish nation there remained nothing but what was false;
and the vessel that was marred in the potter's house denotes that falsity. By
the house of the potter is meant the state in which tbey were. That the trorh
of the church was taken away from them, and given to others, is understood
!>y the potter making it again another vessel such 88 seemed good to him.
The reason why a potter's vessel, or an earthen vessel, signifies what is fal!te,
ie, because it corresponds to a device, and a device is that which springs from
the self-derived intelligence of man ; from this correspondence it was that the
prophets were commanded to do such things Ba are mentioned above."-.d. E.
177.

That this interpretation receives countenance from philology will

BCarcely be questioned by anyone who is aware that the original
word for potter is ~%a" yot%tr, trom the radical -'2", y12tU1r, to /01711,
to fashion, and that the derivative noun ':"', gttzer, is the word which
in the Hebrew occurs in the following passages: "And God saw that
the wickedness of man was great in the earth, aDd that every iWlgi-
nation of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." " For I
know their imal(ination which they go about, even no\v, before I have
brought them into the land which I sware." "For the Lord searcheth
all hearts, and understandeth all the imogillatio7U of the thoughts."
" 0 Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this
for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people,
and prepare their heart unto thee." All this goes to make evident the
soundness of Swedenborg's remark in regard to the grounds of this
interpretation, that a potter's ve~1 "corresponds to a device, and a
device is that which springs from the self-deri\-ed intelligence of man."
This is the genuine force of the Hebrew term, so that we have here
an instance in which the literal confirms the spiritual sense.
But to return to our main theme-the Jews and their prophetic dp~
tiny. How, it is asked, is it possible to resist the evidence of the
letter in r~.gard to their future restoration 1 Has not Mr. L. SbO\VD
that if this event is not distinctly foretold, then it is impossible to
construct language into propositions that shall declare it t Especial-
ly, is it possible to turn aside the force of the argument drawn from
their past history and the array of literal accomplishments ofprophecy
which it exhibits 1 WaB it ever more explicitly announced that Israel
should be dispersed than that they should be gathered 1 Yet what
could be more punctiliously accomplished than the oracular burdens
denouncing upon their disobedience the lain of invasion, captivity,
and exile 1 Have they not been scattere and peeled and made a
word and a hissing among all nations, and has not this sad lot been ID
br-
e~act accordance with the predictions that" went before upon them 1"
What inference, then, can be drawn but that the predictioDs relating
to their future shall be followed by an accomplishinent equally literal
and lipal? Has not Mr. L. shown that all the announcements are
8uch 88 fD be compatible with the nature of the Bubject, and there-
fore excluded from the category of metaphors t
 De LeIIer _ lie Spirit.

Such are the interrogations that may be pP8811med to be ur«ed

against the views we have thus far endeavored to maintain. And
"What shall be said in reply 1 It is of course impossible to denythst
so far as the past is concerned, the history of the Jews has been in
accordance with the scope of the letter. But our position, which is
that of the New Church, is, that the literal sense of the historical re-
eord is not the actual and ulterior verity which it is designed to set
forth before us. We do not say, be it observed, that the Jewish history
is false, but that the sense of the letter is not its full or whole sense.
We hold that their history is itself as truly a language, serving as a
vehicle for moral and spiritual instruction, as are the words of Moses.
or Joshua, or Samuel, in which that history is written. If we could
suppose that Bunyan's allegory of the Pilgrim were the record of aB
actual "progress" such as is described in the letter, everyone can see
that the narrative would not on this account serve any the less as a
medium for conveying the same spiritual lessons that it now d<M's ;
Dor would these spiritual le8~on8, constituting the internal sense of
the writing, be any the less its true genuine and paramount sense
than it now is. In like manner, the history of the Jewish people in
their deliverance, for example, from Egypt, their sojourn in the wil-
derness, 81!d their establishment in Canaan, although made np of a
series of actual facts of remarkable character, shadows forth at the
same time an interior spiritual history of the life and experience of the
Lord's church, which constitutes in reality the internal sense of the
Mosiac narrative-a view of the subject distinctly recognized in t.he
88th Psalm, where the writ~r prefaces a compend of tbis history by
saying, "I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark say-
ing. of old." On any other ground than that which we have stat.eeI
It would be difficult to detect a parabolic strain in this Psalm.
If we may be allowed in this eonnection to refer to an instance of
Swedenborg'8 peculiar mode of interpretation, the point may be
still more clearly illustrated. He informs us that the fact of oar
Lord's being carried, in his infancy, into Egypt, had 8 mystical or
spiritual signiflcancy representing his being imbued with the scien-
tiftcs or knowledges denoted by Egypt, such being, in the internal
sense, the import of every thing pertaining to that singular country.
Now although the actual going down to Egypt did occur, as relatetl,
yet the prediction, "Oat of Eg)ept have I called my SOD," would still
have received accomplishment in its genuine import by the Lord's
early acquisition of that kind of science, and his emerging or ascend-
ing to a higher, and such would have been the true meaning of the
oracle, even if the outward migration had not occurred. Considering
the divinity of our Lord's person, and the stupendous and eternal ends
of his mission, it cannot be doubted that sucb a singular event as this
temporary sojoum in Egypt, 89 well as all the circumstances of his
birth, infancy, childhood, and subsequent career, had a latent connec-
tion with some interior and spiritual train of experience which might
properly be shadowed forth thereby. The external events, however,
were the true shadow, and the internal the substance. The substance
can exist apart from the shadow, but not the shadow apart from the
lubstance.
 [nee.
In the above illutratioDI we have exhibited the principle which
we hold to govern the construction of the historical and prophetical
Word throughout. The sense of the letter, though a true sense. is
Dot the true sense. The entire natural domain covered by the purport
of the letter i. a mere outbirth from the .iritual sphere, as truly 81
the trunk, branches, leaves, and wuit of a tree are the product of the
elaborating vegetative soul, which is ever active within and working
after the model Qf a Divine idea. If inspired prophecy denouDces
against the recreant nation of Israel the penalty of dispersion, and in-
spired history records its literal fulfilment, we still hold that the deep-
er internal meaning remains the genuine meaning of the Spirit, and
that the literal accomplishment is a mere factitious and comparati\ye-
1y trifling appendage, 88 it were, to the verification taking place in
&he spiritual world to which man's spirit naturally and perpetually
belongs. The operation of spiritual ca118eS is ever tending to out-
ward ultimation, just as the wars of the Reformation were the legiti-
mate product of the spiritual wars, or conflicts of opinion, to which
that great event gave rise. In like manner in regard to the pre-
dicted return oftbe Jews. We think it Dot unlikely, 88 we have ~
fore hinted, that in the midst of the various political and ecclesiastical
overturnings of the future, a train of events may arise which shall
result in the actual literal migration of cODsiderable numbers of the
race of Israel to the land of their fathen. But suppose this should be
the case, what then 1 Does it follow that this i. the grand, para.-
mount, and crowning purport of the oracles in question 1 Sball we
for a moment imagine that any thing less than spiritual and eternal
ends govern the Divine counsels, or that anything short of those ends
can be contemplated by the genuine sense of his Word t "\Vhat is
the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord 1" All extemal fulfilments of
prophecy, are mere chaJF eompared to the internal, and such they are
perceived to be by one who is elevated, 88 the man of the church
should ever be, to a state of spiritual discernment. It is upon this
ground undoubtedly that Swedenborg appears so often to overlook, as
it were, the sense of the letter. To his spiritualized perceptions en-
joyed in commop with the angels, all historical fulfilments of the pro-
phecies, especially those of Daniel and the Apocalypse, seem to have
been as though tbey were not. For ourselves we are inclined to lw-
lieve that the events of external history bearing upon the fortunes oC
the church are dimly Rnd remotely alluded to in the Revelations of JobD,
for instance, bllt we can at the same time well undentand bow to a
mind, in thelsycboJogical state of Swedenborg'st every thing of this
nature shoul have appeared as little else than the shadow of a shadft.
How could it be otherwise, to one who was instructed that the whole
order of worldly events, with all their pomp and pageantry, ,was a
mere visible reflex of an inner world of life and action, which sus-
tained to the outer evolutioDs the relation of the informing soul to the
bodily gestures 1 Among the many statements made on this head
and going to show the true structure of the Divine word, the follow-
ing may be cited.
 1.849.] ne Letter and tlle Spirit.
•
" The intemal &eOIe of the Word is ita very eseentiallife, which doe8 not at
all appear in the sense of tbe letter. Such is the perception which the augele
have of the Word. They are utterly uoacquainted with what relates to the
letter, not understanding even a single expression in ita ultimate signification,
mnch less the names of countries, cities, rivers, and persons, which occur 80
frequendy in the. historical and prophetical parts of the Word."-~. C. 64.
" The internal is of such a nature that in it all things are to be understood,
even to the minutest particulars, abstractedly from the letter1 as if the letter
did not exist; for in the internal sense is the soul and life of tne Word, which
does not appear, unless the liteml sense, as it were, vanishes."-L C. 1405.
U These and the subsequent circumstances historically occurred, as they are
written; but the historicals are representative, and each word is significative.
The case is the same in all the historicals of the Word, not only in the books
of Moses, but also those in the books of Joshua, of Judges, of Samuel, and of
the Kings. In all these, nothing is apparent but a mere history; but although it
is histonr in the literalsens8, still ID the iu&erD8laenee are heavenly arcaaa,
which there lie concealed, and which can never be seen, so long as the mind,
together with the eye, is confined to the historicals· nor are they revealed
until the mind is removed from the literal sense. The Word of the Lord is like
a body in which is a living soul" The things belonging to the soul do not ap-
pear whilst the mind abides in corporeal things, insomuch that it scarcely be-
lieves that it has a soul, stillles8 that it will live after death; but no sooner is
the mind withdrawn from things corporeal, than those belonging to the soul
and to life appear. This is the reaSOIl, not only that corporeal things must die,
before man can be born anew, or be regenerated, but also that the body must
die, before man can come into heaven, and see the things of heaven. So it is
with tbe Word of the Lord; its corporeals are what is of the literal sense,
whilst the mind is held in which, the internal contents do not appear; but
when the former become, as it were, dead, then first the latter are presented
to view."-.A. C. 1408.
Cl The historicals are what represent the Lord j the word8 themselves are'
8ignificative of the things which are represented. But being historical, the
mind of the reader cannot but be detained in the facts related, particularly at
tbis day, when most persoD&, and nearly all, do not believe that there exists
an internal sense, stillles8 in each single word; nor, possibly, will they yet
acknowledge it, notwithstanding ithas been thus far 80 manifestly shown j and
this also by reason that the internal sense appears so to recede from the literal,
as to be scarce discernable. But they may know it from this consideration
alone, that the hiatoricals can by no means be the Word, because in them,
separate from the internal sense, there is no more of divinity than in aDY other
history; but the internal sellse makes it to be divine. That the internal sense
is the Word itself, appears from many things which are revealed; as, & Out of
Egypt have I called my Son' (Matt. ii.lS); besides many otherpassages. The
Lord himsel~ also, after his resurrection, taught his disciples what was writ-
teD cODcerning him in Moses and the prophets (Luke xxiv. 27) j thu8 that there
is nothing written in the Word but what has respect to him, his kingdom, and
the church. These are the spiritual and celestial contents of the Word;
whereas those contained in the literal sense are for the most part worldly, cor-
poreal, and earthly, suc~ can by no means constitute the Word of the Lord.
Men at this day are of such a character, that they perceive only such
matters as thase, and scarcely know what spiritual and celestial things are.
It was otherwise with the men of the Most Ancient and Ancient Churches,
who t should they live at this day. and read the Word, wOllld not at all attend
~ to the literal sense, which they would regard as none, but to the internal sense;
they are exceedingly surprised that the Word is not thus perceived by all j.
wherefore, a180, all the books of tile ancient! were 80 written, as to mean in
their interior sense otherwise than in the literalaense."-.A. C. 1540.
 [Dec.
•
Such then is the testimony'of one fully competent, 88 we believe, to
be 8, witness in regard to the interior genius of the Word of Truth.
And on what ground is this testimony to be gainsayed 1 The state-
ment cannot be fairly met by a gratuitous charge of vinonarY,fanci-
/_1, incredibl~, &c.--epithets, which constitute the only weapons laid
up in the arsenal of some logical warriors-for it is clear that there is
too much stern rationality in these statements to allow of their being
thus summarily disposed o£ The only proper mode of reply is to
show that the fundamental ground of a fixed aDd etemal relation be-
tween the spiritual and the natural world is a fiction and a dream;
and when t~is is done it will remain to demonstrate that a. boundless
world of effects exists iodep8!!dent of a commensurate world of causes.
which is equivalent to m8lintailling that the human body can exist
and perform ail its manifold functions without the PTesence aDd ope....
ation f)f its animating 8011'1. If ttJe justness of this altemative be de-
nied, and the position be assumed that the Divine power, immediate-
ly acting, is a sufficient solution of every problem, we have only to
say, that our conceptions of the all-perfect Jehovah recognize him IUI
ereating, upholding, and goveming the universe by the intermediation
of laws and agencies of 8. spiritual nature operating under Him and
extending downwards, in causative efficacy, through successive de-
grees to the lowest and grossest natural plane of being. The view
of Cudworth. on this head accords very nearly with that of the New
Church. " Though it be true, that the works of nature are dispensed
by & divine law and command, )'et this is Dot to be understood in
a vulgar sense, as if they were all effected by the mere force of &
verbal law or outward comDland, because inanimate things are not
commendable or governable by such a law. And therefore besides
the divine will and pleasure, there must needs be aome other imme-
diate agent and executioner provided for the producing of every effect ;
since not so mueh. 8S a. stone, or any heavy body, could at any time
fall down\\·ard merely by the force of a verbal law, without any other
efficient cause; but either God himself must impel it, or else there
must be some other subordinate cause in nature for that motion.
Wherefore the divine law and command by which the things of na-
ture are administered, most be conceived to be the real appointment
of some energetic, effectual, and operative cause for the prodoction of
every effect" (Intel. Sy,t. vol. I. p. 219). To this he adds that OD the
contra.ry theory it would be necessary to suppose that" God himself
did immediately, and, as it were, with his own band, form the body of
every goat 8.nd fly, insect and mite, a8 of other animals in genera-
tions," and this tbeory~ he remarks, is confuted by that slow and gra-
dual process observable in the development ef all orgaDizatio~as
also by those instances oC amorphous or monstrous formatioDs whieh
sometimes occur where the matter is inept or intractable, and which
could not of course be supposed to exist under the immediate hand or
an Almighty Architect. According to the teachings of the New
Church this intermediate order of agencies is the spiritual world in
general, in which, under the Supreme, all causative force resides, and
J84I.] 147
which is sensibly repreaented by the various and oountl818 phenomena
of the natural world. If the fact be Dot SO, how is it ?
We shall resume, in our next, the main theme.
G. B.
(To be comiauecl.)

ARTICLB D.

MR. LORD AND DR. BUSHNELL.*

FOR general practical purposes, all the various bodies which occupy
the entire field of philosophical diacu8sion ma.y be divided into two
great armies or 8chools--the sensational and the transcendental, those
who found their systems of thought upon the impressioDs of the
senses and the intellectual matter which is their immediate product:
aDd those who, professing to avail themselves fully of the empiricism
of the senses and marking the direction in which it points, rather
than resting in such matter, ascend to the region of pure ideas and
compose their systems of substance tr8Dscend.ing the mere province
of the senses. It will be perceived that the division we have here in-
dicated is founded on the distinction made by Swedenborg between
the ezternal and the internal in man. The sensationalists are those
who have chiefly developed and mostly reside in the external ; and
the transcendentalists or idealists are those who have developed more
thoroughly their intellectual internal, and who consequently resort
thither in the hours of their most recondite thinking. The various
schools of philosophy have, by very general consent, come now to be
arranged into four great classes, under the names, Sensationalism,
Idealism, Skepticism, Mysticism. And this classification is undoubt-
edly specifically correct. But in favor of the more general arrange..
ment we have suggested, this consideration may be cited; that all the
philosophers are either idealists or sensationalists. Thus the mystics
are universally idealists, and all the idealists are more or less tinged
with mysticism. And all the sensationalists have a strong element of
skepticism, while all the skeptics are either sensationalists or idealists.
So that the classification which this distinetion of Swedenborg sug-
gests is more profound and generic, inasmuch as it resolves them all
into their ultimate elements, and results in an analysis which is final.
Not only all philosophers, but also every other writer of any moment
in the various departments of thought, will be seen to array them-
selves, consciously or unconsciously, on one side or the other of this
line of separation. The American theological writers for the most
part belong to a school which is the result of a compromise between
the two extremes, on the general basis of the idealism of the Scotch
• Rtvi"" of BeG. Dr. B__tll. n,my of l..aflptJI', i. tAt Jwl, ND. of th, 77a,ological
.fIIl Lit• .,.. JOfWMl. Edit,d", lhJ.&tll\1 Lord, Elf!. New-York. 1&49.
 Mr. Lord ad Dr.1JaJaMll. [Dec.
metaphysicians. The orthodos writers almost uDivenally profess to
hold the idealism of Dr. Reid; partl)", perhaps, because his princtples
were sopposed to afford a refutation of the doctrines of Hume. At
the same time many of them continue their adhesion to the psycholo-
gy of Looke, who was, in fact, the real head of the modem BeJl8&tional
school.
Therefore, it will be perceived that the thinking of our American
scholars is carried on under the constant influence of two distinct
metaphysical tendencies, acting in nearly opposite directions; and
different individuals commit themselves"to one or the other of these
tendencies as the circumstances of education or the innate-qualities oC
mind shall determine. It would not be, we fancy, a very difficult task
to run through a list of well known living writers, and indicate those
'who are the subjects of the ODe tendency and of the other. Those
who are more internal, as we Newchurchmen would say, and those
who are more external. The former manifest a leading S}'mpathy
for such writers as Coleridge and MoreU, and are for the most part OD
the side of theoretical progress; usually striving after new ideas,
more comprehensive views and novel methods of looking at the d0-
main of truth: arc often importers of foreign thought-especially
German-are fosterers of new theories, often mistaken ones, but find
DO difficulty in laying them aside again if found to be RO. Generally
men of enlarged and liberal understanding, they sometimes profess to
be CODstant 6eeker8, and are usuaJly found to be in more or less intel-
lectual motion; therefore new truths, as well &s new views which are
Dot always true, find in them ready friends and grateful recipients.
The other class, whether they know it or not, are in general intel-
lectual sympathy with the principles of Locke as developed by Hart-
ley, Bentham and Mill, and Dothing but their attachment to the Scrip-
tures saves them 1rom being as sensual and skeptical as Lewees or
Compte. They are for the most part rigid dogmatists, great sticklers
for literal interpretations, adepts in the use of verbal logic; and, sin-
gularly enoogh, are always found fixed in precisely that shade and
phase of the orthodox creed ,,'hich is so wholly and unexceptionably
true, that every deviation from the verbal track they travel is a deflex-
ion of error, and men muat be very guarded in their use ofphraseolo-
gy lest before they know it, they find themselves in "infidelity." No-
body else has any proper right to the name of Christian. Nothing
further or better can be said on theological doctrines than has been
said, therefore no new thought is at all requisite. Hence they are 80
often seen, lance in hand, prowling around the outskirts of our litera-
ture, ready to transfix every new word supposed to contain one.
Having taken the sheepfold of the faith under their especial keeping,
they are ever OD the alert to prevent the ingress of any wild animal
from without. One mighty wolf they hold in particular dread, and
always keep ft, spare halberd sharpened and brightened for his recep-
tion. His name is "Theory." As with them, words are always the ex-
act mathema.tical equivalent of thoughts, they make DO account of the
souls of propositions, but consider them sufficiently done for, when
their dead bodies have been pierced. Never generating in themselves
 1849.] Jlr. Lord arid Dr. .....U. 148

