INCARNATION       Rev. C. TH. ODHNER       1898

IN celebrating the most sublime of all events in the history of mankind, the birth of our LORD and Saviour upon earth, it is important that we should bear in mind the glorious spiritual, celestial, and Divine realities concerning which we are taught in the internal sense of the Word in connection with the story of the Incarnation, and not remain merely in the historical or natural thought and worship of the infant who was born, now nearly nineteen hundred years ago. For it was the Word-which was in the beginning with God-which then became Flesh and dwelt among us. And this birth, this incarnation or advent of the LORD, did not only take place then, in the distant land of Palestine, but it is taking place even now, at this day, and in our own midst, whenever and wherever the Divine Truth of the Word is received anew by a regenerating man. Not that we would belittle the importance of the ultimate historical fact of the Incarnation itself, or teach that the Divine work of the Assumption and Glorification of the Human has not been accomplished and completed once and for all times. But the benefits of this universal Divine work of mercy are realized by the individual only in the course of his own regeneration. The LORD becomes incarnate to him only when the Divine Truth is conceived in his own mind and becomes flesh in his own life. We would, therefore, in the present discourse, call attention especially to the spiritual representation of some leading features, of the ever-cherished story concerning the birth of Jesus upon earth, in application to the internal history of the reception of the Word, by the Church in general and by the regenerating man, individually and in particular.
     MARY, THE VIRGIN.

     "In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary."-Luke i, 26, 27.
     The sixth month," preceding the seventh, signifies the fullness of time, just before the consummation and final judgment upon the former Church and the old unregenerate state of man.
     The "Angel Gabriel"-the "power of God"-is the annunciation or evangelization of the Divine Truth, descending from God out of Heaven.
     "Galilee"-the region of Canaan which was most remote from Jerusalem-represents the lowest or natural degree of the Word or of the human mind, and "Nazareth, a city of Galilee," ii the most external state of the Church, in general and in the individual. "Joseph" and "Mary" represent the household of the human mind, with its understanding and affection when in this external, natural state, just before the process of the new birth has begun.
     The woman of this future household was "a virgin named Mary," or Maria. This name means, literally, "Jehovah is my Master," for this virgin is the pure, innocent affection of the LORD'S Truth, which alone is active in the beginning of the regenerate life. This virgin was a bride, betrothed but not yet married. It is an affection longing for and prepared to receive the Divine Truth, but not yet conjoined with a rational understanding of that Truth, because the Truth itself had not yet been given.
     Unto this virgin the angel Gabriel appeared with the Divine announcement: "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shalt overshadow thee: therefore also the Holy who shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."-Luke i, 35.
     The affection of Truth is the only vessel able to receive the Word of God in the beginning with any degree of life. It is, as it were, a tender womb, within which the seed of Divine Truth may be conjoined with the ovum of the love of good or use, which here is the desire for eternal salvation. If this egg is lacking, if man possess not the longing for salvation, then the affection of Truth is not genuine, but barren. But if it exists within it, then when the Divine Truth comes to man, a spiritual conception takes place, the beginning of a new will, a new life, the embryo of an angel, is created.
     But this affection of truth must be virginal, it must have "known no man;" it must be free, inmostly, from any previous conjunction with merely human notions, prejudices, and conceits. In order to receive the Truth effectually man must be open and hungry for it, and not confirmed in the falsities of self-derived intelligence. Thus, also, it was necessary that Mary herself should have been a virgin; for if, at this time, she had been the wife of Joseph, the seed of man would have contaminated the Divine Seed; something of the soul of Joseph would have been added to the external human derived from Mary.

     JOSEPH.

     The man Joseph, of the house of David, to whom Mary was betrothed, represents, essentially, the same genius or form of mind as the Joseph of the Old Testament, the son of Jacob-that is, the spiritual genius, the Spiritual Church or Kingdom, as contrasted with the celestial genius and Kingdom.
     By this spiritual genius is understood such a man as does not intuitively perceive what is true, nor spontaneously incline to what is good, but who from birth inclines only to what is evil and false, yet is able to separate his understanding from the evil will, is able to comprehend truth rationally when presented from without, and is also able to compel himself to obey this truth in his life. Joseph, therefore, stands as the type of character most common in this world ever since the days of Noah, and it was to redeem and save this race of men that the LORD came down to earth. He came to save sinners, not saints; the spiritual, not the celestial.
     The Divine Truth is the only means by which the salvation of such spiritual men may be effected. They do not perceive this Truth from within, but must learn it by external means. They cannot, as it were, beget this Truth, but may, instead, adopt it in their life, as something essentially foreign to their own inclinations. Hence Joseph could not be the real father of Jesus, but could adopt the Divine Infant as his own child.
     Before the regeneration of such Joseph-men, or truth-alone-men, has begun, they do, indeed, possess a certain affection of truth; they may admire the Truth for its beauty, but are not yet conjoined with this affection in actual life. Mary was betrothed, but not yet married to Joseph. When new Divine Truth is first presented to man, his affection may, indeed, go out to it, his interest and delight may become excited, a conception takes place in his affection, but his natural rational is slow and hard, negative, and filled with fear and distrust. It does not instantly recognize the Divine origin of the Truth, but requires logical or ocular demonstration before it is convinced. Herein the spiritual man differs essentially from the celestial, whose speech is an instantaneous "yea, yea," to all Truth and "nay, nay," to all that is false.
     Joseph, or the spiritual man, was distrustful of the Truth, newly conceived by his affection. He looked upon it as being, probably, but another human theory and man-made notion, not yet proved by science and philosophy, and he was disposed, therefore, to put away Mary from himself, to separate this affection of the Truth from his mental household.
     But Joseph being "a just man," while "thinking on these things," was visited by the angel of the LORD in a dream, and his fears and doubts were dispelled. With the man who is still in a teachable and salvable condition there remains a certain degree of external uprightness and justice. He is willing to weigh all things fairly in his mind before deciding, and into this quality of justice the LORD is able to inflow with the perception which alone can convince. The spiritual man then perceives the Divine origin of the newly-conceived Truth, and with full confidence in this, his new perception, he takes "Mary unto himself;" he adopts as his own the Divine Truth which was first revealed to his affection alone.
     It is said that Joseph was "a carpenter," and this also is in agreement with his representation of the spiritual genius. For "wood" corresponds to the ultimate or natural good of life, and a "carpenter" is one who works in wood with tools of steel, or, spiritually, one who comes to the good of life only by means of the truth, by a laborious process of self-compulsion (Athanasian Creed, p. 25).

     BETHLEHEM.

     And Joseph, "being raised from his sleep, did as the an gel of the LORD had bidden him, and took unto him his' wife," yet knew her not until Jesus had been born. This represents the first state of conjunction between the understanding and the affection of truth in the spiritual man, a state of new life, resulting from obedience to the voice of the LORD. More interior progress may now take; place.
     A decree went out in those days that all the world should be taxed, and all went to be taxed, every one unto his own city. This universal taxation represents I the great judgment which was about to take place when the LORD came into the world at the consummation of the fallen Church; the judgment, also, which must be passed upon all the thoughts and affections of the natural proprium, when the Divine Truth has been received by man in faith and heart. Every one must be taxed in his own city-that is, according to his own doctrine and life. But the city of Joseph and Mary was the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, and thither they went up from Nazareth.
     The "city of David" is the Doctrine concerning the LORD, and also that state in which the LORD'S Divine Humanity is first recognized and acknowledged by the man who has taken the first steps in the life of actual repentance. And this city is known as Bethlehem- the "house of bread," by which is signified particularly the truth of good, the spiritual of the celestial, the new, more interior state of perception and life, resulting from obedience to the LORD. It is in this state that the LORD is born into man's life, as he was before conceived by the affection and acknowledged by the understanding. But when we say that the LORD was born in man, we mean that man is born anew in the LORD.

     THE BIRTH.

     "And Mary brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."
     The infinite and eternal God of Heaven and earth, descending as the Divine Truth itself, thus became incarnate in the human infant. Like a helpless babe, He was wrapped in swaddling clothes. As a human child He was willing to be instructed by others in the most simple, narrow, and rudimentary truths of religion, teachings accommodated to infantile simplicity, the swaddling-clothes of the human mind.
     And He was laid in "a manger." The omnipotent Monarch of the Universe suffered Himself to be received amongst the very humblest and poorest things of this the lowest and vilest of His earths. For he had come to save all men, even the most vile; He had come to take upon Himself our human inclinations to all evil, even the grossest. Hence, as Paul says," we have not a high priest who cannot be touched by the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. iv, 15). And "in that He Himself hath suffered, being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted" (Heb. ii, 10).
     "There was no room for Him in the inn." An "inn" represents the Church, where men are to be fed and refreshed by the food of spiritual life. But in the inn of the corrupted Church of the Jews there was no room for the Divine Truth itself, all space being preoccupied by human conceits and false dogmas, even as there is not, at this time, any room for the LORD in the "inn" of the fallen Christian Church, now that He has come again, as the Divine Truth itself in His glorified Human.
     But there was room for him in the rude manger of a humble stable. This "stable" is the Word of God in its simple, unadorned literal sense, and the manger of this stable is the Doctrine of Truth in the literal sense of the Word, out of which the mind is nourished with spiritual food, even as a horse is fed out of a manger.
     The LORD can be received only in what is His own with man. The internal sense of the Word can be received by man only in the corresponding external vessels of Truth, which man has learned from the Letter of the Scriptures. To illustrate: We learn first of all that the LORD JESUS CHRIST is the only Person in the God-head, that He alone is God, and that He is One, not two or three.

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This Doctrine is the "first born son of Mary," for it is the very beginning and corner-stone of the New Church when first established with man, and this internal Doctrine is first received, protected, and confirmed by that" manger" which we find in the Letter of the Word in such teachings as "1 and the Father are One," "He who sees Me sees the Father," "in Him dwelleth the fullness of the God-head bodily," etc. And the swaddling-clothes in which this new-born truth is wrapped, are the first very general and external ideas with which we surround this truth in the understanding.

     THE SHEPHERDS.

     "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night" (Luke ii, 8).
     These "shepherds," who were the first to hear the good tidings of great joy, represent the remains of good,-even as the "wise men from the East" represent the remains of truth-which from the earliest infancy have been stored up with man in the interiors of his natural man-seeds planted in the spring-time of life, impressions and recollections of infantile and youthful states of innocence and truth, early teachings and nearly-for-gotten experiences of affections toward the LORD and His Word, toward parents, teachers, and companions. These remains of good and truth, though long hidden during the self-seeking age of the adult life, before regeneration has begun, yet keep "watch in the night," acting in the place of the conscience which may be developed later on. Now that spiritual truth has been revealed to the rational understanding and the mature affection, these hidden remains are called forth, and are the first to hail the advent of the LORD in the new life of man. He recognizes that the new faith corresponds to and is confirmed by all the good and true which he recollects from his childhood. These buried seeds, like promises made long ago, now blossom forth into mature fulfillment, and through them, in the first joyous and holy states of the new life, man hears the angelic salutation: "Glory to God in the highest: on earth, peace: good will to men."
     As in the individual man, so also has it been in the history of the LORD'S Church in general. When a new Divine Revelation has been given it has been received, first, by the remnant in the old Church, then dying. Thus when the Church of the New Jerusalem was about to be established on earth, there were, among the very first of those who received the Heavenly Doctrines, certain shepherds or clergymen in the Old Church, though not of that Church, priests with whom there remained something of the pure faith and love of primitive Christianity-faithful pastors who kept watch over their flocks in the midnight of the Church. The history of the New Church has preserved the names of many such shepherds, who have heard the angelic voice in the night, and who have hastened to worship the glorious Man-Child in the manger of His Word.

     THE STAR IN THE EAST.

     Similar remains of good and of truth, and their opening and conjunction with the first states of the new, regenerate life, are represented by the aged Simeon and Hannah, who blessed the infant Jesus when He was brought into the temple to be circumcised; and such remains, especially remains of truth, are represented by the wise men of the East who came to worship the newborn King of the Jews.
     We are told in the Writings that these wise men came from Syria, in which land the knowledge and wisdom of the Ancient Church lingered longer than anywhere else. These Syrians had once possessed the Ancient Word, which, like the word of the Old Testament, was filled with distinct prophecies concerning the LORD'S advent to the earth. Hence in all the ancient mythologies of the Orient there are legends and traditions of the Saviour who was to come, and hence also Baalam, the Syrian wizard, possessed his knowledge of the LORD, as is seen in his prophecy: "I shall see Him, but not now; I shall behold Him, but not nigh; there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel" (Numb. xxiv, 17).
     Thus we see that there had been a prophetic knowledge in Syria even of the Star that was to appear at the time of the LORD'S Advent, the Star which to the wise men was a sign that the Redeemer had come, the hope and expectation of all the ancient ages.
     But in the internal sense of the Word, in its application to the individual man, the Star in the East is the knowledge or Doctrine of the LORD, which every man has learned in some form or other in his childhood.
This knowledge is chief among the remains of Truth, which have been stored up within him, and is that guiding light by which, especially, one is able to recognize and adore the LORD when He reveals Himself anew to the adult man.

     THE GIFTS OF THE WISE MEN.

     "And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him; and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts: gold, and frankincense, and myrrh" (Matth. ii, 11).
     These treasures offered to the LORD represent all the celestial, spiritual, and natural blessings with which the LORD gifts those who permit Him to enter into them, those who seek first His Kingdom and Righteousness. These blessings are actually contained in the remains of which we have spoken, even as a whole tree, nay, an entire garden, is contained, potentially, in a single seed. They require but to be "opened," and they are opened when man, from faith in the LORD and from love of His Truth, performs any act of sincere repentance. The regenerating man is then gifted with gold, frankincense, and myrrh gold is the good of lore toward the LORD; frankincense is the good of love to the neighbor, and myrrh is the good of use in the natural life.

     HEROD THE KING.

     Such, then, is a brief outline of the beginning of the regenerate life, as described in the internal sense of the Word. But this is only the beginning, the first state, a condition of delight and gratitude and exultation, like the joy of a bridegroom with the bride, or of the mother over her new-born infant. A long life of temptations and struggles lies yet before the man of the spiritual genius, a life of many sorrows, of anxiety and despair, before, at last, the self-hood gives up its life on the cross. The first of this long series of spiritual persecutions and temptations follows soon upon the birth of the new life, and is described by the fury and malice of Herod.
     This cruel usurper and tyrant was greatly troubled in his mind, when he heard of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, and he immediately sought to destroy the newborn king. Herod is the ruling love of the old proprium, the long-established dominion of Hell in the natural man, to whom the advent of the LORD was a source of unspeakable anxiety and murderous hatred.

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The love of self will not give up its dominion without a desperate struggle for the supremacy, and great is the cunning of Hell in weaving its plot.
     Herod first tried to deceive the wise men from the East, hypocritically pretending that he, too, was anxious to do homage to the royal child in Bethlehem. The infernal spirits do not, at first, offer any open violence to the Truth which man has recently accepted as Divine, but they try to ensnare him by offering their homage to this very Truth, by flattering his intelligence and mental superiority, by endeavoring, in a thousand ways, to pervert the truth by showing that it may be easily reconciled with his old, sensual affections.
     Such was the method adopted by the devil when tempting the LORD in the wilderness. All the kingdoms of the world and their glory were offered to JESUS -if He would but fall down and worship the self-hood of the human nature. The Scriptures were quoted by the devil to show his apparent agreement with the Truth.
     But Jesus said unto him: "Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt not tempt the LORD thy God." Thus the Divine Truth of the Letter of the Word was the city of His refuge.

      THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.

     The same is represented by the flight of Joseph, with Mary and the infant, into Egypt, for Egypt is here the ultimate or literal sense of the Word, in which the Divine Truth resides with its Omnipotence. When a man is in temptations, he is in the darkness of night; he cannot fight or overcome the evil lust, except by shunning it, fleeing from it as from eternal death
     He must arise in the night, and flee into Egypt, he must take refuge in the very ultimate commands of the LORD in the Letter of the Law. It will not do to stop in order to parley with Herod, to reason or argue with the devil. He who does so is lost; for his natural reason, as well as all else that is his own, agrees but too well with the voice of the serpent. His whole mind becomes inundated with the lust of evil. He can think of nothing else. The babes of Bethlehem who were of the same age with JESUS, that is, the young perceptions of truth which sprang into life together with the birth of the new faith-all these are taken away from him by the infernal spirits. He cannot remember any internal truths or reasons why he should not gratify his selfish impulses-except the one reason, that he must not, because the LORD has plainly forbidden it in the Law. There he is safe, for Herod has no power over Egypt.
     Here he must remain until "they are dead who sought the young child's life," until the evil has been recognized as evil, not only as a crime against the Divine Law, but as in itself a deadly, horrible, and hateful thing. When this is seen, then the evil spirits have no further power, for the time being, but are judged and cast into Hell. The temptation is then at an end, and man is free to return with the infant LORD into Canaan-return to the internal and spiritual state of the Church itself.
     Thus is completed the first-but only the first-cycle of his own Church History, or spiritual life, which is the life of the LORD in him.
NEED SUPPLIED 1898

NEED SUPPLIED       Editor       1898

"How can I get a brief but comprehensive view of the Swedenborgian belief?" This question meets a very satisfactory answer in A Brief View of the New Jerusalem, by the Rev. C. Th. Odhner, a little work which meets a want which intercourse with the world continually brings home to the Newchurchman. The booklet's merits are not to be measured by its size or price. (See advertisement on the last page.)     G. G. S.
REV. FRANK SEWALL ON "UNITY IN THE NEW CHURCH" 1898

REV. FRANK SEWALL ON "UNITY IN THE NEW CHURCH"       FRANK SEWALL       1898

THE EDITOR OF NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     As what you are pleased to call a "Correspondence" on the subject of "Unity in the New Church" began in the New Church Messenger with my article reviewing the action of the recent meeting of the Assembly, it might seem proper that any further communication from me on the subject should appear in the Messenger; but as the Editor of the Life has by special invitation opened its columns to a discussion of this subject I desire to reciprocate this friendly expression of interest by saying a law words in regard to what the Life in its October number lays down as the two absolutely essential conditions to any actual reunion between the Assembly and the Convention.
     You will allow me, I am sure, to waive for the present the matter still in abeyance, of the proposed name, "The General Church of the New Jerusalem," and for convenience merely to refer to the body represented by the Life as the "Assembly," in distinction from the "Convention."
     And before speaking of the two conditions to unity above referred to I wish to say a word about unity itself.
     Is not this too sacred and too vital an interest in the New Church for either party to play fast and loose with? One can easily understand how, as provocations occur, unfriendly feelings will arise, injuries become exaggerated and differences magnified, and that, steps more or less extreme will be taken in haste which it is afterward difficult to recall. This difficulty will arise more, probably, from the amour propre and the sense of injured right than from the vital principles actually involved when these are relieved of the element of partisan seal. Ought we not to consider the future effect of our confirming beyond recall, in these early days of the New Church, those tendencies to schism and sectarianism which must weaken and hinder the sincerest efforts for the advancement of the Church itself for years to come, and I make reconcilement ever more and more difficult for those who come after us? In other words, ought not either party, in taking a stand that is to divide the Church, to be very sure that the reasons for doing so are based upon essential principles clearly defined in the Writings of the Church? Must not these principles be so clearly defined that even the opposing party can see them, and shall be compelled to acknowledge that in ceasing to be governed by them they are in so far departing from the Church itself? Is it not a reflection upon the unity and compactness of the New Church doctrine itself to hold that there are in it "vital principles" which are in such contradiction that opposing parties may choose them as their respective reasons for disunion in the Church? Such things have been in the past, but can this be true of the New Church? To say that "charity unites" those who are in a multiplicity of truths, and so in a variety, as to faith, is admissible just so far as we do not make these varying truths the "vital principles" themselves of the Church. But to say that charity should make us overlook things that are vital to the existence of the Church itself is surely to destroy charity as well as faith.
     Are we not, therefore, driven to the conclusion that if the system of doctrine in the New Church is a unit the Church founded thereon must be a unit as to its essentials, and that, therefore, there cannot be, consistently with the above belief, a number of "general" churches in the New Church, mutually exclusive because based upon principles which antagonize each other.

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If the constitution of the priesthood is one of the vital things of the Church, then we cannot in one breath say that fidelity to the Doctrines compels us to take a certain stand even to seeing the Church rent asunder, and that others taking a different stand may, nevertheless, form another "general church" than ours. For if those others reject what is of vital significance, then they form no church at all, and no stretch of" charity" will cover over the fatal breach we have made when we have excluded them from the Church based upon these essentials. If, on the contrary, the principles on which we differ are not of vital importance, but are clearly defined in the Doctrines as those of subordinate significance, then there can, indeed, be many particular churches founded in these perfectly legitimate variations of usage and belief, and all may be united by the bonds of charity in a truly general church. Our inquiry, then, as to the possible restoration of unity in our New Church organization resolves itself into the simple question, "What are the truly vital principles of such organization, and how far are we all, or can we all, come into agreement about these principles?"
     One more precautionary word. If we are really seeking for unity rather than division, we will seek out and duly appreciate those things wherein we do already agree, and to matters wherein we differ we will attach no more of vital importance than we are absolutely compelled to by even the most liberal construction of the Writings.
     To consider now the two points on which, according to the Life, there must be agreement in order for the Assembly and the Convention to come into organic unity-the one is "Jurisdiction over the priesthood," the other the " Authority of the Writings." We will consider the latter first, because the other is or ought to be dependent on this. As to the "Authority of the Writings," if we are looking for unity really, can we not find abundant agreement on this point, not only in declarations of principles, but in the application of the principles to practice? It must be remembered that it is the authority of the. Writings that is the essential point, not the authority of your or my interpretation of the Writings. We have no right to allow the Church to be rent asunder by our private interpretations of the Writings, and by compelling others to accept these interpretations as authoritative, when, in the simple acknowledgment of the divine authority of the Writings, the Church is content to remain united.
     Now if we examine as to whether the Convention affords this one of the two essential grounds of unity, we cannot with any pretense to fairness deny that it does. The First Article of the Convention's Constitution is entitled "Name," and we know that a name properly means quality; and here the true quality of the Convention is to be learned; that is to say, we have no right to condemn a body as entertaining wrong principles when the opposite of these principles are declared in its fundamental instrument of organization.
     "Article I. Name. This Body shall be called the General Convention of the New Jerusalem in the United States of America, and shall consist of alt who acknowledge the Doctrines of the New Jerusalem as revealed by the LORD from the Word in the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, and who unite with this Body in performing the uses of the General Church."
     Is there anything here that justifies the separation of those who are sincere lovers and seekers of unity on the ground of insufficient recognition of the Authority of the Writings?
     If members of the Convention have been remiss in reading and studying the Doctrines; if they have blundered in applying them to practice; if they have apparently attached more importance to some than to others, this is a matter entirely apart from the Convention's own principles of organization. Few in any organization can claim to live up perfectly to the standard adopted. The great question is, Is the standard a correct one. And then comes the duty of the individual, both to try to live up to it according as he in freedom and rationality sees his duty defined in it, and also to co-operate with his fellow-members in arriving at the best possible understanding of it, and the fullest possible compliance with it. There is no justification of secession from the body on this ground until the body has deliberately and purposely lowered this its standard of faith in the authority of the Writings. Under this standard there must, of course, be a toleration of all the difference and variety which are the essential conditions of freedom and rationality in the members of the "General Church." What is accomplished in having this standard is the fact of a final appeal to the Writings for the ultimate decision of all questions wherein the Doctrines of the Church are involved.
     When now it comes to the second of the conditions of unity-the "jurisdiction over the priesthood"-this, as I have said, is a condition of unity dependent on the first-i. e., on the "Divine authority of the Writings." If the Writings do anywhere declare it to be essential to the order and good of the Church that there shall or shall not be a jurisdiction over the priesthood exercised by the whole Church body, then the Convention, according to its first Article, has already declared its acquiescence, and the Church has only in its best wisdom to find out, publish, and put in practice the teaching of the Writings. It does not require a second General Church to do this. A body of men in the Convention may conclude that they see this or that teaching in the Writings on this subject; they may be left in freedom to form a particular society, or association of societies, for carrying out the experiment of this form of organization, whether it be that of a prelacy, or that of the congregational order, but in so doing they are not forming a general Church of "all who acknowledge the divine authority of the Writings and desire to unite in performing the uses of a general Church," because there are many who do acknowledge the Writings and yet will not unite with them. And the mere claiming the title "general Church "-a title to which an older and larger body has prior right-does not add a particle to the "general" quality of a body that does not include a variety of species in itself as a genus, but is rather itself a particular species. In reality, the attitude of the Convention on the Priesthood is the only one consistent with a Church that is really a general Church and that acknowledges the authority of the Writings as above the authority of any sectional body of men in the Church. In Article V. "on the Priesthood or Ministry," it does not select or emphasize any accidental phase of the priestly office, but it contents itself with the wise policy of incorporating into its Constitution the very law or doctrine of Government laid down in the New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, in the chapter on "Ecclesiastical and Civil Government." If this is not large enough, how can anybody make it larger? If it is not correct enough, how can the Assembly or anybody make it more correct?

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     If the Convention does not act in accordance with the principles it has thus solemnly laid down as its ecclesiastical law, then surely it is not the part of an individual who is aggrieved by this delinquency, to run away, but rather to stay in the general Church and to make it so clear to the members generally that the practice in question is one in open violation of the law of the Church which is laid down in the Writings, that all must unite in the reform of such a feature. In adopting the chapter from the Heavenly Doctrine as the preamble of Article V of its Constitution the Convention shows unmistakably that it not only accepts the authority of the Doctrines theoretically, as in Article I, but as practically applying to its own legislation. In the actual constitution of the order of the ministry, in the sections that follow the preamble, this portion of the article was, as is well known, the work of the clergy acting in their' own council and with the light and guidance granted them in the performance of this duty of their office. The general body of the Church exercised its "jurisdiction " in adopting these rules furnished by the clergy themselves. These rules are all provisional rather than requisitive; they define various planes of use in the ministry which are recognized in the Convention, and they indicate the manner of bestowing this recognition on those desiring it. These sections may be altered at any time by the Convention-not so the preamble. The Convention may reject but it cannot alter that; and as long as it stands in the Constitution it means that nothing adopted in the sections shall be enacted in conscious violation of this law of the Heavenly Doctrines.
     As regards "jurisdiction over the priesthood" it seems to me that the Convention, in the closing section of Article V, disclaims any such jurisdiction over the priestly function considered in itself, and expressly confines its jurisdiction to the acts of a priest while serving as a minister of the Convention. It must be admitted that all members of any organized body are alike responsible to the law of that body-and so under its jurisdiction. But so soon as one severs his connection with the Convention the jurisdiction over him, whether as priest or layman, ceases, according to Section 5. What he may or may not do the Constitution does not presume further to say.
     It may be frankly admitted that the sections of Article V are experimental, and that they are shaped by the desire to meet existing conditions in the best manner practicable without violating in any way the principles of the Preamble. Other methods, other experiments might be made, so far as I can see, with the same recognition of the supreme law of the Writings, and not conflicting with those already in use.
     There does not seem apparent-in a word-any real necessity for a schism in the Church, between the "Assembly" and the "Convention," on the ground of the recognition of the priesthood. Varieties in the exercise of this office must come under the category of those ceremonials which are secondary importance as compared with that recognition of the office itself which is essential, since we must never as a Church cease to recognize the two great instrumentalities of the Divine government over men-the ministry of "that which is Divine" through the priesthood, and the ministry of that which is "just," through the civil government (Doct. Char.).
     As a principle we may safely say, "general laws for general bodies." Let the particulars be adopted and practiced according to particular circumstances and needs, and in all freedom and perfection; and let the government of the general Church be content in seeing that the particulars are not in violation of the general law and that they do not clash with and hinder one another. This will be a harmony of varieties in an organization vastly more efficient than any one of the parts could become by itself. It would be a unity in something more than sentiment: it would be that form of co-operation and mutually helpful activity which is the surest avenue of influx from heaven and of light to show the way to even more complete variety and more perfect unity. Whereas the exalting of particulars into the place of generals, the creating of a genus out of that which is only a species under a general, is what destroys the general use itself and renders any realization of a truly "general" Church of the New Jerusalem an impossibility in anything but an empty name. Let us together, in all good brotherhood, pray and strive that this be not the outcome with the New Church, in whose organization we are taking responsible part.
     FRANK SEWALL.

     REPLY.

     THE Life welcomes the foregoing communication, not only for its friendly frankness, but more because it encourages a growing hope for more cordial relations between the members of the two Church bodies concerned than have existed in the past. Nevertheless, as we have already indicated in our November issue, the argument does not seem to us consistent with that spirit of tolerance which we think is to be found in the letter when read between the lines. (The latter, however, was written before the November editorial had appeared.)
     In considering the various points presented by our correspondent, if we depart from his use of the term "Assembly" it is merely to avoid confirming the impression which seems to exist that this name applies to the whole Church of which the Assembly is really but a constituent body. The only convenient abbreviation for the whole ecclesiastical body which suggests itself to us is that of "General Church."
     Several of the propositions of the communication before us are self-evident. Among these may be included such statements as that unity is "too sacred and too vital an interest in the New Church for either party to play fast and loose with;" that to "overlook things that are vital to the existence of the Church itself is surely to destroy charity as well as faith;" that "if we are really seeking for unity rather than division we will seek out and duly appreciate those things wherein we do already agree, and to matters wherein we differ we will attach no more of vital importance than we are absolutely compelled to by even the most liberal construction of the Writings ;" that the private practice of members of the Convention "is a matter entirely apart from the Convention's own principle of organization ;" that wounded or aroused feelings ought not to be allowed to interfere with the unity of the Church; and finally-and especially-" we have no right to allow the Church to be rent asunder by our private interpretations of the Writings, and by compelling others to accept these interpretations as authoritative." Lest we fall short of equal explicitness we desire to state that we heartily indorse all the foregoing sentiments; though, as the sage "Bunsby" would say, the bearing of the said observations lies in the application of them.
     Our correspondent starts with a misconception of our position. He states that the Life in its October number laid down "two conditions as essential to actual reunion between the Assembly and the General Convention"-namely, agreement on these two points, "The Authority of the Writings" and "Jurisdiction over the Priesthood."

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Before going farther we desire to make it unmistakable that we neither quarrel with the Convention's official pronouncement on the subject of the Authority of the Writings, nor hold that any of our brethren are in any way bound, unless by conviction, to accept the views concerning the priesthood which obtain in the General Church of the New Jerusalem.
     Indeed the October editorial was written expressly to deprecate any such attitude of demand as is here attributed to us, and we think that its concluding paragraph makes that intention reasonably manifest; at least it is hard to see how it can be construed to advocate the opposite. As to the proposed reunion the editorial went no further than to say that before there could be the first step of approach between the two bodies entire freedom on both sides must be secured.
     Right here, in this matter of freedom, lies the real issue, and lies also our correspondent's failure to face the logic of the situation. He seems unable to see that freedom of action according to conviction is not and could not be secured to the General Church of the New Jerusalem under the Constitution of the Convention in its present form; that the issue is not one of agreement in belief but of freedom to live according to belief.
     Indeed, when it comes to the question before us he seems to grow obscure as to the practical bearing of freedom upon faith-namely, that by no source of authority whatever can freedom be denied to the understanding to receive, nor to the will and understanding conjoined, to apply to life, what has been received, and this, subject to no other pressure or dictate than an internal one. Thus, and thus only, is charity formed through faith. Were our correspondent clear on this point, as applied in this connection, he would not say that no one ought to take a stand which will result in division in the Church unless the reasons for so doing are based upon essential principles "so clearly defined [in the Writings] that even the opposing party can see them, and shall be compelled to acknowledge, that in ceasing to be governed by them they are in so far departing from the Church itself." (Italics ours.) This amounts to saying that one must not hold himself free to adopt distinctive views unless he convinces those who cannot, or will not, accept those views, that they believe falses. The paradox of this position is so apparent that we hardly know how to proceed against it as a serious argument.
     It would seem superfluous to remind our correspondent of teachings so familiar to him, as, that man cannot receive and appropriate truth except in freedom; that reception is according to affections, which are everywhere various, and that hence there must be varieties and even divergencies of belief, because of varying states of love in the Church; but that nevertheless in essentials the Church is one so long as charity prevails-not necessarily singleness of view. What is more characteristic of charity than to be willing for the neighbor to be free to believe and live according to his love? Where there is charity all doctrinals, even fallacious and false ones, are, as it were, softened, and can be bent to good; but where there is not charity, even true doctrinals are hard and lifeless, and may be used to destroy and kill. Therefore, it is not difference of doctrinals which really divides the Church, but lack of charity-that charity which is willing to leave the guidance of the neighbor's faith and life to the LORD and to conscience. This is not to be construed as indifference, or lack of discrimination, as to the form and quality of faith-a true conscience of charity would not permit that; only, that charity takes it for granted, other things being equal, that the neighbor is just as earnestly seeking light as oneself and therefore receiving just as much light as capacity permits. This imposes a restraint upon the impulse to urge upon him truth not accommodated to his state. The charitable thing to do is to leave him free to ultimate his charity in his own way, in company with those who are similar in faith. This may produce variety as to external organization, but it does not divide the Church, because in a broad but true sense charity unites all into one general brotherhood.

     "The Ancient Church which existed immediately after the flood, although dispersed over several kingdoms, was of such a character; so that they differed much from each other as to doctrinals, but yet they made charity the principal thing, and regarded worship not from the doctrinals of faith but from the charity of life which entered into it" (A. C. 1799).

     It was only when men turned away from charity that faith-alone so rose and dominated the Church that difference of belief came to be synonymous with enmity, producing conflict and persecution.
     The internal union of charity does not necessarily mean external union. The latter is to be determined by use, which is charity in form. To our wind it is very plain that diversity of organizations is not only not prejudicial to the Church but very beneficial, as leaving greater freedom for all to live out their own life, or form of good. What should bind all of one general faith together is, good-will and willingness to concede freedom to each and all. Therefore charity does not permit us to say, "Convince me that you are right or be condemned for a heretic and schismatic." We are taught that that is to be called "heresy" which denies the LORD, eternal life, and the Word, or contravenes the order founded on the decalogue, but other things are "doctrinals according to opinion" (A. C. 1884). Heresy does divide or rend the Church, not so "differences of doctrinals;" hence where there is no heresy there can be no schism.
     If, then, the views held by the General Church of the New Jerusalem as essential to the ultimating of their form of charity, are exempt from the stigma of heresy as defined in the Writings, and yet cannot lawfully be carried out under the provisions of the Constitution of the Convention, it is plain that that Church is vindicated from the charge of schism on the score of non-union with the Convention.
     In order to establish the fact, apparently not admitted by our correspondent, that the theory and form of the said Constitution would not permit of the carrying out, under its provisions, of the order and theory of government maintained by the members of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, let us make a brief statement of that order.
     "The priesthood is the first of the Church" (A. E. 229), hence whatever involves the priesthood involves the whole Church. According to the principles of the "General Church " the government of the Church is derived from, and administered by, the priesthood, but the priesthood is not in any sense whatever to be governed by the Church, for it is a Divinely-established function or office, the source and government of which is to be attributed to the LORD alone, Who, operating by revealed order, bestows upon that function the inherent right and power of self-government and self-perpetuation. In other words, the priesthood is the LORD'S office, and in the administration of its affairs true order permits of no other mediation then that of the LORD'S own ordaining-namely, that of His priests.

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Above the priests is His revealed Law; but as the administration of that Law is the function of the priests it is evident by what human instrumentality ecclesiastical government is to be effected and in what function it resides.
     The Church, as consisting of the people, does not determine anything of priestly order and administration-in other words, has no jurisdiction over the priesthood-because, as it has been put," The LORD does not provide for the existence of things divine among the Priests, or in the Priesthood, by the people; but 'He provides by the Priesthood for things Divine among the people.'" (Italics ours. See Doct. Char., n. 84.)
      It would seem self-evident, then, that any priesthood or priests believing in the foregoing principles, cannot submit to a contrary order consistently, nor without suffering a loss of such illustration in use, as is to be secured only in the free exercise of function. Nor can a body of laymen do the same who believe that only in the freedom of the priestly office can they receive the measure of enlightenment and leading which would be theirs if only the LORD'S Own order and method of leading man were to be followed. In other words, a Church that believes that there should be no human jurisdiction over the priesthood cannot submit itself to an order which does claim such jurisdiction, without departing from the way of being led by the LORD through conscience according to conviction,-that is, their conviction, according to which their conscience is formed.
     That the theory and order of government which obtains in the General Convention does claim for that body jurisdiction over the priesthood is well known; for not only is this formulated in the Constitution (Article V, Section 5), but that body has ever exercised and does exercise the prerogative of passing upon priestly matters by general vote whenever it sees fit. Our correspondent's claim that these rules are not requisitive is rather surprising, since it is so plain from the Convention's practice alone, not to mention the tenor of public utterances by its members, how that body interprets its own law in this respect, namely, consistently with the theory prevailing in Convention.
     Section 5, referred to, reads:
     A minister ordained by authority of the Convention, or one reporting to and acting under the rules of Convention, shall be considered a minister and member of the Convention and subject to its jurisdiction, until his connection therewith shall be severed by voluntary act on his part or by authority of the Convention.

     By Section 4, also, the sanction of the Convention is required for the investiture of the presiding officer of an association with the needful authority and rank. To this there would be no objection if the authority were exercised by the priesthood alone, and Associations were left free in every way; for it is the contention and belief of the aforesaid "General Church" that all such matters belong to the priesthood itself, the part of the Church being only that of acceptance or non-acceptance of the resulting administrative acts.
     With the order of the Convention referred to we have no quarrel in so far as it concerns those to whose understanding of the Doctrines it approves itself, and is not forced upon those who believe that the Doctrines prescribe differently. If the former believe that jurisdiction does inhere in the Church their right and duty not to violate their principles by relinquishing their order should be respected; and if that has not been done in the past repentance is in order. What we emphatically object to, however, is the demand that views which are opposed to that order shall be surrendered on the ground that their maintenance "divides the Church." As said before, no difference in doctrinals can divide the Church; it is unwillingness to concede freedom as to spiritual things and as to application of the same to life-as well as other violations of charity-which bring in schism and discord. To compel any one to convince others of the correctness of his views under penalty of relinquishing those views, would be a spiritual tyranny which happily at this day is as impossible as it would be destructive of spiritual life if it could be enforced. The very abhorrency of such an outcome of our correspondent's argument-logically pursued-is perhaps the reason he has been so oblivious of its trend.
     History itself testifies to the irreconcilability of the two orders in the continual unrest and conflict which marked the period of connection between the two bodies. Since the separation there has been lees disharmony than before, and more undivided attention to the respective uses of both. On the beneficial results of greater freedom to the" General Church" we need not dilate, but we feel safely within the limit when we say that there has probably never been a time when there was less desire than now to return to the old state of things, in which whatever independence the priesthood enjoyed was only suffered, not constitutionally authorized, making compromise the only modus vivendi. To return to that relation would be impossible; it would be retrogression, if not apostasy, from principles embraced, loved, and enjoyed as to their beneficent results. Of those who have experienced these last, we doubt if a single voice would be raised in favor of such a step.
     Our correspondent has spoken of "extreme steps, "taken in haste." We wish we could make him realize that the separation from the Convention, whatever may have been the appearance to those not taking part in it, was based avowedly and soberly on the issue we have outlined above, namely, conservation of freedom of the priesthood and of the Church derived therefrom. It would be unprofitable now to discuss with how much hope of success those who separated might have agitated for reform within the Body; the main question is, How would it have comported with charity to the majority, whose views, having been freely adopted with knowledge of the opposite position, derived from much ventilation and conflict, were entitled to that tolerance and regard for freedom in matters of belief which we have shown to be enjoined by the Writings?
     Much has been said in the communication as to the distinction between principles which are "vital" or "essential" and those which are not. "Vital" means what is of the life; and self-preservation is the first law of nature with all living things, whether men or Churches. The "General Church "is under the conviction, or persuasion, or whatever it may be called-that its existence depends upon its freedom to put in practice the principles of the New Church as it has been enabled to see them in the Writings. If the General body, which, as our correspondent says, claims to be guided by the Writings, does not find therein nor publish and put in practice principles so general as to permit of that freedom, then it is the plain duty of those not thus provided for, to protect the Divinely-given faculties of freedom and rationality with themselves in whatever way judgment and conscience dictate. No body of men can assume to tell any one what he must accept as "the teaching of the Writings," nor how he must "put it in practice."
     It seems proper to point out that if, as claimed, the attitude of the Convention toward the priestly office as manifested in the Constitution, Article V, Section 5, were indeed consistent with the breadth of the doctrine in the preamble to that article, there would never have been occasion for this discussion.