the same psychological state posselSed by their opponents they are

always at fault in the interpretation of their language. And what
may seem still more strange, they are often mbjective idealu" of the
intensest sort. DiWering from those of the German schools in this;
that, while they are for the most part completely ahut up in an ideal
world of their own creating, are not aware of it, but continue their
wakeful dreaming, attributing absolute objectivity to eTery ·form their
inward impressions may have coojured up: the Germans, on the other
hand, baving risen to a full consciousness of the state, have ventured
to assume it as a sound basis of thought, and have therefore given it
philosophietLl expression.
Whenever it 80 happens that any two men belonRing to the extreme
schools we have indicated are brought together as antagonists, there.
is usually plenty of interest afforded for the spectators, but their de-
bates never settle anything, bec&UBe they never understand each
other. The same phrase never stands as the sign of the same set of
ideas in the minds of the two individuals. You may say what you
please about the exactitude of language, nothing is clearer, or sus-
tained by & better array of facts, than that two men of entirely dif..
ferent habits of thinking, never will takt' precisely the same impres-
sions from a given discourse, or even sentence.
A complete illustration of tbis is afforded in the discussion under
review. Mr. Lord has undertaken to overthrow Dr. Bushnell's theory
of language, and claims, in almost every other sentence of his article
to have totally refuted him. And yet nothing' can be clearer, to any
one who will take the trouble to understand the two parties, than that
Mr. Lord's refutation is not really directed against Dr. Busbnell's
. theory at all; but against another theory which he has conjured up
in his own mind, and which he supposes to be Dr. B.'s. Almost every
page of his review contains a direct confirmation of the views of lan-
guage set forth in the " Dissertation" he is replying to.
The general idea of Dr. Bushnel~ may be stated briefly, as follows:
In the formation of language as a human product, there is first formed
a noun language composed of the names of physical objects. As the
process continues to develop, and a language of intelligence and
thought comes to be needed, the words composing this noun language
are gradually transferred as they are wanted to new offices, and are
used in a new and higher sense, to denote some thought which is
spiritual. And mental affections in general-get their names from the
bodily attitudes or facial expressions, which are the outward indica-
tions of those states. Thus he says :
U There are, as we discover, two languages, in fact, in every ]angnage. Or
perhaps I shall be understood more exactly if I say, that there are, in every
human tongue, two distinct departments. First, there is a literal department,
in which sounds are provided as names for phytieal object' and appearaneu. Se-
condly, there is a department of analogy or figure, whose physical objects
Bud appearances are named as images of tAought or lpirit, through the physi.
cal images received into them. • . . . . . They raise a distinction be-
tween what they call the literal and figiJrative uses of the word. But this dis-
tinction of literal and figurative, it does not appear to be noticed, even by phi-
lo~!lphers, r.:autJ Ulrongh the very body of the language itself, making two de..
 aao Mr. Lord atl Dr. BtuAraell.
partmenta: one that comprises tAe tmIu of .ftIGtion, and the other t1I tmu 01
Uwught."-DiJSlf1ation, pp. 38, 39. •
Hereupon Mr. Lord, taking Dr. B. to mean, that in our current
literature one physical object is never used in trope or figure to illa.
trate or set off another physical thing, its action or phenomena at-
tending it, immediately expends some six or eight pages of labored
matter to' show that" the use of tenns figuratively in the denomina-
tion and description of phYlical objects, if less uequent proportion-
ately than in reference to the mind, is yet 80 common 88 to form a
very conspicuous feature of language." A proposition which Dr.
Bushnell never thought of calling in questioD. The iderr is not that
the ., terms of spirit" are a1wa)~ used figuratively after they come to
be applied to their secondary objects a.nd in their secondary seDSet
but that they originally acqaired that application in virtue of a
flgure.
Dr. B. ma.y have made a somewhat free use of this term "~re"
in his dissertation, in & sense slightly_different from that in which it
is most commonly understood; and Mr. Lord, being at this time con-
siderably affected with .ymbolomania, seizes at once, Dot upon the
thought which Dr. B. hides behind the word, but upon all that vast
magazine of thoughts which the word figure has come to denote in
his 0"'0 mind. Dr. B. does Dot attempt to give a geography of the
English language, or any other, as it now exists fully developed in
the literature around us; but his theory refers specifically to the
earlier processes in the formation of all language, and the facts which
are to sustain or invalidate it must be gathered from the hulory of
words in the original language in which they were formed, and not
by a reference to their current use. Mr. Lord's entire argument
therefore fails altogether in m~eting the point which ought to be iD
controversy. As an instance, take "the first proposition with which
he undertakes to illustrate the futility of these views.
U Were no literal terms used in the denomination and description of spirit-
ual things, such as agents, attributes, acts, and troths, and in the expre88ion
of f'entiments and affections in respect to them, there could be no deSIgnation
of the subject of a proposition whioh is expressed by words of thought and
spirit, or indioation who the being, or what the thing is of which the affirma-
tion is made. For example, in the proposition, 'God is a Spirit, and the)"
that worship him, must worship him in spirit and in truth,' if the word God
were 110t used literally, to denote Jehovah, the being who had revealed him-
self to the Hehrews, aud given them their laws, then in the first place it tl'OUld
taOt den.ot, him, and in the next, there would be no knowing who it is whom it
would denote. A metaphor, it should be considered, is equivalent to a com-
parison. To denominate J oseph, for example, 'a fruitful bough by a well.'
18 equivalent to affirming that he is lilt, such a bough. To say that 'llowers
are the alphabet of angels,' has the same meaning as though the expression
were-fto\\"'ers are lik, an alpbabet to angels. They write truths with them
on the hills and fielda. The meaning of the affirmation therefore-God is a
~pirit, if the word God were used metaphorically, would be-The being \\9ho
is lik, God, is a Spirit, and they that worshill him, must worship him in spirit
and in troth. But what beilJg is there that)s thus like God, a spirit, and has
a clairD to the homage of man in spirit and in truth 1 No sllch being has re-
vealed himt'elf j and none is or can be known, or believed to exist. Dr. Bush-
nell would thus, at a stroke, debar us from the homale and knowledge of the
 18ft.] .... Ln _ Dr. BluAMll. ill
true God, and direct us to 1VOI'8hip • hein. of whom we oeither .have DOr can
have any knowledge, and who must therefore be to us 88 aD absolute 000-
existence. Can he have seen this re8ult of hi. theory 1 la this a specimen of
its adaptation to free religion from the perplesities and eontradicuons'in wbich
it has been involved' by superficial and ill-judging theologians. who reJl8rd
language as an adequate vehicle or thou~ht, and have such faith in defini-
tiOIlS and logir-, as to rely OD them as effective means of expressing and de-
mODstrating the truth '!"-TAIOl. t Lit. Jounaal, pp. 72, 73.
Now all this eloquent tirade, with many more pages of like matter .
is expended on a total misapprehension of the theory. Take his OWtl
proposition, "God is a spirit." God is the Saxon word for good, and
was originally used in that signification, whence, as the ascent of
mind required it, it came to be applied as the name or our idea. of the
8Upreme good, and lastly is used as the name of the being who is the
embodiment of the supreme good. So too with the word spirit, from
"spiro," to lweatAe; signifying air in motion. The physical thing
air, being the nearest ap'proacb to the spiritual of ansthing then
kno\vn, its name is taken up and applied in a higher sense, and is
now made to represent our conceptions of spirit. The process was
the same in the Greek; pneuma standing a.~ the name botb of air and
spirit. Now the assertion of Dr. Bushnell is not, that the terms God
and 8fJirit are, in our everyday use, applied figuratively, but that
these names, now used in the world of spirit, were transferred thit.her
out of the world of physics, where they originally resided, 80 that the
very phrasa upon which he would have UI think he 80 triumphantly
refutes the theory, is in fact itself a. complete illustration of its trutb.
It is very true, as Mr. Lord cPDtends, that the terms denoting our
mental states, such 88 love, joy, fear, &0., are applied as literally as
are the names of physical objects. But this is not the point. The
question is, how did these mental states originally get thf!ir names t
Besides, however literal ma.y be the names of our most common. statesr
which occur 80 uniformly, and are so universally experienced as to
be, so far as the facilities for naming go, very near akin to physical
obj~cts, the moment we forsake this lower sensational and emotional
region, and begin to 88cend into the loftier fields of thought, the inex-
actitude insisted upon by Dr. B. certainly increR.ies, as tbese inter-
pretations of his language by Mr. Lord sufficiently evince. We do
not ~nter the field to substantiate everything advanced in the "DiB-
sertation," for in it there mal· be language used wbich mRy imply a
belief in the total inefficiency of language for the purposes of dog-
matic teaching; a deduction which we by no means allow. Bat we
are very far f.'om gathering from it any such doctrines in this respect
as those attributed to it by Mr. L.
Again, in his next great demonstration of the - falsehood of the
theory," he wholly mistakes the real issue which Dr. Busbn~ll 's posi-
tion raises, and consequently espends an infinite deal of ingenuity
and eloquence upon the explosion of an· error which DO ODe had ad.
vocated:
U He ha. fallen into an equal mistake in the repreaentation that the princi-
ples OD which terms are used figurativel" or tbe reaSOll of their beillg em-
ployed in that relation, i, unkuown and Ulcompreheuible: Be 8818 " -
VOL. 11. 35 \
 [Dee.
.. ~" Words otthOtlc't ucllplrk are. iD Cult ••mM orjbrai. or I. . . . ~ ID Ita.
outward or ph,sioal state.
If 3. Wben we inveetlpte die relatioa of the form, or etymololical base, in aay word
oI thoalbt 01' Ipirit to the id_ aprelleCl, we are able to.y D.-tively. that the idea or
l!aou,b& bas DO suob form, or ehape, or sensible qualit" aathe word has. U I speak of
ritA' [1t,.igM. rId..], it ia Dot beeaQee the intemallaw oCthe cODsciencelt named by this
word, bas any straigbtneu or lineal quality whatE-ver; or if I speak oC . ., J'ft"ft'd--.
.,..,m-, where, in 10 mu, loguare" as I migbt alqo show in a great Yariety oC otben,
&be tmap at the root oflhe word 11 one oC lineal divarication [u when an arroW' is sboc
Id &be mark, and misses or tUIDI aside], it i. Dot beeauee ain, .s a moral atate of beiD«.
or a moral act, ha. any lineal Corm in the mind. Tboughts, idea., mental stIlte8, we
eaDDOt suppoae have
wbaleYer•
aD, pometrio form. an, color, dimensioD" or 8eI1Iible qaalitiea
.. We caD oDI, say [positively] in reference to the same subject, tbat there i. always
IOme reason in every fonn or image made use of, wby it shoald be used; lome analogic
~perty or quality whioh we feel instiDotively, ht _id . . ., tnafllCtfltb IJ*ttlcatiN PI-
. ...,. If there is DO lineal straightD.s in rectitude, DO lineal crookedness, 01' divarica-
tiOD in Iln, taken al an intemalatate, .till it is tbe instiDC& of our nature to feel IOme &eD.
of correlpondence between these images and the states the, represenL
M Milton, l.uPpo8e, could Dot tell us wby he selS a111 form in conneziOD with
litaal tbc)ught. He could onl, _ylbat he has in him .dale internal eente of CODCIDDity
aD,8pi-

which requires it. And yet, when he speaks of sin, he makes everything crooked a8 the
word is j when of law, everytbing' straight as rectitude. Thus be writes: • To make •
..,.ularit1 of lin b, law. either the law malt 8traiBhten SiD into no lin. or sin ID'" crook
alae law into no law.' Something doubtless may be said, which in a certain superficial
and pathological sense may b~ called' an explanation of the uses of these symbols; fol'
e~ample, that in sin, a man dlftricates bodily. or goes to his mi80bi~r in a maDner that
le oblique or awry; and that when he is iD the simple intention of dill,. be lera his & ~e
look rigbt on.' BDd follows his eye. I accounted for Ibe symbols chosen to denote '"'"
and Izp«tatiOA by a similar reference to the pathology of hope and expectation. Bot this.
irwe do not wish to deceive ourselves. is only a mediate. and noe a final explan8lioa.
8lill the quest:ioD remaiu, why the fonn of outward diYarication has any sacb ol'igiaal
relatioD &0 sin as to have been made the natural pathological demonstration of it i-why
a crooked line, whl<;h is the more graceful, should not have beeD the natural instinct. and
80 the .ymbol of the right. as it now is of the wrong. Here we come to ODr limiL AB
we can .. y is, that by a rnyetery tranecBnding in aDy cue our comprehension, &he DiviDe
Logoa, who is in the world, weave. into nature types or images tbat have an inscruta-
ble relation to mind and tbought. On the one hand is form j on the other, is the form-
leSs. Tbe (orlner represellts, and iSlOmehow fellow to tbe other-bow, we canDot dis-
oover. And the more we ponder this mystery, ,la.
doNr we lwill' it '0 OW • •"..,. . . . . . . .
Me men ",-jeetlr it&lC1'1lJ.ablc V1iU it appear. If we aay that tb~ Jorms of the reason aDSW~
10 the forms of nature and the outward life, that is true; but then there ore no forlIU ill
the reaaon, save by a figure of speech, and the difficulty stjll remains."-Pp. 41-43.

I~We have before occasionally seen an ingenuity in misconception, a dex-

terity in blundering; in what we thought extreme degrees; but in none lba'
equalled these. They are here in an excess that is a 'mystery.' 'TAe dowr
. . lwirag them to our underltanding, tlu more perfedly inscrutable tl,,'y appear.' Can
Dr. Bushnell ever have considered ,vhat the import of analogy U1 rhetoric is;
or attempted to analyse a simile or metaphor, and ascertain the principle on
which it was founded 1 We presume Dot. Had be given the 8Jighte~t atteu-
tion to the subject, he could Dot have failed to see the total groundlessness
aDd abaurditiea of the views on ,vbich be here proceeds. He plainly supposes
that in order that the analogy on which a figurative term is used may be in-
telligible, the thought expressed by it must, like an image in statnary, ha ~·e
the same form to the und,rltanding, or imagination, which the material object
from which the figurative name is drawn, has to the eye; for he makes lhe
Cact that there is no such form in the thougbt, tbe ground of his denying &he
OODceivabJene88 of the analogy. ' If I speak of ain, where the image at the
root of the word is one of lineal divarication, it is not because sin, as a moral
atate of being, or a moral act, has allY lineal form in the mind. Thoughts,
ideas, mental states, we cannot suppose have any geometric form, aoy coJor,
dimensions, or sensible flualities whatever;' and TBu.uou-be infers--
•tAl t"IGIOA' 'uhy' .1fIJ 'ID"" or image' is • uaed.' , tIIWI 'rcaueawll",.alali_
lfH&] . III
-F,.' All \W tan 8&' is that by a ",~WM tranaC8odm. iD any case our
l
comprehension, the Divine Logos, who is in the world, weaves into nature
types or images that have an inscrutable relation to midd and thought. On
the ODe hand, is form, on the other, tlu formlego The former represents, and
is somehow fellow to ..be other; but how we cannot discover.' Could be see
that there is a form in the thought that correspond, to the physical form, from
which he represents the name as taken, he woold then have what he wowd
regard as an intelligible analogy for the use of the figurative name. That
there are Bny analogies except such as subsist between ~hY8ical fORll&-Iines,
curves, circles, angles, dimensions, and colon, it seems, hu never entered hie
thoughts. He supposes it ab80lutely impossible that there can be any per-
ceptible resemblance between the physical world and the intellectual, unless
the mind iUlelf be material, and have within it a literal geomet~ and 'chem-
istry,' like that of the exterior world! What originality and brilliance of
imagination! What a profound insight .into the philosophy of our nature!
What gigantic strides 'our younger theologians' may be 8XJ)ected to make
in 'a new inve8tigation of Ibis subject' under such guidauC8 fn
Now it is perfectly obvious, we think, to those readers who put a
Jiberal construction upon an author's words, and are willing to get
the sense wbich he wishes readers to draw from them, that this pas-
sage is liable to no such perversion. What the author of the Disser-
tation has reference to is evidently the root and cause oC all analogy
aDd figure; Dot as Mr. Lord seems to suppose, absurdly enough, to
the analogy existing between any two figures or symbols, which, if
it were not perceived, could never be made use of; but to the ori-
ginal lDIey of all analogy whatever, or, in other words, the psycholo-
gical ground or reason why the mind ever perceives luch relationship,
or why it exist& Wherein such relationship consists between anl
two objects made use of in literature for tropical .purposes, mut of
course be obvious at once to the writer choosing them, and to the
reader. But the psychological law, lying at the basis of all meta-
phor and figure, and in which resides the ground of their possibility,
is another question, and is apparently one of those questions about
which the Editor of the" Journal" seldom troubles himself: And
yet it is impossible ever to arrive at a sound philosophy, unless we
investigate the fundamental principles upon which the whole re-
peses.
Nature is not merely a cluster of solid facts, as so many seem to
suppose, but a system of fluid tendencies; on the stream of which,
facts rise into being, and.subside again like bubbles. The bubbles
are of use chiefly as indicating the direction of the motion, and are
themselves of little service for the purposes of knowledge beyond
their ability to do this. Some men see in her facts .nothing more
than simple facts, and hence Dote them and describe them as a
modern European does an Egyptian bierogly~b; or as the tradesman
leeS a Chinese character upon his tea-box. Having DO genuine sym-
pathy with nature, never entering into her mood., they ne\'er under- ,
stand her language, or perceive its drift. They are much like the
traveller at the place where several ways meet, who should go the
leDlth of the index finger OD the guide post, and straightway begin
to inquire his way again; supposing the finger was intended to guide
him only 80 far 88 it extended. So deal these men with nature;
 · [Dec.
they note Iter fil.ets minutely, bat cannot go bryo~d tbe facts in· the
direction in which t'ey point. As all the CRuses in nature are sim-
ply tendencies, 10 it is eNy to see that these tendencies may be onell
eounteracted. And what may ~f!m strange to a certain class of em-
pirical inquirent who are ever tal,king loudly about facts and proof;
the exceptions to a general law may be, and often are, more DU-
merous thaD the facts whicb sustain it. So ,,"ith this matter of JaD.
lUage. the teJidefl£J iD the primary formation of \vords, and where
simple ea• • eol! are acting upon " peop}.., is, undouhtedly~ in the
directiOb which Dr. 'Bosbnell has indicated. And if left to itself;
and interfered with b)· no dellecting causes from ,,·itbout, the whole
body of a language would evolve itsplf in that \'fa)". But the
fact j~ that DOne of our moderD languageal have been permit.
ted frpely to preeipilate tbemselves in tbis way. Tbeyare none or
them simple products, but are all complex i'ltegument8, the conjoint
results of a vast number of confluent and conflicting tendencies; and
of the composit.ion of variant causes. Wben a people, young in tbpir
language, arfl overran by a more powerful and advanced nation, the
ordinary procesRes going on in their language w()u'd Daturally re-
ceive a sudden jar, and, \\'hat may be called its ,'rata would become
contorted and dislocated. Now thf' la\vs operating in the formation
of such language must not be gathered from tbe inequalities introd~
by this foreign disturbance, any more than in geology we take tbe
present lay of the bent and contortPd masses for the original direction
of the strata. There will be found at the root and basis of all languages
the law operating which he has unfolded; but in language IW we
now find it among tnodern civilized nations, a ,·ery large proportion
of all the ""Om8 in common use is not now applied in their original
signification, or were not formed in the language in which they are now
found. Often \ve lcnow not.hing of tbf!ir history or of the circomstan-
ces attending their birth. But, as we hav~ said, their present use in
a Jjt~r8.1 sense to indicate ideas of" spirit," is very far from proving
that tbpy De'\"er were physical terms in' the langoage where they
originally came into b~ing. There is, in fact, fftr nlore beauty and
truth in Dr. Bushnell's theory than his re\'ie\vers have been willing to
allow. The extreme sensational tendencies to which many or them
are subject, rend~r them rather unfit critics of any theory relating to
the higher d)-osmics of nature. They seem to have no perception or
appr~cifltion of the pneumotogony of" a science.
It iK not our purpose (and it were a useles~ task) to follow the • Re-
view" in its details. It is sufficient tbat we have shown Mr. L.ts en-
tire misapprehension of the 8uthor's theory; it follows as a necessary
consequence that with whatever ability tbe question may be Bummed
up, "we shall be obliged to cbarge against the comJ,lainant.
l.\Jr. Lord appears to ns \yery much like a be,,"iJdered man in a dim-
ly lighted gallery of ancient armor. Seeing the shapes arranged
along t he walls, he supposes himself surrounded by the bona fide war·
rioJ'S of a former age, and lays about valiantly to right and left, think-
i~g all the wbile as his~ weapon rings upon the steel, that be is dis-
missing the ghosts of the wearers to the halls of Odin. 8lDedenbor-
Pai~ er, .. he bit. it, ratIIJIrisI~.'OODles Ia"~
er Ilis ·~ottc!emn'ft.tieD.
..,1_8
.bare
And the WGrds pmatleil,., ~11 itletilUa, ,...
Jdelitg, &c., occur almost regularly a.t 8r.at~1 inttrtvals, as rbetorica~
hel ps efnpl4QYed. to round eut many a period.. We do not know pre-
cisely· tile eooceptioD8 whieh hA &ltaobes to the tarns ideal" and po."
IirihI, but they malt be 80methiDIJ awful. No. the raot is, tbele ill
Done of the olt! ftlsttioned article calletl paatbeism now 8xisti"g~ alltl
there has bee"n none to speak or for nearly a oentury, either in Ger~
many or elsewhere. But its name is still retained in the theological
D urseries 88 a bugbear "to frighten the grown up children of the cburcb
into certain proprieties of belief: Speaking of all the new modern
theories and ways of thinking now BO rife in Protestantism, and which
are working theia· way 10 rapidl)·, and showing their iD8u~Qces 10 ex-
teDsiv~ly iD this country, the reviewer closes with the following elo-
quent appeal. .