9


But we submit that the interpretation which has been given that doctrine by the sections referred to, does not leave room for that scope of interpretation and exercise which gives the body just claim to the title "General" in the sweeping and yet exclusive sense in which our correspondent seems to think lies its only proper use. Therefore the use of that descriptive term in the name " General Church of the New Jerusalem" is freed from the most invidious elements of the criticisms made against it. But, as was said, the matter of adoption of name is still in abeyance.
     In the effort to be explicit on the main issue, as we have conceived it, room has not been left to consider the letter in categorical detail, nor does it seem absolutely necessary. We anticipate that on second thought our correspondent will concede to the members of the "General Church of the New Jerusalem" not only the right, but the duty to maintain their independence, and that he will exonerate them from the opprobrium of schism, or of indifference to unity in the Church.
     In enlarging on what we regard as the chief obstacle to any serious consideration of the proposed reunion we do not wish to be understood as committed to any course, even should the unlikely happen and a change in the Constitution of Convention make discussion of the reunion possible. To build upon an assumption so gratuitous and improbable would be at least in questionable taste. But what we do consider as entirely feasible, and to be prayed for by every earnest and harmony-loving Newchurchman, is the cultivation of the spirit of unity, which is certainly of far greater importance than any external bond of connection. Nor is the latter absolutely essential to cordial and effective cooperation in general uses.
     The effect remaining from years of misunderstanding and estrangement, however, is not to be removed in a day, and many mental habits and attitudes would need to be abandoned in the light of a better knowledge and appreciation of those who, after all, should by rights be brethren. It is not easy, in the face of hostility and unacknowledged wrongs, to make advances, especially where their probable reception is a matter of doubt. But it does seem that at least a beginning could be made in the way of private cultivation of a willingness for the neighbor to enjoy not only fullest freedom in believing according to judgment and conscience, but also immunity from hard feelings on that account on the part of those who differ even strenuously. And of course in agreement with that attitude would come the spirit of wishing rather to understand the neighbor's position and to be just to him, than to ascribe heresy and worse, on the presumption that he is guilty until proved innocent. Confident that in proportion as the Church grows in such an internal direction she will also come into all the external unity which is called for by use, we heartily join our brother and correspondent in the prayer of his closing paragraph, in so for as it can be so interpreted as not to contradict the views just expressed.
     THE EDITOR OF NEW CHURCH LIFE.
GROWTH 1898

GROWTH       Editor       1898

GROWTH brings insight as to what "evangelism"-the distinctive use of the New Church-means. The "Good Tidings"-the Truth-is to be announced in ever new and more interior form to meet the needs of the Church itself. And yet those who love the missionary use draw comfort from the knowledge that internal growth eventually will react upon the external and greatly perfect and develop our missionary work.
FALL EPISCOPAL TOUR 1898

FALL EPISCOPAL TOUR       Various       1898

BISHOP Pendleton's recent episcopal visits to three of the leading centres of the General Church of the New Jerusalem are of interest not only because they are the first of the kind, but especially for the opportunity thus afforded for gathering together into one view the state and progress of the Church work and forming an estimate as to the vitality of the Church life thus represented. To the various members of the Church, not less valuable than the encouragement to be derived from the report of the tour, is the opportunity furnished to all, of a general coming into touch among the centres and members, and the resultant strengthening of an already well-established community of spirit-a spirit so necessary to all efficient Church work and progress.
     it is with pleasure, therefore, that the Life acknowledges its indebtedness to the voluntary correspondents who have furnished us with the following accounts of the visits, whereby their benefits may be extended and confirmed with those who experienced them, and be also communicated to others. For the stenographic notes which have enabled us to present the following full report of the Local Assembly in Chicago, we are especially indebted to Mr. Paul W. Vosburg. Summary reports from Berlin and Parkdale, the other centres visited, are presented in the news department.

     CHICAGO-GLENVIEW.

     BISHOP Pendleton arrived in Glenview on November 5th, and remained with us two weeks, making his first episcopal visit to the local Church here. The Bishop preached twice for the society, once in Glenview, and once in Chicago; and attended the doctrinal classes in both places. He also presided at several special meetings, a Local Assembly of the General Church, an Educational Assembly, the Meeting of Teachers of the school, the Council of the Society, and also at the meeting of a Musical Committee of the Society appointed to arrange for a sacred concert to be given here on the Sunday evening of the General Assembly, next June. Three general socials were given in honor of the Bishop, and whenever opportunity offered the members of the society sought his company in social intercourse and for instruction.

     A LOCAL ASSEMBLY.

     On Friday evening, November 12th, the members of the General Church of the New Jerusalem in this locality convened at the Club-Building in Glenview. After the opening Bishop Pendleton addressed them as follows:
     "This is a Local Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem-a meeting of the members and friends of that body in this vicinity. Early last spring certain ministers met and gave initial formation to a new body of the Church. Afterwards, in June, at Huntingdon Valley was held an Assembly, or the First General Assembly of this body. You remember that in that body it was discussed whether the one acting as Bishop should visit the different parts of the Church, and the expression of sentiment was in favor of it; but it was left for the Executive Committee to decide as to whether it could be carried out. Some time after the adjournment of the General Assembly the Executive Committee met and decided that it could be carried out, and I was so informed. I, therefore, immediately withdrew from the pastoral charge of the Congregation at Huntingdon Valley, and decided to devote myself to the work on the General Church, in addition to the work in which I have been engaged with the Theological School of the Academy.

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     "It occurred tome it would be useful, in going around, to call together the members of the General Church in Assembly in each place in order that matters relating to the general welfare of the Church might be discussed and considered; and such is the object of this calling together to-day. You will note that it is not a meeting of the Immanuel Church-that is, a meeting of the local body, but a local meeting of the General Church-that is, of the members of the General Church that are here. And so the subjects to consider to-night are not so much subjects that bear on the local interests, but on the general interests of the Church-such subjects as might be discussed in the general body itself.
     "It seems useful that there should be such Assemblies, that the Bishop of the Church should meet face to face the members as he goes around, not only individually, personally, and socially, but also in such a form as this, that those who are leading in the affairs of the Church may come in touch with the members, and so be acquainted with the state of the Church; and it is useful also for the members of the Church to be in touch with those who lead.
     "Freedom of speech is essential to the life of the Church. We are told in the Doctrines that this is a characteristic of the English nation by which there has been established in that nation freedom of thought; for where there is freedom of speech, freedom of thought is, at the same time, cultivated; and by virtue of that fact there is greater intellectual light in that nation, it having a place in the centre in the spiritual world. This is of great significance to us, and we should adjoin ourselves to that in the English nation which is commended in the Writings, as we are principally of that nation ourselves-that is, we are under the institutions that have made England what it is,-and so, while shunning that which is wrong-there are, of course, many things that are wrong in the English nation-but while doing that, seek that which is good and adjoin ourselves to it. Freedom of speech is a good, and is so spoken of in the Writings, and hence it is to be cultivated, having confidence that the members of the Church, being in freedom, will exercise self-control. The Church should be free that the members may control themselves. The spiritual man does not need to be controlled by others, but should be free, that he may govern himself; and the object of all teaching and leadership in the Church should be to lead men to govern themselves. If this be done, we need have no fear of disturbance arising from the abuse of freedom of speech. Of course, we well know that that freedom is abused very largely in the world, even in the 'noble English Nation,' as it is called in the Writings, but that is no reason why freedom of speech should be abolished. In the New Church we are to seek the use of a thing and shun its abuse. Hence it is important that freedom of speech should be cultivated and encouraged, as it contributes so greatly to liberty of thinking as well as liberty of action. I am folly convinced that if there be freedom of speech in public Assembly in the Church, the danger of disturbance will to a large extent be removed. If the members feel that they can come into public meeting and express their thought, or even express a grievance that they have, or fancy they have, under the forms of parliamentary law and parliamentary order, it seems to me the danger of disturbance will be reduced to a minimum; but if freedom of speech be suppressed, then the state will, undoubtedly, seek outlet in disorderly ways and lead to trouble and upheaval.
     "There are certain subjects that may be considered tonight, and I will read a list that have made, and you can select any subjects from this that you think would be of interest or useful to consider. We are not here to pass any resolutions or to do anything in the way of legislation, but merely to consider questions; and I invite free expression of sentiment or free asking of questions on any point that may come up. The form of organization that was proposed for the body last summer, which has not yet, however, been adopted, but which met with favorable reception, was that the Assembly should be an intermediate body for the use of discussing questions; but the actual carrying out, and considering for the sake of carrying out, to be left to the House of the Clergy or House of the Laity. This local body is related to the Assembly in that respect, not met for the purpose of carrying out but of considering questions, and perhaps arriving at conclusions, but no further than this.
     "I will propose the following questions for your consideration; (1) Organization of the General Body; (2) The Episcopal Office; (3) Support of the Uses of the General Church; (4) The Use of the General Assembly; (5) Importance of Attending the Meetings of the General Assembly; (6) Necessity of Revival of Spiritual Interest in our Church; (7) The True Aim in the Work of the Church; (8) Relation of this Body to the General Convention; and (9) Relation of the Social Life of the Church to the Social Life of the World."
     It was decided that the first question on the list, the "Organization of the General Body," be taken up.
     The Bishop: "The General Church is distinct from the General Assembly. The General Church is more far-reaching, includes all the members of the Church everywhere, and every person in it, all the societies or particular churches, and the whole working of the Church throughout the world; but the General Assembly is simply the coming together of the members, priests and laymen, once a year for the consideration of the uses of the Church. The organization of the General Church may be considered as one thing and the organization of the Assembly another. The organization of the Assembly is, perhaps, the point that is especially involved in this question. The organization of the General body extends throughout the local societies.
     "The organization proposed last summer was an organization of the Assembly itself. You will remember it was proposed to organize the Assembly into three parts, and I would be glad for you to consider that or ask any questions about it. We want to understand it. We decided to take no action. I strongly desired that no action might be taken in order to have more time to think about it. There was no decision-it was merely a proposition. I thought over it a great deal since that time, and have not reached any different conclusion. Some things in addition have come to me, but my con- elusion is about the same as it was then as to the propriety of that form-the Clergy organized in a body to I have charge of the ecclesiastical affairs of the Church, the entire priestly work; and the laity organized to have charge of the entire civil business of the body; each body to be independent of the other so far as any external control is concerned. But, in order to reach a common understanding-for we can do nothing in a Church or in any body without a common understanding-it was proposed that there he an intermediate body, called the Assembly, in which the members of the two bodies may come together, to constitute a kind of common forum or meeting ground, to consider questions before the Church.

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It is really a two-fold body-a body organized in two parts with an intermediate between them. The intermediate is not a working body, but simply an Assembly for consideration and discussion and arriving at conclusions, the carrying out to be `left to the two bodies. So that it may be said that it is a three-fold body, but, in reality, it is a two-fold body, but having an intermediate Assembly or forum, where all the members of the two bodies come together to consider whatever questions may be before the Church. The Assembly, differing from the other two bodies, will be public, which all of the members of the Church can attend. The meetings of the other two bodies will not be public in the same sense, but will be more like that of councils or committees. This, of course, may vary somewhat.
     "It would seem that such an arrangement would contribute greatly to the freedom of the Church. We have, as you know, two Houses of Congress, which are distinct and independent of each other, and a law cannot become a law until it is passed by both; but in very many cases it is necessary that there should be intermediation between those two houses by a Conference Committee. So in all legislative assemblies there is some method of intermediation. We could have between the two houses intermediation by joint committees, but it seemed well to have public discussion, and so to make this intermediation by public discussion in public Assembly, which all the members of the Church would feel free to attend. There also may be conference committees."
     After the Bishop's address nearly all of the members gave expression to their satisfaction with the work of the Assembly and their confidence in the government of the General Church and in its Bishop. The following remarks were stenographically taken down:
     Mr. Hugh L. Burnham: "I presume one of the objects of these meetings, like that of the General Assembly, is to consider some of the fundamental questions, like the organization of the Church, and that the Bishop desires to be informed as to the state of the members; and the members, also, to know from one another how we stand in view. That seems to be one of the most important uses of assembly. In the government that we have had in the Church of late we have known nothing about what was going on in the Church, and we have known nothing in any way that came with authority how each man felt. There was no proper time in which a man could make a free statement of his views. We could not tell whether we were a united body or whether we were a body of men each with a different view; and I think it is useful for each of us to express on so important a question how we look at it, in order to guide the governor of the Church in forming that government.
     "The LORD alone can see what a man truly is and as to whether he is a good man and truly performing the use or not; wherefore the LORD alone can govern with and from absolute knowledge. His is the government of freedom. Man is free even to go to hell until he reaches that point where the freedom of others requires that his own freedom be restrained. The celestial angels are little conscious of being governed, theirs being a state of nearly perfect freedom, while, on the other hand, the devils are most conscious of being governed, theirs being a state of restraint. Man is in a state intermediate, between the state of freedom and the state of restraint. Men have to form their ideas from appearances. We must not form a judgment of a person's internal condition, or whether he is a good or a bad man, but we are taught that we can or may form an opinion whether in the uses which one performs there is faithfulness or not. So we cannot absolutely know, but it is what we believe that we rest on. That is, we confide-it is really based on confidence. We confide in that in which we believe. So that while we find all government is for the sake of order, it is really for the sake of freedom, because freedom is only gained through order, and, as men must base their relations one towards another not upon what they absolutely know but what they believe of others, confidence is the basis of human government; and so long as we have confidence in the head of the Church and the government he has established, the work of the Church can go on, but as soon as that confidence is shaken, the work suffers, and when the confidence is destroyed, the work must cease, and nothing can be accomplished.
     "It might be that some would have confidence in nothing except a government that was in the form of a democracy. I can see how, in the Church, great use could be performed if that was the only way in which confidence could be established; and I can, also, see how, in a proper way, the highest uses could be performed by having a government where we could trust largely in the discretion of the head. But, at all events, I see that a body could not progress unless the government was one in which they had confidence, and I would like to say to you publicly, Bishop, that I have confidence in you, and in the illustration which you are in; and whatever you and those whom you choose shall determine upon as the form of government, I should have confidence in and be glad to work under; but I realize that, in order for you and those with whom you take counsel to determine what that government is, we must each express our attitude, and, if we could not, from our surroundings and education be free except under a very democratic form of government, modified, of course, by the teachings of the Writings, I would be willing to live under such a government as that in the Church. But I feel that in the Church we will soon come-if we are not already in that condition-into a state of government in which we rely largely upon the head and those that he selects to assist him in the performance of his uses. I would be rather inclined to that form of government than to the democratic form. I am opposed-unless it were absolutely necessary for the freedom of the Church- to having a body in which we should legislate certain fixed laws. I am in favor of our having meetings in which we know what the form of government is in order that we may conform to it. Those laws of government which are unenacted, but arise from the teachings of experience, ever prove the most valuable. That is what a custom is. There are two customs that have become inherent laws of our Church. We are taught by experience that, if they are not observed, the confidence of the members of the Church will be shaken. Those two things you indicated at the time the Church was organized and which you proposed to establish-that you proposed to have a council and assemblies. It has become so manifest to the members of the Church that these are absolutely necessary that if a Bishop were to undertake to govern the Church without council or without assemblies, confidence would very soon be destroyed.
     "The plan, as proposed by you at the General Assembly, from what I have heard and read of it, pleased me very much; but I think the greatest use of the Assembly is not so much that it is an intermediate body, as that it is a large council in which the officers of the Church can know the state of the people; because all government rests upon the consent of the governed, as it is stated, and, therefore, it rests upon the confidence of the people; and, if the people state what they confide in and believe in, then their governors can establish a government that is fitted to their genius.

12


If they see that the people under instructions can be led from a government that is not an orderly government to one that is more perfect, it can be more easily brought about by this common meeting ground.
     "The burden of my remarks is that I have confidence in the government which you are establishing and am willing to live under any form of government in the Church that you and those you counsel with shall decide to be fitted to the present needs of the Church.
     Mr. D. H. Klein: "There is a sentiment in regard to our form of government which has impressed me more than any other, namely, that it is a government of conscience. We read in the Arcana that there are three classes of men: dead men, spiritual men, and celestial men. The government of the dead man-the man who is spiritually dead-is a government of external restraints; the government of the spiritual man is a government of a good conscience; that of the celestial man is a government of perception which is only a higher form of conscience. What is delightful to me in our form of government is that all is put on the conscience of the people and of the governors. The Executive Committee is left free to act according to its conscience. The Clergy is left free to act according to conscience, and in that we have a form of government emulating that in Heaven.
     Mr. Orlando Blackman expressed himself as having confidence in the new form proposed, on account of its apparent propriety and rationality.
     The Bishop: "The rational is called the intermediate between the internal and the external, so that the form proposed seems to agree with the order of Heaven in that respect, since the rational degree of the mind is, intermediate between the spiritual and the natural, or between the internal and the external; and into the rational enters something of both. It is so with every true intermediate or with all intermediation between two that stand out in contrast with each other. And so it is with this. The members of the two bodies coming together constitute this intermediation. There has been a lack of intermediation in the past, and it seems to me that this lack of intermediation has been the cause of the disturbances we have had of late years. Without, intermediation there is no intelligent co-operation in use. The Lord Himself came into the world to establish intermediation between the Divine and man. We are told there is intermediation between the celestial and spiritual kingdoms by means of certain societies that are intermediate. So it is all the way through; you will find that intermediation is universal. You will remember that Joseph would have nothing to do with his brethren until they brought Benjamin. By Benjamin is signified the medium or intermediation. As soon as Benjamin was brought the anger of Joseph's countenance ceased toward his brethren, and he treated them kindly and as a brother. That was provided for the sake of the representation, that without intermediation there is no conjunction and can be no consociation.
     "I speak of the general law, and the proposed organization seems to agree with that law. I have been, however (since it is something of a new thing), very anxious for it to be fully considered, and if any defects in it should be seen by any one that these should be brought out. However, like everything that comes as something new, we can never be fully sure until it is tried. We have not the foresight of Providence, and can only see a very little way. There are things involved in our actions now that we do not see at all, but those who come after us will see them. That is true of all history. There are things done in the past recorded in history that involved innumerable consequences in after generations, which the parties who inaugurated them could see nothing of. So with this action it is impossible for us to see all that is involved in it. It may last only for a short time, or it may last a long time, and lead to very great expansion. I have labored hard in order to foresee what it might lead to, but it is impossible to see very much. It seems, however, as if it were worth a trial, and met a condition at this time. All we can do is to meet conditions as they arise, and, as you know, we are taught that the Divine Providence indicates itself in necessities. And there was a necessity that there should some plan be provided that would be instrumental in establishing two things in the Church-one is freedom and the other confidence, of which Mr. Burnham spoke. Freedom had not withdrawn from the Church, nor confidence. If they had been, I suppose they could not have been brought back; but there was a state of suspension. There was freedom; the ministers were to a large extent free in their work, free to teach the Doctrines, free to exercise their understanding and intelligence. So with the laymen; but still this freedom was pent up, it did not come out fully; there was a lack of free expression. But the freedom, which was in a state of constraint, was finally brought into exercise, as seen by the events of the past year.
     "And let us not forget that for the last twenty year., the Church, with us, has been in greater freedom than the New Church has ever yet experienced; and in greater rationality, for the two go together. We can see this manifestly in comparing the nature of our work with that which preceded. We can see this as a thing that has been given to the Academy from the LORD, and that we have not acquired of ourselves; and it was because this was threatened that the great disturbance came. The blessings we had received seemed to be in jeopardy, and it was necessary to make an effort to bring back that state, to connect ourselves with that which we had loved and believed in the past, and not to depart from it. The five ministers who met together last winter saw the great importance of establishing a continuity with the past, that we might become the heirs of the work that had been done in the Academy, and at the same time avoid too great a reaction; for when there is reaction there is a tendency to destroy that which has been received and acquired in the past. I feel thankful that we have been saved from extreme reaction.
     "But in order to bring back that which appeared to be lost-but really was not-it seemed to be necessary to provide some kind of organization that would tend to establish the state,-to bring out, strengthen, and confirm a state of liberty and rationality, and at the same time restore confidence, which had been so much impaired. It seemed as if the organization proposed would effect this.
     "A great deal has been said about the freedom of the high priest, bishop, or whatever the office may be called, and the Chancellor of the Academy announced the doctrine that this office must be free; and I sustained him in it, seeing that the principle of freedom was involved, and that, unless that office were free, the Church could not be free, and that by means of that office the Church could be made free. And I expected this would be done, but it was not done, and so the reaction was very great against the doctrine itself.

13


But it seemed clear to me that the freedom of the highest office in the Church might be preserved, and at the same time freedom be given to the Church throughout, so that all might be free together. There is no freedom without this. It will not do to Jay that one office or officer is free and the rest not. This is not freedom.
     "The natural man's idea of freedom is to suppress others in order that he may be free.
     "But this is not heavenly freedom, which is connected with the freedom of others and with the love of the freedom of others. There is no freedom in the Church unless it extends from the highest to the lowest office and throughout its entire working. It seemed to me that the form of organization proposed provided for this, and tended to remove the distrust, and the fear lest if the high priest be free he would abuse his office and take away the freedom of the Church. It was important that the Church, as a body, and the members of it, should at this juncture of the Church's progress and life, be brought to a realization that they are free, that they should as it were sensate it. This use was performed in the Assembly last summer, when that body was left to itself to do as it pleased.
     "Freedom cannot be taken away, because that would destroy the Church, but its operation may be for a time suspended. The appearance of the suspension of freedom became so great that it was necessary, as I said, that the Church should come to a sense and realization of its freedom in order to make it a new commencement.
     "This was the use the Assembly performed; and it is necessary to agree upon some form of organization at this time which will look toward perpetuating the true and genuine freedom of the Church, which is based, as was said by Mr. Klein, on the conscience of the people, a great truth that the Chancellor of the Academy brought out years ago, that the LORD governs man by his conscience of truth. And in order that there may be a conscience of truth, man must be taught and left in freedom according to reason."
     Mr. Charles F. Browne pointed out that it seems necessary for the government of the Church to be of a nature so flexible that while it meets present states and needs, it will also allow of development to meet future conditions, which quality he believed the proposed government possessed.
     Mr. Seymour Nelson called attention to the fact that before the recent General Assembly the Church had been undergoing a period of trial and suffering, which had' led many, at that gathering, to look for some preventive I of any similar ordeal recurring. But it was seen that I such a measure must interfere with the uses of the highest officer in the Church, and free and full assent was given that the Bishop's office should be left free. I Still, the laymen felt that there were some grounds for apprehension, in view of the past, and so it was with joy that they found that apprehension removed by the very office which had originally caused it; and no doubt only from that office could the clearing have come. And when it came it was full and satisfactory; it thoroughly established confidence in the leader and Bishop of the Church.
     Mr. Paul Synnestvedt expressed hope for the future of the Church, basing it upon the principles and plan of government presented by the Bishop's paper on the' subject-hope for unprecedented and unimagined progress, by reason of the greater freedom provided for freedom of the laity and clergy. He did not question the uses performed by the organizations of the past, but we should not regret their having gone and given place to something better.
     Pastor N. D. Pendleton: "I agree very fully with what the last speaker said about the feeling of hopefulness for the future, and believe that the new organization is far ahead of anything we have had in the past, I so far as a rational organization is concerned. I approve very highly of it, because I believe it was the result of a very strong desire to bring about the salvation of the Church-of the Academy, whose life was threatened- from what source we may differ somewhat. But that it was threatened all will agree, and that it was apparent that something had to be done to bring forth a new state, in which there should be greater freedom-not only a freedom talked about, but actually felt. I think we all saw that in the new organization a provision would be made that the Church might come into such freedom, so far as we, as men, could bring it about; but of course only the LORD can give true freedom."
     Messrs. Swain Nelson, John Forrest, Paul W. Vosburg, H. Maynard, and James Drinkwater all expressed approval of the new organization and confidence in Bishop Pendleton.
     Mr. Hugh Burnham recalled the remark Mr. Pitcairn made at the Assembly, last June, that we must have a flexible form of government, and must recognize that it is for the time being. We are prone to want to have things fixed and to think that they will stay fixed-to prepare a government that will take care of the future. The proposed form, now, for the first time, presents a form of government free from the idea of providing for the future.
     Bishop Pendleton: "It is most important to realize that we cannot legislate for those who come after-they must do that for themselves, under light given them from the LORD. The Divine Providence indicates itself by necessities that appear, and we must meet them at the time, in the best way we can. We must, therefore, expect that whatever we do that is right, or whatever form it takes that is true, must expand and grow, and perhaps in time change considerably. Organizations come under the head of those things that are said to be in the Writings about ceremonies, or like dress-they may be changed at pleasure, that is, according to judgment of needs. So that we must not consider that we are making anything hard and fast, that will last for all time as to its external form. Principle is eternal, but application is various-you might say multitudinous-according to conditions as they arise, and according to light that is given. It is important to realize that no one form of organization is right and all others wrong in themselves. They are things that apply and accommodate-they are accommodations to conditions that exist."
     Mr. Swain Nelson: "I believe that the same principles that we were taught in the Academy are continued in this new movement. I never experienced any higher delight than in the early days of the Academy, when we were in touch with each other, with warm affections. I admit that that affection grew somewhat cold toward the latter end of it, but I do not believe that this organization could have been established if the other had not preceded it; and I am very thankful to the LORD that it was my fortune to have been in that body."
     Bishop Pendleton: "We can never be too grateful to the LORD for what He has done for us by means of the Academy, and by the one who was leader of it. It transformed the Church, and tended more or less to transform our whole lives. As Mr. Nelson has said, what we have could never have come unless this had preceded.

14


Every state of life of the Church and of the individual is but a preparation for that which is to follow. This state is a preparation for something to come in the future, just as by means of the Academy the LORD was preparing us or this, and so will it be throughout all time, and also in heaven forever."

     The Social Life of the Church and of the World.

     Pastor Pendleton: "There has been concern in the minds of some, with regard to the social life of the Church, in relation to social life in the world, as to just what it would lead to. The conclusion arrived at, in the informal talks which we have had, was that there might be less rigidity in the external forms of restriction, but that the Church stood to-day as it had always done, for a distinct social life of its own; for the reason that social life is the plane of the conjugial, and that the conjugial is to be found only in marriages within the Church-that is, the marriage of two who are of the Church. That is the great reason for social life in the New Church; but there many others."
     The Bishop: "It is very clear that no Church can exist without having its own distinct social life, because, as was said, the central principle in it is marriage between two who are in the Church. But at the same time it has seemed to me that there would be a little less rigidity, more yielding in the external, than in the past. I think that is the tendency of our work in general-to establish a stronger internal and a more yielding external than heretofore. The firmness should be in the internal, of course putting on a rigid external wherever it may be necessary. For example, it is necessary for a drunkard to put on a rigid external, if he wishes to cease from being a drunkard; but for those of us who are not disposed to be drunkards it is not necessary.
     "That law extends, I think, throughout-that it is not necessary to have the whole force of our activities continually in sight, but to have strength in reserve, so that members may feel in freedom, and not feel-because they may appear to violate certain established customs with us-that they are going to be condemned on account of it."
     In reply to questions as to practical applications of the principle of concession in the external, Bishop Pendleton suggested that of old church relatives visiting among us. Circumstances may make it proper to welcome them. Coming among us in that way, in Providence, might result in use to them and to us-it might be a means of their being led to the Church. We do not need to feel afraid. A rigid external is a confession of weakness. It is stated in the Spiritual Diary that the strongest forms are those that are firm in the internal but yielding in the external. But if dependence for strength is put in the rigid external, leaving the internal weak, when that rigidity is broken through-as when the drunkard breaks his pledge-there is nothing left. He drew from this a lesson for application to the present-that now is the time to build up the internal of the Church, allowing externals-fine buildings and things like that-to come later. Now is the time to spend our money on uses. A powerful external will come later will be added to those who "seek first the Kingdom of God and His Justice"-that is, use.
      When asked whether it would be proper to invite individuals or a particular family. to a church entertainment in a given case, the Bishop said that the question would be for the local body concerned to determine according to the circumstances. In the general meetings principles were discussed rather than actual applications, which could be left to be decided upon. by those concerned as they actually occurred. The members of the Church are to be free to act according to their judgment, without feeling that they are going to be criticised if they do certain things that may not be exactly in accordance with established customs.
     Mr. Hugh L. Burnham said that mankind was prone to follow a rule once laid down, as though it were absolute; but he referred to his law experience as illustrating how principles laid down in certain cases-in which they were perfectly applicable-in other cases, if applied, would have worked injustice. Still, you could not put your finger on the point where they crossed the line and ceased to be applicable. So in the Church, what may be a wise provision in some particular case would, if always adhered to, lead to folly; yet if we try to determine for ourselves or for the Church just where it would cease to be wisdom and begin to be folly we would fail. We have to decide cases in the illustration of the moment and in the light of the surrounding circumstances.

     The Relation of the Assembly to Convention, or, "Unity in the New Church."

     During the ensuing discussion Bishop Pendleton said: "It seems to me the only unity possible at the present time-perhaps even that is not possible-would be a federation of general churches; for we cannot afford to give up our distinctive order and use for the sake of organic union with any other body. If there is a state of common acknowledgment of the LORD in His Second Coming and a state of charity to each other, there may be some general ground of unity or federation of some kind; but, until that comes about, the only thing we have to do is to go on with our work. In a union with the Convention under its present organization and practices we would not be free. I do not, myself, feel ready even to consider any general ground of union with the Convention until they are ready to change the nature of their organization in some important points; and then to look to a federation in most general uses, rather than to organic union. Convention gives every indication that they want to hold to their rules; and so we have nothing to do but to go ahead and do our work. In any relation that might be established we would have to be left just as free as we are now, in order to preserve the distinctiveness and integrity of our work."
     Mr. O. Blackman pointed out that the first requisite is, to complete our own organization, which, even as it now stands, is better adapted to our uses than anything Convention can offer.
     Bishop Pendleton: "It is gratifying and very encouraging to hear your expressions of confidence in the new organization, as well as in the one who is acting as the head. . . . I trust that each one of us, each member of the Church, will go on and keep himself and his own natural man under control, and if this be done we may look for great results in the future. That is all that is necessary-that we should cooperate with the LORD in His Own sphere and work. Self- control is the secret of human life, the secret of all progress and of all spiritual growth. When that is lost everything is lost, but if that is preserved-self-control in freedom according to reason-there is then a basis on - which a true internal Church can be built up with us. I thank you very much for coming here to-night, and for the expressions of confidence which you have given in this movement."
     The meeting closed by singing one of the Psalms.
          A.E.N.

15


CHURCH NEWS 1898

CHURCH NEWS       Various       1898

THE GENERAL CHURCH OP THE NEW JERUSALEM.

     BISHOP Pendleton returned to Huntingdon Valley from his episcopal tour, on Saturday, December 4th, and on the following Monday evening he gave a brief account of the same to the members of the Church here. He said that the state in the centres visited was peaceful and quiet, and that all seemed pleased with the new order of things and with the outlook for permanent growth in the "General Church." (See the report; from Chicago, on page 9, and from in and Parkdale, below.)
     Among other things, Mr. Pendleton spoke of a plan recently adopted in the local school at Glenview designed to bring about a fuller sympathy and co-operation between teachers and parents. The parents devote a certain time each day to assisting their' children in preparing their lessons. This not only helps the children, but shows the parents themselves what the teachers are working for, and brings them more fully into touch. He found the people looking forward eagerly to the General Assembly next June, for which they are already making plans. Their resources will be taxed, but they expect to be equal to the demand.
      In Berlin, Canada, where Mr. Pendleton spent one week, the question which had just been agitating the people was whether it would be useful for those holding Academy views to join the General Convention or the Canada Association. The sentiment in the Berlin Church was strongly in the negative, as, indeed, in the other centres visited.
      Mr. Pendleton spent nearly a week in Parkdale, with Mr. Hyatt's Society. The same subject was being discussed there, and during his stay Mr. Pendleton was called upon by a delegation of three gentlemen from Mr. Cleare's Society, including the Pastor, to discuss the feasibility of reuniting into one organization all the New Church elements in Canada. Mr. Pendleton and Mr. Hyatt pointed out obstacles to such a course, and the Interview closed without results.
      Bishop Pendleton did not visit Pittsburgh, although during a train-wait there, on his way to Chicago, he had a brief talk with Pastor Bostock, from whom he has since received a letter containing the good news that a local school is soon to be opened in that place. H. B. C.
      Huntingdon Valley.-THE series of sermons Pastor Synnestvedt has been preach lug on the Twenty-third Psalm was finished December 5th. The following Sunday (December 12th) Rev. C. T. Odhner preached a timely sermon on the Incarnation, which appears in this number of the Life, giving the representation and correspondence of the places, persons, and circumstances connected with the birth of the LORD.
      In the Doctrinal Class the general subject of man's co-operation in the determination of his Spiritual Associations has just been concluded, but the questions and interesting discussions which this subject calls forth has led to the consideration of kindred subjects of equal interest, as, for instance, the imaginary Heaven and the Lower Earth, and the distinction between them. From the numbers read it would seem that, in general, the imaginary heavens were com- posed of hypocritical evil spirits, who thrust down all who would not acknowledge them to be good, those being thus cast out forming the lower earth.
     Later, the subject of representations was considered, especially with reference to representing the LORD and His birth and resurrection. From the example of the angel teachers spoken of in Heaven and Hell (n. 335, also in A. C. 2299), and from other numbers cited, it was thought that representations and pictures may be of great use in teaching children, but that the greatest care should be taken in presenting the LORD Himself in the scenes or picture; and that in using Bible pictures the children should be impressed with the idea that pictures of the LORD are but crude, inadequate presentations, since no artist nor sculptor can depict Him as He really is.
     Pastor Synnestvedt has begun a series of informal lectures or talks on "Education" at the Club meetings Monday evenings. Having given a brief historical survey of education from ancient times to the present day, Mr. Synnestvedt is now treating of the methods of education and instruction used in the various civilized and enlightened nations of the world. Thus far he has briefly considered the methods and purposes of the Hindoos and the Chinese-mentioning specially Buddha, Laotsi, and Confucius,-of the Jews, their pride in being the chosen people, and their consequent close study of Hebrew-though the instruction of their children all tended to make them shrewd, chiefly in the acquisition of wealth. Lastly, the Greeks have been treated of, and the two diverse methods of education as shown in the two distinct types of Greeks-the Spartans who carried out the laws of Lycurgus; and the Athenians, who followed the laws of Solon. On this subject Mr. Synnestvedt read from Professor Mahaffy's work on Old Greek Education.
     Following the consideration of national characteristics with regard to education, Mr. Synnestvedt will take up more particularly the Writings and methods of such great educators as Comenius, Pestaloazi, Froebel, and others of more or less note.
     H.B.C.
     Chicago-Glenview.-Several interesting social events have occurred since our last notice.
     On Hallowe'en a "a sheet and pillowcase" party was given in the city, which was attended by a large delegation from Glenview. The mysterious gowns were carefully arranged so as to hide the identity of the wearers, and in this array a ceremonious grand march was executed through the hall, which had been especially decorated by the ladies. After several dances there was a general unmasking and a skurry to get back to the dress of civilization once more. Then followed more dancing, recitations, and refreshments, and the new month was ushered in with considerable jollity.
     Bishop Pendleton's visit gave occasion for social at Glenview on November 18th. The feature of the evening was a series of tableaux representing scenes from Moore's "Paradise and the Pen," the success of which was largely due to the discriminating advice and assistance of Mr. C. F. Browne. Thirteen scenes from the poem were presented. As each tableau was shown a reader behind the curtain read from the poem the line illustrating the particular scenes in question. The tableaux ended with a representation of the New Church supported on either side by Good and Truth.
     On Thanksgiving evening, as is the custom here, the people came together to have an evening of hearty enjoyment. A delightfully spontaneous meeting was the result. Each member was requested to bring his or her earliest photograph, and these were carefully placed on placards hung around the walls of the room. Then followed an animated guessing contest as to who were the originals of the photographs. This lasted for over an hour and created much merriment. A pretty prize was awarded to the most successful guesser. Songs, selections on the mandolin and guitar, an amusing and much-applauded trio by three young ladies, and dancing, closed a very happy evening.
     Middleport, Ohio.-THE annual meeting of this Society was held December 6th, at which Mr. J. S. Boggess presided. Every one present took advantage of the chairman a invitation for an individual expression of thought, and one and all expressed their sincere appreciation of Mr. Keep's services in the past two years, and signified in a substantial way their desire to have him continue his work among us.
     The subject of our local organization and relationship to the General Church was also discussed. The necessity of order and the proper relationship of the parts of the body with the whole under a common head was recognized, and the hope was expressed that in the near future we would see our way to unite with the General Church of the New Jerusalem.
     A noticeable feature, and one very gratifying to those present, was the harmony apparent throughout the meeting.
     On the evening of November 15th the society gave a birthday surprise party to Mr. Keep. Wine and refreshments were served, after which a toast to Mr. Keep was proposed, to which he replied by reading a number from A. C. and giving a short and instructive talk on the necessity of unanimity in individuals and in societies. The remainder of the evening was passed in pleasant social intercourse and games.
     H.
     Denver (Col.).-At a meeting of the Denver Church of the LORD'S Advent, held at the house of one of the members, on the evening of November 19th, 1897, it was decided by those present to make application for membership in the General Church of the New Jerusalem. It was also decided that the blank forms received, when signed, should be sent to the pastor, and by him forwarded to the Secretary of the General Church, accompanied by a statement expressive of the will of those sending the applications, to the effect that the applications were based upon the principles contained in Bishop Pendleton's paper published in the journal of the late Assembly, which those seeking membership earnestly hoped would become the final and settled principles of the Church. It was also declared as the sentiment and conviction of the meeting that government by the priesthood was the only orderly and true form of government for the New Church; and that democratic, congregational, or constitutional government was foreign to the expressed teachings of the Writings, and injurious to the internal and spiritual welfare of the Church. In joining the General Church now, instead of waiting until after action by the next General Assembly, those sending applications were influenced by a desire to place themselves in such an orderly and effective relation to the provisional General Church as would enable them as much as possible to throw their influence in the direction of government by the priesthood and against government of a democratic nature. Against the latter form of government those present seemed disposed to enter an earnest protest. The applications show a membership of twelve persons.
     RICHARD DE CHARMS.

16




     CANADA.

     Berlin-THE month of November stands out with us as one not soon to be forgotten, and the cause of such prominence is due to the visit we received in that month from our Bishop. It was a long-looked-for and much-needed visit. That every advantage was taken of it need not be stated. Father Pendleton arrived on November 20th and left us on the 27th. Every day afforded some opportunity of meeting with the Bishop. He preached for us on Sunday morning and in the evening met with the local School Board at the house of Mr. Rudolf Roschman, where matters relating to the welfare of the School were discussed and questions answered. The following day a delightful "At Home" was held at the house of Mr. Richard Roschman, where an opportunity was given for those few not already personally acquainted with the Bishop to become so; to most it was but a renewal of old acquaintanceship. In the course of the evening Mr. Pendleton made a few remarks of an encouraging nature. A visit to the school and an address to the children occupied most of Tuesday morning. In the evening an educational assembly was held. Mr. Pendleton explaining the object of the meeting spoke of the reorganization of the Academy and distinguished between I its uses and those of the General Church. He pointed out that New Church education, with us in the past, had not been a failure, but a success, but we hope to continue to improve. Much more that was interesting and instructive was spoken of, but space is limited. On Wednesday evening the Bishop dedicated the house of Mr. and Mrs. Rosenqvist in a short and simple, but impressive service. Thursday was Thanksgiving Day with us, and the visit of our Bishop afforded us an additional cause for thankfulness. The morning was occupied with a meeting of the teachers, at which Mr. Pendleton explained the object of the formation of the Teachers' Institute, and answered many questions relating to school work. In the evening a supper-social, daintily prepared by the ladies, was held in the school-house. After supper we adjourned to the large upper room, where a programme, prepared by Miss Annie Moir and your correspondent, was carried out with the assistance of some of the young people. Guitar and zither solos were notable features of the entertainment. Refreshments being served, we listened to a short address from Mr. Pendleton is a response to a toast to the school.
     Friday evening was set apart for a Local Assembly of the General Church. Mr. Pendleton pointed out the use of such meetings and their scope. He briefly recounted the causes which had led to the formation of a new body. It was announced at that time that it was founded on the principles formerly held. These, however, had to be accommodated to present conditions, thus involving a change of policy. The Church had come of late into a state of apathy. A revival has now begun, but the important thing at this time is the building up of the internal and being satisfied with simple externals. This meeting brought the Bishop's visit to an end, and we reluctantly bade him good-bye. We are now looking forward to his next visit. It needs little perception to see that the Church has suffered from lack of these visits in the past.
     During December the pastor has held, in place of the usual doctrinal class, an educational class, at which the subject considered has been the best means of contributing to the success of the School. On December 12th Mr. Rosenqvist visited Milverton, and your correspondent occupied the pulpit and preached a sermon on "Remains."
     E. J. S.

     Parkdale, Canada.-THE local school here was reopened in October, and Miss Zella Pendleton has been engaged to assist the pastor.
     Wednesday evening classes for the study of the Doctrines have been resumed, and we are studying the work on Divine Love and Wisdom. After the class singing practice is conducted by Mr. Charles Brown.
     Friday evening gatherings of the young people have also been inaugurated, devoted to instruction from the work on Conjugial Love, followed by social diversions.
     Bishop Pendleton reached here on Saturday, November 26th, and remained with us until the following Friday, presiding at worship on Sunday, and conducting meetings on Monday and Wednesday evenings. The first of these was called to consider General Church matters, and the second was an Educational Assembly, at which Academy School questions, past, present, and prospective, were dealt with. These meetings were attended by all, and many very interesting subjects were elucidated by the Bishop. He also favored us with his presence at three social gatherings.
     We feel that these visits mark the beginning of a new era of freedom in the Church, and hope they will be more frequent and of longer duration in the future.
W. E. C.

     LETTER FROM MR. BOWERS.

     Ohio.-I HAVE had the remarkable experience of preaching in Methodist meeting houses on the past three Sundays. It was arranged for me to do so, and the endeavor has been to make as good use of the opportunities as possible. At Vermillion, Sunday morning, November 21st, there was an attentive congregation of one hundred and fifty. Text was Psalm cxlv, 9-il. The minister invited me to come again. At Liberty Center, Sunday evening, November 28th, the audience was about one hundred and seventy-five. Text was John vi, 63. Two ministers present, both of whom at the close declared that they had enjoyed the sermon; and they wished me success in my work. At Hart's Grove, Ashtabula County, Sunday evening, December 6th, we had only thirty hearers, and no minister among them. Subject of discourse was: "The Spirit and Life of the Word."
     Probably some of those who at these services heard New Church doctrines for the first time, will eventually become devout believers in them. There may be some-a few-of the "simple," or those who are in "natural good," and can receive spiritual truth, in any community. The LORD alone knows who and where they are. Hence the need of general evangelization, according to the admonition: "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creatures (Mark xvi, 15).
     Since September 27th, missionary work has been done in thirty-five places in Indian; Ohio, and West Virginia. All the time was spent in Ohio, except about two weeks. And my work in this field is finished, for the present.
     J. B. BOWERS.
JUST PUBLISHED 1898

JUST PUBLISHED       Editor       1898

A Brief View of the Heavenly Doctrines
REVEALED IN THE THEOLOGICAL
     WRITINGS OF
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.
By C. THEOPHILUS ODHNER.

     This little book makes it possible for even the busy man to find time to inform himself on New Church belief. Concise and clear, it is yet wonderfully systematic and comprehensive, and answers just the questions likely to arise with the inquirer. The style is simple and living, and the appeal is both to reason and to faith in the Word,-which is quoted freely and with telling effect; Important features are, information as to where the external New Church may be found throughout Christendom, and in what books its teachings are to be obtained.
     The Appendix, "The Athanasian Creed," may also open the eyes of many to what their creeds do teach.

     In paper, 10 cts.; cloth, 25 cts. Postage, 3 cts.

     ACADEMY BOOK ROOM,
     Wallace Street, Philadelphia,
NOTES 1898

NOTES       Editor       1898


NEW CHURCH LIFE.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH.

TERMS:-One Dollar per annum, payable in advance.
FOUR SHILLINGS IN GREAT BRITIAN.

     Address all communications for publication to the Editor, the Rev. George G. Starkey, Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery Co., Pa.
     Address all business communications to Academy Book Boom, Carl Hj. Asplundh, Manager, No. 1821 Wallace Street, Philadelphia. Pa.
     Subscriptions also received through the following agents:
UNITED STATES.
     Chicago, Ill., Mr. A. E. Nelson, Chicago Agent of Academy Book Boom No 545 West Superior Street.
     Denver, Col., Mr. Geo. W. Tyler, Denver Agent of Academy Book Boom, No. 644 South Thirteenth Street.
CANADA.
     Toronto, Ont., Mr. B. Carswell, No. 47 Elm Grove.
     Waterloo, Mr. Rudolf Roschman.
GREAT BRITIAN.
     Mr. Wiebe Posthuma, Agent for Greet Britain, of Academy Book Boom, Burton Road, Brixton, London. S. W.

     CONTENTS.               PAGE
THE SERMON: The Incarnation     1
      A Need Supplied          4
COMMUNICATED: The Rev. F. Sewall on "Unity In
      the New Church,"     4
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM:
      The Fall Episcopal Tour     9
CHURCH NEWS:     15
BIRTH: MARRIAGE     15
JUST PUBLISHED: A Brief view of the New Jerusalem     16


17


THE present number introduces to our readers a contributor who is perhaps new to most of them, as to us. That his pages, "Notes on 'The Origin of Species,'" will command the attention of the thoughtful, we feel assured. It is to be regretted that limitations as to space prevent laying the argument before the reader in one number, unbroken.



     NOT evil, but use, should be the object of our contemplation, attention, and application. The self-examination which the Writings enjoin involves not the dwelling upon evil, but the protection of use from evil. The ability to direct the thought away from evil to use contributes effectively to establishing order and charity in the natural mind. The suggestion of evil comes from without the mind proper, either from the world or from the outer court called the memory, and it may hold the mind powerfully in the sphere of evil when it should be in the sphere of performance of use. This indicates ground for shunning the indulgence of remorse, of hatreds, or of any lusts thus excited from without- namely, the protection and fostering of use.



     To many of our subscribers the year just passed has been a momentous one, involving interests and ties the most important which can exist among men: for what is of greater importance to a man than the Church which affords him a spiritual home, affecting his very life, and growth. The events have been thoroughly recorded, and they are so associated with disturbance and pain that it would be perhaps hardly necessary or useful to recount them in detail. The prominent facts are that the burning question of the Two Churches has received a practical though unforeseen solution, and that in consequence most of the members of both the Church of the Academy and the General Church of the Advent of the LORD, now find congenial shelter under one roof afforded by the new body known as the General Church of the New Jerusalem. True the organization of this is as yet not completed or crystallized, but the indications all point to an early and happy solution of the problems especially relating to this practical step.



     OF exceeding great interest to all students of the Doctrines and lovers of the spiritual-rational things of the Church, must be the announcement of Mr. Gilbert Hawkes' completed "Topical, Analytical, and Synthetical Index to the Writings of Swedenborg." Judging from the author's article in the January Yew Church Review the work is intended to furnish a means not only for ready access to any desired passage or teaching, but; for analytical and comparative study of the whole system of New Church doctrine, in its particulars and in its entirety. How far this stupendous conception has been realized only examination of the work can even approximately show, but the author's reputation for ability, and as a loyal New Churchman, gives us right to hope for a work of at least great value to the Church.




     AN exhortation to duty as to cultivation of unity of fellowship among all worshipers of God, accompanied this year's account in the Messenger (Dec. 1st) of the joint Thanksgiving service of the Philadelphia First Society with the Unitarian and Jewish congregations. This called forth a protest (Dec. 29th) from the Rev. A. J. Cleare, on the ground that there is no basis for unity in worship where the idea concerning God is discordant. This again has elicited counter-protests (Jan. 12th) from Mr. John Czerny and the Rev. C. Hardon.
     Mr. Czerny quotes to show that the Church is the heart of the Gorand Man, and then asks if it is logical or according to order for the heart to "keep separate from those who constitute less vital parts, organs, or members." The illustration seems to illustrate adversely to the argument; for the bodily organs are all kept quite distinct from each other by their respective coverings (corresponding to doctrinals and other formal things), and communicate only by uses. The covering of each is adapted solely to the organ itself, and enables it to perform its part distinctly in the economy, of which it is thus made a useful member. Only by individualization of organic life is the common life preserved, even were the vastated Church still organically alive.



     IN the front rank of studies which not only charm but also develop and broaden the mind, history holds a conceded place; yet the Church is slow to see its most important and interior use, else she would not be so indifferent to the lack of a New Church history. Among the considerations which emphasize this need we would suggest: the love of the young for history and, narrative-when well-taught-which indicates an important means for centering their interest upon the things of the Church, and this applies to adults as well; also the fact that only in the light of the New Church can the internal of general history be uncovered, upon which external events in the New Church have a bearing, as also a relation to the internal descent of the New Jerusalem, well worth the tracing.
     As a step in the right direction we hail the publication of Professor Odhner's "Annals of the New Church," noticed en the last page. Although this is not a history it is a chronicle of events and other material out of which the future New Church history must in large measure be formed, furnishing abundant material of interest and value well worth the gathering by even the casual reader. Hence the publication should contribute to the fostering of a love for New Church history, and of a general sentiment, the growth, of which would itself fill the more internal need referred to, while it would be the surest guarantee of the development of a New Church science of history.

18


CONTENTMENT IN USE 1898

CONTENTMENT IN USE       Rev. HOMER SYNNESTVEDT       1898



     The Sermon.

     CONTENTMENT IN USE.

     A SERMON BY THE REV. HOMER SYNNESTVEDT.

     "Give us this day our daily bread."-Matt. vi, 11.

      "IT is spiritual and celestial bread which is meant, which is love" (3 Adv. 6903).
     "By give us to-day is meant that this food, namely, love and charity, with the truths and goods of faith, is given to angels every moment by the LORD-that is, every instant to eternity" (A. C. 2838).



     THE LORD'S Prayer contains within it more truths than man can draw out to all eternity, for as you penetrate interiorly, the prospect continually widens. It is a well of living waters, and the more you draw out of it the more there is to draw. At this time it is the intention to draw out teachings concerning that which takes away the love of uses, or the daily bread which comes down from heaven-namely, self-indulgence, and the accompanying discontent.
     Absence of occupation is not rest. The rest of heaven is accompanied by the most intense activity in uses of' love and mercy, wherein is their delight, and this is their daily bread. The LORD says, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." But what is the rest He promises? It follows in these words," Take My yoke upon you," for it is easy-to those who love it.
     The necessity of labor, or activity of some kind, is paramount. It is a condition of life, without which there will be death and disintegration. No organization can be kept intact without the activity of some use.
     Use, or more exactly, the love of use, is the bread for which we p ray every day. It is that which supports spiritual life and real happiness. Not only is it the bread of life of the angels, but even the hells cannot subsist without it, although hatred of use is what makes them to be in hell. For such is the omnipotence of Divine Order that those who will not obey its benign behests are compelled to do so by dire necessity.
     Listen to this teaching concerning food in the spiritual world, from the Spiritual Diary (n. 6088):
     "They eat and drink there as in the natural world, but all the food there is from a spiritual origin, wherefore it is not prepared, but is given daily. When it is time for dinner, and also for supper, there appears a table, with foods. . . and it disappears when they have dined or supped.
     "All men whatsoever are fed according to their functions. Moderators splendidly, with furnishings which cannot be described as to excellence-the rest less so, according to condition.
     "Obs. That to each one food is given according to the works which he performs. He who has, no function, business, and work, gets no food, but goes begging. I saw [former] magnates begging thus, because they were not willing to do any work-even illustrious women.
     "I saw magnates who in the world had lived splendidly, that were given only bread and milk, and when they complained that it was not more, it was said you have done no work, and to the lazy and those living in idleness, food is not given! Hence they were driven to perform some vile function so that they might be nourished. Moreover, they go to such as do labor, and eat with them, precariously, but this does not last long. Bread can be bought in certain places, but not food. The reason is that some wish to earn it by the works which they do, and because thus they do work, what they earn can be paid out for buying bread; but no buying is possible except with such as are good. In 1 such offices bread would come gratis.
     "In the hells, all are driven to work, and those who do not work get no food-neither garments nor bed. Thus they are driven to labors. The reason is that idleness is the root of all malice, for a mind in idleness is spread out into various evils and falses, but in labor [it] is held together to one thing.
     "Food cannot be preserved for the morrow. Worms breed in it, as in the manna. This is signified in the LORD'S prayer, "Give us our daily bread," and also that nothing of the paschal lamb, nor of the sacrifices, was laid by until the morrow.
     "Because food is from a spiritual origin and so in itself spiritual, and because spirits and angels are men, and gifted with a spiritual body, therefore such spiritual nourishment is of service to them. The spiritual man is therefore nourished spiritually, and the material man materially. Thus all things which appear in the spiritual world correspond to affections and to thoughts of the understanding thence, wherefore they have houses, palaces, clothes, fields, gardens, paradises, all of which are also from a spiritual origin. And a good affection, with a thought of the understanding of truth, cannot be given in idleness, but is dissipated: therefore food is not given otherwise than according to correspondences. And moreover, the works of those who are in hell have correspondence with heaven, but not the infernal spirits themselves, as was done with the Israelitish and Jewish nation, which, although evil, still notwithstanding, their representative worship corresponded (see H. D. 248).
     "Their food was seen as manifestly as similar food in our world; food of every kind, even with various delicacies. There are also table decorations which cannot be described in natural language."
     Consider also the teaching from n. 4648 of the Diary concerning those who live without use-concerning their hell, and the diseases which they induce:
     "There are those who do not live for the sake of any use, but who live for their own sakes; they care naught for public affairs, still less have they any delight in offices; but they are constrained to do them, in order that they may appear and may be able to be in office; but meanwhile all the delight they have is in company,-in eating and drinking, and in being honored. When they come into the other life, they cannot be received into heaven, because heaven is a kingdom of uses, and every one receives delight and blessedness according to the quantity and quality of use which he has acquired to himself in the life of the body. These in hell are deep down under the buttocks, and correspond to obstructions of the brain, about the conjunction of the suture in the top of the brain. I was obstructed for a whole night by them, and I perceived it was thence. I was as if I should die, unless liberated by the LORD. There are very many such at this day. In a word, every one receives delight and blessedness in the other life according to use, its quality and quantity; for the Kingdom of the LORD is a kingdom of uses: for heaven or the angels cannot inflow into those who are averse to all use for civil society, the country, the Church, and the LORD. Since it is the same in the civil state, or the Republic, that no one is tolerated unless he perform some use-how much more must it be so in the Kingdom of the LORD."
     Of course, we must not forget that there are activities springing from evil, as well as those springing from the love of use itself.

19


But paradoxical as it may seem, those who do uses for selfish ends really live to receive uses, and not to do them, and in the other world this is turned' into the love of idleness and self-indulgence. Such do not love their use for its own sake, and hence they afterwards perform it only under compulsion, lusting meanwhile for the gratification of their evil loves.
     If a man lets down his hands thinking that because he can do no good from himself, and therefore ought to wait for the spirit to move him, then he is not a subject into which the LORD can operate. He cannot inflow into any one who deprives himself of all that into which forces can be infused. "That man does not live from himself, is an eternal verity, yet if he did not appear to live from himself, he would never live at all" (A. C. 1712:2).
     Especially evident is the effect of the evil of indolence on the state of conjugial love, which goes pan passu with the state of the Church. As it is said in Conjugial Love, n. 209: "What have joys and deliciousnesses, and the derivative happiness, in common with idleness? By idleness the mind collapses, and is not expanded-that is, the man is deadened, and is not vivified." And in Heaven and Hell, n. 403: "Leisure is only for the sake of recreation, in order that one may return more lively to the activity of one's life."
     "The contrary happens to those who give themselves up to sloth and idleness. The mind of these persons is unlimited and unbounded, and hence the man admits into the whole of it everything vain and nonsensical which inflows from the world and the body. That there conjugial love is driven into exile, is evident; for from a stupid mind and a torpid body the whole man becomes insensible to every vital love, especially to conjugial love, whence as from a fountain issue the energies and alacrities of life" (C. L. 249:2).
     The world of spirits is badly infested by the great number coming from this world who devote their whole life to the pursuit of pleasure in one form or another, who make various social and other pleasures their end and aim in life, and regard uses, functions and offices only as means to that end. All men are said to be entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But those who are seeking for happiness in the way of uses of charity to others are seeking the happiness of heaven, but those who seek their own happiness through depriving others of theirs, are parasites, sapping the life of the body politic and giving nothing in return. Such are said to correspond to various pituita, or obstructing phlegms in the body, also to various poisons inducing lethargy and paralysis of all higher activities.
     Read in this connection what is said in Spiritual Diary, n. 2500, concerning those who are useless, because they love idleness. Also this in n. 2502: "They dull all the forces of acting. . . - They have been with me for some days, and have caused me such trouble in thinking and doing things serious, true and good - that I scarcely knew what I was doing. Such is the influx of such poisons when they are in a society of good spirits they induce on them a torpor in doing good. . - Thus the human race is especially seduced by these. . . Societies . . . are at last ensnared by that which they study, as by sweetness, for they live luxuriously, dress magnificently, enjoy only leisure, hate the laborious and those who are studious of truth and good. They are destroyers of the human race. For it is known that those who begin to indulge in idleness take from it the greatest sweetness, like beggars."
     Mention is also made (S. D. 3970) of those of an indeterminate character, who lust for everything, but can- not settle down to any particular thing. The understanding of such a one was represented by a black horse, lively as to the hinder parts, but wooden as to the head.
     There are also women who, from the love of ease and of dominion over their husbands, feign idleness and weakness. If we are to believe our physicians it is the yielding to such tendencies-usually unconscious at first-which leads to hysteria. It is a common and dangerous evil, especially as it is apt to grow unawares from a small beginning. It will lead to hell unless resisted, for it comes from there.
     There are those who give themselves up wholly to a life of ease and pleasure, and there are others who would like to, but cannot do so, for lack of means. All, however, do the same thing in spirit who lose their love for their uses, and this is indicated by their complaints about their burdens. Discontent with one's lot and an unwillingness to do that which in Providence is appointed for us to do, is the opposite of the love of use for its own sake; and hence it leads, in the other world-where freedom is given to each to ultimate his desires-to a rejection of all duties, and a yielding to a life of ease, and thus the ease-lover drifts into the region of the hells, where hard things await him, before he can he vastated.
     To give this teaching against self-indulgence and self-sympathy, so necessary to the prosperity and contentment of each one, is nevertheless fraught with a great danger. Not only may those whose tendency is to overwork take these statements of the Doctrines as an excuse for their folly, but as we know, the natural man, while he inclines to sympathize with himself, is at the same time very unwilling to sympathize with his neighbor, and hence there is hardly a man whose natural instinct will not lead him at first to mentally apply this teaching to some one else, and thus increase the very evil state of mind or discontent which it is aimed to counteract. Our ideal should always be to put the natural man-our selfish part-under the control of our rational man, or charitable part; and to do this requires of us these two things: First, not to sympathize unduly with ourselves; and, second, to try to sympathize with others.
     Suppose we are energetic and active in the performance of good works, but quite contemptuous and impatient of those who do less? Is it not often a sign that our good is meritorious, that it has self and pride in it? "But he who does not place merit in his works does what pertains to his office for duty's sake. In this there lies hidden the fear of God and also the common love; but' in the former is the love of self and of the world" (S. D. 6075).
     But he who is self-indulgent is guilty of a double crime-first, against himself, since he undermines the state of contentment in his own mind, and furnishes a sickening, soft-pillowed seraglio for the devil and his imps; and, second, against the neighbor, because he not only makes himself a centre of evil influence in the world, but also denies access into the house of his mind to the angels, who are nevertheless entitled to an abode there. 'Furthermore, one of the evil effects of self-sympathy is that it prevents in its own degree the useful exercise of the sympathy of others; for self-sympathy is, in its quality, like all evil-essentially absorptive-unresponsive; and thus it injures love by not properly returning it. All charity is essentially reciprocal-it cannot conjoin itself except with that which returns it.
     It takes two to bring charity into effect and make it really mutual love. It can and must exist with each one potentially, but it requires contact with others who 'also have it potentially, to make it efficient.

20


Otherwise it is like pouring water into a sieve, or putting money into a pocket with a hole in the bottom of it. Indeed, it is even worse than that, for the more you put into it the more greedy it becomes for more.
     A very common evil this, and one which grows unawares to dangerous proportions. Indeed, it seems to be quite customary for people to enlarge frequently upon their troubles, their ills, their hardships, and how much they have to do. Some, indeed, are deserving of sympathy, but these are most apt to be the ones who complain the least, and are realty in the least discontented state of mind. Going about their work cheerfully, courageously, and energetically, their crosses become really lighter, and their strength is greatly increased. There is but one relief for discontent and a complaining state, with its consequent unhappiness, and that is to be found in work-in duties appreciated and loved, as the indications of the all-wise Providence lay them upon us-not as we imagine we should like to have them.
     "From experience it was made known that idleness is the devil's pillow-that idleness is like a sponge, which attracts dirty waters of various kinds; because he who is in idleness speaks and thence thinks about all things in the world, pure and impure, and the devil takes thence of all the impure, because man inclines to these, nor is there anything which repels. The love of uses alone repels, for it contains the mind in its delight, thus it regards the rest as outside of itself" (S. D. 6072).
     It would be hard to overestimate the necessities of duties-unavoidable ones. These are the LORD'S yoke,' and it is a yoke of love. We must take up our cross if we would follow Him, Who suffered before us, and Who beareth the burdens of us all. "For My yoke is easy, and My burden light." It is a burden of love, and the yoke which appears to bind us, and which sometimes galls our necks, is really put there to hold our lusts in check. Blessed be the bonds of duty; they are the Heavenly Father's leading strings; the reins of His gentle and all-wise government. And especially beneficent are those which cannot be thrown off at will-as those which devolve upon married partners toward each other, and toward their children. Those who, through the possession of wealth or power, are able to throw off any and all responsibilities, and who do so, are indeed unfortunate. Such as these, and also those who hold sinecures, are usually less happy, and do more complaining,' than those who have to work hard, and hence have little time for complaints. Their work itself, and its heavenly sphere, keeps the doors closed upon all the various selfish desires which rush in upon a person of leisure. What would ever become of us if gratification followed every desire and success crowned every endeavor of our untamed will? Would there be any limit this side Gehenna? I trow not.
     Every one owes to the world the best that he is capable of producing, and leisure is only useful so far as it promotes his usefulness.
     It is difficult to cultivate a cheerful and contented mind when physically debarred from work, but this is a far less miserable state than to be able, even compelled, to work, and still be discontented with it. Indeed, as we know, the love of uses can exist and form a basis for the heavenly influx, even if it goes no further than will or intention, though of course it is a disadvantage not to be able to fully ultimate this love, the general law being that loves must go forth into ultimates in order to be properly developed. Love which lacks ultimations in uses in which it may expand itself and develop its life is like a plant in too small a flower-pot, or like a man in a prison cell, who for lack of exercise grows thin and pale. Nevertheless a stunted growth is better than none, and transplanting to the other life will remove such limitations and disabilities as are not of the will or intention; for if our hearts are truly willing, the LORD can feed us day by day with the bread of heaven, and we shall never know hunger again.- Amen.
DISEASES OF THE FIBRES 1898

DISEASES OF THE FIBRES       Editor       1898

(Chapter XI, continued.)

     HYSTERIA.

     497. HYSTERIA also is related to melancholia, for it is a suffocation of the womb and its ducts, which lead into the cerebrum and its pia and dura mater. Thus a parallelism may be instituted between this disease and hypochondriasis. Hence there is a certain sharp pain felt in the pericranium, which is called CLAVUS HYSUERICUS.
     498. Frequent ducts of communication go between the womb and the brain and its meninges; this is concluded, not only from the fabric of that viscus, but also from the sufferings of the pregnant, from the vegetation and nutrition of the embryos, from the influx of the maternal imagination into the little body of the infant, from the erection of the Fallopian tubes and fimbrii, from the state of the ovaries, and from retained menses, and many other phenomena.
     499. The passage which leads toward the dura mater, and at the same time toward the pericranium, is close to the periostea, through the tunica vaginalis of the spinal marrow in the direction of the great foramen of the occiput, and from thence into each perisoteum-that is to say, into the external or pericranium, and into the internal or dura mater. That this is, as it were, the royal passage of a certain humor, which is finally exhaled, or goes into small fibres, will be demonstrated in its place by many things. Consequently the circulation mentioned ceases in the stifled womb, and in its ligaments, tendons, and connections with the bones and periostea, which may happen after bringing forth, from complicated causes of the body and animus, whence the effect on the pericranium, from which clavue arises, and on the dura mater, from which difficulty of respiring, mute pain, and anxiety arise.

     MANIA.

     500. Mania is the ultimate of melancholia, for the blood of a maniac is very hard, almost insoluble, rough, livid, the black cohering in a bad manner with heterogeneous particles, the germinal globules float in a thin scum, it is not born but dies, thus it abounds in, as it were, bile and bitterness. The purer blood, whose globules are naturally elastic, divisible, flexible, and yielding, is similarly tenacious, cohering, not readily yielding, fibrous, thus by its nature not acting except a stronger impulse, be cause not passive; hardness, indeed, as in the red blood, cannot be attributed to it, but tenacity, which is its hardness respectively to the nature of its very great flexibility. Thus in maniacs the red blood is radically sick; or he composite derives its nature from the quality of the component parts.
     501. As is the blood, such is the ARTERY, for the tunic accommodates itself entirely to the nature of the blood; consequently that also is somewhat hard, and still more so the smallest or capillary vessel, which is nearest the cortex; to it inheres the blood indocile to act passively (pati), drawn to one side, not movable to this side and that, it sits immovable except by force and a stronger compression; the common arteries or little trunks become blocked up and turgid with a similar blood.

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Similarly the FIBRES, which are stopped up with the purer blood or tenacious animal spirit. The cortical GLAND between the arteriole and the mediate fibre cannot but be obsessed with a similar substance as in the case of the fibres, wherefore the fibres also become rigid, or strenuously resist changes, and scarcely respire, nor do they respire except with difficulty and slowness. That such is the state of the cerebrum the inspection of cadavers shows, for the cerebrum of maniacs appears to be dry, bard, friable, yellow in its cortex, the vessels turgid, varicose, and distended with a black, tenacious blood. (See Boerhaave in the Aphorisms on Mania, n. 1121.) There must also be a similar state of the arachnoid fluid, as also that of the thoracic duct which gives a share of the purer blood, whence the common friability.
     502.     The causes of the breaking forth of melancholia into hysteria are all those before mentioned under the head of melancholia, but exasperated to the highest degree; that is to say, there are causes in the Mood, there are causes in the animus, and finally there are also causes in the mind. The causes in the mind produce those in the animus, and the causes in the animus produce those in the blood; but the causes in the blood excite those in the animus, and these excite those in the mind, so that superiors are the producers [genitrices] of inferiors, and inferiors are the exciters [excitatrice.] of superiors.
     503.     The proximate cause of madness in maniacs is judged from the state of the bloods, arteries, fibres, cortical substances, in a word, from the state of the brain, that is to say, that the cortex, in which the soul actuates its rational mind, remains almost immutable without winking at passing objects, thus in one idea of thought, whence the horrible imaginations and lycanthropy [hallucination that one is a wolf; wolfishness]. For the cortical glands are most exquisitely sensitive, for they are at the same time the internal sensory, according to every cause and variety of forces and forms, which inflow; they undergo an accidental change of state, or are affected according to every nature of the traversing fluid. (Compare above, n. 478, 479.) For whatever is not changed in accordance with the invading forces, that neither feels nor consequently perceives the form, harmony, and disharmony of these, but acts entirely according to the idea impressed, whether it agree or disagree, and consequently acts insanely.
     504.     Hence also the strength and muscularity of the insane is increased, because the parts of each blood are not smooth and equally round, but sharp, rough, surrounded with sharp-pointed elements, or with sulphurous and volatile resinous substances; for that which is hard and tenacious does not dissipate the angular substances so closely adherent, which flow round about in abundance; thus spikelets abound everywhere. Consequently the blood globules prick the arteries, fibres, and especially the tender and sensitive parietes of the cortex until they puncture, penetrate, ulcerate, and lacerate them, whence sickness of the most severe form is excited' and even insanity is 'brought about, and not sensible as a pain in the body, but as in the mind, motion and heat and persistent wakefulness.
     504 1/2. But these are the causes of insanity not, however, of mania; for insanity is of the mind, but madness of the animus, but to act the maniac is of both; we may be insane and yet not be mad, and we may be mad and not be insane; they may be separate and they may be conjoined; to be insane is to think, judge, and will perversely; but to be mad is to imagine to oneself horrible things, and to greatly desire unnatural thing, or to act contrary to all order and laws of nature without any fear and horror. Although these diseases may be distinct in themselves, nevertheless not every one perceives them as distinct. Insanity is judged from the state of the cortical substances, but mania from that of the whole cerebrum; hence it must be known what properly supports changes [ferat] the states of the cortical substances, and what properly the states of the cerebrum. What properly changes the states of the cerebrum is the situation, fluxion, and connection of the cortical substances, of the fibres and of the vessels, whence are form and figure. That in maniacs the state of the cerebrum is perverted, manifestly appears from the tenor of the same causes. For the arterioles and fibres themselves so turgid and constipated with clot [cruor] contract themselves and become shorter. The cortical glands themselves suspended in the midst between their arterioles and fibres are separated from their natural situation and connection with the neighboring parts; thus the harmony of consociation perishes, and consequently the mutual regard between the principal parts; thus the state of the cerebrum is perverted and the animus is affected, hence there is madness together with insanity, or mania.
     505.     When the red blood adheres in its vessels, and the white and purer blood in its fibres and in the cortical glands, the cerebrum labors hard with mighty effort and with all its forces to dislodge that which obstructs; for it increases its vital principles [animas] according to the amount of the resistance. The result is that immense strength is given to the muscles; for such as is the acting force of the cerebrum, such is the power of the muscles depending upon those fibres or forces. The rule is, that whatsoever state is put on from the cortical substances, a similar one is diffused into the fibres continuous with them, consequently into the whole system connected by fibres and blood-vessels. (Compare Treatise II, n. 202.) That robustness, boldness, courageousness, hardness, therefore, is noticed in the single members, in the motion of the viscera, yea in the senses and in the speech itself, and the articulation of sounds.
     506.     Maniacal diseases may be divided into their own genera and species, for these are as many as there are subjects or brains. There are as many genera as there are natures of the blood, states of the cortical substances in themselves and with respect to the connection with their arteries and fibres, and as many as are the states of the cerebrum or the natural inclinations. There are, however, as many species as there are determinations to this rather than to that passion of the animus; for there are determinations either to anger or to revenge or to sadness or to love or to pride or to many at the same time. But in particular the determinations are to this or that species of anger, revenge, sadness, love, and so forth.

     INSANITY.

     507.     Insanity and mania are to be properly distinguished. Insanity is of the mind, madness is of the animus, and to act maniacally is of both. Insanity is a perverted state of the cortical substances, but mania is a perverted state of the whole brain (compare n. 504). There is almost no one among mortals who is not insane in his own way; he is so far sane and wise who worships God-thrice the most excellent and greatest-and aspires by faith to eternal beatitude; he is most wise who has not respect to this beatitude itself except as a consequent, but to the glory of the Divinity as the principal.

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From this description of wisdom it appears what lesser or greater insanity is, for it has its minimum and its maximum, consequently it has degrees, which are known as to quality and quantity from the ends which the mind views and follows; the farther the ends depart or withdraw from the most universal and the one end, the greater is the degree of insanity, and it is greatest if they oppose it diametrically. Finally, it is by wisdom, that is, by the Divine, from a universal beginning and end.
     508.     But this insanity is not properly called insanity; because it is universal and is believed to be properly human-and indeed of its own nature-that the world calls those insane who are not insane. But, medically speaking, the insane are those who act contrary to accepted decorum, the customs of society, or still more those who act contrary to acknowledged truths, and obstinately defend their own opinion against the judgments of a sound mind, and pursues it to the contempt and ridicule of the vulgar-that is to say, he who, delirious and frivolous in mind, exposes himself to public derision. Such insanity is a perverted state of the rational mind, consequently of the cortical substances in the brain. It arises from different causes-that is to say, from causes above self, from causes below self, and from causes without and within self; but it would be' prolix to give the singular origins, species, and effects, which do not regard pathology but psychology. Pathology does not go beyond the red blood and the purer blood, or beyond the body and the animus, and scarcely to this extent, except in conjunction with causes in the red blood and in the body. That alone which is insanity of the mind is the interior and superior cause of sicknesses of the animus, and delirium of the animus is the superior cause of diseases of the body.
SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS 1898

SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS       HARVEY FARRINGTON       1898

THE definition of the term "self-consciousness," in its ordinary acceptance, is that of embarrassment in the presence of others. It may also denote the exhibition of conceit. But to the psychologist it means simply the consciousness of existence, the realization of the "Ego's that it exists, a technical interpretation which is more commonly attached to the word "consciousness." But there is a wide distinction between simple consciousness and self-consciousness. The one in itself is evil and the other in itself good. The one conveys the idea of mental activity and the power of the mind to appreciate its environment through in-coming sensory impressions, a gift from the LORD, which, like all that is good, may be used or abused; the other, that of the effect of undue regard for the good opinion of others, whether expressed in bashfulness or conceit. In the following brief article, however, we propose to widen the scope of its meaning, applying it to states of man's physical as well as spiritual life; or, to be more concise, we would define it as the activity of the proprium, not only in the mind, but even in the gross tissues of the body. For we shall find that a man may be self-conscious mentally, while his physical part remains unaffected, and that he may be self-conscious physically, though apparently 'unconscious of the fact mentally. For the sake of convenience, we shall speak according to the appearance, and designate the first "mental" and the second" physical" self-consciousness.
     Intrinsically considered, self-consciousness is diametrically opposed to love to the LORD and charity toward the neighbor. For it is the parent of the loves of self and of the world, thus of all evil. Ages ago it sprang into existence with the first insidious words whispered by the serpent in the Garden of Eden. It was coeval with the fall of the human race, when, in the men of the Most Ancient Church, the proprium first raised its ill-omened head, when self first began to take the place of the LORD.
     The proprium, or that which is man's own, is nothing but evil and falsity, and would drag him into the deepest hell if he were not regenerated by the LORD. It is arrogant, vicious, hateful, and, indeed, merits every attribute of what is degrading. In its essence it is self-love and the pride of self-intelligence, the offspring of man's vitiated will, and we are taught that nothing else so obstructs the influx of love from Heaven and blinds the eyes to the clear light of the Spiritual Sun. Yet the proprium is absolutely necessary to man's existence, for it is the root of his life, his very will, and though totally evil, must form the first stepping-stone in his regeneration. Therefore it can never be removed, but by a merciful Providence it is gradually thrust to the sides, becomes quiescent, and as regeneration proceeds is superseded by a new proprium from the LORD.
     The will of man is voluntary and involuntary, and finds its material ultimate in the cerebrum and cerebellum, the latter being the seat of his involuntary will and the former the seat of his voluntary will or understanding. These two brains are closely conjoined by intervening fibres and membranes, and together govern the whole body through the nerves. But although closely con joined, they are quite distinct, and may act independently of one another. So each sends out its own separate nerve filaments, side by side with those of the other's, as if to jealously guard its own share in the management of corporeal affairs. Of the operations of the cerebrum man is conscious, and can guide them at will, but the cerebellum goes on working silently and unceasingly as the motive force of his vital organs, and entirely exempt from his control. This is of the Divine Providence, for if man's proprium could lay hands upon this sacred precinct natural life would be instantly extinguished. The cerebellum, though the corporeal ultimate of the evil voluntary, in its higher degrees corresponds to the Human Internal, where the LORD dwells in man s interiors, and it is continually endeavoring to maintain the equilibrium which the cerebrum is continually striving to overthrow. The cerebrum sleeps, but the cerebellum never, and it is during this period of peaceful rest that the latter does its best work in repairing havoc caused by the larger brain during waking hours. In time, however, the cerebrum gains in the race, and the poor, harried body, decrepit in its premature old age, sinks down and dies. Further, it has been found that the extirpation of the cerebellum in the lower animals is followed by complete inability to control voluntary movements. So that, even in its own sphere of jurisdiction, the cerebrum is unable to act with precision, without the secret, co-ordinating influence of the lesser brain.
     In the Golden Age, when man was a true image of his Creator, he was actuated by influx directly from Heaven into his inmosts, thus from the Human Internal through the involuntary into the voluntary, for there was no impediment to the celestial influx-man thought and willed what was of Divine order, and his actions were but the spontaneous ultimatum of his inmost love. The cerebrum and cerebellum were not separated and distinct as at the present day, but intimately conjoined, the latter directing the former, and giving origin to both motor and sensory impulses.