. "Though the doetrillea Dr. BusMell has pot forth in his Dissertation are
thus crude aud absurd, they are nothing Inore, we apprehend, tban natural re-
suIte! of.the theories he has adopted of ODr nature. They who begin then-
.peculative and tkeolo'tical system by denyiDI the yeracity of our 88oses, aDd
miHepres-eotiflg the office oC our intellectual powers, excite no 8urprise \vhen
t.bey advauce .other tbeoriea tlaat cootradict our cooaciou8n~ and overtol1l
the foundations of morality aud of religiol1. Having renouDced the guidance
aud authority of both the body and mind; llaving cut wholly adrift from them·
8elves; they have 110 criteria by which to test their opinioD8;-no ground ..
they float out on a ahoreless ocean, on which iliey can cast aD~hor~-and ue
anchor, as tbey are swept back, to cast aDd preserve themselves from wreck
IIpOU the sbore. Wild aod prepoeterou8 88 Or" Bushuell'a paradoxes Br~
therefore, they involve no solecism on the philosophical vie\\Os he has adopt,.
ed from Coleridge and Kent of onr senses Bud understanding; and thougb tbey
may llot eH have been beld by them, cannot be confuted on their theory of ont
Dature. If our llDderatandl~are, as they taught, the absolute ereatom of an
O\lr perceptions of &.bUlls wuhout U8, aDd all Ollr eenaatioD8 j if we have
no kuowledge whatever of an external universe j and consequently DO
froor of the being either of God or ot one another; then it not only
J8 not possible to prove ~DY truth respecting . the word oC Ood aa aa
infelligible revelation, \vbieb 'Dr. B. denies, but it is DO( po.sible to prove that
&hent ia allY SlICb thiDg either as his word or laaguage illelf, bat they likewise
are converted into mere ideas, without anJ reality that corresponds to them.
and the whole discussion is made a mere parade of deceptive aDd eeoseleea
faucies. These or other errors equally cruae and mischievous may naturaU,
be expected from those who adopt that theory. The, are the legitimate
fruits of the German metapbysics and theoloRY on -winch tbey are founded,
and ma, be expected to prevail in proportion as tho8e delualive and atheiatia
Bf.tern. are held.
"The facility with whicb these lreposterou8 speculatioDs, that contradict
our nature, outrage our ooblest an most cberished affections, and aim to ex-
terminate religion (rom the world, command the pablic ear, aDd gain apolo-
gists, disoiples, and advocates, eet'ms adapted to che~ the coBfident expe~
caUdna which many eotertaio, that truth, without aOl extraoraiDU")' aids from
above, is about to gain a conquest of the intellect and heart of mall, auiveraal-
Iy, exrmcale him from the thraldom of error, raise him from debasement. and
convert him ioto a wise, a holy, and a happy being. Waa there ever a time
when worse errors were taught under the name of Christianity tban at present'
Were bolder assaults ever made in or out of the church, on the foundatioDs of
morals and religion 1 Has there ever been a time when the principles of infi-
delity were taught on such a scale under the guise or biblical learning' Wu
there ever a period when a doubt ~r denial of Lhe iD.8piratioD of the Scripturu
568
"U 10 llight a barrier to admiUiOa to tile miniltr)', or elftfttion to the 08ice
of a theological iDluaotor 1 888 there .been an age iD w.IYcb. the church wu
le88 shocked by the advocacy of gro81 error, or iD \vhich orgal1izalioD8 were
more easily formed to give it currency, or parties induced to countenance and
defend it in their leaders 1 Not at least, we believe, since the.Reformation;
and if ther~ have, these evils are iDdiIPDf8~Y characteristic, in an alarming
de,ree, of the preeeut dme. Men are now, at best, al ready to apostatize from
the truth .. dief ever were; pride, ambition, worldliDe88, a daring spirit of
philolophi8io., mfidelity, atheism, are as rife as in orher ages, and Jeave 88
little hope 88 ever, that Christianity can make progress or even maiutain its
ground against its formidable enemies, ,,'ithout a special interposition from
heaven."-TAeol. t Lit. Jour. p. 129-181.

We are willing to agree with him that what be considers the only
true .interpretation of the doctrines of Christianity is not likely to
gain further progress, nor to retain its present hold \vitboot the
" special interposition of heaven," and that special interposition, we
feel assured, will never be accorded in its favor. We protest
against all such 888umed infallibility by individual expounders oftbe
Word of God, and their con,ignment of all those holding opposite
theorip8 of interpretation, over to infidelity and alAeinn. The truth
is, many of the men, whom he thus ha.nds over to remediless error, are
as sincere, 8S enlightened, as wortby, and the cause th~y advocate is
88 dear to the Divine Head oC the church, as is his O\VO theory and its
advocates, ok- that cause in whose specific behalf he speaks. Just
ench espositors, literalizing away all troe spiritual import from the
Word of God, Rod reducing the greater port of it t~ little more than a
mere record of historical facts, like Herodotus or Thocydidp,s, a mere
human composition, supernaturally preserved and guard~d-bavedone
more to perplex tile minds of the simple in heart, to break up ioto
..eta and partiee the household of faith, and to render modern protes-
tantism, what it now eonfe88edly is, an actual Babel, a confusion oC
theological tongues, than all the idealists, pa~theists, and S,vedenbor-
gians who ever existed. .
Swedellborg iruane I Yes, truly, if all the crude literalizatioD,
all the profound 8uperficiality, and sedate folly, \vhich stalk through
onr literature under the name of theologJ", is to be taken for wisdom.
Men affect to talk as if it were a matier of condescension in them to
allow S"redenborg an equal place in theology, and to rank him as one,
among 8 great many errorists, when at the same time they will dance
round unconsciously all their lifetime in one corner. of an idea of Swe-
denborg's, and expand their self-conceived intellectuaJity 88 if grasp-

0'
ing the spbere. Swelling pigmies these, who might have risen to a
.lofty reputation and handed their names down by the Ride the great
ones of fame, if they had ever been so fortunate 8S to bave discover-
ed and elucidated a single doctrine which Swedenoorg has pro-
pounded. .
W.B.B.
1841.]

AKTlCLE ID.

1'01' the N. c. Bepolltol7.

THE PRIESTHOOD NOT UNIVERSAL•

. . . J:DITOB,
TUB subject of church order is at present one that engrosses much
attention among us, and one on which those who dread ecclesiastical
tyranny from the experience of the past and the sight of the present,
and those who maintain that order is a divine and necessary element
in the church, and that it involves subordination as weJI as co-ordina-
tion, have not, as )"et, effected a compromise. In this state of things
every passage from the writings ofSwedenborg which has a real bear-
ing on the external constitution of the church and thejriesthood is of
value. Many of this kind are, from time to time, cite and comment-
ed upon, not without effect, it may be supposed, in gradually forming
our opinions. The following, so far as I know, has not yet been pro-
duced. It seems, by fair inferflnce, to condflmn a view, which, by re-
action from the abuses of the papacy and of the episcopacy, is becom-
ing quite frequent. The passage occurs in the" Spiritual Dia1J~,"
No. 4904, under the heading, "Continuation concerning the Dragon
and his Crew, and concerning the falling of Spirits from the Heavens,"
and runs thus : -
U There were also certain [spirits among those who fell] who rejected the
sacerdotal office (aaclrdotal, muftus), saying, that tile priesthood is unive.....
thllS, with all ; some of them read the Word with sufficient diligence, but, iD'"
much a8 the, loved (an) evil (life), drew thence abominable dogmas, of whicla
dJere are many. These also were cut down from heaven, but behind, be-
cal1se they preached clandestinely and thU8 wished secretly to subvert the
doctrine of the church."

It seems a just inference here, that the opinion of the priesthood'.

being universal and with all (which I understand to be the same with
that frequently stated, at the present day, in similar terms, and con-
firmed by the text in the Apocalypse, i. 6,· " And bath made us kinp
and priests unto God and His Father'), is given by Swedenborg as tbe
c1&o.racteri8tic false of the spirits spoken o( which, conjoined with tb~ir
evil, m~e it impossible for them to be in heaveD. If we examine the
preceding numbers-under the heading given above-we shall find
that in e~h of them, a distinot class of those who fell from heaven
is descrihed by its appropriate false. In the first, it IS that of believing
that salvation is attainable" by the faith of doctrinals and by the
science of them alone;" in the second, it is that of thinking that the
reading of the Word without illustration in its genuine sense 18 Sut.
ftcient. The third Dumber deals in the lame way, in sequence, it
would seem, witb another class of these spirits, that is, assigns their
characteristic opinion-one relating to the priesthood-which COl'
 188 [Dec.
quently, must go into the category of the false along with the two
others mentioned.
A. E. F.

The principles on which the ReposiSOry h.. ever proCeued to be conduoted forbid the
aclusion oran article simply for the reason that it may not quadrate in aD respects with
oar own perlODal views of the doctrine or order oftbe New Church. On tbilpouad we
clteerrull1 live place to the above, although we do not draw the same inference as does
.. A. E. F." from the words quoted from Swedenbol'l. nor do we admit the justness of
the implication in W. prefatory remarks, ~hat thOle who Cl dread ecclesiastical tyranny'·
40 not allO cc maintain that order is a diviDe and nec8l8ar1 element in the ohurch.'·
The queatioD witb them il Dot in reprd to the necessit, of order. which is admin.ed OD
aD haad., but as to what uue order ie. or in what it consists. We do not Cor oonelves
believe &hat aD earthl, priesthood betOIl" to tile New Churcb, nor do we belieye that its
ai.tence ls taulht bl 8wedenborg in aoy of the writinp which he himself gaw to the
world, and which alone the Church oCthe New Jerusalem regards aa stricdytJttlIaorit.tiw
OIl points of doctrine or ioatiwtion ; but we should feel greatly injured at the inthnatioD
that we were for this realOl1 enemies to geDuine order. If the well known apbodsm-
" Order is heaveR'. first law"-8udl aD em pb.tic ~oue aDy where. it J. in the bolOlD
tk a Newchorchman. But he will oC ooarse have hi. own opinion as to the real con-
I&1tuents oC that order.
Aa to the p. . . . cited aboye from the cc Spiritual Diary,· it is to be bome iD mlDd tbat
Its date is anterior to the period of thet Last Judgment, though closely bordering opon i~
&Dd that it coneeqaentl, reCers to thOle who lived and died under a state of tbinp qui.
diverse from that wbich has lucoeeded and which i. marked by the eltablishmeot oftbe
Kow Dispensation. Tbis ancient order of thin,. Swedeabol'l uniforml, rep.rds ••
havilll existed under wbat wema.lermcbepenniaiN ......iel. olthe Divine Providence,
and though involvinl muoh or {wit, aDd eyil. Y8t u accomplishing certain importa.Dt
. .da of.., adapted &0 the leales of lbGee wbo lived UDder il, and wbioh milh& be eeriou-
If endanpre4 iC not deC'" b, beiDl( rudel, or ralllpan&11 oatr8pd. ID. DOdIiDaI u ~
.1~oeI, lutruoted author more pardecl tha. '" wbat he . , . lespeoting noleDI cbanpe
or abrupt transitions Crom one state to aDotber. True order precipitates Dothi•• bat
evermore dictates gradual development. In loch a state as that which preceded the
lnItldiDl 01 the New Charch, when the priesd, 11100&1011 had 8ttained ..ch pre-eminence
aDd .DOtlt,. at SO be tbe oOll&rolliftl and m&inl, ooD88rntive element in ChrideDdom, it
would 8110e doabdess a very depraved moral state to look with dilparapment or 000.
tempt upon tbe inlUtlltion. or to weaken whatever of wholelOlDe iDlueDoe it 1Da1laave
Md. b, bolcll, clen,i. . Its. authorit, .. popalarly uodel'lteDcl. The Ipiritl in q...u-,
i& will be ob. . .ed. are_pJeIIl, _id to han beeD sDOh .. la.. __ . . rM lif,. aDd
*.p ther had been IOmewha& awldicted to reacUD. the Word, 18& the, had drawn Irona
1& ., abomiDable doimu," an. of nch penona we oannot bat inle, Iba& there Was ea~
. . . . . ., for their dejeociOQ from h_ven, eYeD apan from the I8Dtimeota w"h tbe1 ea-
1Irtataed otlM ~ieeIhoocl. .1 i. DO anoommOll tbiDIat &hisda" to Ind men of dialola18
Jive. deerylD, the clefl1 of BU ohurobee as umrperl or a power thal doeI no& beloDI to
1beUl, while tbe aeotel Crouod oC their dieaft"ectiOll ia the cOQIOiou. . . . &bat £ram lbia
lOu108 their evils meet wi&h the alerUMl rebllu.
&t all dli. il a very durerent ma&ler. in our eaumatioQ. from that deliberate aod 000-
lCieDUou qaetlioniDI U SO ~ nlidity oC an order of meD in the New Churoh aDlwerl..
to dle r'JW.....ti. ,ri8l&hoocl Qf the lewilll ecGDOIDr. when weU8 taueh& that the peria4
·•. ]
. ,.............. put •••" aDd that the Vg. a...
ID
h i•• Cbmoh iD iatemala.. Nor
do we helitale to I8peU, iD Ibis OOGneotion, the ioforeoGe wbich . . .a to •• ioevitab18
1'zom the o~rted priaciple oC 011I' aumor. tbu eVefJ pod maD I. a ohwch ill 'he 1. .
J"'orm,-viz., that eftI'J constituent principle oCa church ieeaeeDUaUy in every luob indivi-
cI.1 oompeDd or .ilriature ,of the chD"'~ If • .-ieIdaoocl i, .....mal to a obIIrob, &bea
• prieetllOCMlI• •r._Il, ia eY.r, mea of tbe clallrob.. There ean be ItO doabt, we lb• •
that this is the view of the subject herd forth in the general drift of Swedenborg's writings"
poblished by bimself, and it any ODe can see die consistency between this and Ibe theory
of a priesthood as a distinct ecoleaiut-ical order or clau or men, be baa Bready the advam-
tap of ..a on lM aDON of IUDtal vi8i0D- We recogoize ",-.dam or
CllIln:h, b.'DGt ",."••
'*""" in the Ne..

E..

ARTICLE IV.

For tile N. C. Bepo8ltorr.