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Through its fibers the man's thoughts and affections were mirrored on his face, nor was he able to suppress them. But when he turned his back on the light of Heaven his will became the focus of influx from the lowest Hells, which, at length, obsessed his very body, and his natural life was stifled in an inundation from the regions below. Thus would the whole human race have been swept from the face of the earth had not the LORD, by a miraculous separation of the voluntary and the involuntary, in a small remnant who had escaped this infernal flood, restored freedom in spiritual things, and hence the possibility of man's being raised out of his evil heritage in to Heaven.
     Simultaneously with the separation of the two parts of man's spiritual organism, a corresponding change was effected in their material ultimates the brains. The cerebrum no longer remained secondary in both dimensions and function. It developed and enlarged at the expense of its former superior, and the nerves arising from its cortex no longer transferred and intrusted their functions to those of the cerebellum, but asserted their own independence, and now rule all things except the vital organs themselves. The cerebrum now molds the expression of the countenance to suit a man's own liking, so that he no longer represents the true state of his mind unless he wills it. From that day to this hypocrisy has been possible; from that day to this the evil man could live with the good, and even perform good uses without horrifying those about him by the constant expression of his inward character; and the good man, on the other hand, could control the outbursts of his corrupt proprium, and at length conquer them. Thus was human life saved, for the involuntary alone is no longer the mainspring of man's existence, and the LORD is able to govern from the inmost and maintain order to a greater or less extent. Nevertheless, the involuntary, acting through the cerebrum, still has some influence in the cause of disorder.
     From this we may infer how self-consciousness is detrimental to the performance of use. Influx from Heaven is essentially the influx of use, and if man still enjoyed his pristine integrity and perfection, every undertaking in the performance of his use would succeed. No blunders would wreck his ventures, he would be distressed by no failures; because, humbly submit ting himself to the guidance of Divine Providence, self or the proprium would not enter. But the proprium, by interposing its dense and warping medium, continually endeavors to prevent the ultimation of use, by stifling it or perverting it as does a misshapen and grimy window the light of the sun.
     Self-consciousness then destroys man's efficiency at every turn. This is true not only in his combats against evils and falses but also in the ordinary everyday affairs of his life. He attempts to speak in public, but his self-consciousness, his officious proprium, interferes-the blood rushes to his face, his heart palpitates, he stutters, and the oration, which had been repeated with such eloquence and fervor before the looking-glass, has gone from him like mists before the breeze. Perchance he wishes to dance more gracefully than usual, because a certain one is watching, whereat he trips and stumbles, stepping on his partner's toes and scraping the ankles of those whirling about him. This is in the presence of others. Let us see what happens when he is alone. He must write a sermon or an essay, but this evil genius drives all the ideas from his head; he is unable to decide on the first sentence-the harder he thinks the more refractory does his subject become. Or, perhaps he is an artist and has in view a painting that must win him fame and fortune, but in his strenuous efforts to make it exceptional he falls below his usual standard. Again he undertakes a long journey on foot, and, counting each milestone as he wearily drags along, he is fagged out before he has gone half the distance. But let him walk beside a pleasant companion, or if in martial align, he is inspired by the fife and drum, he forgets the hardships of the journey; in fact, he forgets to be tired. And when he rises to speak, if he is fired with a zeal born of the love of use, so many eyes bent upon him, instead of producing self-consciousness have Just the opposite effect, and words come without effort. If he sits down to write, after having prepared his mind by careful thought and study, free from the idea that it all depends upon himself, his pen can scarce fly fast enough. So with the painter. A true love of use for the sake of use will gift him with a finer perception of shading and color than he could acquire by the efforts of a lifetime.
     Perception, however, does not come at every beck and nod; many natural circumstances interfere, all of which may be traced to self-consciousness. For this reason the production of a man's mind, even though he be a genius, are never of equal excellence at all times. Only at certain intervals does he "appear at his best." It would doubtless be otherwise if he were a perfect recipient of the love of use. But in the present state of the world, only rare glimpses of true perfection steal through here and there, as if to remind us that Heaven alone can fulfill our ideal.
     This whole thought may be summed up in this New Church axiom: So far as self intrudes, the performance of use becomes difficult or impossible, and so far as self is held in abeyance, so far is perfection attained. Some of the best writers the world ever knew were those who seemed impelled by an irresistible something, which seemed almost like an inspiration, to hurry their thoughts into writing. Read the lives of Shakespeare, Hawthorne, and others, if this needs confirmation. And those who have won for themselves the name of masters in the dramatic art have many times confessed that the secret of their success lay in the fact that when on the stage, for the time being, their own identity was merged into that of the character they portrayed. This, with the elder Booth, became such a reality that only those well versed in the art of fencing would dare to cross swords with him.
     So much for "mental" self-consciousness. "Physical" self-consciousness may be embraced in the single word "nervousness." This is, in reality, a disease of the subtle fluids of the body, induced by care and worry, or, in other words, the activity of the proprium in the mental sphere. Yet, in most instances, it may be controlled, at least to some extent, by the will of the sufferer. It represents those inroads of the cerebrum that have been too strong or too persistent for the cerebellum to overcome. The result is an over-sensitive nervous system and an inability to relax. Unconsciously the muscles are kept continually "on the go," or held in constant tension, even while the person is resting. Sitting on the piazza, he, or, more probably, she, consumes a part of the little energy remaining after a hard day's work in drumming with the fingers, tapping with the foot, or nervously rocking to and fro in a rocking-chair. Then at night, on dropping off to sleep, this poor mortal wakes suddenly with an awful sensation of falling, when it was but the relaxation of some group of muscles released from their bondage as the cerebrum lost its control.
     Little things of this sort seem scarcely worth our notice, but their cumulative effect of wear and tear tells in the end.

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We never see such things among the lower animals, nor, indeed, among children, unless suffering from some hereditary nervous disease. How easy and graceful are the movements of a cat, and, when in repose, how perfectly she rests. Raise her paw, and then let go, and you will observe how lax and lifeless it seems. Yet, if she wishes, it may become as rigid as iron. This very ability to relax betokens the opposite power of remarkable strength and agility.
     Every one has observed how long and how diligently little children work at their play without a sign of fatigue. Nor can it be said that in this case fatigue is present, though unnoticed, by reason of the engrossing occupation. This might have been argued in the case of the pedestrian, but with children, when tired, they usually show it. The explanation is simple. With them the cerebrum is still in harmony with the operations of its sister brain, and has not as yet discovered how to interfere with the influx that is ever ready to endow for the greatest usefulness even the gross muscular framework of the body. There is more than a grain of truth in Delsarte's expression, "Power through repose," and the system of physical training originated by that clear-sighted and devout old Frenchman combines not only grace and ease in motion, but the fullest ability to rest, which seems lacking in so many constitutions. This combination is an index of perfect muscular development, for the movements of the body are under perfect control; no energy is wasted by awkwardness, and during rest recuperation is rapid because the rest is absolute. The secret in warding off fatigue on a long walk, according to one who has had much experience in this sort of recreation, is to rest at frequent intervals, lying on the broad of the back and totally relaxed.
     Speaking of Delsarte's system of gymnastics suggests another aspect of our subject. We do not for a moment intend to overlook the fact many of the difficulties due to self-consciousness may be overcome by training and practice. But here again, while cultivating facility does not practice also encourage self-forgetfulness? The mind, no longer hampered by the necessity of undue attention to the means, may be the more closely occupied in contemplating the end, and thus is removed from self. Familiar operations, such as writing, reading, I walking, become almost automatic, and although initiated by the conscious intention in the cerebrum, the carrying into effect is transferred to nerve centres beneath the brain and more closely related to the involuntary cerebellum.
     Many more examples might be adduced, but the few cited above will suffice to illustrate the pernicious and I far-reaching effects of self-consciousness. It matters not what plane we consider, the principle remains the same. The subject is one that presents itself to every regenerating man. But although recognized as applicable in spiritual affairs, it is seldom thought of in connection with the physical side of our existence. Applied here' it will teach us a lesson that ought surely to be heeded.
     HARVEY FARRINGTON, M. D.
NOTES ON "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES." 1898

NOTES ON "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES."       GEORGE E. HOLMAN       1898

IT is interesting to all Newchurchmen to confirm the truths enunciated in the Writings, by the material facts of science. To some minds this is a necessity even, and failing such confirmations those wishful to 'propagate the Doctrines will often find themselves at a disadvantage. It has always seemed to me that the weak point in a defense of the New Church philosophy must be that assailed by the doctrine of evolution. This teaching, as set forth with the tremendous array of facts brought forward in its support, is eminently persuasive to the natural mind; it has revolutionized all branches of modern thought, and has undoubtedly caused much disturbance of mind to many Newchurchmen.
     Many distinguished New Church writers have dealt with the subject from first principles in an exhaustive manner, but I do not know of any who have attempted to deal categorically with the various classes of facts collected in that remarkable book, the Origin of Species, which (however much we may differ from and deplore the author's conclusions) was no doubt a sincere effort in the search for truth and is undeniably a rich storehouse of most interesting facts.
     The following notes, therefore, may not be amiss, and I offer them in the hope that some one with the requisite knowledge and ability may pursue the subject in detail. They savor somewhat, I ad wit, of speculation, but a certain amount of speculation is necessary in all things in order to the acquisition of new facts, and can do no harm, provided always the axioms of revealed truth be borne in mind.
     It is stated in the Writings that all the forms of animal and vegetable life are correspondences of affections and thoughts in the spiritual world; that in the spiritual world there are many more forms, both animal and vegetable, than we on this earth are acquainted with, and that only when those affections and thoughts meet with corresponding material substances on earth can the creation of animals or plants take place.
     The idea of the creation of any animal or vegetable is repugnant to scientists, and any instance of it would be disbelieved in by nine out of every ten so-called scientific men. Evolutionists will not admit that anything has been created since the first protoplasmic cell. Still, well-authenticated instances of the spontaneous appearance or creation of organic forms do exist. We should naturally look for them among plants, which, from the fact of their being stationary, lend themselves best to observation.
     In Robert Chambers' Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation, the author, speaking of spontaneous generation, says:

     "When, for instance, lime is laid down upon a piece of waste moss-ground and a crop of white clover, for which no seeds were sown, is the consequence, the common explanation is that the seeds have been dormant there for an unknown time and were stimulated into generation when the lime produced the appropriate circumstances. How is it possible to be satisfied with this hypothesis when we know (as in an authentic case under my notice) that the spot is many miles from where clover is cultivated, and that there is nothing for six feet below but pure peat moss."

     Dr. Carpenter, in his Vegetable Physiology, mentions the same fact:

     "It is commonly observed that clover is ready to spring up on soils which have been rendered alkaline by the strewing of wood ashes or the burning of weeds, or which have had the surface broken and mixed with lime."

     He also mentions the following interesting example:

     "In the year 1715, during the rebellion in Scotland, a camp was formed in the King's Park, at Stirling. Wherever the ground was broken broom sprung up, although none had ever been known to grow there.

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The plant was subsequently destroyed; but in 1745 a similar growth appeared after the ground, had been again broken up for a like purpose. Some time afterwards the Park was ploughed up and the broom became generally spread over it. The same thing happened in a field in the neighborhood from the whole surface of which about nine inches of soil had been removed. The broom seeds could not have been conveyed by the wind, although the plant is a common one in the neighborhood, because they are heavy and without wings, and the form of the ground is such that no stream of water could have transported them or have covered them afterwards with soil."

     From the remarks concerning clover it may be inferred that although plants produced from seed in the usual way may flourish in more than one kind of soil (clover will do well in almost any soil), yet their creation depends upon peculiar chemical combinations only rarely occurring, and which must bear some relation to the constitution of the seed. For it must not be forgotten that everything has to arrive at maturity from seed. Even in the so-called instantaneous creation of animals, the same process of development must be gone through, only it is enormously hastened, and the hastening is according to the plasticity of the matrix. In the spiritual world germinations of plants are instantaneous; in the natural world the inertia of earths involves time. The creation of plants means the creation of seeds. "The first production from those earths when they were still fresh and in their simplicity was the production of, seeds; the first effort in them could be no other" (D. L. W. 312).
     In Vestiges of Creation a very extraordinary circumstance is mentioned:

     "It appears that whenever oats sown at the usual time are kept cropped down during summer and autumn and allowed to remain over the winter, a thin crop of rye is the harvest presented at the close of the ensuing summer. This experiment has been tried repeatedly with but one result; invariably the secale cereale is the crop reaped where the avena sativa, a recognized different genus, was sown. Now it will not satisfy a strict inquirer to be told that the seeds of the rye were latent in the ground and only superseded the dead product of the oats; for if any such fact were in the ease why should the usurping grain be always rye?"

     The author thinks that the rye is really the product of the oats sown, but the facts seem to bear another, construction. Plants must, as it were, dispose the soil around their roots in accordance with their own nature. The oats in question, by reason of their not exhausting the ground so much as if they had gone to seed, probably just so modified the soil as to make the matrix I where the spiritual cause of rye could ultimate itself.
     Darwin noticed what seems a similar circumstance in South America on his journey round the world:

     "From a coarse herbage we pass on to a carpet of fine green verdure. I at first attributed this to some change in the nature of the soil, but the inhabitants assured me . . . the whole was to be attributed to the manuring and grazing of the cattle. Exactly the same fact has been observed in the prairies of North America, where coarse grass, between five and six feet high, when grazed by cattle changes into common pasture land."

     We can, I think, safely assume that the coarse grass, five feet and six feet high, and ordinary pasture grass, are different species, and the fact is probably to be explained on the same principle as the oats and rye, the manuring being an additional factor.
     As Swedenborg notices, swarms of insects appear at times without any oviform matter to account or them, I and innumerable instances of such swarms are on record. Although many animal parasites, which were formerly though- to be good evidence of spontaneous generation, are now known to be introduced into the body in various mysterious ways and under disguised forms, still it is probable that many arise spontaneously-that is to say, are created from unhealthy secretions.. It is interesting in this connection to note that Professor Elmer Gates, of Washington, has experimentally proved that evil mentations produce poisonous secretions in the body.
     Still, notwithstanding the fact that we have, I think, not a few proofs of the separate creation of particular organisms, there is no doubt that the arguments in favor of the theory of evolution are far from easy to set aside, and there are two classes of facts which have hitherto appeared to me to present an insuperable difficulty in combatting Darwinism, viz., those connected with the geographical distribution of species and those connected with "rudimentary" organs. But before considering these difficulties it will be well to briefly epitomize the fundamental ideas on which theory of evolution is based. They are as follows:

     (1) Each species tends to increase inordinately in number. There is thus a struggle for existence, and only few of those brought into the world can survive to produce offspring of their own.
     (2) No two beings are exactly alike, and in some cases there is marked variation from the parental or typical form. Some of these variations must be more beneficial than others, and their possessors would, therefore, stand a better chance of surviving in the struggle for life.
     (3) As it is a general law that parents produce children resembling themselves, these beneficial variations would be transmitted to the next generation, and so, in course of time, an organ might become considerably varied from its original character. Thus, two separate lines of variation (the variations being strengthened by use in the struggle for life) would, after many generations, produce two different species out of a common ancestor. These distinct species, or stronger individualities, would stand the best chance of continuing their race, whilst their less favored relations would gradually become extinct. One of these species (A) would in like manner branch out into other distinct species, and some of these, when compared with the species produced from a branch in the other direction arising out of species B, would be so different as to be allotted to a different genus.
     In this way a genealogical tree might be formed, having as its starting point in the earliest geological times a simple cell, which would produce two main branches, the beginnings of the animal and vegetable kingdoms. These main branches would subdivide, and the process would go on through practically infinite time, until man and the diverse forms of animal and vegetable life which we now see around us would be produced. Thus-say evolutionists-no creation has taken lace place except that of the first simple cell of protoplasm.

     Natural selection is supposed to act much in the same way as breeders act in obtaining their different varieties of domesticated animals, viz., by the gradual accumulation of slight variations.
     Of course, the nature and extent of the modifications of form is dependent upon the environment. Suppose the whole of the animal and vegetable inhabitants of any country could he transferred to some other district, the environment would be practically the same. They would be surrounded by nearly the same foes and friends, and comparatively little variation would take place. But if a barrier against migration (a range of mountains or an arm of the sea) intervened, passable by only a few animals, those who did pass the barrier would be liable to great variation, producing in time altogether different species.

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One animal which previously might have been preyed upon by numbers of foes, requiring the incessant activity of all its limbs and senses, would possibly find itself in comparative peace, requiring perhaps activity in one direction' only, and the excessive use of one faculty accompanied by the comparative disuse of others would modify the whole organism in time, especially as no doubt spontaneous variations would arise, which would also be differently acted upon by the new surroundings.
     Let us now turn to one of what I consider the most powerful arguments Darwin has brought forward in support of this theory. Let the reader first consider it from the ordinary view of the separate creation of each species from the ground. He will find the facts utterly inexplicable on that basis. Let him then consider it in the light of the theory of the gradual modification of form in consequence of the changed conditions; he will, I think, be bound to admit the full force of the hypothesis of natural selection, or descent with modification.
     Darwin remarks:
     "The Galapagos Archipelago lies at the distance of between five hundred and six hundred miles from the shores of South America. Here almost every product of the land and of the water bears the unmistakable stamp of the American Continent. . . . Why should this be so? Why should the species which are supposed to have been created in the Galapagos Archipelago, and nowhere else, bear so plainly the stamp of affinity to those created in America? There is nothing in the conditions of life, in the geological nature of the islands, in their height or climate, or in the proportions in which the several classes are associated together, which closely resembles the conditions of the South American Coast; in fact, there is a considerable dissimilarity in all these respects. On the other hand, there is a considerable degree of resemblance in the volcanic nature of the soil, in the climate, height, and size of the islands, between the Galapagos and Cape Verd Archipelagoes; but what an entire and absolute difference in their inhabitants! The inhabitants of the Cape Verd Islands are related to those of Africa like those of the Galapagos to America."

     The astonishing point, however, is that although the fauna and flora are of the same general characteristics as those of the mainland, still they have decided peculiarities of their own, and not only that, but each island has species peculiar to it. Of the twenty-six land birds belonging to the archipelago twenty-one are distinct species; two species of enormous lizards and large tortoises are found there and nowhere else in the world. There are peculiar insects, peculiar molluscs, land and marine; in fact, the vast majority of the fauna of the archipelago are peculiar forms found nowhere else. "Yet" (says Darwin, speaking particularly of the birds) "the close affinity of most of these birds to American species is manifest in every character, in their habits, gestures, and tones of voice. So it is with the other animals and with a large proportion of the plants." Of the seventy-one species of plants found on one of the islands thirty-eight are species confined to the Galapagos Archipelago, and of these thirty are confined to the one island. The other islands have similar individuality of vegetation, notwithstanding the fact that on all there is a general resemblance to the vegetation of the mainland.
     Darwin well says that facts such as these admit of no sort of explanation on the ordinary view of independent creation, and the only possible explanation he can see is that the islands received colonists from the mainland by occasional means of transport, and that natural selection in the struggle for life under the changed conditions caused in time modifications of form, and that the species peculiar to each island arose on the same principle from being obliged to compete with slightly different conditions and organisms. Certainly the facts seem most conclusively to support this view.
     I have given these particulars to show the full force of the argument in favor of the Darwinian theory. Yet in T. C. R., n. 78, we are told that each species is separately created, and in The Worship and Love of 'God Swedenborg's own views are very explicitly stated. Though written before he received his Divine Commission, the views laid down there he never thought well to recant, and we may, therefore, consider that substantially they are correct, especially as he refers to the book in question in his posthumous index to the Arcana Coelestia (under the word "Cause").
     Swedenborg was taught (T. C. R. 78) that at the beginning the animals and plants on the earth were created in like manner to those presented to his view in the spiritual world-that is, each species separately and instantaneously, and the whole tenor of the fourth part of Divine Love and Wisdom is altogether incompatible with the Darwinian theory. All the world has given in its adhesion to this pernicious doctrine, but the New-churchman is absolutely precluded from so doing by the most definite teachings in the Writings. He, nevertheless, has to face a well-marshaled array of facts which, as p resented, have hitherto rendered his opponent invincible in face of the most strenuous opposition. The most formidable of these facts are those exemplified in the botany and zoology of the Galapagos Archipelago, and it was his examination of these islands which first led Darwin to formulate his theory. Obviously, the only way to meet the evolutionist is to explain the phenomena on a different basis, viz., that of the separate creation of each species; but no such explanation has been forthcoming. I think, however, that such an explanation is quite possible, and as the merest glimmer of light must be welcome to many who, like myself, have been sorely perplexed on this subject, I will endeavor to sketch in outline what I believe to be the truth of the matter.
     If we turn to the Writings for guidance we shall find the key to a complete explanation in Athanasian Creed, n. 100.
     It is to be premised that we are taught in many places (particularly in T. C. R. 78) that creations in the spiritual world are a type of those in the natural world. In Ath. C. 100 it is written: "Both animals and vegetables have the same origin, and thence the same soul, the only difference being in the forms into which the influx is received." Also (Ath. C. 100): "It is from what is spiritual in its intermediates that the affections appear under the form of animals; and from the spiritual in its ultimates, which are the earths there, that they appear under the form of vegetables."
     From this it would appear that animals are not created directly from the ground but that plants are. Animals are created from "intermediates," which I take to mean (on the material plane) the emanations from minerals, plants, and, I think, also from animals.
     "It has also been perceived that a sphere pours forth, not only from angels and spirits, but also from all and singular the things which appear in that world, as from trees and from their fruits, from shrubs and from their flowers, from herbs and from grasses, nay, even from earths and their particles. From which it was evident that this is a universal both in living and in dead things, that each one is environed by the like of what is inside it and that this is continually breathed out by it. That the same thing obtains in the natural world is known from the experience of many of the learned, and that a wave of effluvia is continually flowing forth out of man; also out of every animal and likewise out of every tree, fruit, shrub, flower, and even out of metal and stones.

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The natural world gets this from the spiritual world and the spiritual world from the Divine" (D. L. W. 293).
     The substance given off from man has been termed "Od;" it has seemingly some affinity to electricity. There are experiments with it on record which are so extraordinary that I do not like to quote them without personal verification. Suffice it, however, to say that on the presence of this emanation depend most spiritistic phenomena, especially materializations, and these phenomena may be taken as a proof that it is more than the ineffectual essence which might be imagined.
     In Ath. C., n. 90, we read: "There is again inherent in all that is spiritual a plastic force where there are homogenous exhalations in nature present."
     Elsewhere (D. L. W. 62) it is written: "As there is an effort of the minerals of the earth towards vegetation, so there is an effort of vegetable growths towards vivification; hence insects of various kinds corresponding to their odoriferous exhalations."
     Again in D. L. W. 342: "The smells, effluvia, and exhalations breathed out by plants, earths, and ponds do themselves furnish initiaments to such animalcules."
     (To be Continued.)
NEW CHURCH PIONEER IN HOMOEOPATHY 1898

NEW CHURCH PIONEER IN HOMOEOPATHY       E. P. ANSHUTZ       1898

EDITOR OF NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     In a recently published work, Pioneers of Homoeopathy, by T. L. Bradford, M. D. (Boericke and Tafel, Philadelphia, publishers), I find the following concerning the introduction of Homeopathy into America that is of interest to Newchurchmen, and, I believe, not generally known:
     "Hans Gram, the son of a wealthy ship-owner of Copenhagen, while traveling in the United States, married a Miss Burdick, of Boston, and, in consequence, was disinherited by his father. The eldest son of this marriage, Hans Burch Gram, went to Denmark in 1808, and there took his degree in medicine, and was for seven years connected with the military hospital during the Napoleonic wars. Afterwards he practiced medicine in Copenhagen, and, at the age of forty, retired with a competence. During these years he thoroughly studied Homoeopathy, and became a conscientious practitioner under that law. In 1825 he returned to New York, and was soon compelled again to take up the practice of medicine, on account of the loss of his savings. He practiced pure Homoeopathy, the first physician of that practice in the United States, and was for several years absolutely alone, so far as professional comradeship was concerned, and then was joined by Dr. John F. Gray. It was Dr. Gray who wrote of Gram's death: 'He was an earnest Christian, of the Swedenborgian faith, and a man of the most scrupulously pure and charitable life I have ever known.'"
     So, under Divine Providence, a Newchurchman was the pioneer of Homoeopathy in the new world.
     E. P. ANSHUTZ.
ONE PERSON OR THREE? 1898

ONE PERSON OR THREE?       A. K. Roy       1898

"WHEN we think of God we must do so alike in His Trinity and His Unity. Nor must we fall into the error of regarding Him exclusively under the separate aspect of a Single Person of the-Undivided Godhead.
     "He has revealed Himself to us in the names of love and tenderness, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit one God.
     "The Scriptures set forth God in His separate revelations; and when they add that 'God is Love,' and we see in sun-like majesty the Total Oneness of His inmost essence and character."
     The Very Rev. F. W. Farrar, D. D., Dean of Canterbury, has been often cited as a broad and liberal Churchman and as an instance of the "Permeation" of the Doctrines of the New Church. The above are the opening sentences of "Christmas thoughts," his latest utterance. They show the bald, old Church doctrine still holds sway in his utterances in spite of "Permeation!"
     Best wishes for Life under the new Editorial Board. It is an invaluable journal and distinctively New Church.
     Yours sincerely,     A. K. Roy.
Notes and Reviews 1898

Notes and Reviews       Editor       1898

"THE Rev. J. F. Buss unfortunately has broken down in health, and has undertaken a long sea trip."- Morning Light.



     THE Calendar of Daily Lessons from the Word and the Writings is issued this year in the more convenient form of a card, instead of a folded sheet. For sale by the Academy Book Room; price, ten cents.



     "WE learn that a series of articles on 'Swedenborg and Modern Thought,' from the pen of Mr. George Trobridge, will appear in the New Century Review, commencing with the January number."-Morning Light.



     THE New Church Messenger has "put a new face on" matters, so to speak, by the employment of the Linotype in the composition work of the paper. The new type is a little larger than the old, and very clean cut, but has a paleness which to some makes it less easy reading than the old, heavier faced-letters.



     THE completion of the New York new edition of The Apocalypse Explained has naturally been followed by the issuing of the remaining volumes (twelve in all) of the combined Latin and English edition, which is furnished at the low price of one dollar per volume. Concerning the marked merits of the translation, as well as some defects, and concerning also the typographical and mechanical excellencies of the edition, the Life has spoken before.



     THIS is the way that the Philadelphia Press (October 23d) "interprets " Swedenborg's plain statement concerning the abdominal breathing of the inhabitants of the moon: "Persons who are familiar with the Writings of Swedenborg have been hoping that the great Yerkes telescope would reveal traces of the weird inhabitants which Swedenborg claimed resided on the earth's satellite. Their characteristic mark was that they had lungs on the exterior of their bodies."
     Go away from home to learn news!



     "THE Annals of the New Church" are to be issued in bi-monthly parts (six, yearly) of 32 pages each, the work to be completed in about five years. Specimen pages sent out by the Academy Book Room, which is publishing the work, exhibit the style and arrangement, which contrast very favorably with the form in which the "Annals" began to appear in this journal; not to mention the addition of illustrations and the improvement in typographical appearance. The moderate cost, one dollar per year, makes the work quite accessible to the general public.



     "THE Rev. Dr. John Henry Barrows, Chairman of the General Committee of the World's Congress of Religions, and late traveler in India, recently delivered a lecture in Laporte, Ind., in which he said that the trend of all religions at the present time was toward the Christ idea and experience. But the lecturer's most remarkable utterance was that the natives of India at the present time are turning away from the teachings of the Christian missionaries and back to their own oriental religions, hoping to find therein a solution of their unrest of soul."-New Church Messenger.



     To our German readers we would heartily recommend Pastor F. Gorwitz's new publication: "Vortrage uber die Lehren der neuen Kirche" ("Lectures on the Doctrines of the New Church"), of which a copy has just been received from Zurich.

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We have seen nothing in the German collateral literature of the Church equal to this collection of "Lectures," either as to integrity of doctrine, simplicity and lucidity of exposition, or as to elegance of appearance. It is a powerful evangelistic work, in arrangement and style very similar to Mr. Odhner's recent publication, the Brief View of the Heavenly Doctrines.



     AMONG the many important and interesting subjects contained in the ninety-sixth instalment of the Concordance, we would call attention especially to the entries under "Sin," "Sincerity," "Singing," "Siren," " Sixtus," " Quintus" (one of the two popes who are said to have been saved), "Sleep," "Society," and "Socinian." A small error occurs under the name" Sodermalm," which the compiler explains as meaning "the street in Stockholm in which Swedenborg lived." Swedenborg lived on the street called "Hornsgatan." "Sodermalm" is the name of the whole southern part of Stockholm, in which "Hornsgatan" was situated.



     MR. J. R. Swanton's ringing plea for New Church science, in the October New Church Review, meets with at least some appreciative response, as witness the following extract from a letter in the Young People's Department in the Messenger: "In the issue of October 20th this question is suggested for discussion: 'What is the new education, and has it any connection with the New Church?' Any of our young people who would like to see one good answer to that question would do well to read John R. Swanton's article in the New Church Review for October, subject: 'The Oneness of Swedenborg's Writings.'"
     In the New Church Review, also, Mr. J. B. Keene heartily indorses the paper.



     WE have had the privilege of reading a letter from Mr. N. Kirby, of Niagra, Ont., to one of our friends in Toronto, in which the author of "The Golden Dog" gives the following information in regard to himself: "You judge rightly in thinking me a receiver of the Doctrines in the Theology and philosophy of the immortal Swedenborg, although I am a member of the Church of England as were many of the oldest Newchurchmen. I may say that I accepted the Doctrines of the Newchurch during a stay in Cincinnati about the year 1833.-a long while ago. My friends and teachers there were Rev. Adam Hurdus and Mr. Alexander Kinmout, two of the ablest and best men I ever knew.



      THE November number of The New Church Magazine for 1897 is notable for a fine study, by Mr. Edward Madeley, on "Creation," or the origin and nature of matter and of the elementary kingdom of nature. Two editorials sound a note of uncompromising New Church distinctiveness, both in a man's choice of Church affiliations and in the education of children.



     THE December number of the Magazine opens with an interesting paper by Mr. George Trobridge, on Christmas in the New Church, in which he depicts the difficulties encountered by the Medieval Church in Christianizing the semi-barbarous nations of Europe, which was effected by the use of symbols and ceremonies, object lessons-to untutored minds-of the truths of the new religion. Among the means employed were the festivals, Christmas being made to take the place of the pagan Saturnalia, of which time of abandon and license many features remained to degrade the Holy Season with a sensuality abhorrent to the Puritans, who accordingly discouraged the celebration. Mr. Trobridge may go rather too far in his defense of puritanism the externalism of which is capable of fostering even more unspiritual states of mind than riotousness-but he certainly presents an instructive and enjoyable outline of what Christmas may do for the New Church in elevating the thoughts and affections to the spiritual things signified by the various circumstances attendant on the Incarnation.
     Among other contents are: "St. Anselm's Creed," a well-written poem on "doubt," by Catharine Grant Furley; a Christmas Carol, by Miss Rowe; an interesting Visit to the Colored Church at Washington, by the Rev. J. R. Rendell; and a review of The Saviour in the Light of the First Century (Rev. John Parker), which serves the purpose-unintended by the author-of demonstrating by quotations from the early fathers that belief in the sole and supreme Divinity of the LORD existed in the First Christian Church. Here, however, the reviewer seems to attribute to the early Church a better understanding of the Trinity than the Writings indicate (T. 378). The number concludes with Church news and an index for 1897.



     THE project of "Polypersonal Pastorates" has of late found favor in some quarters of the Church at large, and it furnished the topic for discussion at the meeting of the New Church Club of New York, at its meeting of December 6th. Some would have groups of societies, ministered to by an equal number of pastors, who should preach in rotation, thus giving variety to all of the societies, and greatly reducing the amount of sermon-writing required. Others simply stipulate for "greater freedom in the opportunity to conclude or continue pastoral relationships," say, by the use of five-year contracts, at the end of which the question of continuing or not would be open for new decision. Mr. F. A. Dewson, who could not be present, contributed to the discussion by a letter, from which the Messenger published the following extract:
     "For one I cannot help feeling that the desire for change in pastoral services which occasionally breaks out in the New Church, as well as in other Churches, is not an indication of spiritual growth, or even of increasing spiritual intelligence-not from a longing for truth of life that cannot be satisfied (we do not begin to live from even the simplest truth as yet), but rather because we are afflicted with and carried away by the restless spirit of the age and of the community in which we live; a sort of mental dyspepsia which craves a constant supply of new and more attractive forms of mental food, because of failure to assimilate that which is plain and wholesome; a state of things which we seek to justify upon the plea that we must make our preaching and our service more attractive, that our congregations be reinforced, or expenses met and our own obligations relieved. I am convinced that no permanent growth of the Church can be attained by such methods, and that one day either we or those who follow us will come to realise that only as the permanent inner growth of the individual character is attained by the helpfulness of mutual love and the conjoint practice of life in accord with the laws of heaven, can any man or any body of men aspire to become the apostles of the new dispensation."
     No more of the letter is given, but no more is needed to tell us that the writer would not expect such an internal growth to follow the steps of a shifting pastorate, or where the people had no deeper conception of the true pastor's function to his parishioners than to crave variety in preaching at the expense of spiritual benefits, which increase as pastor and people grow together-in both senses of the phrase. Doubtless some in the Church will be unfortunate in their pastoral relations, but deficiencies can never be cured by doing away with the more interior features that accompany a true and intimate pastoral relation.
EFFICIENT EVANGELIST 1898

EFFICIENT EVANGELIST       G. G. S       1898

Not too abundant are books which satisfactorily and succinctly answer for us the questions about the New Church faith not unfrequently asked by those whom we would gladly gratify if we had leisure and ability.
     Of the recently-published little work by the Rev. C. Th. Odhner, A Brief View of the Heavenly Doctrines Revealed in the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, the only thing not concise is its name. It seems to us that a more effective "silent missionary" it would be hard to imagine, so well are the needs of the average inquirer understood and met. The terse, lucid style has the directness of living conversation, and while the magnetism of personal contact of the living evangelist is of course absent, considerable compensation is found in the system and general comprehensiveness of presentation, such as few teachers, perhaps, could impart extempore with equal brevity and force. In grouping all subjects under the four heads, the LORD, the Word, Life, and Faith, the author has shown some originality, and we think correctness, in classifying under "Life"-in connection with "eternal life"-the subjects of heaven and the spiritual world; and under "Faith," the Church and the Second Coming
     The appeal throughout is to Scripture, and to human reason "as made reasonable by Scripture." The proof-passages quoted form an impressive array. The tone of the book in itself invites confidence, for in place of mere lust of controversy and persuasion there is a constant appeal to the good of life; and if the doctrines of the consummated Church are dissected with an unsparing blade it is only because they can be shown to lead away from genuine, spiritual good of life.

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And by means of the closing chapter, on the Progress of the New Church, containing information of New Church bodies throughout the world-the reader is led naturally to the very doors of the organized New Church, instead of being left to simply admire the Writings, with no suggested need of a church to expound them and apply them to uses of life. Further pertinent suggestion is contained in the appended list of the Writings of Swedenborg, indicating to the beginner the scope of the doctrinal feast to which he is invited, and affording him choice of the viands at his disposal. The appending of The Athanasian Creed, by which the old system may be contrasted with the new, seems a useful feature. Add to the foregoing the attractiveness of the book and its cheapness, and we see no reason why it should not find ready sale and extended usefulness. G. G. S.
STUDY OF LUTHER 1898

STUDY OF LUTHER       C. TH. O       1898

MARTIN LUTHER. By Gustav Freytag. Translated from the German by H. E. O. Heinemann. (The "Religion of Science Library," No. 27.) Chicago: The Open Court Publishing Company. 1897. 133 pp.
     THIS is not a new biography of the greatest of the Reformers, but a philosophical study of the development of his mind and character during the successive periods of his life. The author, well known as one of the most artistic novelists of modern Germany, in this little book combines literary art with philosophical insight and impartial historical accuracy, resulting in a vivid and trustworthy portraiture of Luther's very human, yet mighty and attractive personality.
     The work, though rather sketchy in style and lacking in that central conception of Luther's work and character which is possessed by New Churchmen alone, yet makes highly entertaining and instructive reading, and confirms this conception, as formed from the statements in the Writings concerning Luther in the other life.
     It is a genuine comfort to know of the, final happy fate of the old Wittenberg father, for we cannot help loving him, solifidian, turbulent, despotic, persuasive, and half-Catholic though he was. With all his faults of disposition and theology, he was a great and good man. Beneath the artificial superstructure of his faith-alone dogmatism, there remained in his character a solid, rock-bed substratum of genuine natural good. Who can help admiring his heroic courage, his unshakeable trust and devotion to the truth that he saw, his unselfish friendship, his love of the conjugial life? Shadows, indeed, there were in him, but also many and warmly-tinted lights. Both have been depicted impartially by Herr Freytag, though the lights predominate, as they should.
     History ever repeats itself, for mankind is governed by immutable laws of Divine Order. Similar causes and actions produce similar effects and reactions. Hence the apparent similarity of the lives of many "pivotal" men, on which subject the author of the work under notice makes the following interesting and widely applicable observations:

     "To few mortals was it given to exercise so great an influence upon both their contemporaries and posterity. But, like every [?] great human life, that of Luther impresses the beholder like an overwhelming tragedy, if the chief points of it are p laced side by side. It appears tripartite, like the careers of all heroes of history who were permitted to reach the fulness of their lives. In the beginning the personality of the man is unfolding, and we see him powerfully controlled by the forces of his environments. Even incompatible opposites are sought to be assimilated, but in the inmost core of his nature, thoughts and convictions gradually harden into resolution; a sudden deed flashes forth, the individual enters on the struggle with the world. Then follows another period of vigorous activity, rapid development, great conquests. The influence of the one upon the many extends more and more, his might draws the nation into his course, he becomes her hero, her standard, and the vitality of millions appears concentrated in one man. But the spirit of a nation will I not for any length of time, tolerate the exclusive control of one single individual. However great the force, however lofty the alms, the life, the power, and the wants of the nation are more manifold. The everlasting conflict between the man and the people appears. The soul even of the 'people is finite, and, in the sight of the Infinite, a limited personality, but as compared to the individual it appears boundless. The man is compelled by the logical sequence of his thoughts and actions, all the spirits of his own deeds force him into a rigidly confined course. The soul of the nation, however, requires for its life incompatible opposites and a ceaseless working in the most divergent directions. Many things which the individual could not receive within his own nature arise to do battle against him. The reaction of the world sets in, feebly at first, from various sides, in different lines of thought, with little justice, then more strongly and with ever-growing success. At last, the spiritual kernel of the individual life is confined within a school-his school; it is crystallized into a particular element of the culture of the nation. Ever is the closing part of a great life filled with secret resignation, bitterness and silent suffering. Thus with Luther."