ON A PABSAGB IN THE SPIRITUAL DIARY•

. . . BDITOB,
T •• portiOll of the "Spiritual Diary," recently translated, and ex-
tending from Nos. 4448 to 4480, is, I l",rceive, in the original more
than D80ally obscure. The general subject is that of the class or
Sirens cODstituting the Nephili., or Kialll., that ba, giant apinu of
evil, ot'Dlodem times, and the author has much to say of a certain
filtby and profane subject or the female sex. as in fact most of the
SirelUl are, and she ill ~preseDted, No. 4459, as baving an extraordi-
Dary degree of power, which was manifested by °ber ability to change
the spheres into which she came. As there is some ambiguity in the
literal rendering of this passage, it may be well to give the original
Latin, and then the translation with which you, Mr. Editor, have fur-
nisbed us. Our remarks will follow.

Cl Delata dein est extra universum ad sinistram, usque ad alios, nam tale.
etiam femntur sicut alii ab uno loco in alterum, u8que dum veniant ad pro-
prillm et deetinatum eorum, et ibi audivi quomodo de eo loquuti, sed
sphaeram alterius universi mutabat sicut in unam, et dein ulterius, ubi dice-
hant q nod tal. . . eoa .eniaot, et PDteDt se regia.. principiQ, et percepi quod
traetent e08 similiterJ 8ubdola 8ubaanDatione. et dictum quod fiant wstar
lUum.1I

cc She was then ~onveyed without (this) universe to the left, to other (male
sireus).. Sucb (aa these) are, like others, borne about from one place, to
aaotber, until they come to their proper and destined place. There I heard
how (th8le others) spate about her coming, bot .be obanged the sphere of
that other univ8188, as it were, into oue (with ber own), and went ou to a
plane where (the dwellers) laid 'hat sucb (sirens) bad COIDe to them, and that ~
at first they thought themselves queens.. I perceived that (the sirens) treated •
them in the way (already described) with a 8ubtle mockery. and it was told
•• chat the, became .. dleir OWQ (propeny)."
- We are not sure that we coald better latisfy oanelveI with any other
version of the paragraph as a .,,·hole, bat as the followibl attempt in-
terweaves some little explanatory items, we venture to propose iL
Sbe was then conveyed without the limits of the uDivene (in which she
had hitherto beeD) to the left, even to otber (societies of .pirits abiding
there); for such as she is are borne about, like others, from one place to all-
other, until they come to their proper Blld destined (place) j and then I heard
how theyspake concerning this (6nal allotment). Bu:she challged the sphere
of the other universe (or univenal society to which she came), 81 it were,
into ODe (uotwithstandiDg all itB panicnlar varieties), and then (proceeded)
funher onwards, where they said that such (spirits) were in the habit ofcomiog
to them and of thillking themselves first to be queens; and I perceived that
the)' (to whom they came) ueated them by a concealed mockery according 10
theu pretensions, bot it was said that they (finally) became like sows.

It is probably necessary to understand" universum" here, not in the

sense of the material universe, but of the totality of some numerous
society who were still but little able to cope with the strength of her
penuasions, the united intuition of the whole Sirenical society to
which she belonged being concentrated in ber as a subject. But after
aU, the passage is obscure, and it is difficult to propose a rendering
to which another still might Dot be proposed as an improvemenL
In No. 4458, there is probably an error of the press. Instead of
"Their subject was able to put forth one idea of Ai"""1f before Ai. 0"".
888Ociates," &c., it should doubtless be her.1f aDd her 01OR. Bot the
error is very slight, and from the common gender oC "Iubjectum,·
lCarcely capable of misleadiog aay one.
We cannot close without expre88iag our high seDse of the fa",or
epnferred on the New Church public by baving the Diary thus gradual.
ly put into our vernacular English, and its trnasures of spiritual di..
closure made accessible to those who prize them.
AlDcv••

ARTICLE v.

EXTRACf FROM SWEDENBORG'S SPffilTUAL DIARY.

Concerning tAo. who dp,ire to enter into Di.Jine My,terie, by na18ral
Philo8ophy, or by PhY$iC8. •
2301. It should be well understood what is meant by entering into
Ipiritual things by means of natural philosophy; namely, that it it
De\rer forbidden to confirm the truths of faith and spiritual things, by
those things which art' in natllre; because th~re is a corresJlOndenee
of all things, for then Truth governs, and natural truths serve to con-
firm it. Such is the nature of human minds, that in this manner theJ
can better acknowledge spiritual tbiop, for DO one C&D have any idea
 181
of purely spiritaal things, except by those which are iD the world;
eYeD the words, by whieh the senle is espreaed, involve material
ideas. In that ca~. howewr, the LoNt who is the Trutb itsftll: flows
into the mind and leads, and tbus illumiuates it by tbi0«S which con-
firm. Whereas to believe nothing, or Dot to acknowledge any spirit-
Wlal truth, not even heaven, angels, spirits, the life an er death, and
many other things, except they are seen and perceived 1>1 natural •
philosophy, or, as they say. unless th8Y are demo~~trat8d to tbeiw
IleDgeS, tbis is entirely interdicted, for in sach cue they become like
those who thus begin to penetrate (like a camel through the eye of.
Deedle) (Matt. xix. S4). J uue 11, 1748. Because they wish to see
spiritoal and celestial things from natural, \\~hich is impoRSible; for
how can that wbioh il composed enter into Rnd penetrate those things
wbich are components. or which compose' This is against all pos-
sibility; wherefore if a man attempts this, he is eitlaer disrupted {that
ia, eeparated from what is spiritual), and thus perishes, or be is 80
bliDded that be can lee nothing whatever. Whereas from spiritual
&hiog8, as from compoDeats, things compounded can be clearly seeD
and distinguished. JuDO 11, 1748.

ARTICLE VI.

THE ATONEMENT.
, The ensuing article rorms aD additional letter in tbe series OCIC Letters to a Trinitarian."
which are DtlW in procells of stereotyping with a view to being iuued and circulated
wldelr In pamphlet form. AI all the previous Letters appeared in the Repository, we
bave thought it due to our re~ders to present them with the one now first prepared for the
aceasion.

. PUaSI1AXT to previous iDtimations, I propose to devote the present

letter to the subject of the Atonempnt. Its i~timate connection with
the general theme thus far treated is obvious at a glance. It is the
exi,ency in which Atonement is supposed to originate that brings 80
prominently into ,~iew, and renders so indispensable, the threefold
distinction of persons which is held to constitute the troe doctrine of
the Trinity. The essential element in the prevailing theorr of the
Atonement is that of vicarious sacrifice or substituted suffering, and
this dQCtrine .of satisfaction obviously rests DpoD the assumed tenet
of the tripersonality of Jehovab, inasmuch as it is held to be
offered by one of these persons to the other and the essential divinity
er the offerer is what gives its redeeming efficacy to the offering. On
.be basil of the prevailing scheme of Atonement, the Trinity of per-
IODS in the (,~be8d is an Pqually indispensable element with the
Divinity itself: The la,w which had been violated by sin was 10 iD-
InitAly pure and so Itemly inexorable, and the ability of the Binner
10 fullll ita demaDds had become 80 completely prostrated and ~x.
tiact, that notbiDg short of the intervention of tile seooad perIOD of
the triune Godhead could avail to propitiate the clemency oC the Fa-
 181
ther, vincBcate his injured jllStice, and open the W&llor &h. bestow.
meat of pardoD, peace, sad etenaallife upoa the guilty. IB the .me-
ntiob of this merciful parpOIe hA oame folly into oar place as a
fulfiller of the violated law, &Dd by his perfeet obedieace and un-
paralleled adenRgB wroagid aut and brought iD an everlastiJIg
rigbteousneSB, the merit of whioh is made over by imputatio1l to the
• believer w~o receives the Divine testimony, aBd with a atrong con-
fidence appropriatel 1)0 himself the proffered grace. As the grand
virtue of the Redeemer'. work i. cODoeat..ated ill his passiOB OD the
eroes. or in the blood .hed on that occasion, 80 it is an act of faith
put forth in a special manner upon the efficacy of this blood tbat
eonstitutes the genuine grou.nd of the believer's jwitificatioa in the
light of God. In this way he receives the full beaefit of a gratuito1J8
lalvation, while the law, that brooks DO iofraction, ita magaified ancl
-.de ll0a0rable ill the eyes of ita Author and of tbe whole UDiverse.
There are various other items comprised in thil peculiar IObeme 01
tal'Ology, to whicJa I have not adverted, although they eD*er easen·
tially into the integrity of the system considered &I a whole; suela,
for instance as the doctrine of election, oC penev8rance, and of in-
stantaneous regeneration, to which we may add the dogma respec~
ing the Divine Anger. It is all along asswned as a postulate that
indignation and wrath, in the most genuine &eose of the terms, per-
tain to the Most High, and that without the placating or propitiating
pr
orthe Divine wrath, the exercise bis saving love towa.rds sinful men
is effectually estopped and caD only find \~ent for itself in the channel
opened by the shedding of ta.e blood of Christ upon the cross. The
effect of this sacrifice of the Son of God, it is contended, is to quench
the burning lIames of the Father's anger, and to remove tha.t moral
disability under which be was laid by the law of his perfections on
the score oC the bestowment of pardon and eternal life upon falleQ
creatures. This atoning blood, liowever, has been shed, its ~mc&CJ
acknowledged by Him to whom it was offered, and now its priceless
heBefitl are to be appropriated by an act of faith in virtue of which
the believer may re~ peacefally iD the confidence of salvation.
There is incleed DO real righteoUBDell or merit in such a Caith, yet la
ia .ted to him for righteoaaea, and on the ground of .it be ma,
.fely coUld upon beiDg able to stand with acoeptance before the
Lord in the day of fiD&1 audit.
It would, doubtleu, be eloing iDjuatioe to the IJstem under consid.
eratioa, to say. that it makes DO &Coou.t cif & goOd life, or that it does
DOt, in IOIIl8 IeIlJl8, provide for it &061 iDsilt upon it. Bad as hamaa
natllre 11, and liable to be w~ into the gr09lest falsities of pe~
8Qalion. there iSltill a dee,.aeated and inera4ioable conviction abid-
ing in its bosom, that the eBl8nce of religion is in the life-that a
aaa who lives well is & 181igiooa maD, and that a mall wbo lives iD
iI an irreligious maD. This is confiraaed by the up. .' deelaratioD
of holy writ, tbat the sum and aubstaD08 of all religioa-tbe CODC)U-
aion of tile whole matter.......ia to fear God and kttep lais oommandments.
It is hardly ~ible for ahy fOnD of creed or conf_on to plallt itself
ID the belief of Chri8teDdom, in whioh life d~ Dot enter 88 an avow·
INL1
ed elem8n~ and IUJ holding a preminent place, and ~ I tbiltlt it
vious that the basis fhr this doctrine in tile present scheme is a very
slender ODP" and that it involves a complete inversion of the true order
by wbich life ie made to ft'sult from principles. Upon this point I
-
0"
sha.1l dwell more at length by and by. At present, I would simply
advert to the fact, wbioh caanot bot be admitted 88 a marked featore
of the scheme, that no previous change of character is requisite in •
order to the appropriation of all the promises of the Gospel, provided
there'is the exercise of a fiducial trust in the divin~ a8Suranc~s, so
that if the sinner. at the last hour of life, puts forth 8 vigorous act
of faith, his former iniqnities are all canceled, and he comes at once
into the fall privileges and prerogatives of a state of grace. As the .
vital act of raith is put forth at once, and this act is the essence or
regeneration, it folJaws that regeneration is instantaneous; and as
regeneration is the grand requisite to salvation, while to the former
nothing is requisite bot fRith, it is obvious that the d~m8nds of a holy
life are practically all but annuHcd in th~ vicarious scheme of atone-
ment. The legitimate results of the system are thus propounded by
Swedenborg:-
"'The modern faith iBt that it is to be believed, that God the Father sent Hi.
Son, who sulered upon the CroN for ODr aiDs, and took away the cur~ of the
I• • by the fulfilment tbereof, and that this faith without good works will save
everyone, even in the last hour of death: by this faith impressed from child-
hood. Bud afterwards confirmed hy preachillgs, it has come to pass, that no
one ftees from evils from a principle of religion, but ouly from a civil Bud
moral law, thus Dot because they are sins, but because they ate b\1rJ'~I: con-
sider now, wbilst man thinks that the Lord suffered for ODr lins, that He took
away the curae of tile law, and tbat to believe tbole things, or that the faith
of thole things alone, witbout good works, saveR, whether all tbe precep's of
the deealogne are not lightly esteemed, and all tbe life of ,he religion prescrtbed
in the Word, and moreover all the truths which teach charity; separate there-
fere these, alld remove them from .nan, alld say whether there appertains to
him any religion; for religion does Dot consist in only thinking tbie or that,
bat in willing aDd doiq tbat which is thought, and there ia no religiotl Wht-D
wtllin« and doillR are separated from thillkialf: hence it follows, that by Ut_
modern faith, spiritual life, which is the life 0 the angels of heaven, aud the
essential Christian l}fe, is desrroyed."-A. E. 902.

I am not conscious of having, in the above sketch, exaggerated 01'

misrepresented the lea.ding features of the theory of atonement upon
which I a.m commenting. It surely is not necessary to invest it wilh
any factitious ~normities in order to intensify its repulsiveness to every
right mind. Soch an effect, however, will be more Iik~ly to follow
from arraying it somewhat directly in contrast with what we belie,"e
to be the genuine doctrine of the Word on this subject. This doc-
trine we find embodied in the theology of the New Church, and the
sequel will show the strong points of contrariet)- bet\veen the two.
And, first, of all, this divine theology teaches th~t there is no real
anger or wrath in the Deity. All those forms of speech which, view-
ed in the letter. \voutd seem to imply this, are the langoflge or nppt'flr-
ances, and Dot of genuine truth as it is apprehended in bea,·en. 'fhe
Lord is essential love, and love is inconsistent with wrath. The vir-
•
 mal assertion of anger as a quality of tbe divine mind i. foubded npon
the sensible effect produced by the contrariety between the state of
the man in evil and the Divine affection, which conveys to him the
impression of the Lord's being moved by wrathful emotions towards
him. So to an inflamed condition of the eyes, the son'. light is pain-
ful, and a vague impression is produced of some kind of antagonism
between the grand lominary of day and the organ of vision. whereas
it is wholly to a di~a8ed state of the organ that this impression is
owing, 88 the light of the sun is always genial and pleasant to the
healthy eye. The language of the Scripture in all those passages
. which ascribe irascible passions to the Deity is but giving a name to
the aPPearance instead of the reality; just as when it is said, in refer-
ence to the apparent motion of contiguous objects beheld from a rail-
road car in rapid transit, that they fly palt one with winged speed.
&&TJtat Jehovah has Dot any anger, is evident from this, tbat He is love itsel(
1000 itself, and mercy itself, and anger is the opposite, and also is an infirm
principle, which canuot be imputed to God: wherefore when anger in the
Word is predicated of Jehovah or the Lord, the angels do not perceive anger,
but either mercy, or the removal of evil from heaven. . . . . That auger
in the Word is attribur.ed to Jebovah or the Lord, is because it is a most
general truth, tbat all things come from God, thos both evils aDd goods; but
this most general tmth, which infants, young people, and the simple, must re-
ceive, ought afterwards to be illustrated, namely, by teaching thal evils are
from IDan, but that they appear as from God~ and tbat it is- 80 said, to the intent
they may learn to fear God, lest they should perish by the evils which them-
selves do; and afterwards may love Him, for fear must precede love that in
love there may be holy fear; for when fear is iosinuated into love, it becomea
holy from the holy of love, and then it is not fear lest tbe Lord should be ao-
gry and puoish, bat Jest they should act against good itself, because this will
torment the cODscience. . . . . The reason why by anger is meant cle-
mency and mercy, is because all the punishments of the evil exist from the
Lord's mercy towards the good, lest these latter should be hurt by tbe evil ;
but the Lord does not inflict punishmenua npon them, bot tbey upon tbem-
selves, for evils and punishments in the other life are conjoined. Tbe evil iD.-
ftictluniahmeots on themselves principally, when the Lord does mercy to the
100 , for then their evils increase, and thence punishments; it is from this
ground that iustead of the anger of Jehovab, by \vhich are siguifietl the·pun-
i8hmeots of the evil, mercy is understood by the angels. From these consid-
erations it may be manifest, what tbe quality of the Word is·in tbe sense of the
letter, also what the quality of the troth divine is in its most general sensa or
meaning, namely, that it is according to appearances, by reasou that man ia
of 8uch a quality, that when he sees and apprebend~ from his seusual, he be-
lieves, and what be does not see, neither apprehend fronl his sensual, he does
not believe, thus does not receive. Hence it is, that the Word in the seuse of
the letter is according to those things wbich appear; uevertbeleRs in its iore-
rior bosom it contaius a 8tore of gelluiue truths, and in its inmost bosom uulh
divine itself, which prooeeds immediately from the Lord, thus also divine
good, that is the Lord Himself."-A. C.6997.

Cl I ha'ge conversed wirh good ~pirit8, that many things in the Word, and
more than anyone could believe; are spoken according to appearances, and
according to tbe fallacies of the seuses; as tllat Jehovah is in wrath. auger,
and fury, agaiu8t the wicked. that be rejoices to destroy them and blot them
out, yea, that he slays them. But these IDodes of 8lleaking were used, that
persuasioDs and IU8ts might Dot be broken. but might be bent: for to speak
otherwi8e than man concelve~ which is from appearances, faUaciesl and per-
•
1149.] ne AltltlMl8ftt. .

811fU1iODI, would have been to"IOW leed in the water, aDd to speak what would
instantly be rejected. Nevertheless, th08e things may serve as common ve..
eels for the cOlltaioing of things spiritual and celestial, since it may be insin-
uated into them, that all things are from the Lord; afterwards, that the Lord
permits, bot tbat all evil is from diabolical spirits ; next, that the Lord provides
and disposes, that evils may be turned into goods; lastly, tbat nothing but
.ood ;s from the Lord. Thus the sense of the letter perisbes as it ascends, an.
becomes spiritual, afterwards celestial, and lastly divine."-A. C. 1874..

The prevailing tenet is, of course, opposed to Swedenborg's state-

mrnt on this. head. It acknowledges no such distinction between real
and appa,·enl truth. The Divine mind would have been eternally the
Beat of inexorable wrath towards the I'ace of men bad not Christ Jesus
interposed in their bebal~ and by his voluntary oblation of himsel~
"changed the wrath to grace." But we find, in thhl view of the subject,a
difficulty insuperable. While it is denied that the Divine love could be
exercised towards fallen man without aD atoning sacrifice, yet this very
love provided the sacrifice in the first instance. Jesus Christ is the free
gift of God. He provided the ransom. "God so loved the world thathe
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever belie,"eth in him should
not perish, bot have everlasting life.," We are then constrained to
ask how it iR, that if God the Fathpr was relentlessly angry with the
human race, he did not previously require to be pacified before he
tiought of thus providing the reqnisite satisfaction 1 This is a ques-
ti~n which we believe to be unanswerable on the accredited theory
of atonement. To say that Cbrist .satisfied the justice of God, at the
881De time that the satisfaction was of God's own procuring, is the
same as to say, that one who is indebted, to a large amount, to ano-
ther, discharges the debt by money given him out of the creditor's
own pocket. Or, to vary the illustration, suppose a poor man--one
80 utterly impoverished as to be unable to refund a penny-deeply
in debt to a rich man who insists upon the liquidation of his claitn.
A""are, however, of the circumsta.nces of his debtor, and disposed to
aid him in an emergency, while keeping up tbe form of exact deal-
ing, he brings forward his own son as surety for the poor mao, and
yet himself supplies that son with 8:11 the pecuniary resources that
enable him to stand good for the demand. Is it not clear that the
creditor becomes, after all, his own surety 1 And what real satisfac-
tion is there in all this? Is it not palpably a feint, a simolatioD, a
mockery 1 Is the debtor any more a real object of favor after such a
quasi or ideal satisfaction than he was before 1 So much, then, for
& theory oC atonement built upon the asswnption of positive wrath
existing in the bosom of Deity.
Bat is it to be inferred from this that the salvation of men could
have been as easily compassed without the mediation of Christ as
with it 1 Was the incarnation, life, works, sufferings, and death of
the Son of God an empty and useless expenditure of the Divine
mercy 1 Far from it. It ,vas a procedure of absolute and indispen-
sable necessity; Dot ho,,"ever as a vicarious or propitiatory sacrifice-
not as a vindication of the bonor of' a law which sinful man had
broken-but as the only possible medium of effecting renewedly that
 [Dee.
conjunotion with tlle Divine nature in which stands the happiDe88 of
every created 1001 and which bad been violently disrupted and SUD-
dered by sin. This we ara taoght to regard as the vpry essential
element of 8.tonemen~ as it is the genuine signification of the original
word (nraAA_YII, Iult,allage,) thus rendered, which you are aware has
iD its genuine sense the import of reetlllCiliol:itm. I am well aware,
however, that this view of the subject, whicb ~preseDts the essence
of all true religion to lie in conjunction with the Divine, is one which
the advocates of the popular theol~gy invariably disrelisb and shun.
They do not like the term because they do not like the thing. It mili-
tates directly wit.h their dominant and favorite notions of the legal
and gouwnmelltal character of th~ transaction. Th~ir views of atone-
ment involve 80 much of a fOTemic element-they are built upon
BUch inveterate preconceptions re!«pecting the dignity and 8anctit~· of
an outward or objective law-a law which must be fulfilled, although
man hRs lost his power to fulfil it-that they seem utterly incapable
or entertaining the idea of union or conjunction with the Divine Be-
ing as the very essence of heaven, and consequently of salvation.
The term, therefore, is a suspected and discarded term, as it is intui-
tively seen to be compJet~ly at wa.r with their chosen hypothesis of
aR atonement effected by the Savioar's plenary satisfaction oC the
demands of a violated law.
Now the ma.n of the New Church goes deeper than all this. He
recognizes an inward law more primary, organic, and fundamental
tban any outwa.rd 18."· or code could be, though written OD tables of
stone by the Divine finger itself: He looks down into the law of his
own nature. He sees that the evil consequent upon his arostacy is
an evil that has seized upon the inmost vitalities of his being, wbich
must of necessit.y work out the most deplorable miseries unless they
are reached in their fountain-head by the appropriate remedy. He
SE'e8 no process bl· which a putative transfer of righteousne.ss can
avail to eradicate the ~eep sin-stain which has struck into the very
core or his moral life. He perceives also 8. fundamental fallacy in the
very first conception of the fulftlJing of law on the part of man-the
conception, to \vit, that mlln, in his integrity, had aD inward pow~~
of perfect obedience, which he has lost by the fall, and that conse-
quentl)· a. necessity has arisen for the obedience of a substitute, who
should perfectly fulfil its utmost requirements, while the fruits of this
obedience are made to ·redound to the benefit of the delinquent. In-
structed in the dreper theology of the New Church, sach an ODe per-
ceives, that, from th~ very Dature of dependent life, neither maD iD
innocenc~, nor the highest angel in glory, has one particle of self.
potency from which to obey Jaw or to do good. From the tact that his
belng-bis e'8e-is derived, his power of doing anything good is derived
1\180, and Adam in Eden was no more competent, iD himself consider.
ed, or by hil own ability, to keep the law oC the lJecalogue thaD the
lowest devil of the pit.· Consequently, every assumption which in.
• " It is of divine order that mao IbOllld act from freedOlD, SIDt-e to liC' hom UwdulD
according to reason is to ltct o' himself. N~vert1Jeles~. tbe:te two faculties, F •• ADO. and
REASON, are not mao's own, but. are the Lord'. within him; and 10 far .. he i.mu, dle,.
1849.] ne Atonement. '. 567

volves the opposite view is founded upon a central fallacy which

will vitiate the whole system throughout. The idea that Christ's
mediation was founded on the demands of an outward law which
man had lost the power to fulfil, is inevitably false, becau~e he never
did and never could possess snch a power.
How then was man's redemption from the power of evil, i. e. from
the power of hell, to be effected, and what was the precise nature
and end of that intervention of God incarnate which is e,,"ery\vhere
held forth in tbe Scriptures as so indispensable to the compassiDK of
the objects of the Divine beneficence 1 The answer to this question
will obviously be determined, on my part, by the tenor of the wbole
foregoing series of letters. If I have at all succeeded in establishing
my main position in regard to the Divine unity, Of, in other words, in
regard to the absolute identity of Jebovah and Jesus, that peculiar
aspect of ·the doctrine which represents the atonement as a satisfac-
tion or expiation offered by the second penon of the Godhead to the
first, the ·virtue of which was especially concentrated in the death of
the cross, cannot possibly be just. The fact that the whole Trinity
is to be recognized in the one person of the Lord the Saviour. for ever
bars thA supposition that an atoning sacrifice should be any more
required to be offered to the Father than to the Son. As their nature
and personality are one and the same, the moral demands Inade the
perfections of each are also the same. On this ground, therefore, feel
hi
abund!J.ntly authorized to say what the end of the Saviour's mission
was not-that it was not to make a vicarious atonement for sin-and
the statement of a negative often helps us directly to the establish-
ment of an affirmative. ID the present case there surely cannot be .
many alternatives. If the work of Christ W&CI Dot expiatory, wha.t re-
mains to conclude respecting it bot that it was simply salvatory f
The fact that in Christ was not merely one person of the Trinity, but
the whole Trinity, or, in other words, that he was the one, supreme,.
and absolute Jehovah, clothed with humanity, C8nnot but enforce
upon us the conclusion, that the end of the incarnation was in some
way to restore us back to that saving conjunction with Himself from
which we had so rashly torn ourselves away. The more fully we
can divest ourselves of the idea of Christ as a third person or party
are not taken away from him, inasmuch as without them he could not be reformed; for
he could not do the work of repentance j he could not fight against evils, and afterward.
bring forth frllits worthy oC repentance. Now since freedom and rea SOD ale with man
(rom the Lord, and man acts from them,'lt follows that he does not act oC himself. but.,
of himselt"-Dod. of Lif, of N. J.101.· . ..
"Man carlnol think any thing, or wilt any thing from blmeelf. Eve!y thing which he
thinks and wills, BOWl into him from the spiritl1al world; HOod anti truth from the Lord
through beaven, thu~ through tbe angels who are auendant on man, and thuI into man'.
tbollght and will. There is not any man, spirit, or angel, who in any case bath life frOm
bilnself, thus neither can he think and will from himself; for man's life consists in think-
ing and willing. while speaking and acting is the life thence derived. For there is ani,
one life, namely. the Lord's, which flows in into all, but is TlLriously received. according
to the quality which man has by his life induced upon his sot1I."-A. C. 5846, 5847.
et The case with man as to his affections and as to his thouRhts, Is this, no pel'lOD
whatsoever, whetber man, or spirit. or angel, caD will and think from himeelf, bot only
from olhers; nor caD these others will and think from lbemeelves, but all qain from
others, and 10 forth; aDd lbaa each from lbO finl IOUrce or principle of liCe which ia die
Lord; 'hat which i. uncODDected doth DOe uiat."_~. C 2886.
VOLe 11. 36
&88 ." Notice, of &ob. [Dee.
mediating between God and us, ~nd distinct from both, so much the
more nearly shall we approximate to the true view of ~ entire re-
demption or salvation ,vork. He acts, or acted, as Mediator, indeed7 but
then the mediatorial function pertained solely and exclusively to the Hu-
man which was assumed, and not the Divine which assumed it. This
Divine we are evermore to regard as being the essential Jehovah
himself. When we realize" therefore. that there is DO other God in
the universe than He who is to be recognized in Christ--no Divine
Father beyond or out of the Son-the inference would seem to be
irresistible that the action of the infinite love in our recovery from sin
and death puts itself forth irrespective of (i.oy propitiatory measure
designed to remove obstacles in the way of its exercise. It will not
suftice to reply to this, that the whole drift of the apostolic represen-
tations, confirmed by the peculiar genius of the typical ritual of the
Jews, speak continually tile language of vicarious oblation; for the
'question first of all to be determined is, whether Jesus Christ be
intrinsically Jehovah God-the point which I have been laboring
throughout. If he be, then I take the ground without hesitation that
the sustaining of such an office by our Lord is a downright impossi-
bility, and, consequently, that some other interpretation mut be pat
upon th~ scriptural language in which it is spoken o£
" G. B.
(To be eontinUld.)

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

1.-RKVlEWS at ESSAYS. By E. G. HoLUJlD. Boston: Crasby k Nichols.

1849. 12mo. pp. 400.
Tsu is the title of an interesting volume of miscellanies recently issued from
the prsu. The following are the subjects it treats; (Reviews), Con.fsciu,-
CMAfting,-NGtural TMology. (Essays), Gmius,-Beauty,-Riring of ~'"
-711 Iftjinite HaTmony,-8orrov,-7'1u Immortal Life,-Hum(Jft FreedO'lll,-J..
ti",-SuprlflUJty of Hell/rt,-Life an Original POtDef',-'l1u Old and tAe NttD.
The character and aim of this volume are clearly enough indicated in the
follOWing extract
. ,from its preface.
U The leading idea which characterizes the several articles here published
-the supremacy of the spiritual nature in all that constitutes the trne glory of
Man-is one \'lhich needs to be brought forward in clear and bold statements
into the literature of every country, and into the practical devel0l!ments of
every peo~le. Society can have no exalted aims any farther than thIS view is
realized. It should be seen and felt .thatthrougb the universe, the spiritual
holds dominion over the material; that the latter is a ministering servant to the
former. God is first. Material worlds are second. It is under thisupeet that
the external creation always strikes U8. So, in all things touching human Da-
ture, the 80111 'is first j w biJst the organi8lD. and all material poue8sion are se-
con.. From the soul, therefore, ought we to start in ·the investigation of all
1849.]
•
the great problellUl of h1llD&D interest. God and Immortality are implied anel
established by its elements. The universe is ita vast and expansive mirror.
Freedom, educat.ion, indeed all great and generous purposes, are to draw from
this principle their strength and Durture; pinee it is impossible that mea
8bonld be bome upward in their great confficts and struggles, by aay apDGy
higher than motives of transient and selfish interest, 80 IODg 88 mBterialiam is
their practioal aDd th~ir chief phil080phy."

This volu~e is evidently a book of the present sae. It is one of many pro-
duction. of recent years, marked by a far-reaching thought, and wide extend-
ing charity. These, if I mistake not, are characteristics of the literature of our
age. They are the hopeful signs of its progress. Our literature is a striking
display of the moral eminence of the present age. Our appliances ot steam to
mechanical uses and to locomotion, and our Electric Telegraph, are convinc-
ing exhibitions of the intellectual greatness of modern mind; but it posses8es a
greatness which mere machinery is inadequate to express-a greatness of the,
moral affectioDs. The supports of this position are furnished in the character
and influence of the books no,v issuing from the press. It will scarcely-be
denied that the literature of a nation, or of an age, is the adequate representa-
tive of its mind, and the true measqre of its greatness. Viewed in the light of
this principle, what should we eay of the present age as compared with pre- "
ceding ages' For myself, I may speak, that I arise from the comparison with
an abiding conviction that the golden age of Literature, and of Humanity, ja
still in the future.
Some, I am aware, regard the literature of antiquity as characterized by an
excellence which modem mind may indeed imitate, but will never surpaae.
In the case of these it may be that the prophecy works its fulfillment; for they
who consent to be imitators must not be surprised if they fail or attaining to
the perfections of their ideal. 1 will not here pause to trace the origin of this
mistaken and injurious notion, bat will content myself with remarking that
its continuance is chiefly owing to the present system of classical studies; a
system which brings the literature of antiquity to bear upon the sU8ceptible
mind of the student until he becomes imbued with its spirit, and has learned
to look away from the present to behold genius, taste, perfection, in the put.
I well remember how worshipfully I and my classmates were accustomed· to
regard the ancient Greek and Roman worthies. How we 8eemed to behold the
very divinity of genius glariug out upon us from the half l1nderetood lines of
Virgil and Horace and Homer. How we learned that jurisprudence \\'88 ex-
hausted by Tribonian, and tha\ the works of Varro, had they been preserved
entire, left little to be done by all 8ub~equent philosophers and critica, except
to study their pages!
A.b! what a mysterious Providence we thought it that 80 many sublime
production8 of geniu8 were permitted to perish in the general wreck of
ancient literature! We could not then realize that this wreck wu a God-send
to moderD ages.
A nation'8 literatUl'e, we have remarked, is a revelation of the nation's 80ul.
Of course it can reveal no higher order of greatneas, than w.. active in it.,
.production. Now, a pure and true worship is the central light of the, 80uJ.
 •
170 Notice, of Boo"•• [Dee.
Here genit18 kincDes her glowing fires, and true greatne88 exists only a. thi.
exists. What ,vas there then in tbe false aDd impure worship of ancient
Greece and Rome to draw out the s01l1 in its divinest beauty, and to 1111fold its
highest order of greatness' Why then shall we seek the great men of genius
among the tombs of the Campus Martius and the Ceramicus'
I sorrow not over the destnlction oC ancient literature. Wisely did Provi-
, dence ordain that destruction. For when Jesus introduced his religion into
the world, as an element designed to pervade universal society, and to ac-
complish its complete reform, surely it \vas fitting that a literature begotten
by the spirit of heathenism, and calculated in its reflex action to perpetuate it,
should be removed, as an agency whose continuallce ,vould have enchained
the human mind, and obstructed the progress of the Divine Trutb.
The'literature of the present, represents the human 80'01 as christianity ha
endowed it. And Christianity has breathed its spirit tlpOn our literature. Its
cbaracttaristics are an independent, manly thought; an all embracing love;
ans) a constant aim at utility. Our very flotJtl, exhibit the influences of the
religion oC Jesus; and those are now most popular among our writers of
fictiol1 who tinge the creations of their imagination with the mild beauties of
a Christian spirit.
The reader now understands in what sense the volume under notice is styled
Cl book of th, prt&nlt age. Will he permit me to urge the necessity of forming
a familiar acquaintance with the literature of our age 1 Will our clergy;
mauy of whom are conversant with the literature of former times, but almost
8trallgers to our own-allo,v one to suggest that half the study which some of
them have expended upon the past, if devoted to the literature of the present,
would greatly argument their usefulness to society. I mean not that the past
be neglected. "Despise 110t the past," says the author above quoted, U it is
omnipresent; it is all around us in its fruits and influences; only be not bound
by it ; shake off its errors; and by the illumination of its truths, go 011 to future
lood; for the true aim of the past is not to check, but tet im pel our progre~s."
Become acquainted with tbe past if you may; but neglect 110t the pre~ent.
Give it your sympathies. Become fam'iliar with its modes of thought, feeling,
and action. The literature of the past, has unquestionably, Inany exceUencie~
but if our present literature coutains 110t equal excellence, then in vain has
our age \vitnessed the unparalleled activity of God·s last appointed element of
human reform.
The follo\ving extract from the yolllme above mentioned, is a good illustra.
tion of some characteristics of the literature of our age; and \vill serve
to give the reader an idea of the author's ~tyle of thought and expression.
It is taken from the close of the article on the Infinite Harmony.