     We would substitute the word "often" for "ever" in the closing sentence. If the love of dominion has been quite subdued within a "great man," his earthly life will not end among dark and stormy clouds, but in a serene and glorious sunset, shedding its last rays like blessings over a grateful earth. C. TH. O.
NEW CHURCH REVIEW 1898

NEW CHURCH REVIEW       Editor       1898

JANUARY.

     THE new year number of the New Church Review opens with a series of three papers treating of the subject "A City of Habitation," having reference to Psalm cvii, v. 7: "Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble and He delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation." Throughout the papers occur various applications of the ever-recurring refrain of the Psalm, "Oh, that men would praise the LORD for His mercy, and for His wonderful works to the children of men," the prevailing idea being that "Man's necessity is God's opportunity." The first paper, The CVII Psalm Interpreted, by the Rev. John Worcester, teaches especially that in proportion as men praise the LORD or His mercy, and for His wonderful works to the children of men they are given to see His presence and mercies everywhere, for, "dependence on the LORD brings receptivity."
     The second paper of the series, by the Rev. William Mayhew, treats of The City as the Home, deals with the order of society and man's duties to man as a reflecting image of the Creator's life of love and beneficial operation.
     The third paper, on Selfhood and the CVII Psalm, by the Rev. J. K Smyth, or the laying down of the self-life, presents a very clear exposition and collocation of the teachings as to the character and the process of removal of the inherited proprium and the bestowal of a heavenly one from the LORD.
     In "The Rationale of the Incarnation" the Rev. E. D. Daniels makes a lucid and logical demonstration of the need for the incarnation and its nature. He lays down the five propositions, first, that God is perfect, absolute love; second, that love must act; third, that it must act only into its own proper basis or receptacle; fourth, that the only complete basis of absolute love is absolute human need; and, fifth, that absolute need existed only at the time of the incarnation.

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     In Religious Conformity: An Ethical Question, the Rev. T. F. Wright reviews a discussion between Professor Sidgwick, of the Ethical Society, and the Rev. Hastings Rashdall, of the Church of England, upon the honesty of "conforming," or remaining in a Church when no longer able to conform in faith to its doctrine. Mr. Wright, after reviewing the question philosophically, historically, and in the light of revelation, arrives at the following conclusion:

     To those who have received the teachings of the Divine Word as set forth through the instrumentality of Swedenborg, is committed the duty of confessing, at all appropriate times, the fulness of their faith. What they have freely received they must freely give. The light falling upon our minds must be transmitted undimmed to our fellowmen. Conformity involving concealment is immoral. The courage of a hero, the candor of an angel, are needed if we are to let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify the Father.

     To the argument that by remaining in their church connections non-conformers may assist in effecting a reform of belief, Mr. Wright says:

     Is it not possible, however, that the irritation produced by the constant presence of persons whose allegiance is known to be equivocal, may cause harm rather than good? It is evident that the most bitter contentions now to be found are not between organizations which differ as conservative and liberal, but are between members of the same organization who regard each other with suspicion and speak of each other with unconcealed dislike. If a small, earnest party in a large organization keeps its members of the majority in constant apprehension of being overcome, does the presence of that party tend to modify the views of the rest, or does its presence tend to retard such a quiet yet effective modification of views as time might produce?

     Mr. Wright evidently recognizes the futility of struggling for progress under common standards or formulas which no longer adequately express the inner thought of all the contracting parties concerned, and that frank difference and separation is better than either pretended or forced unanimity.
     Then follows an important historical letter, written by the Rev. William Hill to Robert Carter, Esq., dated July 11th, 1794, dealing principally with the subject of government, both of Church and of State. With modesty and toleration evidently born of the hard discipline of experience, Mr. Hill makes a clear statement of views on the subject, identical with the Academy position; but he does not dogmatize, and on the contrary deprecates the agitation of such themes, prosecuted under the superabundance of zeal which had formerly actuated himself, and which had been carried to the point of disharmony. In the letter he puts the cultivation of principles of universal love and charity in the first place. This self-suppression for the sake of the Church may have been the only thing to do at a time when the New Church was small, but his experience only illustrates the opportunity for freedom afforded by the existence of a body which supplies a spiritual home to men who entertain such principles.
     Then follows what promises to be an important announcement to the Church, mentioned on our editorial page. In an article entitled The Formulation of the Teachings of Swedenborg, Mr. Gilbert Hawkes informs the Church, through the Review, that he has just completed a life-work extending over a period of about fifty years, namely, the arrangement into logical and systematic order of the whole philosophy and theology of Swedenborg's Writings. That is, he has made a "Topical, Analytic, and Synthetic Index" to the Writings, to facilitate not only the bringing together of all passages bearing upon any given subject, but the study of the system as a whole, with regard to all the parts thereof, and their comparison with each other. As to just how far the work is expected to cover the ground of a concordance we are not clear. The scope of the design is made clear by printing the Plan of Classification. The classification of subjects is into groups (636 of them), presented in tabular form, occupying twenty- one pages of the Review. These groups, as indicated in the Plan, are arranged in three general classes: I. Passages relating to Swedenborg; His Mission, Endowments and Privileges; and the Fulfillment of Prophecy; II. The Philosophy of the New Church; and I II. Its Theology. Of course Class I is comparatively small, relatively, to the grand array afforded by the other two. Class II is divided into two Parts, Cosmogony, or the creation of the universe, and Cosmology, or the universe in its created state. To afford an illustration of the classification we present the chapters and sub-headings of Class II. Under cosmogony are three divisions, covering Creation, first, that of the natural world, then of the spiritual world, and then of man, animals, and plants. Under cosmology the Universe in its complex is treated in groups relating, first, to the Connection of its Parts; second, Siderial Order; third, Influx; fourth, Cosmical Respiration and Pulsation; fifth, The 'Universe in the Human Form, and sixth, Vicissitudes. Under "The Natural World" we have chapters on the Mineral, Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms; under the Spiritual World, the Spiritual World in its Complex; Heaven; Hell; and the World of Spirits. Under Heaven, sub-chapters on Formation and Ordination of the Heavens; their Organization and Organic Conditions; and Angelic Life (subjective and objective). Under "Man" are given, The Human Race in Complex (five groups), Psychology, Physiology, Human Action. Under Psychology, sub-chapters on The Construction of the Mind, Operations of the Mind, and "Its Functional Operations are Structural Changes of Form and State." Under Physiology are the sub-chapters, Formation of Organs and Viscera; Organs and Viscera; and Functions. Under "Human Life" are the sub-chapters, Man as Now Born (not as created); Human Attributes (commerce with the spiritual world); Human Life (commerce with the natural world).
     We cannot attempt to give the titles of the particular groups included under these and the Theological headings, which, as stated, arranged in tabular form occupy twenty-one pages of the Review-a dazzling array for human reason to contemplate. That part of the plan devoted to Theology, Part III, is arranged and systematized like Part H; whence may be formed some general conception of the imposing nature of the whole work. This, Mr. Hawkes states in conclusion, fills some six thousand pages of manuscript, adding that although he hardly expects to see the Analysis published in this generation, he considers it well to have its existence known to the Church.
     In Current Literature among other reviews is one of the Journal of the First General Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, which is treated briefly but with appreciative grasp, concluding thus: "The intense earnestness of the meeting and the sincere desire to be guided in all things by the Heavenly Doctrines, command our unqualified respect and admiration. They also furnish a basis on which all Newchurchmen can meet, whatever their form of government."

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CHURCH NEWS 1898

CHURCH NEWS       Various       1898

Huntingdon Valley.-THE Local School at Huntingdon Valley, and also the Academy Schools, closed for the holiday vacation on Wednesday, December 22d. The following Friday evening the children's Christmas festival was given, being attended also by parents.
     On Christmas morning Mr. Synnestvedt held services for adults in the city, and on the following day (Sunday) at Huntingdon Valley.
     The next Sunday (Jan. 2d) the Holy Supper was administered in the morning to the members in Huntingdon Valley and in the evening to those residing in the city.
     On New Year's Eve instead of the regular Friday supper and classes following, a very funny performance in shadow play was given by a number of the young folks. The acting was all pantomime, the speeches of the actors being read behind the stage. After this performance conversation and dancing were indulged in till toward midnight, when appropriate services were held for the exodus of the old year and the coming in of the new.
     In the doctrinal class, the subject of the common or general sphere which surrounds man has been considered. This common sphere, it was shown, is strengthened by numbers; for, in a harmonious society, the delights of every one are communicated to all. But this is the case only when there is internal harmony and unanimity, which is of far greater importance than mere numbers, and without which an increase in numbers weakens rather than strengthens, the common sphere. Unanimity, however, does not mean uniformity, for internal harmony is by no means incompatible with external variety, but rather is helped by it.
     After the classes on Friday evening, January 14th, Bishop Pendleton reminded the company that on that day, twenty-four years ago, the first founders of the Academy, Rev. William H. Benade, Mr. John Pitcairn, Mr. Walter Childs, and Mr. F. Ballou, casually meeting together in Pittsburgh, conceived the idea and at once decided to organize that body for certain uses which seemed to be essential to the welfare of the Church. Though the Academy was not formally organised till two years later, on the 19th of June, yet this day, the 14th of January, was worthy of being remembered and observed. The result of this announcement was an impromptu celebration, with toasts, speeches, interesting anecdotes of the early days of the Academy and a number of well-known Academy songs, old and new.
     On Monday evening, January 17th, a very interesting and general discussion took place in the Club hall, on the proposition "That Church Fairs and Bazaars are good and useful forms of Church activity." The discussion took somewhat the form of a debate, and several points worthy of serious consideration were brought forward on both sides but it was finally decided to postpone the discussion indefinitely and leave the proposition an open question. The principal arguments on the affirmative were, that such occasions afford an opportunity to contribute of one's labor to the Church where money to do so is lacking, thus cultivating and encouraging the spontaneous co-operation of all even of those most feeble in means; and unanimity of spirit and of effort in this direction was held to be a most important element in a Church which seeks to co-operate with the LORD. Articles so produced would have especial value in the eyes of fellow-members and into their purchase would enter a sentiment which would somewhat elevate the transaction above a strictly commercial basis.
     On the other hand, it was argued that the Church ought not to Include in its functions the marketing of wares; and that such offerings to the Church were consecrated by the end, and ought not 'to be brought into the sphere of bargaining. The spirit of giving one's labor could be turned into channels productive of greater use and greater returns for the support of the Church than in this way. Fairs were held to be not a success from the ground of utility, entailed great wear on the ladies, and inevitably brought in an element of pressure in a matter that should be purely voluntary. The latter view evidently represented the sentiment of most of those present.

     Chicago-Glenview.--AT the recent meeting of the Teachers' Institute, held here during the recent episcopal visit (November 16th), those able to attend listened to an account of recent developments and progress in this work of the Church. Bishop Pendleton's remarks referred largely to the work of the Academy, and were an amplification of information given in the November number of the Life. He spoke of the use of New Church education as being Intimately associated with the name "Academy," which name could therefore be applied in a broad sense to the work of our own and other local schools of the Church. The great need in the educational work of the past had been a greater intercommunication of thought and feeling among those associated in the work. The local schools had suffered from this isolation. The need, he thought, would be met by the newly-formed Teachers' Institute, the use of which he then fully explained. His remarks met with general appreciation, which was freely expressed, and the general state of the meeting was one of hopefulness for the work of the future, both here and elsewhere.
     A point brought out and developed was that the educational work of the past had had not been a failure, but a decided step in the right direction. The love for the things of Heaven and the Church in the pupils had been carefully led and cherished, and this, after all, was the life of our educational work. If mistakes had been made in other things this essential end, at least, had always been kept in view, and the results were already apparent in the Church.

     COMMENCING in January, 1898, the Council of the Society will issue monthly bulletins, presenting the financial affairs of the Church and such other information as will tend to secure the intelligent co-operation of all the members of the Church for the work that has been undertaken. It was deemed both just and useful that the members of the Church should be fully informed of the obligations that had been incurred, of the strength of their subscription, and of the disposition of the funds in discharging those liabilities.
     The festivities of the holidays passed happily, and many delightful social events have brightened the life of the Society in the last two months. Dancing and skating have vied with each other as the favorite forms of diversion, but dramatic entertainments and new games have also claimed attention. The New Year's Eve celebration was one of the best we have ever had, going back to our old custom of beginning the new year with prayer, preceded by a short but impressive service. After wishing each other good things in the incoming year, all were invited to partake of refreshments and drink toasts to future states of happiness. Then dancing was resumed till the new year must have felt thoroughly welcome, as indeed it was for the good things expected
of it.          A. E. N.

     Denver, Colorado.-OUR celebration of the LORD'S birth Into the world passed off pleasantly, and it is to be hoped usefully to those who were able to participate. Some of our adult members and some of our children were unable to attend on account of sickness. On the LORD'S day preceding Christmas Day we had our' usual worshipful celebration' of this event. In the morning appropriate services were held at the chapel, and a discourse on the words in Matthew ii, 1, 2, was delivered. In the evening the Sacrament of the Most Holy Supper was administered. On the following Thursday evening the Christmas Festival was held at the chapel.     R. de C.

     Berlin.-THE school closed on Dec. 24th with a pleasant offering service in which both children and adults participated. On Christmas Day the regular Christmas service was conducted by the Pastor, and on the following Sunday the Holy Supper was administered.
     This particular church at the New Year's Social held on Dec. 31st, 1897, and Jan. 1st, 1898, adopted the name of the CARMEL Church of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. Several visitors added to the pleasure of this New Year's gathering.
     On Jan. 9th the Rev. J. E. Bowers preached In the Carmel Church, and was listened to with appreciation.
     The school reopened on Jan. 11th.
     The brevity of the news this month is owing to the unavoidable absence of your correspondent in Pittsburg during the Christmas vacation.
     An important omission was made in the last report. On Nov. 21st, Bishop Pendleton at the close of his discourse formally installed the Rev. J. E. Rosenqvist as Pastor of this particular church. After a brief address he invited all to go forward and greet their Pastor, which was done. E. J. S.

     Parkdale, Canada.-Special services and celebrations befitting the Christmas season were observed in the Parkdale Society, for which the school was tastefully decorated with evergreen, and the walls, adorned with a number of handsome pictures.
     On Thursday evening, December 23d, a Social was given for the pupils of the school, to which all were invited.
     After supper an appropriate service was conducted by the Pastor, who addressed the children upon the subject of the LORD'S First Coming, and explained the origin of the custom of giving gifts at this season. The Wise Men of the East brought gifts to the birthplace of the LORD, and in celebrating the anniversary of that occasion we do similarly; not that the LORD requires anything, but as an acknowledgment that all things are from Him, and that He came into the world for our salvation. And as we give to the LORD by giving to His Church, offerings were to be handed to the priest, the representative of the LORD'S holy office for the salvation of souls. This was accordingly done, first by the children and afterwards by the adults, and when all had been received by the Pastor, he explained that these contributions were to be devoted to the civil uses of the Society, which were in special need of assistance, and that this would be orderly might be known from correspondence, since a Society, regarded from use, was in the human form, and in the human body, in cases of special need, organs are nourished even at the temporary privation of others.

32



     The gifts were formally handed by the Pastor to the Treasurer, and the singing of a Hebrew anthem concluded the service. During the festivities which followed the pupils of the school rendered very creditably a programme of vocal and instrumental music and recitations. The gathering terminated with a dance.
     On the following Sunday the order of service was varied considerably. Instead of the usual sermon the Pastor's remarks were in the form of an address divided into two parts, consisting of readings from the Writings with doctrinal explanations. Psalm xviii, with accompaniment of organ, piano and strings, was sung for the first time and in a manner highly gratifying to our singing master.
     The occasions just mentioned, with other social events, served to make the Christmas of 1897 one to be remembered among us.
     W. B. C.
LETTHE OF MR. BOWERS 1898

LETTHE OF MR. BOWERS       J. B. Bowers       1898

Pennsylvania.-I DID not reach home for Christmas, because my missionary tour could not be completed in time. Went into this State from Ohio on December 9th. Visited a new receiver of the Heavenly Doctrines at New Castle, who is a Welshman. He has read the Writings the past few years and is in a teachable state. Sunday evening, December 12th, a discourse was delivered in the Baptist Church at Leechburg. Subject, "Death the Continuation of the Life of Man." Audience, one hundred and fifteen. After that friends and members of the Church were visited at Johnstown, Tyrone, Philipsburg, and Williamsport. We had to be content with the use of conversation, as circumstances were not favorable to arrange for preaching in these places. Christmas was spent pleasantly with the little Circle at Renovo. The New Church people in Western and Central Pennsylvania are few and far apart. There has not been much work done in that part of the LORD'S vineyard for some years past. The isolated people, however, who still remain, are firm in the faith. Some of them have endeavored to find others interested in the teachings which are so precious to themselves, but have not succeeded. For instance: Cyrus Elder, Esq., an intelligent Newchurchman in Johnstown, has repeatedly inserted an advertisement in the papers of that city requesting any one interested in the Writings of Swedenborg to communicate with or to call upon him, but this request has met with no response. Few, indeed, are those at this day who care for spiritual things.
     I spent a week with the people in the city of Erie and vicinity, and preached at the house of Dr. Edward Cranch, in Erie, and administered the Sacrament of the LORD'S Supper on Sunday, January 2d.
     Ontario.-After an absence of more than two years from Berlin I was there a few days, and, on invitation of the Rev. J. E. Rosenqvist, preached in the recently-named CARMEL Church on January 9th.
J. B. Bowers.
JUST OUT 1898

JUST OUT       Editor       1898

The first number of the Annals of the New Church opens with a preface which presents the claims of history as the handmaid of religion, and sets forth the design of the compiler, to furnish foundation facts, collected from many sources, to be used in the construction of New Church history. The text begins with the year of Emanuel Swedenberg's (Swedenborg's) birth, with "contemporary events" bearing on the state of religion at that time. Until the period of Swedenborg's maturity the chronicles of the several years are brief, and occupied mainly with "contemporary events." Swedenborg's childhood and early manhood, and scientific and literary labors, are set forth in sufficient detail, the number concluding with the year 1722. An excellent reproduction of the likeness of Swedenborg which appears in the Principia, is given as a frontispiece; other likenesses are those of Jasper Swedberg, Eric Benzelius, and Charles XII.
"SUPPOSE." 1898

"SUPPOSE."       Rev. Willis L. Gladish       1898

(Abridged.)

     THE early Christians might have said, "These people about us are as good, many of them, as we Christians are, some of them better." And he would have been right n saying so. But if he were a Christian, he believed that he had learned a system of which it was essential for men to learn before they could become angels. And he could not think of worshiping in their way to show his fellowship with those who had not yet learned of this pearl of great price.
     The Newchurchman can say the same about those who have not yet accepted the Lord in His second coming. Many of them are better than we. But however good they may be at heart, they are in darkness and error until they learn the truths now revealed. And we shall lose all power to reach out our hand and help them upon the firm rock of truth if by obliterating the distinction between their worship and ours we place ourselves beside them. They will not believe we have anything new or distinctive or valuable to offer them, and soon we shall have nothing, for we ourselves will begin to think that they have all that is essential to spiritual life.
     The Rev. Willis L. Gladish in The New Church Messenger (Jan. 25th.)
NEW SERIAL 1898

NEW SERIAL       Editor       1898

ISSUED BI-MONTHLY.

     ANNALS OF THE NEW CHURCH, a compilation of the chronicles of the New Church, including; 1. Facts connected with the life and work of Emanuel Swedenborg; 2. Notices of all important events in the history of the New Church; 3. Notices of the leading events in the lives of noted members of the Church, etc.; 4. Records of important articles, controversional or didactic, in New Church literature; 5. A full but simple bibliography of the whole Literature of the Church; 8. Summaries of the most important contemporary events In the religious, political, and intellectual life of the Christian world at large; and, 7. an extensive alphabetical index to the entire work. Illustrated by portraits and views.

     COMPLIED by PROF. C. Th. ODHNER.
     Published in bi-monthly parts of 32 pages each, 20 cents each; $1.00 a year.



     A BRIEF VIEW OF THE HEAVENLY DOCTRINES REVEALED IN THE THEOLOGICAL WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 106 pages. Paper, 12 cents (6d.); cloth, 25 cents (ls.).

ACADEMY BOOK ROOM,

1821 Wallace Street,

Philadelphia.
Editorial 1898

Editorial       Editor       1898


NEW CHURCH LIFE.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH.


TERMS:-One Dollar per annum, payable in advance.
FOUR SHILLINGS IN GREAT BRITIAN.

     Address all communications for publication to the Editor, the Rev. George G. Starkey, Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery Co., Pa.
     Address all business communications to Academy Book Boom, Carl Hj. Asplundh, Manager, No. 1821 Wallace Street, Philadelphia. Pa.
     Subscriptions also received through the following agents:
UNITED STATES.
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PHILADELPHIA, FEBRUARY, 1898-128.
     CONTENTS     Page
EDITORIAL: Notes     17
THE SERMON: Contentment in Use. (Matt. vi, 11),     18
     Diseases of The Fibers     20
     Self-Consciousness     22
COMMUNICATED:
     Note, on the "Origin of Species,"     24
     A New Church Pioneer In Homeopathy,     27
     One Person or Three?     27
NOTES AND REVIEWS:
     An Efficient Evangelist     28
     A Study of Luther          29
     The New Church Review     29
CHURCH NEWS:     31
SUPPOSE     32     
JUST OUT     32
BIRTHS: MARRIAGE: DEATHS 32


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NOTES.

     THE New Church Messenger announces editorially that on or before the 1st of May the address of the New Church headquarters, in New York City, will be changed from 20 Cooper Union, to No. 3 West Twenty-ninth Street. The Swedenborg Printing and Publishing Society will remove also to the same address, the present location being no longer desirable nor the accommodations adequate.



     A NOTE in last month's Life has suggested the query Is not the Old Church organically alive?
     As an organization in the world it manifestly has a certain life, like that of any merely external organization, but the ability to perform living uses of a true Church perished with the understanding of the Word and the falsification of its every truth. This is the unequivocal teaching of the Writings.




     AN age that is artificial, that dwells much upon itself and looks ever to the guidance of its own prudence, instead of to that of Providence, naturally produces and multiplies nervous diseases. The causes which produce these also operate to prevent a right understanding of their nature and cure; and so, despite the study and research of the medical faculty little wisdom or true knowledge are evolved. For instance, only recently one expert classed love among the milder forms of insanity! The Disease8 of the Fibres, now current in this journal, throws a flood of light upon the whole subject of the mind and its organ, the nervous system, and their reciprocal relation and erects. This treatise must ultimately form the basis of a new neurology and a new neuro-therapeutics, as well as a new alienism.
     In this connection the instalment that appeared in the February number is of special interest, treating as it does of mania and insanity. The explanation of the well-known phenomenon of abnormal strength in the insane is forcible and convincing.



     THE idea that "preaching from the spiritual sense is preaching over the heads of the average congregation," has been advocated of late by several contributors to the Messenger. There is a danger here which is very clearly indicated in the following extract from the Arcana Coelestia:
     "Let such as are so disposed observe whether any one at this day knows any other than that the sense of the letter is the Divine itself of the Word; but let them also consider whether any one can know the Divine truths of the Word in that sense, except by doctrine thence derived; and if he has not doctrine for a lamp, that he is carried away into errors whithersoever the obscurity of his understanding and the delight of his will leads and draws him. The doctrine which should be for a lamp is what the internal sense teaches, thus it is the internal sense itself, which in some measure is evident to every one (although he be ignorant what the internal sense is) who is in the external from the internal, that is, to whom the internal man is open."
     The latter portion of this quotation is not at all inconsistent with the first part, for it only shows that the doctrine of the internal sense, alone, does not open to man the true internal of the Word-the truth of the doctrine. But no ingenuity will suffice to destroy the force of the clear statement as to the necessity for the literal form of doctrine, to supplement in the natural understanding the plane formed in the imagination by the literal forms of the Word. But both, of themselves, without affection and obedience in life, remain lifeless and totally incapable of opening heaven-that is, the internal of the Word-to man.



     DOCTRINAL sermons, which are dreaded by some hearers, are not necessarily dry, abstract, nor difficult. Inmost principles are the simplest. The most interior doctrine is that which treats of the LORD alone, and it should be remembered that it was because He had been rendered utterly remote and inaccessible to men by their own evils, that He came on earth as a little child, suffered among men, and endured the Passion of the Cross and finally death. He Who had been shut out from sight became again the visible God, Whom the most ignorant and degraded could view. And when the race again fell away and shut out all understanding of this visible God, again He came, and this time opened their natural reason, so that they could not only see Him, but could also know Him to be God, the Incarnate Doctrine of the "Word made Flesh."
     It may be readily conceded that the preaching use, which accommodates the Word to varying states of reception, is as yet comparatively in its infancy. But one thing should command the most considerate attention of all,-that the effective accommodation of spiritual ,things to human reception depends primarily upon the affection with which that accommodation is desired by its recipients. Not only must the priest be in the love of the spiritual things which he is to make plain, but the people also must be in that state of thirst which will make them quick of apprehension and assimilation; a sphere of invitation draws forth a minister's best efforts. And not only must there be a desire to know and understand. Unless there be a sphere of application to life, among his congregation, a minister may indeed be stimulated to brilliant intellectual efforts but not to providing that very Bread of Life which comes only when it is sought and appropriated. Influx is according to efflux. Let the people make use of the truths they have and Providence will surely open the way to bestow all that can be used. No matter how carefully a shepherd may refrain from assuming to read the spiritual state of his flock, he cannot be other than affected, even though insensibly, by the sphere of life which envelops him and the congregation, and his ministration will inevitably be affected thereby.

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     THE subject naturally runs into the pastoral relation. In only one other relation in life is there equal necessity for absolute mutuality and reciprocal affirmative- ness. But the very nature of the common object which brings pastor and flock into mutual relations makes it an object of attack from the belle; and the gates of assault are the weaknesses of the natural man in both parties to the compact. Natural loves when excited by the hells tend ever to set the hand of every man against his neighbor, except those who are compliant and flattering to his desires. It is needless to enumerate the respective faults on both sides which more or less impair a pastor's usefulness. It is evident that they all furnish opportunities for regeneration, and will be recognized as such by all who accept the teaching that in regeneration when man confines his efforts most strictly at home the benefits thereof are most extended abroad.
CO-OPERATION WITH THE LORD 1898

CO-OPERATION WITH THE LORD       Rev. RICHARD DE CHARMS       1898

"If any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with Me."- Rev. iii, 20.

     THESE are the words of our LORD and Saviour, and they indicate that man has to do something in the process of his own salvation. They most clearly inculcate the doctrine that man must co-operate with the LORD in that work; and they involve the conclusion that the LORD will not save man without his co-operation.
     To hear signifies to obey. The ground of this signification is that the ear, with its hearing, or the hearkening of the mind in the ear, corresponds to obedience. We are now taught that this correspondence flows from the other world, "where they who are obedient and dutiful belong to the province of the ear, yea, correspond to hearing itself, which is a heavenly mystery, which was unknown until revealed to the New Church." To hear also signifies to apperceive with affection.
     "That it denotes to apperceive is evident from the very function of the ear, and the consequent nature of hearing. The function of the ear is that it may receive another's speech and convey it to the common sensory, to the intent that this sensory may apperceive thence what another thinks. Hence to hear is to apperceive. Wherefore the nature of hearing is, to transfer into another's thought what one speaks from his own thought, and from the thought to transfer it to his will, and from the will into act. Hence to hear is not only to apperceive what another thinks, but it is also to obey what he wills. Thus perception and obedience are proper to hearing. In language generally these two offices are expressed by distinct terms, and so distinguished; it being common to say we hear any one when we apperceive what he says; and we hearken to him when we obey his commands. Thus to hear is to apperceive, and to hearken is to obey. The reason why apperception and obedience are the office of hearing is because man cannot by any other way communicate the things of his thought, and also of his will; neither can he in any other way press reasons of persuasion and inducement to do and obey the things of his will" (A. C. 6017).
     It is said that to hear signifies to apperceive with affection, because without affection-which is an inclination of the will, to some person or thing, either from love or from fear,-there is and can be no attention to what is said or commanded. Hence the adage, "No one is so deaf as he who won't hear." . . . Hence to hear signifies to perceive with affection, or with an inclination of the will; and as that which comes into any one's will ultimately flows out into his act, hence to hear signifies also to obey. Therefore to hear the LORD'S voice signifies to perceive and obey what the LORD says.
     The voice of the LORD is the Truth which proceeds from Him. While He was on earth the truth proceeded from Him in words, uttered by His lips. But as He was about to leave the world He "breathed on His disciples and said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." And after His resurrection and ascension He descended upon them in, as it were, a rushing mighty wind, and with it as it were "cloven tongues of fire." He then sent them from Himself the Spirit as a comforter, which, when it was come unto them, was to "lead them into all truth." And the Apostle John says, "The Spirit is truth." Hence the voice of the LORD is now an influx of His truth into the minds of men. Whenever this truth flows into the mind's perceptive faculty, and the will is inclined to it so as to cherish an affection for it, and bring it into practice, the man is said to hear the LORD'S voice. Therefore to hear the LORD'S voice means, in the text, to obey His truth; or, in other words, to keep His commandments.
     Now, so far as a man keeps the LORD'S commandments he opens a door in his soul for the LORD Himself to enter; because the LORD is in His own good and in His own truth; and His commandments are His truth containing His good. Hence, so far as the commandments are kept they form in the man who keeps them, the good which they contain, and thus form also in him the LORD, Who is ever in that good. Thus it is that when any man hears the LORD'S voice and so opens the door, the LORD comes in to him.
     A door is that through which we have entrance into a house. This is the natural idea of the word-that is, the idea of it which is formed by the mind in time and space. But the spiritual idea which corresponds to any natural idea, is something abstract from time and space; it is the use of a natural thing regarded as an abstract quality or a predicate of spiritual things. In the present instance, as the use of a door, in a natural sense, is to enter into a house, therefore the spiritual signification of a door is entrance in the abstract. It also signifies communication. For by means of a door those outside or a house communicate with those within, and by or through a door one apartment of a house communicates with another. In some relations, moreover, a door may signify exit or efflux, as well as in other relations it signifies entrance or influx.
     In the present case man's opening the door denotes the preparation of himself to receive the influx of good from the LORD, which preparation is made by the obedience of the truth contained in the LORD'S commandments. It denotes specifically the influx of good into the will prepared to receive it by the knowledge and practice of the truth in the understanding. For the term door implies also the idea of a house; and a house, in the language of Holy Writ, signifies the will, because the love or ruling end of the man dwells in his will, as the man himself dwells in a house.

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Hence we are told of a "house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens;" by which we are to understand the divine ends and heavenly purposes in which the regenerate soul is forever to abide, as well as the heavenly delights which constantly encompass the fruition of those purposes and perpetually preserve and renew their life. And hence we are told of a house founded on a rock; by which is meant a will rationally grounded in the truth. For-a rock signifies truth, as where the LORD says, "On this rock"-that is, the truth which Peter had confessed-" will I found my Church"; and a house built upon a rock means the will of good confirmed by all the rational considerations which the truth furnishes. Thus the LORD says: "Whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him to a wise man which built his house upon a rock; and the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock. And every one that heareth my sayings and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man that built his house upon the sand; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it."
     You here see a striking coincidence between this passage and our text in respect to hearing the LORD'S voice. In this passage the same thing is expressed by hearing the LORD'S sayings and doing them. The LORD'S sayings and His voice are manifestly synonymous. To hear His sayings is to apperceive their truth, and to do them is to hearken to or to obey their precepts, which is the same as to hear the LORD'S voice and open the door; for the opening of the door of the LORD'S influences of goodness is the effect of obeying His precepts, and the effect is here put for the cause. He that keeps the LORD'S precepts as an end of life, founds his will upon them-determines wholly by them the purposes of his life. And such is the truly wise man. For true wisdom is the experience gained by life according to the truth; hence it consists alone in obedience and conformity of the soul to truth. And he whose soul is conformed to truth by the life of it, cannot be made to swerve from the path of rectitude in the hour of temptation.
     A man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his lusts and enticed. These lusts are excited by evil spirits. The influx of these spirits into the lusts and phantasies of men is denoted by descending rain, sweeping floods, and rushing winds. Their influx is distinctly perceived sometimes, as in violent bursts of passion, wherein a man's reason is swept from under his will, as his feet are swept from under his body by the sluice of a floodgate.
     When a man's natural passions are subdued by obedience to divine truth, and his will by renewal is conformed to that truth, his natural lusts and phantasies cannot be inflamed and excited by the influx of evil spirits. His will is fixed in truth and cannot be swerved from the fired purpose of what truth dictates. The truth has made him free from the temptation to act according to the lusts of the flesh, by having made him cease to love what the flesh lusteth after; and where there is no longer love for a thing there is no longer power to tempt to its indulgence. Hence, when evil spirits assault the will in respect to it, the will cannot be determined to turn from the path of rectitude in pursuit of it. The will, by habitual obedience to the truth from the love of truth for its own sake, has become so grounded intruth that it is from its inmost ground averse to whatever the truth condemns, and therefore stands firm against it in the hour of temptation. This is meant by a wise man's building his house upon a rock, so that the rain, floods, and winds could not make it fall.
     On the other hand, he who knows truth without doing it-thus receives truth in his understanding only, and not into his will, so that his will is not based upon truth in the life of it, but is rather based, as to ends of life, upon false principles of conduct-then when temptation comes his will cannot stand firm against it, but, in spite of better reason, rushes into illicit, culpable, and spiritually destructive indulgence. For as a man is tempted when he is drawn of his lusts and enticed-hence, when his lusts are unsubdued by constant and habitual obedience to divine command-however well he may reason against them in his dispassionate moments, and however much in those moments he may resolve to curb them, still, when he is subjected to extraordinary excitements, from the influx of evil spirits, his passions burst all the barriers of natural control, and act out spontaneously and irresistibly the impulses of evil spirits within.
     Every one's experience will furnish him with familiar illustrations of the truth of what has been just said. You see it in the case of the confirmed drunkard. When sober he frequently reasons against drunkenness more eloquently and forcibly than ever did a temperate man, and often resolves that he will break off from his inebriate propensities; but when he comes among his boon companions, beholds the bottle, and hears them say, Come, let's take a glass-his soul is so facile to the spiritual sphere that is flowing into them that it flows into him as a flood, and carries him along in the same current with them, while his rational purpose becomes totally impotent in arresting his course. Nothing can possibly stop him in this course and save him from the flood of corporeal spirits that is flowing into his sensual appetites, but a counter-flood of spirits of an opposite sort flowing into an habitual renunciation of all intemperance as sin against God.
     The same may be seen in the case of a young man who has had good principles instilled into him -and yet has become addicted to gambling. How often has such a one been found totally unable to resist the impulse to gamble when he has been thrown among gamblers and has had his lust excited and inflamed by their sphere. In the counting-house of his master, or in the home of his parents, it would seem as if nothing would tempt him to swerve from the path of rectitude. But when, in the confidence which this character has inspired, he has been intrusted with large sums of money for the transaction of business, in some distant place of dissipation, too-when, away from his home, and out of the protection of its family sphere, he comes within the sphere of the pharo-table---Ah, then, if a religious principle from the sphere of the Church and of heaven be not a panoply of defense bound about him by the habitual life of the LORD'S commands-how apt is he to stake and lose in the cast of the die, his honor, his reputation, and his life.
     Again, let a man-however much he may be ordinarily restrained by a regard to external appearance, or by the fear of the loss of honor, reputation or wealth-nevertheless not regard adultery as sin against God, and shun it in spirit as he would the flames of hell, how totally unable is he to resist temptation to commit that heinous sin under circumstances peculiarly exciting to his passions and at the same time favorable to their undiscovered and unpunished gratification.
     So in regard to murder, theft, covetousness, and everything else which the divine command forbids-we may have the brightest intellectual apperceptions of the heinousness of such things in the light of heaven, as well as the most undoubting conviction of their destructiveness of permanent earthly prosperity; and yet if we do not regard them as forbidden in the law of God so as to shun them and set the eternal purpose of our wills against them as sins against God, we shall have no power to resist committing them when strong temptations are upon us and we are left by circumstances free to commit them with apparent impunity.

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And this is meant by the foolish man's building his house upon the sand. For in this case the will ultimately falsifies all the truths in its understanding, by uniting them with the evils which it loves; and truths thus falsified are like grains of sand-that is, without the systematic arrangement and the harmonious coherency which the good alone gives them. A rock is small particles of stony matter compacted in a cohesive mass, and sand is these same particles separated by attrition and lying loose m mere juxtaposition, and without any union from the attraction of cohesion. Hence, as a rock signifies some general truth which is a complex of many particular and singular truths, therefore sand means these truths separated from one another as to their due and orderly connection. Truths are thus separated when they are received merely in the external memory, and are stored there as matters of mere knowledge, without being vivified by a spiritual principle from within.
     It is spiritual good or love which flows in from the inmost of the soul, and arranges truths from the memory into a vital form of spiritual life in the understanding and in the conduct thence. Spiritual love is a conatus of the soul which in its inmost state is not and cannot be perceived by the mind's consciousness, but in its descent to operation it becomes perceptible in the mind as a will to good. Hence, whether we say spiritual love or a will to good, it is the same. And when a will to good flows into the knowledge and memory of truths, it so arranges truths as means to its end of good as to incorporate them fully with good in the substance of the soul, and makes them the form of good itself in that substance, as they are the form of good itself in the Divine Substance from which they originally flow.
      Truths can be compacted into a complex form in and by good because they are homogeneous to good and are the distinctive forms of its various and yet concordant qualities. And it is the constant tendency of good to make of various truths one harmonious whole. But truths cannot be compacted into forms as truths by evil; for truths and evil are heterogeneous and evil, when it uses and flows into truths for its own purpose, though indeed it preserves them as apparent truths, yet breaks their concatenation I as means to the end of good, and appropriates them to itself as so many distinct and separate jewels or pieces; of money which it employs as occasion requires, in the purchase of means to its own ends, and for this purpose: procures and stores them as glittering gold dust in the' store-house of its external memory.... There they lie as sand. And the will to good from selfish and worldly ends, while it flows down and rests upon truths thus stored, finds no support from them in the hour of spiritual temptation. For the infernals who flow into the external man during temptation know these truths as well as men do, and the passions of evil spirits no more: regard abstract truths in the minds of men into whom the spirits are flowing, than they do those truths in their own minds; hence mere truths without goods have no power by the sphere of good to repel evil spirits from, the spirits of men in whose memories they are stored, merely as scientific matters. And hence, when evil spirits flow into the spirits of men, and from their spirits out into impassioned conduct, they, for the time being, wash from the memory all knowledge of truth, and sweep from underneath the will any rational considerations which may have been thence derived. Thus when a man has evil-that is, self and the world-in the will and its internal memory, while he has truths only in the understanding and its external memory, these truths lie there only in juxtaposition without any cementing principle, and the will of good that rests upon them thus lying is like a house that is built upon the sand.
     From what has been now said in explanation of these portions of the Word as collateral to our text, it must be clear that the spiritual signification of house is the will. Since, then, a door is the means of entrance into a house, and of communication between those within and these without, and therefore signifies entrance and communication, therefore by a man's hearing the LORD'S voice and opening the door, is meant the entrance of the LORD'S truth into the perceptive faculty of that man's will, and the communication thereby, of the LORD'S good to his will itself.
ASSYRIA 1898

ASSYRIA       ANDREW CZERNY       1898

II.