Cl That there are numberless worlds, our eyes see; that our vision takes
in but a mite, is certain; and that tbose untold milliolJ8 of worlds are inhabit-
ed by intelligent beings, is the only thougbt wortby of fait.h in aD Infinite
·Creator. We cannot know that iutelligellt beings are in those worlds: but
this we know, that nothing but intelligence could manage alul take care of
those massive and beautiful orbs; that 110thing but intelligence could turn
them to any account; aud, wherever intelJigence acts, there must be an iD-
1841.] 671
teIligent actor. SlIre the boundless fields of immensity are not a cold neg-
lected waste. If tile chief end or material nature is to develope spiritual life.
as we discover to be the case in our own world, we must jnfer the general
existeuce of moral intelligences throughout the eotire empire of space. That
God should love his own image more than he loves huge masses of matter, is
evideut from the excellence of His nature; that He should seek to multiply
w hat he loves throughout the U Diverse, is the safeAt ind uctiOll.
" Haviug lifted our minds to the immensity of the universe, we will now re-
turn to the t\VO ideas of harmony already laid down-tlu lamtntll o/11l1tur, and
of ezperi,nce. And first, the sameness of nature. The chief beings of every
worlil lDUS[ be of Ollr own nature, although the condition of that nature may
be higher or Jower. I say they must be ill natura the same, from the fact that
every mind in the universe capable of reason and of moral law is of the same.
family. Truth caul10t be explored, or moral law obeyed, on Satunl, any more
tllau here, without the rational and the meral nature. The chief beings of everl
planet must have material bodies, in order to be adapted to their \vorld ; ana-
unles.~ they have minds of all order kindred with the powers of the Creator.
they could never interpret his works, nor render him homage. The outward
universe, being the embodiment oC Divine thought and love, is a true display
of the Eterual Powers; and whoever looks at nature so as to kno\v its thought
and love, proves thereby that his mind is oC the same order as the Divine. God
is the infinite coudition of our own po\vers. Otherwise we could no more
interpret the Divine Miud, than the wild animal can discern the attributes of
the Human. The material aud the moral laws of the universe are unchallge-
ably the same. The chief beings, therefore, of all worlds must have the same
nature, in order to be the subjects of the same moral and material laws.
" That there is to'a great extent-how far I will not undertake to say-a like-
ness of experience bet\veen the chief beings of all worlds, is evident from the
sameness of the moral and the material la\vs. ..4ttraction is experienced in all
other worlds, as it is here; for ';t is in all fDJ"at it i, htr,. Tb is power is uni.
versal; and here is one (act in the material \vorId which must e.xist equally
in the experience of all the moral intelligences occupying the boundless
realms of uature,· spread out for their use cultivation and care. Light and
heat must be substantially the same. The universal light must carry to all
worlds the seven primary colors; for ,they all exist ill it. Matter and mind,
of which the universe is composed, must every\vbere exhibit similar/roper-
ties; and the chief beings of all worlds, being themselves matter an nlind.
must, in their experience, develope the wants and properties of these, which
are fundamentally the same throughout immensity. The bodies which human
minds have assumed correspond [0 the minds they embody. The oue is the
image of the other. From the adaptation of thing to thing everywhere mani.
fest 111 the Creator's work, we may safely infer that the mind in all \vorlds as-
sumes a Corm to, and expressive of, itself: and, from the sameness of powers
in all rational aDd moral natures, we may infer the resemblance of visible
embodiments; that is to say, that the forms of the chief beings in all the other
worlds bear some similitude to our owu. Indeed, tbEl man of that most
beautiful planet Saturn, embellished by the environs of two majestic rings,
and illumil1ed by the 1aml18 of seven moons, must be like us, erect ill statnre, or
he could not see the sublilnity of the skies abo ve him; he could Dot well study
astronomy; for the prone animals are not constituted to look upward, but
downwards and horizontally. So iudeed of all worlds.
"'fhe fact that the universe has but one only livillg and true God, throws into
the mpral experience oC the chief beings of all worlds one common eleJnent.
The God of your being is the God of all beings. His "attribl1tes are the same
in all places. Hence all true revelations throughout the universe must recal
the same order oC wisdom, power, and love. Hence all beings Dlust experi-
ence the same qualities of the Divine Nature. I ask, is not tbis tbe greatest
point 1 Dofts it not lay the foundation of the uuiversal concord 1 For, in the
great hereafter, it will be impossible to mee: a Inind, I care not where trained,
though jnfinitely distant from the sphere of our former planet, wh~ wiU not
 Notice. of Boob. [Dec.
be one with us in this, tb~t we each have the same God-that heayen
has revealed to us both the same st1preme. The unity of God implies that his
various manifesting mediums have unity also, 80 that, through the iufinite
space, the roads which lead to the Supreme are similar. In other words,
God must be known by what he does, by his own works and language. Now,
the unity of the actor and of the speaker is necessarily impressed on the ac- I

tiOD and the speech. There is this unity to all the acts and words th't eYer
came from anyone-that, sum them all up, not even omitting the contradic-
tions, and that sum is the full revelation of him. All the parts nnite to tell us
who and what He is. Bnt the field of man's doing is limited. The field of
the Diville action is unlimited: it is eqnal to himself. And there is nnity
towing throughout the entire doings of God, 80 that tbe whol~ circle of his
works and utterance tells who, and what He is. As his manifestations include
all things, and BS there is unity flowing through all these, is it not safe tosal
that there are likeness and unity in the experience of all the beings of the di -
ferent worlds, capable of coming to the Divine Mind through ilB manifesta-
tiODS! For their experience must accord \vith the universe in whic.k they are
placed, and the means througb \vhich the Deity is revealed.
Cl I would here pause for a moment to apply the truth already gained. We
have gone over tlie evidence which yields us the two convictions, that the
powers and the experience of all moral intelligences are kiJadred, are similar.
lleciprocal iuftuellces and sympathies Call110t exist lvithout these. They are the
necessary, though not the entire, fountains 'bf the universaJ cOllCOrd oC minds.
universal order is 80 fixed, that, from ,n
BehoJd the beautifullessol1! The school of the universe is 80 ananged. the
ends of the vast creation, rational
and moral beings may hereafter meet with the power of ml1tuallove and sym-
pathy. All things point to the spiritual, and the general harmony of minds.
Glorious universe! Prophetic Nature!
" One more element in the grand concord of souls let me here point oUl 1
mean the elective affinity by which all Ininds and hearts recognize tbose oC
their o\vn order. The astonishing facility and accuracy which mark the
operation o( this principle in human society, amoug every order of talellt,
· taste, genius, disposition, and character, are truly remarkable. By Ibis elective
affinity ,ye are dra\vn to lome, Bud repelled from others. By it \ve would
choose our society and friends. But there are obstacles to its perfect opera-
tioll here. The transient affinities of local and selfish interests do it violence.
But it is a perfect la\v. III the free future these obstmctions will be reoloved;
aud under its perfect aud universal action society will form itself. Every de-
gree of moral and intellectual excellence, every shade of ignorance and vice,
will so control its action, that society will fall into the most harmonious re..
lations possible. The la\v which forms the crystal is ilot more infallible than
this elective affinity, which, cleared of obstructions, shall form society illto
concordant relations and parts.
"Thus dawu8 upon U8 the Infinite Harmony. It flows tllrongb the ages, and
ranges throllgh all time and space. It pervades the infinite divisions of na-
ture, and ascends BS a sileut hYlnn from all the cbanges Bud facts of life.
Justice works in order. It has an iufinite range. Wisdom works out nothing
but harmony. It holds empire over a bouudless sweep of Providence. God
is one. Deuce the ullivert1e is the infinitely divided harlDollY. God is Love.
This is the great fact; for love js the harmonizer of discards, the great foun-
tain of ul1ion and peace. The infinite harmony of God, nature 811d time, is
laid in the human consciousness: otherwise the soul could not know it ",.hen
revenled; otherwise the soul is not descended from God. Rejoice that such a
nature is yours. Rejoice that sllch a universe surrolluds you. Rejoice in Him
whose unseen hand so moves upon the harp of time, as to bring music (rom
all its trembling strings. Trust deeply in HJm. He is the harmonic \vorker.
Gain the spirit of all tbings-the SpiTlt of God. Be withiu yourselves the bar-
monious fountain. Make the universe your song, and the endl~s time your
lolemn anthem. Be oue l and your concords are eternal!'
1849.1 573
It will interest the readen of the Cl Repository" to learn that the author of
the u R..,,·1fI1I and Eua,r' is a minister in the religious body styled "Cj,ri,twru."
a denomination whose preachers in the Eastem and Middle States number
several hundreds j and whose adherents, west of the AlIeghanies, are com-
puted at hundreds of thousands. -In several of the important points of faith
and life, this denomination, and the U Church of the New Jerusalem," are at
one. The basi8 of religious 8.seociation among the U C1&,.i,tian," is not a code
of speculations. but the active principles of Christian love and life. We are
freemen of the universe. We permit DO ecclesiastical body to prescribe to
us what we mDs~ believe or do. Each of us for bimself, in the fear of God,
and in the use of the light which God may give to Aim, determines what is
truth, what is duty. Lov, we regard as the e881 of religion; hence we esteem
the good of all sects, and of all worlds, as equal members of our Lord'. great,
undivided family. In the advocacy of these principles we are happy in re-
cognizing many fellow-laborers among our brethren of the cc New Church."
We bid them God speed in. the holy labor. And we unceasingly desire the.t
tile Divine Wisdom and Love may be more and more multiplied to us, and to
the whole family of God, for evel;,
P,apaclt., N. J., Nov. l84g. A. C.

1.:-0. THJ: eRA..ACTO AIID Wo.a or CBallT. By WILLLlM B. BAYDD. Boa-

ton : Otis Clapp. 121110. pp. 83.

This work is a review of Dr. Bushn,l1's Cl God in Christ," Bnd is, in brief but
pithy terms, dedicated to that gentleman, by whom we understand it is re-
garded as by far the ablest critique that has appeared on his far-famed and
much-controverted volume. The pamphlet of Mr. Hayden conli8f.8. of three
parts, t~e first an Intr,oduction, while the second and third are devoted to the
subjects of Incarnation and Atonement. The entire work is written with great
force of conception and felicity of style, and a very engaging and amiable
spirit breathes throughout the whole. Mr. H. is extremely happy on the 8core
of luminous statement, and he evidently inclines to rely more on the distinct
affirmative puUing of the true doctrine in all cases, than on the formal or logi-
cal refutation of the false. A.s a specimen of this peculiar trait of Mr. 8.'8 wri-
ting, we cite the following :-

U Taking our stand upon the merely human side ef the subject, it shall be
our present purpose to view some of its aspects simply in the light of the
evaugelic narratlves. The man, Christ Jesus, is there represented as entering
upon his existence under a parentage half divine, half human. With our
eyes constantly fixed upon this fact, let us consider the normal copseqlleuces
likely to flow from such a development. There can. Qe no difficulty ill con-
ceiving that sllch a being would con~titute one simple unitary personality j
for every human being has a similar dualistic derivation. And the specific
traits of character-moral, intellectual, propensive-inherited from each pa-
rent, are often clearly distinguishable by the Individual himself, and by others;
and the distillction al waY8 exists. though often too occult for observation.
The child Jesus, then, would inherit two classes of psychological ~uali:ie8J·
the one class, derived from the mother along with the material body, \\"oul
partake of the depraved appetites, affections, and other finite attributes of our
.
common fallen human nature; 80 that there would be a su1ficient groul1d in
574 [Dec.
his person for the predication ofsuch language as is used in Scriptnre, implyiDg
a simple human character in him. The other class of qualities would be de-
rived from, or would consist in, the indwelling in him of 80 much of the Divine
nature as would normally enter into his personality on account of his divine
paternity. This latter class would furnish the grounds for those passages of
Scripture where a divine nature is ascribed to him. Both modes of expression
would be true, and it would require both modes to set forth the whole tmth.
We do not know why the organic conjunction of the two sets of psychical
qualities should be conceived to be destructive of the unit of consciousness,
in this case, any more than it might be supposed to be in the ordinary human
subject.. If anyone should feel difficulty at this point, ive can only say, con-
sider it profonndly, and let 11S have tbe benefit of yonr deliberptioDs.
"There would be a distinct consciousness, undoubtedly, of t\VO diverse
kinds of emotions and other mental affections, and as distinct an attribution or
these to their respective origins. And the t\VO kinds of 8tates of consciousness
which would hence arise, as the one or the other kind should for the time
predominate, may justly be taken to solve the apparent contradiction of the
two kinds of language which we so often find t}1e Saviour uttering in regard
to himself; namely, that in which he prays to the Father, speaks of him BS of
a higher power, or of bimself as subject, or as the Son of Man, and other ap-
parently -human Janguage; and that other mode of expression, in which he
unhesitatingly assumes eternity, omnipotencej omnipresence, and the other
confessedly divine attributes, to himself. •
U It need not detain us to inquire \vhat partioular portion of the soul every
ordinary individual is derived from the rather, or which from the mother, or
whether there be any fixed determinate proportion between them. ) t is suf-
ficient for our present purpose, and lvhich is an und.eniable {act, that there is
a mingling of the t\VO classes ·of qualities, in some proportion, in every hnman
being. That the phenomena of the generative transmission of mental quali-
ties are evolved under the rnle of some permanent laws, will not be doubted
by any who are likely to follo\v us ill this inquiry; whether those Jaws, in the
present state of knowledge, can be ascertained, is another question.
"In the cue belore us, it is certain that the more extemal portion, 80 to
speak, of his nature, the bodily appetites and propensities, and the lower or
sensational department of his understanding, would be derived from the mo-
ther,-they could not have been from the divine nature. Now, ill view or
these circumstances, what will normally take place in the uofolding life of
such a character 1 The body will grow in stature, like other human bodies,
for that is wholly human, and subject to the laws of space and nutritioll. The
intellectual faculties, so far as human will grow-that is, expand in power;
the diville, on the other hand, canllot grow, they can only be developed-that
is, brought forth to view. Would sl1cb a mind be subject to any errors! No;
for whatever false impressions the sensuous perceptiolls might introduce into
the vestibule of the understanding, the Divine Intelligence within would im-
mediately corr~ct and expel. ~o that whatever should become, so to speak,
the furniture of its chambers, would be \vholly divine, not human. Could ~uch
a person suffer temptation! Yes; (or he has aJl the desires, appetites, add af-
fections which are the subjects or channels of temptation i and the objects
which ~ratify them wot~l~ be constantl.y l?res~nted to him. Could. he yie!d to
temptatlon ~ No; the dIVine nature wtthUl hIm could 110t suffer hlnl to Yield,
for it would correct a wrong impulse at its rising, If every wrong impulse
were repressed and mortified at the moment of its inception, the depraved ap-
petite or propensity in which it originated would gradually die i and thu8
would perisli aud be dissipated one of the huru8U constituents j and if tbat
which \vas human perisbed,'that which was divine wOllrd fill ]18 place. If one
lluman appetite, by constant resistance, were thus to be slain, aud a divine
princi.ple of life infuE-eu in its stead, then all the human appetites, desires, pro-
pensitIes, qualities, and fnculties would, in succession. dlsarpear, alld their
offices would be filled with divine tenants. •
•
1849.] No'ice, cif Book,.
U It is impossible that tbis process should Dot go on 80 long 88 Jesus should
remain upon the earth. For temptations must continue to be offered to hie
desires so long.as those desires remained unextinguished in him, and so long
as he was in a world where temptations are. And it is just as certain that he
will not yield to them. And it is also certain that if an evil propensity be not
gratified, but mortified, it will gradually die out, and the life which is in its
place will become purified. As it is impossible that this process should not
continue to go on, so it is impossible that it should culminate ill any but one
end; namely, the final extillction of the human nature in its totality, and the
consequent superinduction of a divine nature in its stead. Thus, it would be
necessary that the Son of M.ary should progressively die, in order that t.he Son
of God Jnight be seen by U8 the more distinctly to live; and the fulness of the
meaning of this mission consists not merely in what he 1DQ', as the Son of Mary,
divinely cOllceiYed, but ill what he b,eam" through the processes of an organi-
cally divine life. Thus he bridged over that otherwise impassable guLf be-
tween the Infinite and the Finite, from the Absolute to the Relative, opening
up through his own person a way of communication-becoming Mediator-
between mall and God. For he was God, and became man; 110t a merely
natural man, or material man, as indi~ated at first by his maternal parentage,
but a Divine Man,-that is, again, Infinite Man manifesting within the Beld of
finite cODceptioll the express form and imAge of God, offering Himself 8S the
perpetual object oC our worship, not as the Son of Mary, which now he is not,
but as the Son of God; and if as-the Son of God, then as God himself,-for
God cannot be divided.
" Thus, Father and Son are not two disjoined ~rsonalitie8; but the name
Son itl given to that humanitary garment with wluch the Dh'ine Being wrap-
ped Himself about, that He mip;ht de8cend and render Himself visible to our
race; and the name Father is given to the ind",·elling Essential Divinity 80 en-
wrapped. Hence. at.' the natural human medium in which he was enveloped
fell o~ 80 to speak, piece by piece, and was put away, the diville soul or Es-
sence, lvhich was within, shone forth more conspicuously to view, and the
Divine Human form became apparent. The maternal elements were opaque;
the divine translucent. Follow hiln to the mount of transfiguration, aud you
shall see. The account of this eveut has been read in the church nearly
eigbteen hundred years. Some, ,vhen they read it, will suppose there was a
momentary change \Vrollght in the person of the Saviour, aud that the spirits
of some, loog departed, were instantaneouslr summoned to attend him; othenJ,
when they read, will suppose that this glorified state of the Saviour, and the
presence of the spirits with him, was more permanent, and that the 1110ment-·
ary change wrought lvas in the perceptive powers of the apostles them-·
se(ves."-Pp.32-36.

This is clearly and strongly enounced, although the answer to the question
whether our Lord's mind was "subject to any errors," requires some slight
qualification. The hereditary materlial principle, as it w&sliabl, to evil, 80
was if also to the false, and we are expressly ioformed that the Lord was, in
childhood, in the appearance' of truth, which, however, were dispelled by the
celestial influx as he advanced in the process of glorification. But 80me de-
gree of norOf' may properly be predicated of a state in which appeara"", prevail.
Mr. H. speaks of the Lord's intellectual faculties u 80 far as human," and of
their ,: growing," and the inference would seem to be fair that this growth, in
the early periods, at least, of the Lord's earthly life, weuld oonsist in emergence
. from apparent to genuine truths. On this head ,the portion of the .Arcana ex-
tending from No. 1660 to '1680 may be advantageously consulted.
Mr. H. is evidently very desirous to find 88 few points as possible of dissent
from Dr. B., and CODstrues the doubtf~ p08itio~ in 60nam pari",. wherever he
6'78 NoIicuoj . . . .
can. We are for oureelv8s, we fear, somewbat leas chariably given in lespect
to a vein of speculation which soars away, iodeed, by fit&, from the ark of or-
thodoxy into new regions, but is every now and then returning with the olive
twig of peace, as if awfully fearful of a rupture. On a more careful pooderi.nc
of Dr. B.'s theories, we see less and leslof a dietinct perception of the real con-
stitution of the Lord's person, and more and more of a spirit of self-reliance and
self.intelligence, which forbid the hope of his ever being persuaded to have re-
course to the higher sources of light that are now inviting the "study of all
reftecting minds. He has much indeed to say of the Incarnation, but it i. the
incaraation of a something in the Divine nature which, although he terms it the
Logos, or Word, yet whether it is, in his mind, the true Logos, identical with
the Divine Wisdom or Truth, or merely some mystic faculty or power, ie to . .
estremely doubtful. He speaks of it as the IC creative imagination" of God, a
&& generative power of form." and bestows upon it other transcendental epithets,

which cOJlvey to the mind but a very vague idea of his meanmg. Were the
question distinctly put to Dr. B., whether he held that the absolute Jehovab.
the one living and tme God, was actually incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, 80
that no other God was to be recognized in the universe, than th~ Jehovah re-
sident in the Son of Mary, we presume that he would demur at once. We
infer this (rom the fact, that he explicitly holds doctrines in direct aD-
talOoism with it, as, for instance, an objective atonement and justification
by faith alone. But on all these points we are willing to hop~ the best from
tile fruits of matorer reflection.
In regard to the use of the word "person" we are happy to find Mr. B.
adopting a decided tone.
U A reference to a single point more will complete this portion of our re-
marks. On. page 174, the author proceeds: 'Neither is it any so great wis-
dom, as many theolo~ans appear to (ancy, to object to the word person; for,
if allY thing 18 clear, It is, that the Tbree of Scripture do not ap~ear under
the grammatic forms which are appropriate to person-I, Thou, He, We, They;
and, if it~e so, r really do not perceive the very great license taken by our
thQology when thef are called three persons.'
u This, we conceIve, is rather singular language to occur in the same sermon
which has discoursed so eloquently of the difficulties and confusion \vhich the
doctrine of Three Persons has introdnced. It is true, the author has thrown
out the following sentence as It constructive guard: I There certainly can be
no h"rm in the use of sllch terms as mere terms of convenience, if we are
carefulllot to derive our doctrine from them.' Precisely so; and if our theolo-
gicallanguage was never used by any but sl1ch as are as fully aware of all the
philosophies of language as Dr. B., the danger \vould be slight. But \vhat he
days we ought to be careful not to do, is exactly what 'our theology' has
taken most paiDs to accomplish, namely, to derive its doctrine from these
c terms of convenience.' And for this reason we would strenuously object to
tbe use of the \vord person in this connection. The general mind is always
very much under dle s\vay and influence of tDOrd.9, and therefore the words
of vital moment, tbose of our tbeological sciencel should be carefully chosen.
And it often becomes Dec~S8ary, for a time, to nold in abeyance (be use of
particnlar expressions, especially where, as in the present case, great abuses
have grown up under them. Whatever may have been the definition of the
word person, when first introduced ;oto theological language, it is now clear
that it .has become associated in the English mind with 'the idea of an es-
sential, incommunicable monad, boWlded by oonsciousness, aDd vilalized by
 1849.]
..u.aetiV8 . will.' It it the name of the mOlt fundamental conC8l?tion of
6ft,,! the mind is capable of forming; and the persistent retention of Jt, to in-
dicate the di8tinctions of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as existing in the in-
terior nature of the Divine Being, can eventuate in nothing else than an ideal
iatroduction of u",.,. GodI into the universe, instead of one; which is, by
whatever name we may call it, the commencement of Polytheism, strange as
that word may now sound in our ears. According to Dr. B.'8 statement of
one extreme phase of the Trinitarian doctrines, the reign of Polytheism has
already confessedly begun; the Unity of the three being really deoied, aDd
their unanimit·" only, asserted. The 'license' which 'our theolo~' takes in
this respect is that of erecting the mere appearance of a thing into an abso-
lute truth. By this 'procedure, it places itself in precisely the same category
that we should fall 10to were we to attempt to COllstmct a science of chemis-
try by a classification of 8ubstances aecording to their extemal fol'lD, density,
and color, iostC!ad of subjecting them to a qualitative analysis; or should at-
tempt to build our science of 8.8U'onomy out of the stellar and solar phenomena
merely as tbey meet the daily senses. Therefore is much of & our' scientific
& theology,' even in this & enlightened age,' still floundering on amid a darkness
and confusion, and at a distance from genuine truth, as great as our science
of astronomy would be if its teachers were still insisting 011 a flat and fixed
earth, surrounded by obedient and subservient heavenly bodies. God grant
that we may ere long be blessed with some spiritual telescop8I to carry our
viaion beyond the clouds and fogs of our subjeetive atmosphere!
"We would. therefore, by all means drop the word P,.,.,01& out of its present
\heologic use, and in its stead adopt any other term you like, suitable to ex-
press the distinction contemplated. And we venture to predict that, 80 long
as this word is 80 used, just 80 long shall we have couuadiction, cQufnsion,
error, darkneM,-Dot light. Tbe' longer it is continued, the more lamentable
will be the results. And if it is consistently adhered to, and carried out in
thought, 88 by that class of tritheocratic Triultarians referred to by Dr. B., the
body 80 adhering will unwittingly stultify its p~wers of perception, and will
padllally, though it may be at first imperceptible, slide behind 'the thought of
the race, and at last take ita place by the side of Romanism and the other
eeniJe supe18titious. On the other hand, if we are wining to dispense with this
use of the word, we shall then have removed the greatest obstacle which
ItaDds in the way of our cODsistently acknowledging the unity of God 8S ODe
Person; and in faith may look forward -to the more speedy incoming of that
better day foretold by the prophet Zechariah: 'In that day, the LORD sball be
ORB, and His na"., ONE;' and again referred to by the apostle Paul in the re-
markable pauage in 1 Corinthians xv. 28, 'And ,vhen all things shall be sub-
dued unto him, then 8hall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all
things under him, that God may be all in alL' We are aware that tbis latter
passage has been commonly interpreted as referring to some change bereafter
&0 take place in the prellent relations bet\veen the Father aud the Son; which
iD fact could be nothing else than a real, and even essential modification of
the inserior nature of God himself. And with this construction Dr. B. seems
inclined in part to fall in, at least 80 far as not to rej~ct it. But we regard it as
a view singularly literal and unsatisfactory. A little reftection, we tbink, will
lead many to perceive that no such change is ever going to occur in Him who
is tbe same yesterday, to--day, and forever-the unchangeable! That, 011 the
contrary, the change spoken of is to be wrought in the consciou8ness of the
Christian. church; and refers to a time when the Lord's reopJe, having come
to know Him better, will apprehend Him more truly; wil come to see Him a8
He actually is-the ever.livlng and true God, all ill all: wheu they shall clear·
ly perceive, what the Scriptures, iD thair genuille sense, have always been
atriving to teach, that Father and SOD are not tlDO but one Lord; one in Person
~ a, \vell as in Essence. The Son will then be seen to fade into the being of
the Father, and to make one with it; according ro the Lord's words to Phillip,
, He who bath seen me bath seen the Father.' In regard to the expression.
'And'when all lainIS &ball be subdued uoto him,' we would ask what is
&'78 Notice. of BooIa. [Dee.
usually understood by being subdued unto Christ. Does it not refer to tbe
8ubjugation of our sinful desires and affections to his law, and our consequent
purification and sanctificatiou1 What else, then, can be the meaning of the
apostle, than that, when the church shall become 88 tboroughly sllbdued ill
heart to her divine Master 88 she ought to be, and as she is commanded to be-
come, the scales will drop from her eyes, and she will behold her glorified
Lord stand before her in His true character; as the only manifestation of the
Infinite ever to be accorded to men or angels, either ill this world or in tbe
'World to come 1"-Pp. 44-47.
This and the other specimens given from Mr. H."s pamphlet, are abundantly
sufficient to warrant the highly favorable judgnlent we have pronounced upon
it; and if aJlything fanber were wanted on that score, it is furnished in the
foUowing paragraph from the Essay on Atonement, which, brief as it is, em-
bodies matter sufficient to confute whole tomes of the antiquated theology.
He is propounding the IUbjectiv, in t1pposition to Dr. B.'s objective or apparent
view of atonement.
u We are a \vare that many will regard this Subjective or Actual view as set-
ting forth Christ merely as an instructor, and an exemplor-a character exhi-
bited for us te' copy; and it will be l\sked by some, C What has Christ really
dOlle then for his people 1 'What satisfaction 1188 he made to a broken law.
and to the injured justice' of Jehovah l' 'Has he opened to the despairing sin-
ner a way of pardon" To this we reply, first, that there \vas no satisfaction
required in the case. The law had always vindicated itself in that it had al-
ways punished the guilty, \vhicb is the only satisfaction ever required by allY
Jaw; and it continues to punish the guilty still-those who remain guilty.
The coming oC Christ did llot, aud could not, make auy differellce in this re-
~pect. In regard to the '-injured justice of Jehovah,' the same remark applies.
Tile justice of Jehovah has never bp-en injured, and in the nature of the case
never could have been; if it could, it \voultl have ceased to be infinite and di-
vine. Justice can never require anything more than that the penalty attached
to tbe infringement of a Jaw should ahvays follow such infringement; and that
penalty always had followed, and still continues to follow such infringement.
&But,' it is asked, 'what becomes then of the sinner's pardon l' W" reply, sin-
ners are not pardoned, only 80 far as they cease to be sinners, and become
righteous. Tbe only pardon which is ever promised, is offered Oil condition
that sin be repented of and for~aken, and on no other. Now, on these condi-
tiol1s, Sill always had beeu forgiven, and always would have been forgiven,
whether Christ had appeared in the flesh or 110t. No, my friends. The prob-
lem to be solved was not ho\v God could forgive sinful men and remain just,
but how sinful men could become righteous. The la\v reqnired the rightebus-
neS8 of mall. Man, through the abuse of his freedoln, had lost, morally, the
power of becoming 80. The object of Christ's mission was the removal of im-
pediments which stood in the way of mall's righteousness, by the placing be-
fore him of the proper inducements, in the first place, and the imparration to
him of a Dloral power in the second. That a fresh and remarkable influence of
the Spirit of God is rotired out upon the soul of man, ill con8equence of the
life of Christ ill the Besh, is evident from the words, 'For the Holy Ghost W8I
not yet given. in· that Jesus was not yet glorified.'
"Thus, what man reqniretl was 110t that forgiveness should be ill\Puted to
him in all externa), forensic manner, but that he might be cured, that the con-
sequences of sin might be remitted ill fiim, by a relnOVRl of the causes \vhich
prodnced those consequences. NOlle of the cOl1sequeuces of sin are remitted
to men who continue in that sin, no matter what their professiofls or ex(»e-
riences may be. The la \V Sf-ill contltlUeS to exert itself in full force, and 110 Jot
or tittle of it has been abated. It has even been made more strict and rigidly
exacting, in that more light has been imparted. Once more in reganl to ,tbi8
matter of' satisfaction:' If a man, throl1gb carelesloesa or any other cause,
 1849.] Notice. of &oi,. 6'79
bad violated in his own body the law in reI 0 tion to the centre of gravity, and,
while just falling from the brink I)f a precipice, had been 8uddenly rescued, it
would be as necessaryJ ill this case, that the broken law or gravitation should
be propitiated, and a victim thrown over iustead, that it might receive satjsfac-
tion, 8S it is that a broken moral law should be thus satisfied, after its require-
ments have ceased to be brokell. Christ's work ,vas tbe rescue of his people
from their sills. The best' satisfaction' we can render to any Jaw of God is to
live in obedience to it."-Pp.55-57.
This is a dogmatic statement too positive to be passed by in silence by our
opponents. Is it true or false 1 If true, it demands assent; if false, refuta-
tiol1. Let the verdict go forth.
Should it no,v be asked whether we have any abatements to make from the
general tone of approval-of high approval-in which we feel moved to speak
of this pamphlet, we should reply, perhaps, with hesitation, that we have
some secret misgivings as to the expediency of the course which l\ir. H. has
adopted of presenting the views of the New Church on these transcendently
important subjects, l\·ithollt any distinct tJc!mowedgmtflt of the source from
which they are derived. \Ve are well assured, indeed, that .Mr. H. would
make Dot the least reserve on this head were he formally appealed to either
in private or in public. But his deliberate conviction seems to be, that in
dealillg with the reflective mind of the age, it is better to wave the explicit
reference of Qur doctrineslo Swedenbo"rg or the New Church, and to propound
them as "worthy of all aecelltation," 011 their own evidence and authority, a8
accordant with right reason and with revelation soundly interpreted. That such
is their character we, ~f course, have no question. But we do ql1estiol1 the
policy of slurring over the source fronl whicb the triumphant arguments
are derived that have enabled Mr. H. to confound the fallacies of a false
theology. Take, for instance, the ensuing passage from the pamphlet before
us.
U \Ve take it to b~ the express teaching of the Scriptures, in 80 plain a man-

ner as not to be controverted, and retain the record HI 8Uy authority, that the
parentage of Jesus Christ was half d.ivine, half human; cOl1sequently, that
there existed in bis person, from the first, two organic, IivilJg forces, acting in
opposite directions,-the one, humauly derived, acting towards evil; the other,
dlvillely derived, acting to\vards good. As it is the very nat.ure of life to act,
it \\"88 Impossible that action and reaction should not go on between them;
and it was just as itn possible, in this ease, tbat the good shonld not conquer
ill every instance, and that it should not finally obtain a 'complete triumph.
Aud a complete triumph certainly. could not be anything else than an entire
expulsion of the human by the Divine. We respectfnlly submit, then, whether
it be possible to maintain that any other process ~ubj take place in a person
thu8 constituted; and 'whether it would be possible for such a character to
remain statiouary, and poss' out of the world the same 8S he entered it.
h We are tbe more particular in urging this point, because we think that

many of the 8upposed difficulties which encumber this subject arise from the
fact that Christ has usually been regarded as carrying with him the character
. of son .of Mary, evell after his ascension, and hence his IJumanity is Jooked
upon as the same in kind with the humanity of any ordinary individual.
Whereas, the Humanity in \vhich the Lord arose, was His own glorified form,
with no relnnant of the maternal Dature ill it. Thu8 it was and is a Divine
Humanity, differing 88 much from our own finite, or J&uman humanity, 'as God
differs from man. And this divine life, thus lived 'into the biographical his-
 680 · Noticel of Boob. LDec.
tory of the race,' became, and remains, the rnftDite type 01 the proeess, of
which the progresaive renewal and sanctification of every believing Christian
is a finite image.
" In corroboration of the progres&ive character of the change thus contem-
plated, it is to be noticed, that the two kinds of language, or m'odes of speech,
which the Savioul' used in relation to himself; referred to before,-the aiviDe
and the buman,-are found in very dilferent ~roportions, at·different 81Bge8 of
his career. In the earlier part of his mission It is chiefly the human language
which occurs, and His Divine character is seen more dimly; during the latter
part of his 8tay upon the earth the divine language predominate&, aDd his
merely human character 8eems to fade; bat after the re8urrection the human
mode of expre8sion is entirely laid aside, and we hear only, C Now is all pow-
er given unto Me in heaven and on earth;' and other like language, implying
the assumption of the attributes of Supreme and Sole Divinity. This fact we
commend to the candid consideration of those who are disposed to pursue the
inquiry. This view, we think, after a patient examination of its diffetent rela-
tions, will be found to harmonize and to justify the variou8 expre8sions of the
Scriptures; and it is doubtful whether any other view can be found which
will entirely clear them from all contradiction or oonfusion.n-pp. 39-41.

Now, however plainly our author may at present perceive all this embrac-
ed in U the express teachings of the Scriptures," he will Dot of coone claim 10
have ever thought of reading this doctrine in the Scripture language prior to
his getting possession of the key which every Newchurchtnan has to the in-
terpretation. Nor in the whole range of 'theological doetol8 or diacipl88 will
he find an exp08ition approaching to that whioh he has here unfolded. R, ..
therefore fairly open to the interrogation, how It has happened that he hIIlI
found himself 80 far in advance of the wisdom of the schools and of the ase.
He, undoubtedly, would acknowledge at once the souroe of hie obligatio...
and no misconception would be apt to arise in the circle of the author's ae-
quaintanc81 or where his theological position should chance to be known.
Being an avowed receiver of ~he truths of the New JerusalelDt it would be
undentood, of coune that he was letting them forth, although the exprese
mention of the Dame of Swedenborg might not occur in his pages. But the ef-
fect, we apprehend, would be somewhat di1ferent with those who had DO
previou8 knowledge of the author. He could hardly avoid, if we may 80 term
it, the unconscious mortification of having the qnestion proposed, U Whence
hath this man this wisdom 1"-a question the more to be deprecated. as he
would not .have the opportunity to reply.
We trust we may not be misunderstood in our remarks OD this sUbject. We
have personally the deepest respect for our friend the author.. We feel, in
common with the church at large, under great obligations {or his able advo-
cacy of the cause which he has espoused. We are aware too that b18 COIINe
• of proceedillg in this matter is advised, and that he cherishes the l'incere he-
lief that the R!'eatest UM on the whole will be accomplished by the policy he
has adopted. He conceives that the sublime truths of the New Dispensation
may be most effectually inlinuaftd into the science, the philosophy, the faitIa,
and the life of the age by a process that shall virtually regard them 88 the re-
8ult of a general indux, rather than of a 8peoial impanation i and consequent,.
ly that it is of human prod~noe to propound them apart from aD such relatiOll8
u would be apt to arouse antagonistic prejudices. Now it is this policy, of tile
 :N6Ib, of 1lsoh.• &81
wisdom of which we doubt, and which we would commend to the re-reflec-
tion, not of Mr. H. only, but of all such 88 are disposed to act upon it. It is,
we think, a fair question of New Church casuistry, although it is one on which
our own mind is fully made l1p. We see no permanent advantage likely to
result from a covert propagandism of the august doctrines bf the New J~ru8a­
lem. It is a dispensation which is sooner or later to be tuhofDledg,d ill all the
length a.nd breadth of its claims, and we Bee nothing gained by an attempt to
spare our fellow-men the pain of a confession that they have sought the trlle
Church where it was not to be found and have overlooked it where it was.

3.-A BIOOllAPBICAL SXETCH 01' EM Alft1:mJ" Sw.lD:EIlBORQ: with ott ~"OUft' of Ail
Wora. By ELWl1 RICH. London: 1849. .

A farther examination enhan~es very much our estimate of the value of this
work. Mr. Rich has performed a service in the present U Sketch" for which
the New Church has reason to be profoundly grateful. The Biographies of
. our autbor hitherto published have been mainly doeummtary, and little more,
in fact, than expansions of Sande)"s Eulogy. Though furnishing somewhat of
incident they have been very barren of reflection, and a catalogue instead of
an analysis of his works, has been nearly all that has been attempted. We
must admit, indeed, that the store of materials has been constantly angment-
ing for several years, and that the human mind has made positive advances in

.t""
the diJection in whioh Swedenborg's writings point, so that it would be hardly
possible that a at the present day, of this unrivalled seer should not em-
brace more than could have been done by a formal biogrtJphy concocted twen-
ty or a dozen years ago. This is clearly evident from the very well conceiv-
ed and ably wrought volume of Mr. Rich, who has left scarcely any point un-
tonch!!d which would naturally suggest itself to a philosophical inquirer into
the entire mass of marvels which distinguish Swedenborg'8 case. H~ hBf not
only given a most ample list of his published workt' and his manuscripts, but
he has thrown important light upon the philosophy, psychology, and theology
that mark the systeln, and we are ready to agree with the author, that" its
plan will (probably) prove to be the true one for a life of Swedenborg, if the
opportunity for its expansion should ever occur."
We cannot perhaps better present a general t:On8ptctu, of the wbole work
than by inaerting the ensuing table of contents.