     THE CHURCH.

     "How has she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in."-Zeph. ii, 15.

     Two distinct forms of the Church Asshur are described in the Word. Both belonged to the Ancient Church-one to that branch of the Church called Shem, the other to that called Ham. And as Shem constituted the Internal of that Church and Ham the corrupt form of that Internal, the two forms of Asshur differed from each other as did the Churches to which they belonged.
     The extant remains clearly belong to a time when the true worship of the LORD had perished, and the Church had become a desolation such as the prophet describes it. All genuine good and truth had disappeared, and evil lusts, with the falses corresponding to them, had found an abiding place in the minds of men. Polytheism had been the established religion as far back as the history of Assyria can be traced on the monuments. The national pantheon consisted of gods innumerable, of whom, however, comparatively few are known; and the number of those whose attributes are clearly defined is still smaller.
     At the head of the pantheon stands Asshur," the Great Lord" and "King of all the Gods." Modern writers regard him as the son of Shem, and progenitor of the Assyrian race. But this is altogether erroneous. This view is based upon the supposition that Asshur the son of Shem is identical with the Asshur who went forth out of the land of Shinar. And the conclusion is a natural one, for there is nothing in the literal account in Genesis to show that such was not the case. But the monuments present to us a people whose life and religion is utterly devoid of any spiritual principle, conclusive proof that they did not belong to the genuine Internal Church, but to that branch of the Church which began to destroy the spiritual and celestial things of the Church by ratiocinations. Asshur, their god, must therefore be regarded as the rational perverted, whose progeny are not men of flesh and blood, but ratiocinations and perversions of truth. And when the Church began to turn to idolatry, certain spirits, no doubt (who were strongly confirmed in these perversions, and who wished to rule over those who were in like persuasions), claimed divinity, similarly as some spirits do at the present day, who claim to be the Holy Spirit.

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For it must be remembered that there was open intercourse with spirits in those days; and it is a well-known teaching, that the most powerful of the evil crew claim to be gods, and when leave is given them find means to compel men and spirits to acknowledge their insane claims. In this way arose many gods in ancient times.
     Asshur must have been one of the most powerful of that class of spirits, for he claimed supreme divinity. He made his will known through prophets and seers.
     And he maintained his supremacy to the time of the judgment upon that Church. He commands the kings to make war upon every nation that does not worship him. He attends the kings in battle, and himself takes part in the conflict. Accordingly, we find him so represented on the monuments, and the annals of the kings constantly assert these facts, as in the following:

     When Assur,* [my] LORD, proclaimed my name, enlarging my kingdom he then held his unfailing weapon at the side of my majesty, he caused the armies of the wide reaching land of the Lullume to be slain (Records of the Peat, Vol. 1, 78).
     * [Mr. Czerny states that in each quotation the spelling of the this name is retained as given in the original. The lack of uniformity in the Inscriptions seems to indicate that the ancient writers had each his own system of orthography.-ED.]

     In another place we read:

     Before the mighty arrow of Assur, and the trial of my terrible battle, they had fear (p. 18).

     This reminds us of the Israelites who likewise believed that the LORD desired them to make war upon the nations who did not worship him. And like the latter, the Assyrians treated their enemies with great cruelty, and all this in the service of their god, and for the glory of his name. Thus Assurbanipal describes the manner in which he served his god, in the following words:

     By the command of Assur. . . those who against Assur my lord curses uttered and against me, the prince his worshiper had evil devised, their tongues I pulled out . . . The rest of the people alive among the stone lions and bulls, which Sennacherib the grandfather my begetter, in the midst had thrown; again I in that pit, those men in the midst threw. The limbs cut off I caused to be eaten by dogs, bears, eagles, vultures, birds of heaven, and fishes of the deep. By these things which were done, I satisfied the hearts of the great gods my lords (ibid. Vol. I, 80).

     Such is the tenor of most of the inscriptions; the details may vary; the spirit, however, is the same. From which it is evident, that the Assur of the monuments is identically the same with the Asshur who went out of the land of Shinar,-in other words the perverted rational, whether considered abstractedly or as embodied in men and spirits. In short he represents the ruling love of the Assyrians, the love of combat; and in whatever form that love may ultimate itself; it is not the Son of Shem, but of Ham. Asshur began by assaulting the goods and truths of the Church, and when men became more external, thus more corrupt, that same love sought its gratification on a lower plane. Asshur now becomes a God whose chief delight is combat, and the overthrow of his enemies in battle. And it is this attribute which his people love above any other in their god. They love to call themselves" the people of Assur;" their country "the land of Assur ;" and they consider it their most sacred duty to make war upon every nation which refuses to worship him. This fact is apparent from all the inscriptions which treat of their wars, of which the following is an example:

     To the countries of powerful kings who dwell on the upper ocean, and had never made submission, the Lord Ashur having urged me, I went (ibid. Vol. V, 16).

     Thus writes Tiglath Pileser I, and utterances to the same effect are met with in the annals of all the kings, showing that the subjugation of all the nations who did not bow to Asehur was regarded by them a religious obligation. But this will suffice to show what conception the Assyrians had of their chief God.
     Now, although the Assyrians worshiped a multitude of gods, Asshur was the only genuinely Assyrian deity (of the greater gods, at least), as far as we can learn. Of the minor gods too little is known to enable us to speak with any certainty. All the greater gods, however, were originally Chaldean deities; for the Assyrians acknowledged the entire Chaldean pantheon, with the single exception of II (or El), the supreme deity. The reason for their taking this singular course will appear as we proceed. But now we must go back to the very beginning of our subject.
     In Genesis, Chapter x, the origin of Asshur is described in the following words:

     Out of that land [i. s., Shinar] went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rhehoboth, and Calab, and Resen, between Nineveh and between Calab.

     "Shinar," we are taught, signifies external holy worship which is internally profane; for in that land "was Babel and Erech, and Accod, and Calnah," so many forms of such worship (A. C. 1180). And as Asshur went "out of that land," it signifies that ratiocinations concerning spiritual and celestial things are derived from such worship (A. C. 1185).
     Now this is the spiritual origin of Asshur. But there are certain facts in connection with the early history of Assyria which seem to show that the going forth of Asshur "out of that land," was not only a spiritual event, but also a historic fact. This latter view is very generally held, and in confirmation of the same it is generally pointed out that the Assyrians had virtually the same language as the Babylonians, that they worshiped the same gods and used the same prayers, incantations, and magical formulas. Besides all this, the early rulers seem to have been Chaldean princes, for they are not called kings, but "patesis," a Chaldean term, which means "viceroy," from which it would seem that Assyria was a Chaldean dependency during the first period of her historic existence. This last fact is important, because Chaldea, at that time, included Babylonia. Thus there are many indications which point to Babylonia as the original home of the Assyrians. This would explain how it happened that the Assyrian worship originated in the Land of Shinar, and from there was carried farther north
     But as already stated, the Assyrians acknowledged all the gods of the Chaldean pantheon, with the single exception of Il, in whose place they adopted Asshur. Strange as this proceeding may seem, it was strictly in accord with a certain custom then universally prevailing. For as we are taught, "every nation [then had] its own god, . . . and in this they were distinguished from all the other nations" (A. C. 1343). Thus, when the Assyrians became a distinct and independent nation they likewise adopted a deity who should be peculiarly their own. Asshur was certainly that. He was in every way a representative of the Assyrian genius, and for this reason alone, if for no other, he would naturally be the object of their affection in a greater degree than the invisible and unapproachable Il.

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     Asshur is represented on the monuments in the human form. He wears the horned cap or helmet, the sign of divinity; He is represented issuing out of a winged sphere, and is invariably seen near the king. In battle scenes he is represented in the act of shooting his arrows at the enemy. When returning from battle he still carries the bow, but in the left hand and lowered, while the right hand is extended: He is rarely without the bow. Sometimes the human figure is wanting, and his presence is indicated by the winged sphere. But the most curious of all the various forms in which Asshur appears on the monuments is the triple form. The central is the same as usual, but on either side of it is seen a human head, resting, as it were, upon the wings of the sphere. As these heads are not distinguished by any marks or emblems by which they could be identified, it is impossible to say what they represent. Various explanations of this representation are offered, but as they can neither be proved nor disproved, it would be mere waste of time to discuss them.
     This much about Asshur. ANDREW CZERNY.
DISEASES OF THE FIBRES 1898

DISEASES OF THE FIBRES       Editor       1898

Chapter XI, continued.

     DRUNKEN DELIRIUM.

     509.     DELIRIUM arising from drunkenness is a species of wandering insanity; for the cerebrum becomes vertiginous, the limbs and feet totter, the head wags, the speech wants point, it vacillates, the senses become dull, nor are they in agreement with the internals; the subject frantically imagines what is voluntary, he is rendered dull and delirious; who does not know the rest? It is wine, vapid wine [vappa], spirits, fermented must, beer, yea the exhalations of these, which produce it, and, indeed, by way of the gullet or stomach. Therefore it is of the blood, of the sensory and the voluntary motor; it is of the cerebrum, consequently of the cortical substances, and a large number of sharp pointed and diversiforin parts, which, when they push through the fine thalami of the cortex and the canaliculi of the fibres, prick, pinch, and excite the substances into a motion not their own. Consequently the cause of this insanity is within the cortex; likewise, if without, a similar effect results, but with a difference.
     510.     The state of the cortical substances is such that they do nothing from themselves and of their own free will, but wait to be actuated by causes below themselves, or by the senses, body and blood, which inflow; of which singulars they are so void that immediately, when actuated, they begin to act in like manner; thence, from things perceptible by the senses, arises thought, from thought arises judgment, from judgment arises will, which is the conclusion of the operations of the mind. The cortical substances are, as it were, intellectual eyes, into which the lumen of intelligence from the soul, and the images and ideas from the campus of the memory, inflow. It is scarcely otherwise than the eyes of the body, into which the natural light of the sun, and images from objects, inflow. Therefore the substances under consideration, although perpetually bathed in an intellectual light, see nothing rationally, before the images and forms from the memory and senses, inflow; in the meanwhile they await the influx, which takes place as soon as anything from without or from below is represented to which related ideas are associated, that one common may exist. But when the cerebrum is inebriated, the blood withdrawn from it is surrounded by an abundance of angular and diversiform entities, that is, of a vinous character, that they may not be further devoid of the influx of ideas from the senses and from the memory, that, namely, they may pot on states in agreement with all those forms; from hence comes the dissimilar passion for action, and action for passion or disharmony, whence is delirium.
     511.     This delirium varies in subjects according to the inebriating causes, and according to the state of the inebriate, scarcely otherwise than does mania and insanity. A dull mind, or cortical substances relaxed and sluggish, are stimulated into a better and more propitious life. But the high-spirited and active, either are sad or become passionate, or furious. Sad and anxious minds repel influx, and those things which inflow vainly beat the collapsed and almost insensible parieties of the cortical substances. Hilarious and happy minds at the least points of contact begin to tremble. The injured parts of these is the mind and ulcerated cortex; they are in pain and quickly become delirious, as the sick, melancholic and aged. Those whose circulation, both that through the blood-vessels and through the fibres, is rapid, the separation of the humors in the body and in the brain, prompt; the natural chemical processes active, who have an abundance of fluids, whose blood is full of fatty matter, whose cortical substances and sound fibres are not thin but large, these are more slowly and slightly inebriated. The other effects also easily become known from known causes. The mind and animus of every one is known from the effects of drunkenness.

     FEERILE DELIRIUM-PHRENITIS.

     BRAIN FEVER.

     512.     Delirium is also wont to be an attendant of an acute and burning fever, in which that which the sick feel they perceive differently, nor do they think and judge similarly, but perversely. The external and internal senses often disagree to such an extent that they dream while awake; they see what is not seen; they hear what is not spoken; they act without cause as from a cause; they gather feathers or flocks, as well as things present; they pick wool; they are terrified at friends, as if they were furies; they regard boys as giants, obvious things as spectres, to say nothing of other hobgoblins; they gather flocks and speak insanely.
      513. Fever is the cause of delirium; the common cause is the heat of the blood and its union with the restrained serum. Hence the entire chemical process of the body lies in ruins; for the blood ought to float freely in its own serum, to be separated in the arteries, especially in those of the brain, where the globules are broken up into their elements or constituent parts, and carried through the network of fibres separately. The copulation of the serum and the blood now hinders; and yet those little hearts or cortical glands and the abundant fibres, of necessity demand some juice that they may draw in the vital spirits [animas] and sustain the whole system; hence, in place of the spirits, they attract and absorb a certain thin serum, which abounds with urinous spiculm and sulphurous fragments; thus, in place of the animal spirits, it sustains a guest of another nature, which is not fluid per se, nor compressible, soluble, animal, and still less vital, but resisting, hard, sluggish, cold, and at the same time pungent and biting. Such a foreign fluid, except it be commixed with a vital, fluid, cannot be controlled from the cortex of the brain; nor can it fly at its beck to the ultimate ends or motor fibres in the muscles, but, unless continually pushed forward, it sticks in its position; thence arises pain and impotence in the brain, languor in the muscles, debility in the body, a depraved condition of all the humors, and universal cacochyrnia.

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     514.     The substance and the fibres of the cortex when traversed by such a lymph which does not belong to them, or by a non-vital fluid, although perpetually vellicated, are driven into motions not their own, or lacerated by sharp thrusts, or enkindled by a heat which is not of life, but of fever; finally they become torpid and stiffen themselves against the biting pain when the cerebrum in vain attempts to dislodge those things by compression. Thus an active state is induced which does not correspond with the state of the organs of the external senses; nor does the mind acquiesce in accordance with that which the senses perform, nor do the organs of the senses acquiesce with that which the mind does, for they do not mutually apply themselves; hence febrile delirium and phrenitis result.
     515.     This state is of the cortices and fibres; other parts becoming inflamed grow rigid, as the meninges, both the pia and dura mater, likewise the vascular part in the medulla of the brain, and so by connection the tunics of the nerves and of the fascioles. The inflammation also invades the optic nerve, yea the eye itself and its tunics and humors, as also the ear and its tympana and fenestrm; thus the state of the external sensories is also perverted, whence a two-fold cause of delirium.

     PARAPHRENITIS.

     CEREBRO-SPINALIS MENINGITIS.

     516.     As febrile delirium and phrenitis chiefly attack the cerebrum, so does paraphrenitis the cerebellum; that is to say, there is intrud7ed into its cineritious substance and fibres, in place of the spirits or purer blood, a serum, which by its nature is not elastic, compressible, soluble or vital, but dead, hard, sluggish, beset with an infinite number of little saline and suiphurous daggers, and it is conveyed thence into the muscles, limbs, and viscera by those fibres or by the par vagus and those nerves depending on the great intercostal nerve, whence in particular from a similar cause, as disobedience, self-will, inapotence, and torpor, return, as into the plura, diaphragm, lungs, and the parts of the abdomen. For the cerebrum and cerebellum equally possess the kingdom of the body, so that where there is a fibre of the cerebrum there also a fibre of the cerebellum penetrates; one reigns in the daytime, the other at night. Consequently the fibres of the cerebellum, when the fibres of the cerebrum are resting; now desolate and almost destitute of companions, labor with mighty effort to excite the energies of the muscles.
     517.     Moreover, from a similar cause the meninges and vascular substances of the cerebellum, and with these the tunics of the nerves, become inflamed and rigid, thus resistance exists from a two-fold origin, with an acute sense of pain, because the fibre of the cerebrum lives. This incredible pain is felt on respiring, and during all of those actions which depend upon respiration; that is, in the particulars, especially in the more vehement acts, as in coughing, sneezing, expansion, urination, stool, and vomiting: whence comes the labor of suffocation and many other symptoms.
Rev. W. L. Gladish 1898

Rev. W. L. Gladish       Editor       1898

"Let us co-operate with the Lord from within outward, by cultivating and nurturing primarily what we have, reaching out as we are able into the waste places; not by neglecting the fruitful field that we may sow in the unprepared wilderness?"-(Rev. W. L. Gladish in the Messenger.)
MRS. SWAIN NELSON 1898

MRS. SWAIN NELSON       T. L. FORREST       1898

OBITUARY.

     THE Immanuel Church, of Chicago, has recently sustained a great loss in the departure to the Spiritual World of one of its oldest members, Mrs. Johanna Sophie Nelson, wife of Mr. Swain Nelson, which occurred at Glen View, Tuesday, February 8th, 1898. A very useful life has thus-so far as this world is concerned-been terminated. Her work here is done, and, happily,-well done.
     We are taught (A. C. 3016), "human life from infancy to old age is nothing but a progression from the world to heaven, and the last, which is Death, is the passage itself."
     Truly her life is an exemplification of this clear-cut, most beautiful truth from the LORD. In her case, as we have had opportunities of knowing, by every-day experience, life was a constant progress in the fulfillment of every duty to the Church and to the neighbor, and always performed in a most loving and unselfish spirit. She and her husband have been members of the LORD'S New Church for many years, and during more than twenty years past have been connected with the Immanuel Church.
     Mrs. Nelson was a person of strong character, and, withal, of a most affectionate disposition. She loved the Church with a deep and constant affection, and with a mind ever responsive to its teachings. With her it was always a "yea, yea, or a nay, nay."
     It is pleasant and cheering to look back during the past twenty years, and recall the struggles of the little band, of which she made one; the trials which had to be overcome before the spiritual home which they labored for was, in the Providence of the LORD, provided and secured. And in this unselfish work the subject of this notice did her part with unflagging zeal. Many will recall the numerous pleasant meetings in that delightful household, where a generous hospitality was ever dispensed; where all were welcomed with a sincerity which none could doubt.
     When the annals of Immanuel Church are made up the name of the dear one who has just left us will be found in clear light, as having performed her most useful work faithfully and well.
     In her case the end was very peaceful and almost rapturous. How grateful we should ever feel to the LORD for those blessed teachings which enable us to follow, in spirit, the dear ones who pass into the spiritual world, and realize in some degree "their going out and their coming in," all the states, in fact, of their progressive life there, ever inward towards the LORD. How delightful to think of the welcome that awaits there all such as our friend; and among those who will joyfully receive her the figure of the dear little grandchild, who preceded her some time ago, is p resented to our mind. We can see him, with outstretched arms, running towards her and receiving her warm embrace.
     "Blessed are the dead who die in the LORD."
          T. L. FORREST.
STUMBLING AT NOONDAY 1898

STUMBLING AT NOONDAY       Editor       1898

A CORRESPONDENT sends the following extract from the Spiritual Diary, as having struck him forcibly by its universal and also particular applicability:
"That some persons are more easily led by the LORD than others."

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     "1936. Although all can be led by the LORD whithersoever He pleases, yet some more easily than others. The reason is that the LORD leaves to every one the liberty of thinking according to his inclination, which liberty he does not break. Those, therefore, who are in faith, who believe that the LORD governs everything, and who do not suffer themselves to be acted upon by cupidities and falsities, are easily led.
     "1937. There was a debate upon this subject among the spirits, some of whose reasonings and responses I heard and received, though many I did not hear. They were, in my judgment, so subtle that men would wonder how a controversy could be carried on by such exquisitely framed arguments. But I observed that the minds of some, after the discussion, were so obscured that they knew not what was true, as often happens in regard to truths which are long disputed about. They become, obscure, so that the disputants at length stumble in the light of the very truth itself.
     "With some of these I was present. As far as relates to the effecting of the thing through the agency of Omnipotence and miracles, it were as easy to the LORD I to lead one as another; but when it pleases the LORD to lead one according to order, then it is easier for Him to lead one who is in order than one who is not, for such an one is first to be brought back into the right way, or into order, which is necessarily a work of time, that the spirit may not be broken, whereto I might add many confirming considerations, which, if they were adduced, would come into discussion, and thus into obscurity and ambiguity. This the LORD has seen fit to teach me by an abundant experience."
     [It is evident that the above applies in some degree to every man who has an unregenerated natural man;. for whatever strongly excites the natural loves tends to produce just such obscuration as described above, and, he who is not willing to perceive and resist the impulses of his loves stumbles even in the very light of day. How far do we realize this, practically?-ED.]
IS SWEDENBORG'S SCIENCE AUTHORITATIVE? 1898

IS SWEDENBORG'S SCIENCE AUTHORITATIVE?       Editor       1898

As noted heretofore the article "The Oneness of. Swedenborg's Writings," in The New Church Review for October, 1897, sets forth the relation of the scientific works in a manner which shows their strong claim I upon the attention of the New Church. Since the claim for the scientific works therein made has been somewhat misunderstood it is with pleasure that-by permission-we herewith print extracts from letters received by the editor, which make the writer's position unmistakable, and which may prove suggestive to those readers to whom the scientific aspect of the New Church system appeals. The following extract from a private communication furnished the occasion for Mr. Swanton's statement, subjoined:

     I am sorry to see J. R. Swanton's paper on the "Oneness of Swedenborg's Writings," although I know you will not agree with me. I think it would destroy man's freedom and rationality to be bound to believe by science, and understand this to be the teaching of the Writings. Second, I believe this claim would make the whole system depend for acceptance with the merely natural man, upon the truth of this lowest round, and it might as well be claimed that E. S. never made mistakes, while there are plenty in his index to the Arcana, and any amount in th MSS. I am glad we have A. C. 1533 to shew in this connection and should like all the other passages of like nature collated including the "I suppose" in the Arcana. Also the odd pass age about ghosts [T. C. R. 511.-ED].
     This criticism being called to Mr. Swanton's attention elicited the following reply:

     I should be as far as any one from stating that one can believe in God and in immortality by the facts of sense. Scientifics and what we call modern science, should not be so confounded. Scientifics, if I understand rightly, are the facts of experience and experiment; "modern science," in the sense in which I used it, is a system of truth,-or rather, supposed truth,-built up from these facts, or the bundle of theories which science uses to account for its facts. Scientifics are right in their place, but it is certainly true that from such material alone one can never attain to a knowledge of heaven or of heavenly things. It is because modern science attempts to do this very thing that I so strongly advocate Swedenborg's system, and that is partly the reason why I have greater trust in it than in that of modern science. Surely the path by which Swedenborg was led up to the planes of spirit cannot have been utterly false; and that he did not consider it so, and was not directed to consider it so, I think my article gave abundant proof.
     When your correspondent speaks of forcing man's belief one is tempted to think that for fear of doing so he would advocate a false system of natural truth. Human freedom I always supposed had more to do with the will than with the understanding; and we are taught in this respect that while the latter can be elevated almost into the angelic light the former may be associated with the hells. But so far as rationality goes man is not compelled to believe by any system of truth, however divine, and he will not do so. Yet I imagine that your correspondent would not advise repressing any attempt to improve upon modern science. He certainly would not when the source was in the outside world; why, then, when it comes from Swedenborg?
     The passage he quotes against me seems to indicate where his real difficulty lies. He assumes, apparently, that I would use the "scientific" works just as I do the "theological," and for exactly the same purposes. Indeed he has read me ill if that is the opinion he has derived from my paper. As a matter of fact, I do not view Swedenborg's two classes of works in any other way than he himself does in the last paragraph of his treatise on "The Intercourse Between the Soul and the Body." A certain inhabitant of the spiritual world, addressing him says: "The reason that you are now become an investigator of spiritual truths is because these are founded upon the former" [i. e., the natural just referred to]; and before this he has made the statement: "I do not wonder that he has also called and chosen you, since, as you have said you were from early youth a fisher in a spiritual sense-that is, an investigator of natural truths" (n. 20). The whole paragraph will give you a better idea than I can, but in view of these two quotations how can any New Churchman doubt the truth of Swedenborg's science? and if it be true, what possible objection can he have to its promulgation?
     In looking over my notes for the above quotation I came upon another from the same work-number 16:
     "But it is a truth, that to think from the influx of natural light, not enlightened by the influx of spiritual light, is nothing else but dreaming, and to speak from such thought is to utter idle soothsayings."
     This is why I accept Swedenborg's scientific system in preference to those of other men who have speculated by means of natural light alone; for no specification is here made that this thought referred to is upon theological subjects only. The reference given by your correspondent to A. C. 1583 does not apply to my position, for Swedenborg is there speaking of his early theological ideas, with which his scientific system is innately at variance, and which, by means of his divine guidance into the truths of nature or science, were utterly swept away.
     The other passages I am not familiar with, but from what I do know of Swedenborg I am not afraid of anything that can be produced. Your correspondent and I, I believe, are both solicitous for the welfare of the Church, and I think he is laboring under a delusion as to my real sentiments. If these few lines will set him right I shall be most happy in having written them. I have no doubt if he saw how the world is thirsting for this very system he would agree with me.

     In a later letter Mr. Swanton writes:

     I remember now that I said nothing in reply to Mr. ---'s statements about the errors of Swedenborg. He has taken me very literally indeed, since he assumes that to cite slips of the pen, or technical errors, is sufficient to refute my claims. The errors that I had in mind were of a much more serious nature.

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If Swedenborg numbers one paragraph 410, and the next 360, I cannot see how the truth of his system is affected. The only errors that concern us are those which bear upon his main principles, and while such errors do exist they are, I re-affirm, few and not vital.
NOTES ON "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES." 1898

NOTES ON "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES."       GEORGE E. HOLMAN       1898

II.

IN the previous number of New Church Life attention was drawn to the very strong confirmation of Darwinism presented by a comparison of the botany and zoology of continental islands, such as the Galapagos, with the botany and zoology of the mainland. Attention was also directed to the fact that the Writings give the key to an explanation of these facts on the basis of the separate creation of each species, and quotations were made from Divine Love and Wisdom, n. 293, 342, and 62, and from the Athanasian Creed, n. 90 and 100, from which passages the conclusion was arrived at that while each vegetable species is originally produced from seeds created out of earths, each animal species is created from the emanations or effluvia breathed out by minerals, plants, and other animals.
     The quotation from D. L. W. 62, brings to mind the aphis or green fly which infests our rose trees. The sudden appearance of this little insect is often very striking n o summer weather, when the air is very still and the effluvia from the trees is undisturbed, they often seem to descend in showers. Gardeners find that rose-trees trained against a wall are most liable to the' attacks of green fly. This is no doubt due to the fact that in that situation they do not get the benefit of such a free circulation of air among the foliage as those trees planted in the open, and therefore the exhalations from the trees are less disturbed.
     It may at first sight appear that this idea of the creation of animals from such unsubstantial material as the emanations from plants and other animals is very fanciful and fantastic, but it is hardly more extraordinary than that a bird with its hones, feathers, etc., should be formed from the fluid contents of an egg, and it is certainly not more extraordinary than that the solid granite rocks of the earth should be formed out of gas. Some confirmation may perhaps be seen in the fact that all animals depend for their food upon organic matter, while plants subsist upon inorganic matter.
     Dr. Garth Wilkinson has suggested that man's precursors on the earth performed the use of gradually humanizing the atmosphere, making it fit for man to breathe. That they performed this use is very probable, but the above view, I think, shows more clearly the necessity for their existence.
     The first appearance on the earth of the lowest vegetable life (in the shape of perhaps lichens on the land covered with air, or in the shape of algae on the land covered with sea), would be followed by the appearance of the lowest types of animal life-air breathers or water breathers. These animal and vegetable forces would combine with chemical and mechanical forces to effect further changes in the mineral kingdom, to be followed by higher vegetable forms, the emanations of which could receive a fuller spiritual influx, resulting in the creation of more complex, that is to say higher animal organisms. This increasing complexity of form is of course from a spiritual origin, but the spiritual soul requires correspondingly complex material in which to ultimate itself. It may, perhaps, be thought, that this view is inconsistent with the statement of Swedenborg (D. L. W. 341), that he once observed in his garden in the space of an ell that almost all the dust was turned into minute winged insects. But this dust was not clean earth; it was composed of "cadaverous and rotten" matters-that is, decayed vegetable and animal remains, and each decayed fragment would be environed by its putrid emanation.
     From D. L. W. 293 it will be seen that there are distinct spheres flowing forth from each part of a plant or animal. It may be that for that the creation of the higher animals several individual plants and animals would -have to contribute their quota, combining also with mineral effluvia. These emanations being brought into proper relation with each other and with the spiritual seed, an ovum would be formed of such plastic substance than an instantaneous creation could take place as described in T. C. R. 78.
     I think the above theory agrees with that in the first p art of Swedenborg's prose poem, "The Worship and Love of God," written before his spiritual illumination. He imagines vegetables producing eggs which gave birth to animals, but these eggs are of too gross a substance to allow of the instantaneous creation which a strict adherence to the words of the Writings demands. Geology was unknown in his time, or he would not have said that the vegetable creation was completed before the animal began, evidently following a mistaken idea of the first chapter of Genesis. His magnificent conception at the beginning of the book, anticipating the nebular hypothesis of La Place, should caution against too rash a criticism of the succeeding pages, but I cannot see sufficient evidence for supposing it to be more than it purports to be, a "prose poem." Otherwise I should not imagine that animal emanations take part in the formation of the ova of emanations, but this, I think, must be the case, with all animal parasites, at any rate, although I do not know of any definite statement in the Writings to support the assumption. Still, I know nothing contradicting it.
     Let us revert to Darwin's argument from the inhabitants of the Galapagos Islands. The keynote of the argument is that although the soil and climatic conditions are so different to those of the mainland, the inhabitants are of the same general character as the mainland, but with individual peculiarities belonging to the group of islands as a whole and to each island in particular. Now given a flora generally similar, yet with specific peculiarities, it is not surprising, on the above view, that the fauna should also be generally similar yet with specific peculiarities. But how are we to account for the vegetable similarity and dissimilarity? This question presents greater difficulty. We are told (Ath. C. 100), that vegetables are created out of earths, and the creations of the different species must be determined by the different states of the soil. The mere fact of the proximity of the Galapagos Islands to South America can have of itself nothing to do with the creation of similar forms in the two places. There is no such thing as regional correspondence apart from state (I am, of course, speaking of real correspondence and not of the representative lands mentioned in the Word) and for the resemblance I think we must look to the importation of seeds by means of birds and in the various other ways detailed by Darwin and his followers.
     Darwin's explanation is that the islands have been colonized by seeds from the mainland, and that the plants from those seeds have become gradually modified by natural selection and in consequence of the different soil, etc.

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     In the Writings the earth is likened to a womb, and if this analogy be true we might expect that the soil and atmosphere would effect variations in vegetable life from imported seeds much in the same way as the mother's influence on animals. That difference of soil causes variation is well known. For instance, the holly, if planted in rich soil, will lose its prickles and the medlar will lose its thorns. This explanation, however, does not get rid of the difficulty, for it does not carry us far enough. We cannot thereby understand the appearance of new species of plants on the Galapagos Archipelago, although we are quite prepared to admit that the different environment would cause new varieties. Is it possible that the explanation suggested at the commencement of this paper, with reference to rye succeeding oats, might account for the facts in question? that the imported seeds germinated, but, not thriving, withered away, yet during their life prepared the ground for allied species better adapted to the soil? I do not, however, so much press this view as the following, which is really only a different aspect of the same thing.
     May not the principle upon which the farmer acts when he decides on the rotation of certain crops, give us an explanation of this puzzling similarity and dissimilarity between the plants of the Galapagos Island and those of the mainland? Certain leguminous plants can be grown on corn land without any damage to the corn, because the nutriment required for the two kinds is quite different, and also because most leguminous plants excrete a substance which is beneficial to corn. Plants not only take substances from the soil but they impart to it some of their own juices. "The oak so completely impregnates the soil around its roots with tannin, that few trees will grow in the spot from which it has been rooted up. . . . It is probable that every species of forest tree produces a similar effect; since it is well-known that when a wood composed of one kind has been cleared by the hatchet or by fire, the new growth which soon springs up is not of the same but of a different species. Again some plants which are known as the rankest weeds secrete from their roots substances injurious to plants around them; thus, the poppy tribe impregnates the soil around with a substance analogous to opium. . . . The spurge tribe exudes an acrid resinous matter" (Carpenter's Vegetable Physiology). This alteration of the soil is to a greater extent than could be ascertained by experiment, for the juices of plants are of a most subtle chemistry, and their true nature is far beyond the reach of our gross methods of analysis. Now, as it is no doubt a general rule throughout the whole vegetable kingdom that each plant modifies the soil in a particular way, there must be such a thing as plant -associations or rotations; for the modification of the soil by one plant must, it would seem, fit the soil for some particular successor or neighbor in preference to others. One plant, on resigning its seat in the soil must, as it were, nominate its successor, or while it is still reigning must choose those associates which it prefers. In the case of gardens and plantations the choice is probably rarely complied with, but in the creation of plants (seeds) in virgin soil, this principle must obtain to a much larger extent than is evidenced by plantings and dissemination of seed. One plant having been created, the operation of this principle would induce the creation of what might be called complementary species to it in that particular soil. It seems, therefore not unreasonable to suppose that if, on the South American Coast, a certain plant A was created which, by its modification of the soil, induced the creation of a complementary species B, when the seed of A was transported by birds or otherwise to the Galapagos Islands, its product should induce the creation there of a complementary species similar to B, yet different in consequence of the difference of soil. If the first species A only modified the soil by abstracting certain substances, its complementary species or associates in the two places would probably not resemble each other at all, or very slightly indeed, seeing that the two soils are so different. But if A were a species which, like the oak, the poppy, or the spurge, imparted to a considerable extent its own juices to the ground, the resemblance between the complementary species in the two places would he more decided, and the resemblance between the two floras would increase in proportion to the number of seeds imported from the mainland and to their fertility after importation. It will be observed that while the fact, before referred to, of a crop of rye succeeding a crop of oats which had been kept cut down, furnishes an explanation of how an imported species from the mainland might give rise to the creation of another but allied species, we also have some explanation of how an imported species could induce the creation of another but totally different species, yet which totally different species should bear some resemblance to forms on the mainland which had not been imported at all; and the greater the number of seeds imported and the greater the fertility of the imported species, the greater would be the resemblance between the induced associated forms on the island and on the mainland. Yet the difference of soil, etc., would always cause that dissimilarity which is supposed by Darwin to have been brought about by variation.
     I quite admit the speculative nature of this hypothesis, but it seems not improbable, and, as regards the vegetable kingdom, it meets all the facts which are so triumphantly pointed to by evolutionists as forming incontrovertible proof of their theory. It affords, moreover, when coupled with the view of animal creation given (which seems a perfectly admissible inference from the passages of the Writings quoted), a solution of some of the most serious difficulties with regard to geographical distribution without in any way departing from the axiom that each species is separately created. We have, too, a comprehensible reason for the existence of successively more complex organisms prior to man's appearance on earth.
     It is possible the objection may he raised that the creation from material spheres does not necessitate the long period of time shown by the geological record to have elapsed before the higher forms of life were created. This objection would only apply supposing that animal emanations alone were concerned, but I assume it is necessary that these should be combined with corresponding vegetable and mineral exhalations; indeed, it is probable that the vegetable exhalations may be the most essential, and in some cases the only factors, and any advance in the vegetable kingdom would depend upon changes in the soil effected by the very slow operation of chemical and mechanical laws, and by the equally slow agency of the lower forms of animal life, worms, coral-builders, foraminifera, etc.
     I may here point out that, although it is necessary that at the time of the creation of any animal species there shall be present corresponding vegetable species, that relation need not necessarily continue, although, generally speaking, no doubt it would.
     Darwin cannot understand why, if each species was separately created, frogs and terrestrial mammals should not exist on oceanic islands, where, nevertheless, they thrive when imported. But we can quite understand that on oceanic islands it is very possible that some necessary constituent in the formation of the requisite ova might be absent.

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     Although the geographical distribution of animals' appears to offer some of the strongest arguments in favor of Darwinism, it also offers some of the greatest objections to it. An enormous tortoise inhabits the Galapagos Islands in great numbers. Its nearest relative dwelt in ancient times so far off as the island of Mauritius. The theory of migration from the one place to the other must in this case be ruled out of court, and it is not surprising that Dr. Gunther comes to the conclusion that the Galapagos and Mauritius tortoises must have originated independently. But can we believe that the countless accidental variations which the Darwinian theory necessitates for the "evolution" of these1 tortoises can possibly have taken the same direction in two different places? "The characteristic species of Bulimus (a land molluac), in South America have their nearest allies, not in North America nor in the West Indies, but in New Caledonia and the Fiji Islands, as I can attest from my own minute investigations of such animals. The extinct birds of Madagascar show a near relationship to those of New Zealand. Many fresh water fish of New Zealand are identical or very nearly allied with those of Chili. A small parasite on the legs of a fresh water crab in Chili occurs, identical in species, in the Phillipines and in Java, but on perfectly different crabs" (Karl Semper: "Natural Conditions of Existence as they affect Animal Life").
     The same author, speaking of this crab parasite, says: "It is impossible to explain its existence in Chili, the Phillipines and Java, by supposing it to have been carried thither by birds, for it deposits its eggs in its host; and these are crabs much too large to have been' carried alive by birds- across the ocean."
     On the theory that the parasite is created from crab emanations the difficulty vanishes.
     Evolutionists cannot account for the fact that the crustacea of England resemble those of New Zealand, nor for the fact that the marine shore fishes of the Mediterranean are in a great many cases almost identical with those of Japan.
     One species of fresh water fish inhabits such widely separated spots as Tasmania, New Zealand, the Falkland Islands, and the southern extremity of the continent of South America. Another genus of fresh water fishes, comprising only two species, finds one representative in the United States and another in the Danubian system of waters. The shovel-nose sturgeon and the paddle- fishes, both of them restricted to two or three species,' are confined respectively to the river systems of Central Asia and the Mississippi and the Yangtse-Kiang; the, American Suckers (Catostomus) have an outlying representative in Siberia, while the East Indian genus Symbranchus, after skipping Africa, re-appears with a single species in the waters of South America. Among frogs, the family Dendrobatidm finds representatives in' Madagascar and in tropical South America. The intermediate tracts are entirely devoid of representatives of the family. (See Heilprin's Distribution of Animals.)
     Evolutionists know that the laws of probability must, utterly preclude the notion of these similar forms in diverse parts of the world being separately evolved by natural selection, and they have therefore to introduce innumerable hypothetical means of migration; they will bridge over difficulties with imaginary tracts of land which are supposed to have since been covered by the sea, and some naturalists, in default of migration as an explanation, have actually gone so fat as to suppose that similar species can be "evolved" in different places. Perhaps the acme of folly has been reached in supposing that almost identical forms (such as the American and European horse) could be evolved in different places, and on different ancestral lines.
     Now, instead of the myriad accidental variations in the same direction accidentally preserved through long ages, which natural selection needs to account for the independent appearance of similar forms in places far removed from each other, the view deduced from the Writings needs but comparatively few factors brought together under somewhat similar conditions, and especially is this the case with the lower animals.
     It would be extremely difficult to find any special confirmation of the theory that animals have been created from emanations, a I though careful observations on those insects, etc., which are only found on particular plants, might lead to demonstrative evidence. But it must always be remembered that animals are provided with means for assimilating other than their parental nourishment, and that the present food plant may have had nothing to do with their creation.
     It may be asked, why should not we see the same process of creation still at work? We do; that is, in those simple organisms whose ova are readily provided; but in vertebrates, especially birds and mammals, such creations must be extremely rare since the advent of man, whose disturbing influence must militate against that orderly conjunction of spheres which previously existed.
     (To be concluded.)
Notes and Reviews 1898

Notes and Reviews       Editor       1898

IN the form of extracts from letters, published in Morning Light, comes the pleasant news that the health of the Rev. J. F. Buss is being greatly improved by his trip to Australia.



     THE excellent idea of organizing a Home Class in Hebrew is being carried into effect by the Rev. J. E. Werren, of the Cambridge Theological School. In the Messenger for February 23d he gives some advice to possible students and indicates the necessary books.



     THE New Church Association in Connecticut, which held its annual meeting in Hartford on February 24th, meets three times yearly in order to bring together all receivers of the Doctrines in that State, especially the isolated. The attendance was about forty at this meeting, of which the Hartford Daily Courant gives a brief account.



     IN the Messenger for February 9th the Rev. C. Th. Odhner begins the publication of "A Belated Report," which was prepared, but never presented, by a committee of Convention, appointed in 1835, "to prepare a history of the ordinations in the New Jerusalem Church in this country." The document contains interesting and valuable information.



     AT a meeting held January 31st the New Church Club, of New York, discussed the question, "The New Church: Its Past Evolution and Its Future Promise." The Rev. P. B. Cabell read a paper on the first half of the subject, which was published in the Messenger for February 9th. A paper by Mr. L. E. Wilmarth was also requested for publication.



     FROM the department of the Young People's Societies in the Messenger of February 2d, we take the following nine questions, which were submitted as a review of the November and December readings from God, Providence, Creation. It would be worth almost any one's while to clear and define his thoughts on the important subjects covered by making the effort to formulate answers to the questions;

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     1. If man is saved or lost according to his life, show how his thought of God can save or condemn him.
     2. State your idea of the difference between the Old and New Church doctrine of the LORD.
     3. What are your reasons, positive and negative, for believing the LORD is man and is in human form?
     4. What does the New Church teach as to the relation between God and man? How does this differ from the teaching of the Orientals?
     5. By what comparisons are we enabled to see that we are merely recipients of the LORD'S life?
     6. Why are the heavens and their societies, the angels, and men all in human form? Is Heaven in human form because man is so, or is man in human form because Heaven is so?
     7. What are the two great gifts of God to man? Why given?
     8. What is the use in knowing and understanding the laws of the Divine Providence?
     9. How can you explain the existence of evil plants and animals if all is from the LORD?
     The Chairman of the Reading-Circle Committee, the Rev. W. L. Gladish, states that the questions were prepared with a view of calling out answers, not from book or memory, but from rational understanding of the book's subjects. Those answers which are printed, together with the list, are very interesting.
Title Unspecified 1898

Title Unspecified       Editor       1898

The Twenty-fifth Annual Report of the Board of Managers of the Swedenborg Publishing Association, for the year ending December 31st, 1897, is especially interesting by reason of the quotations given from Old and New Church sources, illustrating on the one hand the growing recognition of the "utter deadness and uselessness of the old theology, and on the other bearing testimony to the life-giving and upbuilding quality of the new." With whatever reservations these testimonies may be taken by those who differ with the Swedenborg Association as to the receptivity of the Old Church, they cannot fail to prove suggestive of the changes going on in these times of theological disintegration, or rather, as the Rev. Dr. Gordon puts it, of "absence of theology."
     An orthodox minister of many years standing, writes:
     "You would be frightened if I should reveal to you the exact state of my faith as my LORD saw it just at the time when the knowledge of the new doctrine came to my ear. Infidels in the world? Yes, in the pulpit many of them! And why? Simply because they are required to believe and preach a system of doctrine which is revolting to the moral sense of thinking men, 'unnatural and immoral,' and calculated to give the student and hearer wholly wrong conceptions of our blessed Father in the heavens, and of His word and its requirements. In all good conscience I preached this sort of stuff for more than a quarter of a century. Did I ever revolt against the orthodox theories? Did I ever do anything other? My intellectual processes all showed me the insufficiency of the doctrines, and I knew that the promulgation of them would multiply skepticism among thinking people, but I strangely enough supposed it to be nominated in the bond; and must therefore be preached." [For comment on this head, see next page.-ED.] The affairs of the Association seem flourishing, but the management state that there is need for the continued support of friends of the work,
Pastoral Relation 1898

Pastoral Relation       Editor       1898

THE discussion of "The Pastoral Relation," which has come in for a considerable share of attention in recent issues of the Messenger, called forth from the Rev. W. H. Alden (January 26) a spirited presentation of the teaching that the ministerial use is not of man, but of the LORD, and that its services are not to be paid for in the "current coin of the realm," nor their success to be summed up arithmetically. The letter is an appeal for closer and fuller relations between pastor and layman, in the mutual recognition that the priestly use-the use of saving souls-belongs to neither of them, but concerns them both; and that its benefits, to be fully realized, require the supplementing of the minister's labors in spiritual principles by the practicality of the business man's sphere, and vice versa.
     The "Queries and Suggestions" of the next number of the Messenger contained a letter from the editor, the Rev. Charles H. Mann, taking issue with Mr. Alden on the point that "For the work of the ministry there is possible no return in kind." Mr. Mann's position is that the minister is not paid for the peculiarly spiritual functions of his ministry-not for the invaluable results thereof-but for "the service of his natural man" simply, the pecuniary value of which "can be as accurately and logically calculated as the pecuniary value of any other service in the world." Mr. Mann contends that not only the minister, but also every other worker in life works for the salvation of souls, does his part toward securing that condition of society which must exist in order that the higher work may be carried on; and he protests, as a minister, "against being separated from his brethren, the other laborers, in carrying out the divine purposes of life. . . . Let no one think that spiritual living with the minister is in any essential particular different from spiritual living with any one."
     Both letters contain much food for thought. One suggestion that might be considered is, whether uses-which really should be considered impersonally-ought not to be recompensed with some reference to their dignity. Indeed, are they not so in general,-with some striking exceptions, notably the ministerial and teaching functions? The main theme of Mr. Alden's letter relates to not compensation, but co-operation, and in that respect would seem to be above criticism.
WORSHIP 1898

WORSHIP       EVELYN E. PLUMMER       1898

The Sabbath hour of prayer,
Comes with its benediction to the souls
Aweary, struggling 'gainst the sins they love,
Yet fain would hate.
Here, reaching out weak hands, they feebly grasp
The hem of the Redeemer's robe and feel
Through every vein the coursing blood renewed
For fiercer combat with besetting sin,
And evil too familiar.
Methinks I hear the prayers
That mingling into one great cry for help,
Rise heavenward from the hearts and lips
Of these bowed worshipers.
Some ask for strength to tread the dusty road
Of traffic, clean and pure of heart;
Some seek the healing of infirmities
That suck the warm blood of their inner life,
And leave them weak for duty.
Some p ray for help to live their clouded lives
Straight out for others' good, e'en though
The pith and marrow of their tenderest hopes
Lie in the little graves the sods have pressed
Since yesterday. And some,
With all the hope and joy
Of youth behind them, turn their questioning eyes
To where the Valley of the Shadow lies
In distant gloom, and pray
To have the bitter cup of helpless age,
Of second childhood and decrepitude,
Made sweeter for their drinking.
Then all, uniting in one common prayer,
For common blessings on their daily path
Arise, refreshed and strengthened.
Then on the list'ning ear, the organ's tone
Bears up the choir's and weight
Of sacred words, and ads the fluttering thoughts
To higher realms of life.
The waters pure of spiritual truth,
So dear to humble souls flow cool and clear
Through Psalm and Testament, a stream of life,
To quench the world's hot thirst.
Now rises on the solemn hush
The pastor's voice dispensing to the throng
The Bread of Life, while pointing out the way
The Master trod along the narrow path
By which alone the New Jerusalem's
Broad, golden streets are gained.
And now the grace of God, dispensed
With reverent tone, dismisses all,
To face, with strength renewed,
The battle-field of spiritual strife,
In six more days of toil.
How, good, how passing good for strength it is
To come up to God's house in company,
And worship at His feet.
EVELYN E. PLUMMER.
Title Unspecified 1898

Title Unspecified       Editor       1898

BEGINNING with the new year the New-Church Magazine publishes an interesting series of papers by the veteran New-Church writer, Mr. Leo. H. Grindon, on "The Favorite Flowers of the Poets." The writer advances the idea that underlying all really effective introduction of flowers in poetry will be found a genuine correspondence which is the secret of power in poetical imagery.

45


Title Unspecified 1898

Title Unspecified       Editor       1898

THE Rev. Howard C. Dunham says (Ken-Church Messenger):
     "Let New Church ministers devote their main attention to feeding and leading the flock, rather than to gathering and interesting strangers. For half a century or thereabouts we have been preaching and writing for the outside world more than for our own people, and many of our most earnest people have acquired the habit of listening to a discourse, or reading an article in our periodicals, to see how it is adapted to outsiders, rather than to obtain spiritual food for themselves."
     We shall cease to be distracted from our own spiritual needs and poverty by thoughts of possible converts so soon as we become in earnest in our desire to be of the New Church ourselves.
TRAGIC REVELATION 1898

TRAGIC REVELATION       Editor       1898

A CLAUSE in the will of Mr. Henry M. Taber, President and Treasurer of the First Presbyterian Church of New York, who died on Christmas Eve last, reveals a story of double life as tragic in its personal aspect as Stevenson's creation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and far more portentous in its suggestive bearing upon the prevailing state of the nominal Church of today. The clause reads as follows:
     Believing that all religions, including Christianity, are superstitions; that the basic doctrine of the Christian religion-'the fall of man'-is utterly and absolutely false, and that its opposite-the rise of man from the lower orders-is a scientific fact; that beliefs in so-called miracles are hallucinations of the brain, and never had the slightest existence in fact; that the chief characteristics of what is termed 'the Word of God' are injustice, cruelty, untruthfulness, and obscenity; that the effect of orthodox Christian teaching is to encourage ignorance, selfishness, narrow-mindedness, acrimoniousness, intolerance, wrong, and mental slavery; that Christianity, so-called, is not the religion of Christ; that it supplants ethical culture and true morality with meaningless theology and unbelievable dogmas; that it puts an unknown (and probably unknowable) imaginary Being in the place of nature; that it gives a name and a personality to evil-an equally unknown and imaginary being; that it so works upon the credulity of its adherents as to invite in them a fear of (that most horrible of doctrines) eternal punishment (I say, believing all these), I, in all kindness and in all earnestness, request that over my remains there be no religious services of any kind nature or description whatever."
     Commenting on this dreary and blasphemous production, the Messenger-from which we copy the foregoing-says: "This will be a strange commentary on the intelligence of orthodoxy. In how many cases would the same confession be given if Church members were candid! In these days it is impossible for any Church to make the fall of man the basis of religion, and to maintain the apparent injustice and inaccuracy of the letter as the full Word of God, and to preach the doctrines of substitution and faith alone, without producing as a direct result in the minds of vast numbers of hearers just such a state of denial as is here expressed. The under current of skepticism in the orthodox world to-day is simply appalling. Men are learning to think clearly on other subjects, and what they learn from science and history, instead of serving its legitimate end of justifying the ways of God to men, too often leads them to repudiate the Church and all its pretensions. This is not the fault of science or history, but exclusively of the Church, which persists in a traditional adherence to irrational dogmas."
     The distinctions here made are not wholly satisfactory. In the decay of the Church the chief "fault" lies with the perverse will of the men who compose the Church, and this affection for evil clothes itself in falses, which include the doctrines not only of theology, but also of science and history. The "facts" of the latter two are not truths in themselves, but only in the minds of those who in them see confirmation of the truth; in others they are phantasies which depend for their hold on the minds of men upon the appearances of the senses, which have strong power to persuade. When man strongly confirms the things of sense, and thus of his own proper life, he inevitably runs into rationalism and negation of spiritual things. Hence, the modern triumph of "evolution," the tincture of which is so evident in the extract given above. Of course, it must be conceded that the vitiation of doctrine necessitates new doctrine In theology and also in science; but equally vital to the healing of the Church is a disposition to make right use of what the LORD provides for man's teachings and guidance. Can anyone doubt that the LORD does and will provide for each and all? Men may be saved in any religion.
Title Unspecified 1898

Title Unspecified       Editor       1898

THE New Christianity for February contains the following remarkable account of a case which was cured by hypnotism, and asks: "Is there nothing in mind cure?" Replies to this question, as illustrated by the case in point, are invited from our readers. The extract reads:
     "Professor William James, of Harvard, gives an account of a cure effected by M. Janet, of Paris, from which we abstract the following:
     'A girl named Marie, nineteen years of age, came to the hospital subject to monthly convulsive crises, chill, fever, delirium, attacks of terror, etc., lasting for days together, and with a fixed blindness of the left eye. The usual hospital treatment and ordinary hypnotic suggestions did no good. She fell into a sort of despair, and Janet threw her into a deeper trance, so as to get, if possible, some knowledge of her remoter psychological antecedents and of the original causes of the disease, of which in any other state she could give no definite account. In the deep somnambulism her early memories and the internal memory of her crisis returned, and she explained that her periodical chill, fever, and delirium were due to a foolish immersion of herself in cold water at the age of thirteen. The experience then stamped on the brain was repeating itself at regular internals in the form of an hallucination undergone by the sub-conscious self. She further explained that her attacks of terror were due to the fact that at the age of sixteen she had seen a woman killed by falling from a height; and the sub-conscious self believed, when her other crises came on, that she was present at this experience. The hysterical blindness of the left eye dated back to her sixth year, when she had been forced, In spite of her cries, to sleep in the same bed with another child, the left side of whose face bore a disgusting eruption. An eruption came upon the same part of her own face a number of times before is entirely disappeared, and left behind it an anaethesia of the skin and the blindness of the eye.
     "The sub-conscious self, reasoned the doctor, must leave off having these senseless hallucinations. But simple commands were fruitless, and he carried poor Marie back in imagination to the earlier dates, making her believe she was again a child. He made her go through the bed scene again, but with the belief that the horrible child had no eruption, but was healthy and charming; and she caressed without fear this new object of her imagination. Mentally she went again through the cold immersion experience also, but with a different result; and through the experience of seeing the old woman fall from a height, but with a comical ending. All morbid symptoms ceased as if by magic, and M. Janet wrote five months afterward that she showed not the slightest mark of hysteria, but was well and stout, her physical aspect absolutely changed."



     THE New Christianity adds "And this reminds us of the experiments recently made by Dr. Waldstein upon Helen Keller, and described in the New York Voice. Helen, as we know, lost sight and hearing when she was a babe of nineteen months old, and appreciates music that she perceives through its vibrations upon her fingers when placed on a singer's throat or on an instrument or even on the floor. The doctor wondered if it would be possible to recall to her, through this sense of touch, impressions that had been made upon her baby mind through the ear before she lost her sense of hearing, and thus prove the force of sub-conscious impressions and the establishment of a new connection between the centres of hearing and the sense of touch.
     "He wrote secretly to her mother, who kindly sent him two plantation songs sung in Helen's Alabama home in that early babyhood. He had the tunes played upon the piano while Helen stood by with her fingers resting on the wooden frame. Though unaware of what had been done, and now sixteen years of age, she became greatly excited by the music, laughing and clapping her hands after the first few bars of "Way down in the meadow, a mowin' of the hay," and repeatedly exclaiming: "Father carrying the baby up and down, swinging her on his knee. Black Crow I Black Crow!" The mother subsequently explained that "Black Crow" had been her father's standard song, he having sung it to all his children as soon as they could sit on his knee.
     "Thus were her early aural impressions reached through vibrations upon her fingers after more than fourteen years of deafness and blindness; and it confirms the doctrine of what Swedenborg calls 'remains.' Early impressions are stored up, never to be lost; and they lie in our sub-conscious memory to be called forth some time or on some occasion deeply to move or to change our life."

46


KEYNOTE STRUCK 1898

KEYNOTE STRUCK       G. G. S       1898

THE Angel of the State: or, the Kindergarten in the Education of the Citizen. A Study of Pestalozzi, Froebel, and Swedenborg. By Frank Sewall.

     THE title of this little work seems to symbolize its chief teaching, that the civil life of man cannot rightly be developed except from the point of view which looks on earthly life as only preparatory for heavenly life, thus which principally regards the child as a future angel; while the special message the book bears for friends of the "New Education," in addition to clearly defining the end just indicated, is, that it can be attained in no other way than by following the religious teachings of Swedenborg. The frankness and directness of this announcement is entitled to recognition. What influence it will have upon the ideas and practice of modern educators is for the future to determine. Of those who interpret Froebel in the light of Kant-for whose system they claim the credit of Froebel's philosophy-we have not much hope, of which more anon.
     According to the book before us, the modern idea of education, or the "natural method "-usually attributed to Peatalozzi and Froebel-consists, first, in teaching according to the order of the mind's own growth, in contradistinction to the old method of cramming the mind without having any philosophical knowledge of its organization, of its true order of development, or of its capacity for assimilating what is put into it. This from the intellectual side. But the method lays at least equal stress on the development of the affections of the child, which it seeks to effect by the nurturing element in the mother-sphere, and by the teacher's love, and by cultivation of delights. Both of these features and aspects, I however, take cognizance only of the natural mind, and therefore need to be supplemented by that which "alone explains and places on its true foundation the real ethical and religious significance of the kindergarten," namely, the doctrine of "remains." This doctrine is essential to an enlightened understanding of that in the child which when developed makes him an angel, namely, the spiritual mind. To recognize the formative elements or rudiments of the spiritual mind, is indispensable, for they involve all that is essentially human in man, and reveal a celestial basis to the science and work of education. The Froebel system aims to form in the child entrusted to its care a natural, healthy mind and body, and so to contribute to the community an ideal citizen; and the training by which this is to be accomplished is to be the outcome of sympathetic companionship with children, careful observation of common and individual traits and habits, all looking toward developing the child's faculties by responsive activity, exercise and use, in a sphere of affection and natural delight. Yet all this must result in failure but for the light revealed through Swedenborg concerning the elements of the soul, which lie above the scope of such external observation. There must be knowledge of these if the child's capacities for becoming a spiritual being, a citizen of heaven, are to be in any measure sounded and the attainment of those higher responsibilities furthered, by human educational, co-operation with angelic and Divine formative influences.
     Here we have the very core and marrow of the book; for in thus recognizing the unseen but essential elements formative of human character, the spiritual or angelic rudiments-without which man would he indeed only the "talking animals' which modern science would make him-Mr. Sewall strikes the keynote of true education.! To it the new movement must either ring true or fall. That there is the gravest danger of this is evidenced by the attempt which has been made to identify the movement with the impulse given to modern thought by the philosopher Kant, to whom is given the credit of Froebel's line of theorizing. Now whether this be true, or whether the Kantian philosophy has been grafted upon the movement by its followers, in so far as it becomes identified with it, the doctrine of remains must be excluded, ensuring spiritual barrenness and failure.
     Kant makes human reason "the faculty which furnishes us with the principles of knowledge a priori," hence which "contains the principles of cognizing anything absolutely a priori."
     "Friends of mankind and of all that is holy to man, accept whatever, after a careful and honest inquiry, you regard to be most trustworthy, be it facts or rational arguments, but do not contest that prerogative of reason, which makes it the highest good upon earth, viz., to be the ultimate criterion of truth. - Otherwise you will be unworthy of your liberty and lose it without fail." (Kant, "Was heisst; Sich im Denken orientirem." Ed. Hartenstein, Vol. IV, p. 352.)
     The real pith of these three quotations makes self the source of truth, and ignores revelation and the spiritual and celestial things, called "remains," in which reside capacity for faculties higher than that of mere reason. Yet by remains it is that the LORD and the angels operate to give man ability to recognize truth in the written Word, despite the incongruities of the letter. These truths never in the world can be discovered by the processes of "pure reason," as Kant calls it, which, as thus defined by him, is an equivalent for self-intelligence and infatuation. It is because of the great natural abilities of Kant that he could be made the subject in which all the rationalistic and agnostic philosophy of the ages came to flower, of which the mere materialism of the present day is the bitter fruit,-mere negativism. Genuinely "pure" reason belongs solely to the spiritual degree of the mind, is interior to conscious thought during earthly life, and exists only with the regenerate.
     The trend of modern thought is so emphatically in the direction of making human reason and the senses supreme, that the attempt to father a popular idea like kindergartening, with Kantian philosophy, was to have been expected. It emphasizes the conviction that if, as we believe, there is something good in the system, for the use of the New Church, it will have to be developed in the sphere of the New Church, in avowed antagonism to the prevailing agnosticism as to remains,-their hidden power and very existence. There are undoubtedly some earnest workers in the world not infatuated with self- intelligence, from whom some things may be learned; but to those who are in the rationalistic spirit the attitude should be no truce and no compromise.
     The Angel of the State traces very interestingly the revolt against the artificiality and tyranny of scholasticism, and the evolution of the citizen; it gives some account of the leading principles and thinkers of the new movement, and it shows the dual aspect of the human mind-the subject of education-its natural aspect and faculties looking outward to the world and its spiritual or invisible faculties looking inward toward heaven. The true evolution is indicated,-the bringing out into conscious reception, of "that divine life which lies completely involved in the beginning of every newborn soul." Chapters VII and VIII, "Swedenborg and The Doctrine of Remains,'" and "The Divine Kindergartner," by their titles sufficiently indicate their contents. Three appendixes throw further light on the character and work of Pestalozzi and Froebel, and a fourth quotes from eminent writers testifying to the importance of Swedenborg's position in the realm of theological thought.     G. G. S.

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CHURCH NEWS 1898

CHURCH NEWS       Various       1898

Philadelphia-Huntingdon Valley.-SWEDENBORG'S birthday (January 29th) was celebrated this year by a supper given by the Philadelphia members of the Huntingdon Valley Society to their "country connections" in Huntingdon Valley. From considerations of convenience the supper was given on the 28th, at 1826 North Street. The attendance was very full, and the occasion itself was especially enjoyed.
     A LOCAL Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem was held in Huntingdon Valley on February 19th and 20th. The first evening was devoted to educational matters, and the second evening to matters distinctively of the "General Church." Despite the very inclement weather of the 19th the attendance was very full, including members of the "General Church" from neighboring localities, as Scranton, Allentown, Brooklyn, etc. A fuller account of the meeting will be published in the April Life.
     AN RETRESION of this meeting will be held in Philadelphia on the evening of February 4th.

     THE local school in Huntingdon Valley has celebrated the birthdays of Emanuel Swedenborg, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington. Lack of space compels postponing fuller accounts of these occasions.
     H.B.C.

     Denver, Colorado.-WE celebrated Swedenborg's birthday on Friday evening, the 28th of January, in the way of a social supper at the chapel. The walls were tastefully decorated with the school banner and sag, and a portrait of Swedenborg was draped In red and white bunting, and evergreen wreaths above and below the picture. Inside the lower wreath was a picture of Swedenborg and the blind girl, while a stand of potted plants set off the foreground. After the assembled members had partaken of refreshments at the table a sentiment to" The LORD'S New Church" was proposed, followed by the singing of "Our Glorious Church." Then a sentiment to the" General Church of the New Jerusalem," and the singing of the "Vitat." The Pastor in reply spoke of the late action of the Denver Church, in joining this General Church, and urged the members to consider seriously the obligations which rested upon them, to give all the material and other aid they could to the uses of this Church, especially the great use of evangelization. He hoped his remarks would bear fruit in the way of regular contributions sent by members through the Local Treasurer to the Treasurer of this more general Church. "The event we celebrate, the birth of Emanuel Swedenborg, servant of the Loan," was then proposed as the sentiment of the evening. This was followed by the singing of Swedenborg's Birthday Song. The Pastor responded to this sentiment briefly by reviewing the life of Swedenborg, with special reference to his mission, as an Inspired revelator. He showed the marked difference between Swedenborg as a theologian and other theologians, and pointed out the nature of Swedenborg's inspiration as compared with that of the prophets and gospel writers. He concluded by saying that while according all honor to the man for his faithful work as the inspired instrument of the LORD'S second coming, the consciousness of his having brought to us in luminous fullness the LORD Himself and the interior senses of His Word, must cause-in this higher presence-the man to vanish, and the LORD to remain. One of our members remarked that it was a matter to be thankful for, that in this vast western region there was at least one spot where a few could meet together and appreciatively celebrate the transcendent use of this, the most remarkable man who ever lived on this earth. While the table things were being removed another of our members sang as a solo, with much expression and effect, Swedenborg's Birthday Song. Then children and adults grouped themselves around the pastor, and listened to a reading of Swedenborg's personal life from Mr. Odhner's little work. The lateness of the hour, and tired and sleeping children, precluded the carrying out of the rest of the program of singing and playing games.
     RICHARD DR CHARMS.

     Berlin.-ON January 28th the School celebrated the 210th anniversary of Swedenborg's birth. After the usual opening exercises the Pastor addressed the children, giving them some particulars in the life of Swedenborg. Most of the children then rendered pieces which they had prepared for the occasion, before the parents and teachers. This was a new departure made in the hope of leading the children to be of use in entertaining themselves and others, and was quite successful. After an interval in which games were indulged in the children were invited to dinner in the schoolroom, generously provided by Mrs. Schnarr and Mrs. Glebe. After dinner the whole school went for a sleigh ride around the country, which brought our delightful celebration to a close. If this celebration shall cause the children to look forward to the anniversary of Swedenborg's birth merely for the pleasure they derive from its celebration it will have served a use, for assuredly joy should be associated with the remembrance of the event. In after years they will come more and more fully to appreciate how great things were involved in the birth of Emanuel Swedenborg.
     The Society celebrated Swedenborg's birthday on the 29th with a Supper Social at the Church under the direction of Mr. and Mrs. Rudolf Roschman. This Social is memorable from the fact that most of those who attended came in costumes, representing different periods and nations.
     The doctrinal and singing classes several times - during the month have had to be abandoned owing to the inclement weather, of which Berlin has its full share. On February 13th your correspondent occupied the pulpit for the Pastor.
     On Friday the 18th one of the oldest members of the Berlin Society, Mrs. George Hachborn, passed into the other world at the age of seventy-six. She was one of the earliest members of the New Church in Berlin. For quite a long time neither she nor her husband, who survives her, have been able to attend public worship. The memorial service which was held February 22d was very largely attended.     E.J.S.

     Parkdale.-ON the afternoon of January 28th the children of the local school celebrated the anniversary of Swedenborg's birthday, and in the evening the adults assembled for the same purpose.
     We were pleased to have with us the Rev. J. E. Bowers, and his readings from Swedenborg's Principia added greatly to the usefulness of the occasion.
     The extracts set forth, among other things, his theories in regard to the transmigratory movements in the starry heavens for which credit is usually given to Herschel in the scientific world-only one of numerous cases of disregard for Swedenborg's prior discoveries.
     These numbers will be found most interesting to those of your readers who have access to the Principia.
     Wednesday evening doctrinal class continues the study of the work on Divine Love and Wisdom, and while much of the teaching contained therein is very profound, and the natural tendency is to endeavor to grasp these interior truths by an effort of the understanding, we are warned by the Pastor against such attempts, but urged rather to see wherein we may apply what we read to our lives. For truth, which has not affected the will, is only of thought and knowledge; genuine wisdom is of life.
     This teaching is not readily embraced because of our strong natural propensity to indulge the faculty of understanding given us by the LORD, and we are taught to "Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and its justice, and all those things will be added" unto us, by which we know that those who have lived according to the dictates of the understanding, who have in this way sought the Kingdom of Heaven, will enjoy the super-eminent wisdom of the angels to
eternity.
     Our Friday evening classes for young people are marked by increased attendance and interest, and in the study of Conjugial Love many things of inestimable value are brought out.
     On the 11th of February the usual class gave way to a dramatic performance, when the production of Buckstone's "Good for Nothing" was attempted.
     General criticism voted the name a most decided misnomer.

     LETTER FROM MR. BOWERS.

     Ontario.-ON February 8th I started from home on another missionary tour, going westward from Toronto. Visited a staunch Newchurchman at Streetsville. The next point was the city of London, where four days were spent. On Monday evening, February 14th, a meeting was held at the house of Mr. H. B. White. There were present eleven adult persons. A discourse was given, after which followed conversation on the Doctrines, lasting until 11 o'clock. A very pleasant sphere prevailed. The discordant element was absent. There are some half a dozen persons in the vicinity of London who profess to believe in the Writings, but who ascribe to them a spiritual sense. They deny the actual birth in The world of the Human of the LORD. They deny that any part of the history in the Word ever really took place, as recorded in the sense of the letter, etc. A conversation with the leading man holding those notions had the effect to prevent all of them from attending our meeting, and this was not regretted by the New Church friends.
     J. E. BOWERS.

     GREAT BRITAIN.

     Colchester.-THE dawn of 1898 has shed many golden gleams of gladness upon the ever growing band of New Church folk dwelling in and around Coichester. For recently Church services, doctrinal-classes, socials, singing-practices and baptisms have followed each other in a rapid cycle.
     On December 31st a social was held to hid farewell to the few remaining hours of the old year and welcome the new. Mr. and Mrs. J. Bedwell had charge of the arrangements and also ably presided. Swiftly and merrily sped the hours enlivened by toast, song, and game, until the bells of a neighboring steeple proclaimed the advent of the new year.

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Then each ceased his game to wish, his friend all that is good and true, then forming into a circle with hands crossed, sung a few appropriate verses, the original composition of a gentleman who for many years has been one of us.
     On Sunday, January 9th, the Holy Supper was administered by our pastor, the Rev. W. H. Acton, the whole service being most impressive throughout. Two weeks later we had the joy of seeing four adults baptized.
     THE 210th Anniversary of Swedenborg's nativity had due observance in Colchester in a special social held on January 28th. Mr. and Mrs. A. Godfrey admirably did the honors. There was a large company of friends present; in fact, the studio was rather more than comfortably filled. The proceedings begin with the customary toast to THE CHURCH and the singing of "Our Glorious Church." This was followed by a toast to Swedenborg and an appropriate address by Pastor W. H. Acton, in which he dwelt on the angelic ides of births, the industry of Swedenborg in gaining knowledge of nature, his preparation by the LORD, the quality of his illumination, and the use he h as performed to us and the world. After this the four novitiates were toasted by the same gentleman in a speech full of warmth and feeling, and after the company had passed round in a circle and clinked glasses a neat response was made by Mr. G. L. Knopp. Later on Mr. Knopp also gave a well-executed flute solo, a new feature which was immensely enjoyed. A very full and varied program, consisting of music and song, reading and recitation, charades and games, was carried out, and indeed midnight had nearly struck before all the friends had finally said adieu. During the evening Mr. J. Bedwell (the friend alluded to above) recited another of his original poems, "On Swedenborg Servant of the LORD." There is no doubt that an era of quiet growth has dawned upon the circle here. The attendance at the Sunday services often numbers more than sixty, the doctrinal classes twenty, and there are eleven scholars in the day-school. J. P.
ANNALS OF THE NEW CHURCH 1898

ANNALS OF THE NEW CHURCH       Editor       1898

Compiled by the Rev. C. Th. Odhner. Published in bi-monthly parts of 32 pages each. Price 20 cents each part, or $1.00 a year.
     This publication is a compilation of the Chronicles of the New Church, including:
     1. Facts connected with the life and work of Emanuel Swedenborg.
     2. Historical: Notices of all important events in the history of the New Church.
     3. Biographical: Notices of the leading events of the lives of noted members of the Church.
     4. Theological: Records of important articles, controversional or didactic, from the periodical literature of the Church.
     5. Bibliographical: A full but simple bibliography of the whole literature of the Church.
     6. Contemporary: Summaries of the most important events in the world at large.
     7. An extensive alphabetical index to the entire work.
     Number 1 [January, 1898] contains the events from the year of Swedenborg's birth 1683, to 1722. Also a frontispiece of Swedenborg from the portrait in the Principia; likenesses of his father Jesper Swedberg, of Eric Benzelius, his brother-in-law, and of Charles XII, the King of Sweden at that period.
     Number 2 [March, 1898], now in press, contains the events from 1723 to 1751. The frontispiece in this number consists of an excellent picture of Swedenborg's home in Stockholm, showing his house and summer garden. This portrait is from an original painting owned by the Academy of the New Church. Further illustrations will be, Swedenborg ready for a walk, Linnaeus, the great botanist, Ulrika Eleonora, the Queen of Sweden who ennobled the Swedberg family and changed the name to Swedenborg.
     The following are a few early extracts which indicate how the Annals have been received:
     "If No. 1 is a fair sample of what we may expect in the future, and we have no doubt that it is, Annals of the New Church will be a valuable addition to our literary material. It is carried out with a painstaking scholarship that is refreshing to meet with, and the arrangement is such as to make the vast amount of material which has been gathered with so much labor immediately available to the inquirer. A very useful feature of Mr. Odhner's mode is his statements of 'Contemporary Events.' As a whole, we cordially commend Annals oldie New Church, and-we bespeak for it an appreciative welcome among New Church people in this country."-New Church Messenger.
     "The readers of the Messenger are aware that the same author has begun the publication in a serial form of the - Annals of the New Church, in much the same style [here referring to the Life and Work of Emanuel Swedenborg by Prof. Odhner] that is, in a succession of carefully compiled data of the whole movement of the external New Church from the be ginning, and in all parts of the world. Mr. Odhner is sparing no research and labor in making this collection of data for the history of the New Church as complete and accurate as possible. It is for the interest of the whole Church and every member of it that whatever assistance can be rendered him in the way of offered material, letters, old books, records, reminiscences, etc., should be freely given, as there is no likelihood of the won being undertaken by another so painstaking, careful, and intelligent as the present compiler, and it is the true, economic policy of the Church, when a servant is doing faithfully and intelligently a good work to unite heartily in supporting him in it. The least one can do is to subscribe the moderate sum, one dollar, I believe, asked for the yearly members of the serial, which appears bi-monthly."-THE REV. FRANK SEWALL, in New Church Messenger.
     Private letters received indicate a prompt and appreciative reception of the work on the part of the New Church public.
SPECIAL REDUCTIONS 1898

SPECIAL REDUCTIONS       Editor       1898

SPIRITUAL DIARY.

We have procured a few new and perfect sets of The Spiritual Diary which are offered for sale at $6.00 a set of four volumes, the regular price being $10.00, also a few separate volumes of I, II, III, at $1.50, the regular price being $2.50.
The three first volumes will be sold to one party for $4.00.
Please notice that this offer is limited to a few sets only and will be advanced to the regular price after this lot is sold.

     "MARRIAGE," AND "TEMPTATIONS"

Are two little books neatly bound in cloth; pocket editions, and consisting of extracts from the Writings. The regular price of these is 25 cents apiece. We have a small lot of these, and while they last we will sell the two together for 25 cents, postage Scents, or either one of the two books for 15 cents, postage 3 cents.

     THE SACRED SCRIPTURE,
     OR THE
     WORD OF THE LORD.

Containing only those books which have an internal sense [A. C. 10,325]. A new edition of the Word, 6x9 1/2 inches, has just been prepared by our London Branch, and in order to enable everybody who desires to use it, it has been reduced in price. Bound with round corners, gilt edges, but in three grades of leather, of which each kind, however, is very serviceable. Price $2.00, $3.00, $4.00. Postage 25 cents.
     ACADEMY BOOK ROOM,
1821 Wallace Street,     Philadelphia.
Editorial 1898

Editorial       Editor       1898


NEW CHURCH LIFE.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH.


TERMS:-One Dollar per annum, payable in advance.
FOUR SHILLINGS IN GREAT BRITIAN.

Entered at the Post-Office, at Philadelphia, Pa., as second-class matter.

     Address all communications for publication to the Editor, the Rev. George G. Starkey, Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery Co., Pa.
     Address all business communications to Academy Book Boom, Carl Hj. Asplundh. Manager, No. 1821 Wallace Street, Philadelphia. Pa.
     Subscriptions also received through the following agents:
UNITED STATES.
     Chicago, Ill., Mr. A. E. Nelson, Chicago Agent of Academy Book Boom No 545 West Superior Street.
     Denver, Col., Mr. Geo. W. Tyler, Denver Agent of Academy Book Boom, No. 644 South Thirteenth Street.
CANADA.
     Toronto, Out., Mr. B. Carswell, No. 47 Elm Grove.
     Waterloo, Mr. Rudolf Roschman.
GREAT BRITIAN.
     Mr. Wiebe Poethuma, Agent for Greet Britain, of Academy Book Boom, Burton Road, Brixton, London. S. W.

PHILADELPHIA, MARCH, 1898-128.
     CONTENTS     Page
EDITORIAL: Notes     33
THE SERMON: Cooperation with the Lord,     34
     Assyria. II                         36
     Diseases of The Fibers (XI continued)     38
COMMUNICATED:
     Mrs. Swain Nelson; Stumbling at Noonday     39
     Is Swedenborg's Science Authoritative?     40
     Notes on the "Origin of Species,"     41
NOTES AND REVIEWS:          43
     A Keynote Struck          46
CHURCH NEWS:     47
BIRTHS: MARRIAGE: DEATHS 48
ACADEMY BOOK ROOM          48


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NOTES.

     WE regret that exigencies require, the withholding until next month, of the conclusion of "Notes on the Origin of Species." Similar reasons prevent our commenting on the welcome proposal to form a Swedenborg Scientific Association, published on another page.



     PROOFS of the first forty pages of the phototype reproduction of the Spiritual Diary have been received from Sweden, and are of a character calculated to give the liveliest satisfaction to those interested. The work is beautiful, and speaks for itself as a faithful reproduction, reflecting credit not only upon the firm having it in charge, but also upon the Rev. Joseph E. Boyesen, whose supervision is evidently most efficient. We shall await with interest the verdict of specialists who will have to pass upon the matter before is can be approved by the Church. The completion of the work depends upon the supply of additional funds. Subscriptions may be made through. Mr. C. Hj. Asplundh, Manager of the Academy Book Room, 1821 Wallace Street, Philadelphia.