U Chop'''' I. Swedenborg the Forerunner of a new religious and social period

-His birth and Family-Practical Christianity of his Father-Education an.d
youthful talents of the son-Voyage to England-Receives an appointment
from Charles XII-Publication of various scientific works-Emerentia Polheim
-Journey into Saxony-His Chemical Philosophy, Geology, etc.-Contemplat-
ed publication of the O~a PJ&ilOlophiea, and Journey to Austria and Hungary
-His public spirit and disinterested diffusion of knowledge-The' Principia,'
anu new discoveries-Vortical Theory, and Nebular Hypothesis of La Place-
Phil080phical argument on the Infinite, etc.-His celebrity in the learned world
-Love of Free IDstitutione-Travels in Frallce and Italy-Swedenborg in Rome
-Economy of the Animal Kingdom-Discovery of leading principles in vital
 Noticu of BooIu. LDec.
Physiology-Schism between Scieoce andreliRion-Worship and Love of God
-Works to 1745.
U Chapttr. If. Swedenborg'8 peculiar state of Respiration from the period of
childhood-Psychological Explanation-Preternatural sleep-Representative
vision-Perfect wakefulness in the spirit-Announcement 1n the Arcana Cm-
lestia-Connection bet\veen his Pt&}'chological experience and the natore of his
expositions-Man created to be in commuuication with Spirits and Angels-
Their life perfectly senR8tioIlRI--Their communications ackuowledgetl in all
ages-Unbelief in the Church-Instruction in the Ecollomy of the Spiritual
World-the law of Influx-Theophanic appearances; and manifestation of the
Lord to Swedenborg-His mission considered.
U ChapttT Ill. Biblical Literature-PriD~iplesoflnterpretation-Dawnof a New

Era-William Law-Swedenborg the Interpreter-The Adversaria and the Ar-

cana Cmlestia-General Programme of the latter-The Last Judgment-The
New Jerusalem and its Heavellly Doctrine-The Inhabitants of other Earths-
Account of Reav~n and Hell, from things heard aud seen-The Foor I.eading
Doctrines-Angelic Wisdom concerning Divine Love and \\'isdom, and con-
~rning Divine Providence-Treatise 011 Conjugial Love-The Apocalypse Re-
vealed-The True Christian Religion-Summary of.Swedenhor,'s Persollal His-
tory from 1;45 to his deatb in 1772-Catalogue of his TheologIcal and B~blical
Works-The Ne\v Church."

The following remarks o' the natnre of Swedenborg's intercourse with the
Spiritual world will be read with interest.

cc We have remarked that Swedenborg was.prepared for communication with

I spirits and angels by the heavenly frame of mind in which he 'Pursued his in-
vestigations in natural philosophy, and by his facility in detaching his percep-
tive faculties from the cravings of the animalorkanization. We may now add
that his initiation into the inner life was by no meaUA ~OOJpleted by the mere
opening of his spiritual senses; but that when this event took place he was
rather like a traveller who had suddenly arrived in a kingdom \vltb \vhose in-
habitants and la\vs he had never before had acquaintance. Accustomed to
the la\V8 of time Bud space, he was now brought into relation with an order
of things totally independent of time aud space, and where he bad been fami-
liar like other men with a constant retnru of tbe same phenomena, and tbe re-
appearance of unalterable features, there now sprang up a moving panorama
of life, in which tbe form of every man betrayed the thought of the heart.
Instead of a state of Inind affected by circumstances and places, he no\v saw
circumstancee and places affected by the mind and by its 8tates; be bad much
to learn, therefore, which he could not hope to master but by rigid observa-
tion and the aid of such instruction 8S could be afforded by his associate spirits
and angels. The experience which he accumulated ill pursuit of this knowl-
edge is J·eeorded in a copious Diary, which is now in course of publication,
and whicb,-however skeptical some may be in regard to its contenlS,-is
without a parallel in the ,varld. .
" In order to his full instruction, and tbat a medium of hltercollrse might be
afforded ,,"itb spirits and angels in every kind of state, every k.ind of sphere,
and every kind of society, Swedenborg had also various kinds of respiration
induced upon him, so that, in _course of time, the animatioll of his body be-
came susceptible of adapation to every variety of internal life ; and these states
of the body were changed ,,"ith so much ease that he continued to write and .
think without reflecting upon it. Such varieties of respiration are here repre-
sented as coincideot with the approacb and association of varieties of spirits
because t1)e presence oC spiritual beings is always accompanied with ;"Jlu,
either tacit or manife~t, }Jroceeding from them into man. This is a nece8S8ry
consequence of the fnct that every spirit is surrounded Wilh the sphere and
phantasmagoria of his own interllal life, and that these spheres enter otber
spirits, comparatively like light or magnetism, and modify their states.
 1849.] Notice. of Boou. 583

&& We may here remark, "also, tbat the presence of spirits was sometimes mani-
fest to Swedenborg by their infillX alone, althougti on 8uch occasions the,
generally came tb view after he had formed his conclusions concernin, their
state and quality,-conc)usioRS which their appearance and conversation al-
'W'ays corroborated. Having observed that their influences or eens\ble 8pheres
affected him in different parts of the body according to the quality of the 8pirits,
Swedenborg would seem to have seized on this remarkable fact as the clue to
the topography of the spiritual world and the order in which spiritnalsocie-
ties are arranged.. Following this clue, the sublime troth gradually dawned
upon his mind that all the heavellS in one complex cODstitute & .MA-K,-the
maximus homo of his theological writings j which accordingly becalne the
ground of his nomenclature and classificatIon of spirits. Thus if a stream of
influx from a spirit was felt in the breast, the spirit himself appeared in the
plane of the breast, and he is said to belong to that province ofth.Grand Man;
and 80 in the case of every organ and part of the body. The most importaD&
result of this circumstance is, that the spirits of every province correapoud ill.
quality to the f\lDctioDS performed in that province of the body:; the 8piri~
which appear in the plane oC the eye for example, being distinguished by
their intelligence, because the sight of the body and intellectual apprehen~
sion mutually correspond. Regarded only 88 a means -of defining the locali-
ties and states of spiritual beings tbis t»rinciple is the m08t o081prebeusive, and
at the same time the most exact, that It is possible to oonceive; but we have
only alluded to it in Ulustratioll of the experimental basis OD which the-
author's theological works are founded· and to point out that it is Dot
merely the opening of the spiritual sight and the consequent appearance
of spirits and angels that constitutes the peculiar feature of his ease,-anel
still less the ground on which he has been received as the interpreter or
Scripture,-bnt his continued aDd progressive instruction in spiritual tbinp,
-because he was not the "eT only, but the Humboldt of the world of spirits."
-P.88.
We regret that our limits will permit us only the present slight notice aDd
the iDsertion of the following paraar&ph.
"Time will roll on, and returning years bring accumulated proofs of the
tnldl of all that Swedenborg has stated on this subject. The untaugbt peop'e
may indulge for a time in some v-.ue expectation of the cloud8 which Boat
above the earth suddenly opening before the SAVIOUR, and displaying tbe
· throne8 set for judgment; but they will at length perceive that the veil has
• been removed ID another way, Bnd the last act oC the drama commenced. A.
Dew polity-a govemment-a Church, in8pired with divine love, will gradual.
Iy present itself as the realisation of the New Jerusalem descending from God,
out of heaven; and the nations of them that are saved 8hall walk in the
light of it (Rev. xxi. 24); (or to walk in the light of the New Jerusalem is 10
li ve according to the truths of the new religious and social order which it si,.
nifies. It is ill vain to expect any other Millennium than that of rigAt,oumut,
aDd equally vain to tmst any other righteousness than that which lias its per-
ennial fountain in the heart, and beautifies at once the family and the commu-
nity, by mak.ing atonement between man and God. If the Lord alone is oar
lUIhteou8ue8l, it is because He is the source of all right, and it is iD His com-
plete manifestation 88 such a FIRST CAUl&, that the distinctive features of the
Theopbanic revelation to Swedenborg consists. The conneotion..between the
disclosures with which it has been aceompanied and the vital interests of
mankind forbid its being much longer regarded &8 a 8ubject of idle 8peculatioa.
The wild dreams of Socialism are a pervenion and mockery of the aublime
order it h.. aoveiled; and it beeomes more evident every day that those who
are deceived by them in the darkoeu of the ,world's night, can. only be re-
claimed by awakening to the realities which ~el c~unterreit: & When thw
eometh to pass (10, it will come), then shaJI they know that a prophet hach
been among them' (Ezekiel uxiii. 33)~-P. 97.
.
YOL. D. a7
 Editorial lteml. [Dee.

We learn that the Rev. Thomas Worceater, of Boston, has :t»een compelled, from ill
h-.lIh, to relinquish preachinl for the pre!ent, anel ~at too with coaaiderable UDcer-
taiDty u to hie being able to resume it. .

Mt. George GUddOD, formerly resideDt of Cairo, and well known in onr country as aD
able lecturer on Egyptian Antiquities, has recently returned from England 'With a splendid
panoramic view of the Nile, and the various citit's, monuments, and sceneries which
mark its coarse. The painting, as a work oC arol, is tn,Jly superb, being above 800 feel
in length by 8 feet in breadth. Along thil river, "thi5 ancient river," 80 rich in the re-
mains ot by-gone centuries, the spectator is apparently conveyed, and made to contem-
plate at leisure all the memorable localities which arrest the tra'feller in his propeu.
These are rendered vastly more iliteresting by the comments and E'xplanations oC the
Lecturer, who has visited them all in person, and who ia unquestionably one of the pro-
of
foundelt Egyptologiat. the present age. The lubject is peculiarly entitled to the .tlen-
tiOI'l of Newchurcbm8n, from the collateral light which modem research in this depart-
ment oC antiquity is castiDg upon the statements oC Swedenborg relative to this wqndrous
region of the earth. As Mr. G. proposes to exhibit his Panomma in the different cities
in the Union. we trust he may meet with th~t encouragement to which his indefatigable
labors in the caU86 of Egyptian history, antiquity. philology, and chronolOlY' 10 richly
eotitle him.
From the Detroit 7nbw&e we insert the fonowing Programme of a course oC free week..
day evening Lectures now In process of delivery in that city by Rev. G. Field. The bill
or fue ia certainly rich, and from the manner in which a Newcburcbman of Mr. Field'.
competeDcy would treat the various topics announced, we wonder not at the very favona-
ble reception, with which, 88 the Tribune informs us, they ale meeting from his audiences.
Leot. 1. On Primeval Lanluage. The nature and lawI of the " Word of God." Tacit,
YOOal, aDd written lpeeoh; the origin of Mythology, Astrology, and the Signs in the Hea·
YeDS, and the symbolic 8tyle prior to the days of Abraham. .
Lect. 2. A critical examination or the popular system of Cosmogony.
LecL 3. Proofs, rational, inductive, scriptural and philosophical, that the first chapte~
of Genesis do not, and-are Dot intended. 10 treat of the creation of the materi~l earth•
. Lect. ". OD the proceas 01 Creation, more particula~Jy of our Euth and the Solar
SJstem.
Lect. 5. The true meaning oC the first chapter of Genesis.
Lect. 6. The laws of Creation and Production and Spiritual influx. Primeval forma-
tions in the Veptable and Animal Kingdoms. The first creation or the human race.
Leot. 7. The eeoond chapter of Geaeais; what it does not and what it does mea.
The Garden of Eden, Ri.era. Trees, Serpent, Adam, Eve, &0.
Lect. 8. The Flood. Proofs absolute, that no such flood as is recorded in Genesis ewr
literally occurred upon the Eatth, Or could have occurred; examined on ita own autbor-
1&" also rationally, philosophically, and geologically_
Leot. 9. What is the true meaning of the inundatioD of the Earth. on the accepted ca-
noD oC tit. Scripture, being their own interpreter.
The object of these Lectures, we leam, is to present the MOMit tlt'COtMIt in its proper
light and therein illustratiqlta importance and its truth, at the lame time demonstrating
Dot only the high antiquny of.he Earth, and the progressivo ages of its formatloD. but

•
 1849.] Editorial lte",,- 585
also the error ot asmmlllg that the Word of God contemplates as an end the history oC
eartbty things; thU! showing that ~logical {acts, and Philosophical conclusions, can
Dever come into collision with,"" '1Y&eolog,.
The following elegant effusion appeared not long since in the Auburn" Northern
Christian Advocate" (Methodist), in an artiole bearing the signature of Thomas North, who
mould not faU of receiving all the notoriety to which such a sample of enlightened charity.
fairly enil1es him. He i8 speaking of Mount Carrol, Illinois:-
I I I chink bu' few plaoes oan be 1huod to compare with it in its sickening multiplicity

ofreligious theories, plans, suggestioDs, aDd dogmas, by which the pubJic mind is con-
IlaDtly agitated and thrown from its religious equilibrium. Wo have Metbodisrn, Pres-
byterianism, United Brethrenism, Campbellism" Mormonism, Unitarianism, Universalilm
with Nothingarianism; and that arrant nonsense and ohimera of the infatuated brain of
Baron Swedenborg. Swedenborgianism, or, in other words, the vell quintessence of not
only double, but triple-distilled nonsense and inconsiste~cy (for Swedenborg goes through
threo heavens and three hells after it, pretending to have enjoyed this singular privilege
Cor twenty-seven consecutive yenrs) occupies quite a conspicuous place among the othe)"
lems of the town; and an effort is being made at the present time to establish a regular
Church organization. May God not permit it, but save the people from it; for J am
oonyinced, that with those amoDg us who pretend to embrace this system fully, it is a
mere intangible infidel subterfuge, got up to throw dust in the face and eyes of pure
Christianity, evade respo~sibility, and hin~r the conversion and salvation of the creature
mau. And I am further persuaded, that it is not only a production of an insane mind,
bot that its tendency is insane upon this principle-that ~hatever the mind becomes
ooaCormed to in lPiritual things, it partakes the "tdwe of; and the eft"ect oC Swedenbor-
.ianism is to unbalance reason, and leaye the whole man under the sway of intellectual
lDIanitJ."
. A Society to be known and designated as IC The American Swedenborg Printing and
Publilhing Society," has recently been formed in this city. It! sole object is stated to be
10 encourage a wider circulation of the Theological Writings ofEmanuel Swedenborg. The
lOCiety proposes, as soon as its funds shall be sufticient to warrant it, to begin to Stereotype,
Print, and Publish lome one complete work of the· Theolorical Writings of SWedenborr,
and to continue so to do with each anll all of the said works in succession, as fast as the
means of the Society will safely permiL Uniformity in regard to the size of the page, the
size of the type, and the qualityoftbepaper and printing; to be strictly adhered to in all the
works issued by the Society. The officers of the Society to consist ofa president, three
Tloe-president9, a treasurer, a corresponding secretary, and a recording eecretary, to be
• elected annually. A board oC managers to be elected to conduct the busineu of the So·
clety, consisting of .iztetfl m~mbers, teD of whom shall reside in New York, or Its Tt·
cinlty. One-fourth part of the whole to go out oC office each year, but to be re-eligible.
The managers shall call special meetings, and fill all vacancies, till the next annual meet-
Ing, that may occur in their own board, by death, resignation, or otherwise. No pecu-
niary compensation for services to be allowed Lo any officer or manager of this Society,
with tbe exception of the corresponding secretary, who may be allowed such com pensa-
tion as the Society may, from time to time, judge proper. But all nece4)sary expenses of
travening, stationery, postage, &c., incurred in the discharge of duties to the Society, to
be allowed and paid. Eaoh subscriber of ftree DollGn annually to be a member ofthi.
Society. Each subecriber of TtDe.t,:ftl1' dollare, at one time, to be ·a member Cor life.
Each member of the Society to be entitled. under the direction of the board ormanaprs,
to purohaae the works publilhed, at the Sooiet1's prices. which shall be u low u pos-
atble•

•
 686 Editorial lte... [Dec. 1849.
The ebjeota ~med. at in the ellablishmellt ot this 80cietr are DO doubt intrinsically de-
amble and praiseworthy, and 'Gch as to meet the approbation of the New Church at
Iarp. But it was Crom the outlet of the enterprile, and il still, a I8rioUS questiOll with
Dlanyor the receivers In the city, whether the PreleDt Is preel.ly the be8t time fbr
oommenclnr the undertakiol' and u thetr proposition tor dela" In order to matuer
coun181 on the lubject, was overruled, they ha.e conclDdecl to witbbo1d co-operation till •
more satisfactory IJltem ofeft"ort is qYeecl upon. The pnerallmpNlliOll. of the iDcliri-
daeh alluded to Is, that the most urpDt object before the Church at cbe pretleDt time Ill.
to multiply readen of the writinp of the N. C. bydl11"allD1collateral tnotlud thelDiDcR
works of Swedenborg, which will of cOllne tend to inoreue the demand for the lara-
worlu, and tbu.ln the 00111'88 oeno long time prepare the way tor the more e&ctul ac-
oompUshmeDt oCthe preeent project. '

An enterprisin, ft.rm iD this city hu lately commenced the iSlue of a semi-menth1y

Iheet entitled" The Pulpit Reporter," the deaip of which is stated to be to report the
American pulpit of all denominations. This is to be done by means of al8Dographic re-
porten, except when the authors shall furnish sermons from their own m8DUlCriptL The
broad and catholic ground a.llmed by the publishers gives assuraDce that the New
Church will obtain a hearing through its preachers, if they are disp08Cd to avail them-
eelves oCthe opportunity. OCthe first or sample Dumber between thirty and forty thou-
aand copies were ai.tribute<!; aDd this contains a -erDlOD on Heaven, by the Editor of the
Repo.itory, whioh has in this way providentially obtained a circulation Jhat could
ecucely have been hoped Cor throqh an, otber meciium.
We were mach struck in meeting a .hart time since in the New York Tribane with the
following touching allusion to .... 1DcideDt that occurred at a fire in WDUamab1lll. i,
th.,
fa.
la rratifYing to lee that such allusiona ftnd their way to the public prints, as 00. .
before tholllUlds of readers, aDd probabl, in every oue do IOmethiDl towards rubbiaa
oft" the sbarp eclp or prejlldlce apiDst the ume of Swedellboll, and coucWatiac
&0 the man and the Iystem :
c. E.CJUJlUD C.R.uX BmDa.-We hann't heard a prettier piece of pathos ill a leme·
time than the burning of the (real ay!'" at the fire in Wllliamaburg on Saturday even-
IDI. The aviary contained eight hUDdred Canary birds, ad u rut as they were let free
thBfdarted .trai.ht into the air, but, ClUCiDated by the ,lare of the 8ames, hovered abo. .
them, and ODe by ODe dropped into and were oOQ8umed. by them. The appearance of
theM gold.eD-winpcl creatares, their pale plumap lighted up b, the tntenee ,!are of the
red lames, poiled modoDleu above the con4qration, or darting Iwiftl" like thoUlht. ill
the \'ain eadeavor to eecape the spell that mast destroy them, was fall of poetia interest, ..
well as a thrilling ladneu. In the diviDe laDl'1Iap of Swecleuboll, birds correapoad to
thoughts, aDd the l8~eral lQaemblance. which IUgest dlemeelves immedia~1, Jift
luoq coJoring of rationality to this beautiful analorr. As we saw theee birds wheeline
aboot tbe vast sea of buming air that lay beneath, or lying helpless and palpitating upoa
hs surface, we thouaht oCtbe myriads of bright human intellecta which, caugh\ in the
lufFocating atmosphere. and dazzled by the bumlDl'ftames of passion, ,Ieam for an iDStaDt'
ill the lurid !i.ht, and dart downward to quiok destruction."
j~U 11 J.. J I~"O