     THE latest addition to the list of New Church journals, The New Philosophy, inaugurated with the March number, is the first in its peculiar field, which is, as its name indicates, "the exposition of the philosophy presented in the scientific, philosophical and theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg." A worthy and timely object! The prospectus classifies the system into the natural creation, inanimate and animate, and the spiritual universe within the former. The policy of the paper, it is stated, will combine the promulgating of the new principles with toleration of other views, not excluding from the columns even negative or antagonistic articles, "on the principle that discussion brings a subject into clearer light." Readers are invited to contribute data bearing on the origin of life, spontaneous generation, etc. An editorial entitled "Swedenborg's Philosophy," does justice to Swedenborg's position and labors in the fields of science and higher investigation, and outlines the distinctive features of his system, especially the essential one of tracing creation from the centre and not from the circumference. It points out also his courageous position that investigation in the realm of the invisible things of nature is not necessarily unreliable, but more truly rational than one based solely on sensual and experimental demonstration. The editorial does not neglect to emphasize the distinctness between Swedenborg's spiritual experiences and investigations under Divine auspices, and those which were merely natural and pursued at his own instance, and it sets forth clearly the total inadequacy of the latter without the former. Finally, the editorial quotes "the general principles needed in the explanation of natural phenomena and existences" as set forth in The True Christian Religion, n. 75.



     THE editorial is followed by a notable article by Mr. John R. Swanton, M. A., "The Distinctness and Necessity of Swedenborg's Scientific System." The paper is notable in that it boldly discards the tone of amity and open or tacit approval commonly adopted by New Church writers toward Old Church science. Says Mr. Swanton: "Molten substances and precipitations of metallic vapor have no place in Swedenborg's System. Water and fire have each a distinct and essential part to play, but no such part as modern theories assign to them. . . No planet is or ever was a piece of pin, thrown out onto space and 'cooled down.' No sun is or ever will be cooled down into a planetary body."
     In short, Mr. Swanton repudiates the nebular hypothesis, the foundation of accepted cosmogony and of all modern science; and he peremptorily challenges the assumption advanced from New Church sources, that Swedenborg was its forerunner. "Let no one then suppose, when he hears that Swedenborg was the first propounder of the nebular hypothesis, that there is anything in common between his system and that of La Place. La Place makes no distinction between planets and suns. La Place begins creation at the circumference-on which point consult T. C. R., 35-and not at the centre; La Place makes molten materials the original substance of our earth. In short, there is not one single point of absolute agreement between him and Swedenborg."
     In view of such unequivocal language it is more than surprising that the New Church Messenger refers to Mr. Swanton's side-by-side presentation of the respective features of the two systems-made to show their contrariety-as "bringing out their parallelisms and showing how Swedenborg anticipated La Place." The chief parallelism in the case is the use of the deadly "parallel column." Probably the inattentive reviewer wrote in the secure conviction that no one would have the hardihood to openly throw the gauntlet in the teeth of that revered oracle, Modern Science. Surely he could not have noticed the following sentences: "Swedenborg begins from a God who is life eternal, and he ends with life eternal; La Place from nature which is dead, and he ends with death!"



     THE article further gives a list of Swedenborg's writings bearing on science and philosophy-including some of the theological works-with marginal comments which show that the scientific works proper are mostly unavailable, either out of print or untranslated, or even unpublished, a silent commentary on the Church's slowness to appreciate her privileges and duties. The writer points out that the science of the theological works is based on that of the earlier works, the employment of which is essential to a full understanding of the system.

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As it now is, when one studies the author's system he necessarily is affected more or less by modern science, the only science available to most, and the result is, inevitable obscuration and misinterpretation of what Swedenborg really meant. In conclusion the writer quotes Divine Love and Wisdom, n. 185, teaching that the fundamental prerequisite to knowledge and progress in true philosophy, natural as well as spiritual, is a knowledge of degrees; and he affirms that as Swedenborg's science alone has such a foundation it is plain where the Newchurchman can alone place his trust.
LIFE ACCORDING TO THE DOCTRINES OF THE NEW JERUSALEM 1898

LIFE ACCORDING TO THE DOCTRINES OF THE NEW JERUSALEM       Rev. J. E. BOWERS       1898

"Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep the things which are written therein; for the time is near."-(Apoc. i, 3.)

     IN THE spiritual sense of these words it-is treated of the communion of those with the angels of heaven, who' live according to the doctrines of the New Jerusalem.1 The life according to the doctrines of the New Jerusalem is the keeping of the commandments of the Decalogue. These Precepts are the laws of order given for the government of the human race; and without their observance human society could not exist.
     It is evident that only those who live according to the doctrines of the New Jerusalem, or according to the commandments of the Decalogue, can be in communion1 with the angels of heaven. To be in such communion, men must acknowledge the LORD, whose Divine Sphere constitutes heaven And if men thus acknowledge the LORD as the God of heaven, they will also acknowledge the Divine Law according to which heaven is governed. They will he in the endeavor, with the Divine aid, to remove from their minds everything which is contrary to that Law, in order that in all things the LORD'S will may be done.
     The state of those who are in communion with the angels of heaven, while they still live in the natural world, is described by the first word of the text, the word "blessed." But what is the nature of this state, on the part of men still environed by physical conditions? The answer is, that one who is in communion with the angels in heaven, is one who, as to his spirit, is in heaven; that is, one who, as to his thoughts and affections is in heaven, for these constitute the life of man s understanding and will, thus the life of his spirit.
     He, however, who as to his spirit is in heaven, can also perform uses in the world, and, indeed, he can do so far more perfectly than the mere natural man, who as to his spirit is in hell. He performs uses from the LORD for the sake of the well-being of the neighbor; whereas the natural man does uses from himself for the sake of self.
     He who as to his spirit, or as to his thoughts and affections, is in heaven, is a spiritual man, and is truly a member of the Church, which is the LORD'S kingdom on the earth. He loves the things of heaven and the Church supremely, knowing that all of human life which is desirable is communicated to man by the LORD through heaven. His treasure is in heaven, and therefore his heart is there also. Even the most desirable objects and conditions which are attainable in this world, he regards as merely the means of preparation for heaven.
     It is a self-evident truth, that unless a man is in heaven as to his thoughts and affections, during his life in the world, he cannot go to heaven after death. For the communication of the principles of heaven, through which man is regenerated and comes into a heavenly state, can only be procured during man's life in the body. In other words, unless a man begins to become spiritual while he is in the world, he will remain in a natural state.
     The text is expressed in the form of a trine, namely, he that readeth, they that hear, and they that keep, the things which are written. The expressions of this trine follow each other, and are related to each other, in the Divine order according to which wan acquires the knowledges of things spiritual, and attains a state of blessedness. "The words of this prophecy" are the doctrines 6f the New Jerusalem. "He that readeth" is one who desires, from internal affection for truth, to know-that is. to understand-the doctrines of the New Jerusalem. "They that-hear" are those who from a principle of' good in the will give attention to the generals and the particulars which are involved in the doctrines. And they that "keep the things which are written therein," are those who endeavor to live according to the Doctrines.
     By a prophet, in the spiritual sense, is meant the doctrine of the Church derived from the Word, and the same is meant by prophecy in the text. To receive a prophet in the name of a prophet, is to believe the doctrine of truth because it is true. Those who are in an affirmative state, and willing to be instructed in spiritual things, believe the doctrine of truth because the LORD has revealed it. To be enlightened by the truth, and to receive confirmations of the same more and more in the experiences of life, is to them a great delight, and an unfailing source of spiritual strength.
     But those who are in a negative state, as soon as revealed truth is presented to their minds begin to question whether it is so. And on account of their inverted form of mind, their conclusions, from fallacious reasonings, are always opposed to the truth and in favor of falses.
     The state described by the word "blessed," in the text and elsewhere in the Word, is the truly human-which is the angelic-life. Thus it is the life of heaven, which begins on earth. But this life cannot begin except by regeneration. And regeneration cannot begin in a man unless he receives revealed truth. Hence, the first thing necessary is to be instructed in the truth, in order that one may begin to think spiritually, and from being merely natural may begin to become spiritual. And there are no other means of instruction, as to the things of heaven and the Church, in the full and genuine sense of the word, than in the doctrines of the New Jerusalem. We can see, therefore, the significance of the expression in the text, "he that readeth." For to be instructed and enlightened by the genuine truth of the Word, one must read the Writings, in and by means of which, as a Revelation of the Spiritual Sense, the LORD has effected His Second Advent, and thus has come, and is ever coming, "with power and great glory."
     It is evident that without reading the Writings no one can learn to know himself, as to his unregenerate state. Revealed truth is spiritual truth, which in its essence is the very light of the Sun of heaven; and in this light alone can one see himself as he really is, as to the deformity of his degenerate state. In the light of truth one can see what are the evils of perverted human nature; what are the falses which fill the mind with thick darkness; what are the lamentable conditions of spiritual death.

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And by seeing: these things, one can be led into - a state of humility before the LORD. Then there can be repentance, and regeneration can begin. And as this state proceeds, there is formed a rational understanding, from which results soundness of mind, the ability to form a just judgment of things; and thence there is a steady growth in intelligence and wisdom.
     But before one can come into the heavenly state of intelligence and wisdom he will have to pass through many severe mental experiences, will have to suffer the anguish of internal conflicts, which are spiritual temptation-combats. The LORD in His mercy does not permit these to be more severe than is necessary. And during the wonderful changes which are then effected in a man's internal state, he is drawn out of hell, and is elevated as to his spirit into heaven, and introduced as to his thoughts and affections into the joys of communion and consociation with the angels there. It is therefore said of the great multitude of the redeemed, whom John saw before the throne in heaven, that they are those who come out of great tribulation.
     Spiritual temptations are permitted for the merciful end that evils and falses-that is, hell-may be removed from man, and that he may come into states of tranquillity and peace. We are taught that by temptations man is conjoined with heaven, and introduced into heaven; and that then there flows in joy through heaven from the LORD, and fills even the natural mind. Thus the mental sufferings of the man of the Church are, in hidden and wonderful ways, transposed into states of joy and gladness. It is then clearly seen that the LORD, our heavenly Father, enables the faithful to realize, at times, what heaven is, even while they still dwell on the earth. It is seen that there can he no advancement no amendment and growth in spiritual things, without variations of state. A person learns by actual experience that the days of dense clouds and of thick dark ness, the days of wind and tempest and raging storm are always succeeded by the days of a calm, clear sky, with the cheering and soul-inspiring sunshine; and that these conditions in physical nature are correspondences of the variations of state through which it is necessary for man to pass during his preparation for heaven.
     "He that readeth" is one who understands the Word from enlightenment, and is delighted with the truths taught therein. His enlightenment is derived from the doctrine of the New Jerusalem, without which it is impossible for any one to understand the Word. The doctrine is given in the Revelation of the spiritual sense, in the Writings of the Church. In the Writings the Glory of the LORD hath been revealed; and unless the LORD had thus come again as the Divine Truth which was a manifestation of Himself as the Word, there could not have been effected the salvation of the human race.
     It is by the reception of the doctrines of the New Jerusalem, in the understanding, and a life according to them from the will, from the love of doing uses, and not otherwise, that men can attain spiritual culture, and so can be created forms of Divine order, each individual are raised up out of the sphere of naturalism, are man becoming a heaven in the least form. Thus men brought from death unto life, are introduced as to the spirit into heaven and are made partakers of the delights of intelligence and wisdom. Hence men come into conjunction with the LORD, into communion and consociation with the angels, and heaven and the Church are united in the work of salvation men are elevated as to their thoughts and affections into heaven, and heaven descends to the earth of the minds of the men of the Church, and has a firm foundation, an ultimate resting-place there for ever.
     It is for these reasons that the angels of all the heavens rejoice, on account of the promulgation of the doctrines of the New Jerusalem. For the angels realize that the increase and stability of the heavens depend upon the reception of truth and good on the part of men, and thus upon the establishment of the LORD'S kingdom on the earth. And well may the men of the Church rejoice with the angels, at the going forth of the light of Divine truth, the light of the everlasting Gospel, which is to dissipate the darkness that covers the earth, to enable men to know and even to see the LORD the God of heaven in His Glory; to lead men to believe in the LORD in His second coming; to acknowledge Him in His Divine-Human, and to worship Him alone. There is great cause for rejoicing, on account of the glorious and all-comprehending Revelation which the LORD has made; and those who can receive it are profoundly grateful for being permitted to behold the light which is to illumine the nations throughout the ages.
     "They that hear" are not only in the understanding of the doctrines of the Church, but they are also in the principle of obedience-that is, in the endeavor to apply the doctrines to life, not merely as to the work of the Church, but as to the performance of uses, in the business or employments in which they may be engaged. To hear, in the spiritual sense, means to be obedient to what the truth teaches; As soon as the angels hear the truth, they at once know and acknowledge it, and such is their desire to act from obedience, that they have an aversion to thinking or doing anything which is contrary to the truth. It is so also on the part of men in the world, who are in the truth of faith and in good of life. From obedience they shun the evils which are forbidden by the precepts of life, as sins against God.
     They that "keep the things which are written" in the Word, and in the LORD'S New Revelation of the Word, are well aware that the mere knowledge of the knowledges of faith is of no value. It is indeed of the utmost importance for one to acquire knowledges of natural things, for spiritual things cannot subsist without these as a basis. But the mere knowledges of things in the intellectual part of man are only scientifics, and in themselves are dead. There are many at this day who are learned in matters of science and philosophy, who, nevertheless, are spiritually dead because they do not acknowledge God the Creator of the universe, Who alone is Life, and from Whom all finite existences have their being. The man who ascribes the origin of life to himself, and the creation of the universe to nature, is spiritually insane. The rational of man is formed by scientifics and knowledges. But in order that it may be a genuine rational, from which one can become spiritual and acknowledge the LORD, the acquisition of scientifics and knowledges must have use as an end, which is to have life as an end.
     The final words of our text, "For the time is near," have reference to the consummation of the age, or the end of the first Christian Church. This Church was consummated for several reasons, a few of which may be mentioned. All the truths of the Word were falsified and rejected. All the goods of the Word were adulterated, by being mixed with the impurities of the natural mind. The light of truth was turned into the darkness of falsity. The heavenly warmth of love was turned into the infernal fire of hatred. There was a state of spiritual desolation, because there was no longer any good of charity or truth of faith.

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There was no knowledge or acknowledgment of the LORD. All knowledge respecting things spiritual and Divine had utterly perished. By falses of faith and by evils of life, men had closed heaven again at themselves, and as to their spirits, as to their thoughts and affections, they were in hell. The Church could, therefore, no longer exist as a Church, because men had come into such a state that they could not be in conjunction with the LORD. And since the Church on earth had ceased to be the basis for the LORD'S kingdom, or the Church in the heavens, it was consummated and came to an end.
     But as such a condition had ensued, the time was at hand for the beginning of the establishment of the New Church, signified by the New Jerusalem in the Apocalypse. The LORD then mercifully revealed His Glory; anew, in a wonderful manner. There was a new manifestation of the Divine Love, Wisdom, and Power. This I is spoken of where it is written: "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. . . . But rejoice ye and exult for ever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem an exultation, and her people a joy" (Isaiah lxv, 17, 18).
     The LORD fulfilled the predictions in the Word concerning His coming again to establish the New Church. I He effected this New Advent by means of a man, through whom he gave a Revelation of the spiritual sense of the Word, and thus He came as the Divine Truth, which is the Word. In this Revelation is contained the doctrine of the New Jerusalem. They that - can receive this heavenly doctrine, in heart and in life, are indeed "blessed" or happy; because thereby they learn to acknowledge and to love the LORD as to the Divine Human. And to love the LORD as to the Divine Human is the supreme of all loves, the essentially human and angelic love. Those who receive this love renounce the loves which constitute their own life, or their proprium, which is nothing but evil and the false; and they live in and from the LORD'S life, which is to be happy. And as a consequence of the spiritual marriage being effected in their minds, by the unition of truth and good, they also receive from the LORD conjugial love, which is the containant of all other heavenly loves, as love toward the neighbor, the love of performing uses, the love of seeing others-enjoying spiritual prosperity, the love of infants and children, and the love of teaching them and training them for heaven.
     Those who can receive genuine faith, by the love of the truths revealed in the doctrines of the New Jerusalem; who can be led to renounce the love of evil and the false; who can receive conjugial love from the Divine Human of the LORD, and so can be as to the spirit in heaven,-these are truly living men. But those with whom this cannot take place, because they prefer to remain as to their thoughts and affections in hell, are as to spiritual state dead men. And one in a state of spiritual death can never realize anything of the blessedness resulting from the heavenly marriage, because, from the inversion of his life, he desires nothing of heavenly wisdom, but prefers to be in the pleasures of insanity which are the opposite of conjugial love.
     The whole universe is created for the end that the angelic heavens may be formed. The Church exists in order that men may be brought from death unto life-that from being merely natural and sensual they may become spiritual. Men who come into the Church by the reception of good and truth from the LORD, and so become living men, shall attain salvation and the felicities of eternal life. Conjugial love is the verimost life of heaven; and as this love increases, the kingdom of God will come, and the Church of the New Jerusalem will be established on the earth. For, we read: "That conjugial love, regarded in its essence, is the fundamental love of all the loves of heaven and the Church, is because its origin is from the marriage of good and truth; and from this marriage proceed all the loves which make heaven and the Church with man
L. 65).
     "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophesy, and keep the things which are written therein; for the time is near."-Amen.
DISEASES OF THE FIBRES 1898

DISEASES OF THE FIBRES       Editor       1898

Chapter XI, continued.

     LOSS OF MEMORY.

     518.     THERE are degrees between the least and the greatest in all diseases, as in melancholia, insanity, fever, and others; but not any is placed in the class of diseases which physicians recognize except that which is in the ultimate degrees. So with loss of memory. There are those who have a feeble memory, those whose memory wanders and afterwards returns, those whose memory is very slight from nature or from culture, and those whose memory suddenly fails altogether, so that they return into the state of infancy: this was first recognized as a disease, not by a physician, but was revealed to a nature-curer (natural emendatriei). For the memory of things past here so fails, that they remember nothing, not even the words, language, and actions in which they have been initiated by use and culture; except [in respect to] stature of body, sucking and infantile wailing, they are, as it were, dead and born again, because they have relapsed into an oblivion of all things. This is true to such an extent that they are obliged to learn anew the very rudiments of living and knowing from pupils and teachers, or to begin again to live.
     From these things, rationally digested, consider if you will, analytically, and think whether it he the soul which has migrated from the body, or another one has succeeded to its place, or whether the soul be one thing and the rational mind another. Whoever is of sound mind may conclude that our rational mind is not the same as the soul, but that our reason, while the state of the soul remains entire, may be perverted, become insane, yea, be destroyed together with its organism. But those things are treated of in Psychology.
     519.     In order that we may know whence is loss of memory, we must necessarily first know what the memory is. Nothing more remarkable occurs in the entire realm of psychology than the memory, nor is anything more difficult to disentangle. It might, indeed, first be explained, to the understanding of what quality it is, but not in a few words, for it must be entered upon from hitherto unknown principles; it is not permitted to here expand our wings; but I will relate sufficient for the intelligent.
     520 The memory cannot be an image pictured on the cerebrum; nor one image spread upon another upon a kind of tablet; nor impressed and p reserved in little nooks, from which it may be called forth for use; this is diametrically opposed to nature and reason. But there ought to be a change of state of a certain-organic substance, in which the soul actuates its rational mind; thus it necessarily depends upon a change of state of this organism, that the images and modulations of sensations may be retained in the memory.

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But if the change of state is the cause of the memory, it must be asked, what is the change of state? Briefly speaking, the state of the cortical substances, and of the cerebrum, is changed in different ways, either that those substances are, expanded or contracted, are hard or soft, active or passive, hot or cold, vibrating or tranquil; naturally if they be dense (crassoe), they are composed of numerous fibres, if thin (tenuis), of a few, besides an intrinsic variety which is infinite; but it would be prolix to enumerate all the kinds and species of changes of state. But this truth is evident, that the perfection of the purer substances consists in this, that they can undergo every variety of state, be indued with it, and suffer themselves to be led into it; therefore, whatever cannot change its state is imperfect. Entities of the purest nature are therefore the most perfect, in that they can be accommodated to every change of state, and in a moment pass through the single changes with so great variety, that there is not the least of variety which can anywhere be thought of, be it singular, or universal and general, to which they may not be applied. But I know that I speak strange things; but what matters it, since they are true? Let us illustrate by example: The eye, which is the organ of sight, undergoes innumerable changes of state in seeing, while it receives its objects and images; that is to say, it undergoes another state in regard to each species of color, harmony, disharmony, in regard to each degree of shade and light, in regard to each degree of distance, number, magnitude, and as to the single changes, it variously contracts, dilates, extrudes, indraws, and turns the pupil, iris, tunics, humors, and retina, and so applies itself to the object, that it altogether receives it and is affected by it, according as the state of the object requires, which cannot be unknown to any one who observes. A similar change takes place in the tympani, fenestrae and cochleae in the ear; in the papillae of the tongue; in the entire body from different states of the organs of touch. Who doubts that the brain is similarly affected? From the organ of natural sight let us now pass to the organ of rational sight, or of the ideas of the mind,- that-is,-to the cortical substances, which are the organs of internal sense corresponding to the organs of the external senses,-that is to say, se many little brains, or so many very little eyes; because these are entities of a purer and more perfect nature, it is necessary that they be able to -undergo changes of state, infinitely greater in number, and more perfect than those of the eye,-that is to say, to be disposed to every influx and to the reception of images and modes from the external senses, potentially in infancy, but effectively in the age following.
     But it is asked whether change of state can be the same - as memory. I say that it is the same; for the purer organic substances are from themselves adapted to take upon them every state, and every state is induced by influx from the senses; thus by use and custom that state which is induced remains, and returns as often as it relapses into it, and is turned towards it, or as often as the mind or its organic substance-that is, the cortical substance-turns itself from that state in which it is, or into which it has been reduced, and rolls or turns itself into all similar states. What inflows is perceived or felt, hence by changes of state from an induced state thought is excited, from thought judgment, and so forth. But these things appear to be too physical; thus it cannot but be doubted how that which is metaphysical and spiritual can be accommodated to the same laws. But this is to be demonstrated in our psychological treatise; for it must be known what the soul is, what the spirit,
-what the body, and what the animal spirits; how one inflows into the other; their terms must be explained, and the nature of each thing, signified by the words, must be disentangled before we may proceed to explain the thing itself. If the thing is clear, and the terms are unknown, we speak by mere occult qualities, like as in Greek to Latins, and in Latin to Greeks. Meanwhile let us repose in this, that the memory is a state induced upon the organic or cortical substances of the brain, in which the soul actuates its rational mind.
     521.     That causes may be perceived, it is to be added that there is a memory of universals and a memory-of particulars. The memory of universals is that which corresponds to our thought, and the memory of particulars that which corresponds to our imagination. The memory of universals is the intrinsic, or internal memory of the cortical substances; but the memory of particulars is the extrinsic memory of the cortical substances, but the state of these is common; but still these things are obscure, for the matter cannot be explained in a few words. Thought itself is an active state of the memory of universals, and imagination is an active state of the memory of particulars. They may be conjoined, as also separate; for there are those who excel in the memory of universals, and consequently in judgment, and there are those who excel in the memory of particulars or in imagination; they are very rarely conjoined. But let us proceed to the causes of loss of memory.
     522. The causes are many, that is to say, they are proximate and remote, as also internal and external. The PROXIMATE causes are the red blood and the purer blood. If the red blood makes its way toward those openings which lead into the minute thalami of the cortical substance, then it not only obstructs the pores, impedes the influx, and empties the cortex and the fibre, but also diverts the cortex from its place, and so takes away the faculty of a change of state, so that, the inflowing spirit being deficient, it cannot pass through its own states; and if it should pass through, one cortical gland would not correspond to another which was diverted from its own seat. In this way perish harmonious variety, mutual respect, and order with its rules. The REMOTE CAUSES are those which are the causes of that state of the blood, as mania, acute fever, besides infinite other things. For there is no disease which invades the cerebrum which is not cause of some loss of memory. But the INTERNAL CAUSES are too great intentness of the mind upon one thing, and the too great expansion thence arising, so that it cannot be retained; or too great compression, so that the substances are no longer expansible and versatile; likewise rigidity,-laxity, etc. But the EXTERNAL causes are ulceration, laceration, and destruction of the glands, as the penetrating of poisons, the biting of the sharp pointed particles [in the blood-stream] rushing past, wounds inflicted on the cranium and on the brain itself, tumors, hydatids, inflammations of the cortex, medullary substance and meninges, rheumatic obstructions, divers sicknesses of the animus, and many other things. From the symptoms it is known whence is the cause, whether curable, permanent, or deadly.
LOCAL ASSEMBLY IN HUNTINGDON VALLEY AND PHILADELPHIA 1898

LOCAL ASSEMBLY IN HUNTINGDON VALLEY AND PHILADELPHIA       Editor       1898

FEBRUARY 19TH AND 20TH, AND MARCH 4TH, 1898.

     IN pursuance of the policy already inaugurated, Bishop Pendleton called, for February -19th and 20th, a Local Assembly of the General Church of the New
Jerusalem to meet in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania.
     In order to provide for further deliberations, which seemed to be desired, as well as to extend the benefits of the Assembly to those non-resident members who had been unable to attend the meetings in the country, another meeting was called for Friday evening, March 4th, at six P. M., at the hall on North Street, Philadelphia.

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EDUCATIONAL EVENING 1898

EDUCATIONAL EVENING       Editor       1898

Saturday evening, February 19th, eight o'clock, was set for the discussion of educational matters. After the opening service Bishop Pendleton introduced the discussions of the evening by an address in which he rehearsed the purpose of these meetings, which, in short, is that of free speech and interchange of thought on matters affecting the welfare of the Church and Church life. This, the first evening of the Assembly, would be devoted to educational matters. New Church education constitutes the special use of the body known as the Academy of the New Church, but the use exists in the parochial schools connected with societies of the General Church, and it belongs also to parents in the Church. In the beginning of the Academy the work was directed in the- first place to the education of men for the ministry and to propagating a true idea of the LORD in His Second Coming, and also of the state of the Christian world. From that first design, of educating men for the ministry and a consequent collegiate course as preparatory to the theological school, came the further and natural development of educating children in the sphere of the Church, first at home and then in New Church schools He said that it was not a new idea in the Church, but that it had been carried out by the Academy in a new way, with more of the Church sphere in
it. In consequence, more of the children have remained in the Church-almost all of them-which is very encouraging and a vindication of the work.
     But there are also defects, which we have come to see; as must be the case in any progressive work some things will have to be laid aside. Some of these have had their use in their time and place, but they are to be laid aside now as worn-out garments. Garments are truths, and as man never can receive truth perfectly pure, as he progresses he has to lay aside those which were more in appearances, and come into others which were more nearly in accord with the truth itself. Some of the former things are out of place now in the new conditions, but there is nothing we have adopted deliberately but was a truth in its proper place, though some things have received too wide an application, and may need modification to meet the new requirements. We should not reject those things which need only modification.
     Mr. Pendleton referred for illustration to the study of Hebrew. The teaching that reading the Word in the original tongue presents a fuller ultimate and basis for the reception of angelic influx and a means of angelic association, had been applied more widely than necessary to carry out the real use. Now, however, systematic study of the Hebrew is no longer considered necessary in respect to children and youth, although it is still used in connection with religious instruction; but its scientific study has been transferred to the Theological School.
     Reference was made to the change in educational work, whereby the teaching of the smaller children, and of the local schools generally, had been transferred from the supervision of the Academy to that of the pastors of societies, bringing them into the sphere of the General Church. Yet there is still a connection between the General Church and the Academy in this work of education, because the local schools prepare pupils for the Academy schools-that -is, for the College and Seminary. This connection is provided for by the Teachers' Institute, which is composed of the teachers and professors of the College and Theological School, the pastors and teachers of parochial schools, and the I boards of education connected with both classes of schools. So that the educational field is threefold: first, as covering the first seven years of the child, during which the training belongs to the home; second, from childhood to youth, or up to the age of about fourteen, which belongs to the parochial schools; and third, from early youth to manhood, which is properly in the sphere of the collegiate work of the Academy.
     Stress was laid upon the importance of the early education in the home, which has not been given enough attention in the past. That is the period most far-reaching in its effects, for then celestial remains are implanted. The home is a church and is so recognized in the Doctrines. The father and mother are the teachers, especially the mother in the early years, who, in that use, is consociated with the celestial angels; for, those who are in any use in this world are associated with those who are in that use in the other world.
     The second age, or age of childhood, is a distinct period in spiritual associations, for the child is then taken away from the care of the celestial and put in the care of the spiritual angels, while in youth they are transferred to the sphere of the natural heaven. In adult life man conies into the sphere of the world of spirits, where he chooses his spiritual associations in freedom. So there are three stages in the work of education in this world, corresponding to the three stages of education in the other world.
     Among the questions which might be considered here is that of New Church baptism as a requisite for admission to the schools of the Academy. The practice has been found useful.
     Another subject is the "Relation of School Work to Church Work." With the child education is natural and scientific and constitutes preparation for the Church; with the adult it is rational and prepares for heaven.
     Invitation was here given for remarks or questions on any subject connected with education, and it was stated that these meetings were not formal nor for the transaction of business, but for discussion and exchange of views.
     Rev. Homer Synnestvedt offered two questions that had been suggested to him: first, the Use of the Kindergarten; second, the Secular side of the education of children, that is, in the second stage that had been spoken of-in reference to preparation for uses in the world. This has been made a distinct study by the most advanced nations, separate from the sphere of the priesthood, and the argument has been made that the priest, as not being experienced in things of the world, though competent to attend to the spiritual needs of the child, is not qualified to meet its natural requirements.
     Bishop Pendleton said that the greater part of education is secular and may be done by laymen. We have now lady teachers and we might have male lay teachers. But it ought to be all under the supervision of the priesthood. Secular instruction might be given by secular male teachers, but such have not presented themselves, and we have had to do the best we could. We might have a New Church school in which all the teachers but the superintendent were old-churchmen, but this would be an extreme case. It would be better than none, but it would be lame and weak. Mr. Synnestvedt said that he had come to see that it difficult for a man to be in the pastoral use, and at the same time efficient in practical school work.

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The more he becomes absorbed in the particulars of the one the more he recedes from those of the other.
     Mr. C. Hj. Asplundh said that it seems that, according Mr. Synnestvedt, it is a mistake to have a pastor as head-master of a school that he would only be qualified to give religious instruction.
     Rev. Alfred Acton said that one of two things was involved. Either pastoral work and school work are two co-ordinate branches, or else the school should be taught by a lay teacher under the supervision of the pastor. He thought that Mr. Synnestvedt's remarks pointed to two bodies in the future, one to take charge of pastoral work, and one of the education of children. Few are fitted to be both good schoolmasters and good pastors. This division of functions would not he feasible now; but under present conditions it might be not objectionable to put a layman in charge of the school and invite the pastor to give religious instruction.
     Mr. R. M. Glenn said that there were two points that presented themselves; one is that these schools are New Church schools in which religious instruction is given the first place. The first enters into all that follows, and therefore the priest is the proper head. A man who may not be a particularly good teacher may be a good, manager, especially in managing teachers, which may be of more importance than managing pupils. The training of a New Church priest seemed to be calculated to fit a man best for that general use of managing.
     Mr. John Pitcairn asked whether the fact that all our teachers are priests was not the result of the idea we once had that all teachers ought to be priests.
     Bishop Pendleton answered that the Academy had already given stipends to three different men with the purpose of fitting them to become teachers only. These were men, however, who did not stay with us. The principle has been recognized, but Providence has not given us the men. But in order to secure the unity in the work, which is so important, the whole work should unquestionably be under priestly supervision and in the priestly sphere.
     Mr. Pitcairn asked whether a layman of great ability would be excluded from the head-mastership.
     Bishop Pendleton said that there could be no hard-and-fast rule. The principle that should govern is the securing of unity in the government of the Church; the school is a school of the Church.
     Mr. Synnestvedt said that in the case of some eminent educator being considered for the position, it would not be proper to put him in a subordinate position merely on account of some rule as to priestly teachers. The use itself should be considered. The objection to priestly regulation of schools is very widespread and deeply rooted, because in the past it has been inspired by love of dominion, and this has been felt. These conditions are inevitable in a consummated church where true freedom is unknown. But a wise educator would readily come into such relation to the priesthood as we are aiming at, in order that the Church might be the end in education.
     Rev. C. T. Odhner confirmed Mr. Glenn's position, that the schools should be kept as much as possible in the sphere of the Church. His ideal of a school was where religion is taught not only once a day, but every hour; where every science is taught in the light of religion; not necessarily in the form of doctrine, but so that the spirit of the New Church should permeate the teaching of sill sciences. Science would then become really but the handmaid of Religion. This was what had distinguished the schools of the Academy in the past, and what had made them the most admirable schools in the world. He hoped that this would ever remain their distinguishing feature.
     Bishop Pendleton said that the superintendent of a parochial school would be there as the agent of the society of which the pastor is head. A dual government is not according to the order of heaven. A man of genius would not feel himself hampered by external control in such a case; we are trying to get out of the idea that a Newchurchman has to be controlled.
     Mr. Glenn said that one difficulty that had been more a cloud in the mind than anything serious was the idea that had obtained a footing in the minds of acme, that all educators ought to be priests, and that any other arrangement was a disorder. This went to such a degree that some held that all functions connected with the schools ought to be performed by priests-though this was not generally held. But the general plan now presented puts us all in such freedom that there will be no trouble. The head-master should be the servant of the Church, whether he be priest or layman.
     Rev. E. S. Price said that as a historical fact he would state that the sentiment that every teacher should be a priest had been vigorously opposed in Bishop Benade's theological class when brought up by a stipendiary who was in some solicitude as to whether priestly influx was not needed for a teacher. He rather thought that the Chancellor had not favored the idea. He thought it a misapprehension as to its having been a policy of the Church.
     Mr. Odhner said that Mr. Benade seemed to have given varying instructions as to the need or use of ordination of teachers for the sake of priestly influx. At one time there was certainly an impression among the students that all the teachers ought to be ordained. But whether Mr. Benade had taught this or not was not essential. Priests are not ordained except for the salvation of souls. Any other work is not priestly work. In the Ancient Church, or at least in Ancient Egypt, doctors and teachers were all of the priestly cast, but we now live in another sphere.
     Mr. Price interjected that Mr. Benade had taught that it was proper for a man to be formally ordained into his use; that a rite was useful.
     Bishop Pendleton said that the Chancellor had never advanced the idea as a doctrine of the Church, or announced it as a policy of the Academy; and though he had at times considered the matter, what he had said that had been interpreted as advocacy, was probably in the nature of thinking aloud. Without reference to that, however, he said the policy and practice of the Academy had not been on that basis in the past.

     THE MOTHER IN EDUCATION.

     Bishop Pendleton took up the subject of the mother's part in education, and dwelt upon its profound importance. It need not be scientific as to religious instruction, but in the form of stories from the Word and general ideas about the LORD At first the child is too young to be read to from the Word verbatim.
     Mr. Synnestvedt said that children want to be read to but it will be found that it is necessary to tell the story rather than adhere to the strict letter. He advocated reading a verse or two and then talking about what has been read, reverently; then read further, and then let them relax. We should keep to the appearances of the Letter-the angels should come through the sky, and-so with other appearances. The teaching, that angels receive more from the Word when it is read to children than when to adults, would seem to indicate that it is better to give the Word as it is; yet it is needful also to tell them the stories.

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Mothers need to be well-instructed, to have a very clear understanding of the conditions and things of the spiritual world, for children ask fundamental questions; and teaching the children helps us and gives us clearer thought and stronger faith-makes things more simple, for it brings one into the sphere of the celestial angels. To enter into the sphere of the children will do more to elevate and confirm our own faith than other teaching.
     Rev. J. F. Potts spoke feelingly in confirmation of the views advanced concerning the importance of the mother's-part, and testified that he had always felt that he owed everything, humanly speaking, to his mother-to what he had imbibed in her sphere of affection for the Church. She had taught him love for the New Church, and that was the most valuable thing that she' could have been done for him. By it he had been protected in all his old-church schooling. Whenever he heard teaching that trenched on the ground of the New Church he had been able to recognize it-he knew that the teacher did not know so well as he himself did. Because of the love that is in women they have the facility of instilling love. If they love the Church they can make their children love it.
     This sentiment was sympathetically received and warmly seconded.
     Bishop Pendleton said that the mother is the instrumentality in the hands of the LORD in instilling affection, hence, as has been said, systematic and scientific - instruction, is not necessary on her part. Later some knowledge must be given, and the first knowledges are given by the mother. The child is also first taught to worship in the sphere of the parents.
     Mr. Synnestvedt asked what to do in case of their taking up the idea to play at worship.
     Bishop Pendleton replied that we should not interfere. If any disorder enters into their play it might be checked-anything likely to be of a profane nature.
     Mr. Glenn added that very little children would not be apt to do injury to holy things unless older people entered into their sphere and injected such things.
     Mr. Pitcairn asked whether the scientific had been sufficiently considered. Portions of the Word are especially meant for children.
     Mr. Pendleton: The historicals of the Word are for children.
     Mr. Glenn said that the early impressions are of no value unless followed up by affection. The sphere of love is principally valuable to prepare the child to receive with affection the truths which come afterward.
     Bishop Pendleton: In infancy the will is formed, hence the mother has most to do in the formation of the will or love. Much is said of the education of infants in the Arcana, in the explanation of the twelfth chapter of Genesis, treating of Abraham. When the age of, scientifics is reached the mother finds that the school is needed.
     Rev. C. E. Doering asked how is affection to be inspired? Are all parents gifted with the strong affection which makes the teaching of the child successful?
     Mr. Asplundh said that the place to begin is at home. The way to cultivate love for the Church is by being careful in talking about teachers and members of the Church and all things connected with it. At table often subjects come up which involve criticism of others, and, children take it up and absorb a spirit of disrespect and show it. -This injures love of the Church.
     In connection with the subject of our relation to those outside of the Church and its effect upon children, in the way of suggesting to them antagonism and contempt, Mr. Price said that our relation to the Old Church is something like that of two parties at war. There may not be personal enmity between those who represent the two aides, but those in the ranks are hound to take it personally. So it is with the children; they are in appearances, and we cannot avoid something of personality coming in. We ought not to fear it too much, for in their comparatively innocent state it cannot do so much hurt. He related, amusingly, how the children at times are very frank with the Old Church children with whom they come more or less in contact.
     Mr. Synnestvedt thought that we ought to teach them to discriminate according to outward manifestations; as when a man is known to be cruel, drunken, etc. Perhaps it is a mistake to teach them about the wickedness of the Old Church except as it appears in ultimates. They notice disrespect to the Word and such things.
     Mr. John Waelchli said that it was well to have a child think that the New Church is its country, and a very good country, and to be defended whenever attacked by foreigners.
     Mr. Glenn thought that it was not necessary nor useful to introduce contempt. On the other hand, we might be so considerate as to break down the safeguard of the Church. If this spirit of distinctness had not existed in the early struggles of the Academy they would have been much more severe. It served to keep the young aloof from the Old Church and to protect them.
     Mr. Acton suggested that we should rather call attention to their ignorance rather than excite contempt for them.
     Mr. Henry Cowley thought that it was not necessary to -teach the very little ones the distinctions. Their tender state was one of mercy and tenderness, or should be.
     Bishop Pendleton said that discrimination belongs to the adult age. While we should not excite contempt in children's minds we should not make too much of their ebullitions, which do not go Jeep.
     The meeting closed with singing a Psalm.
GENERAL CHURCH MATTERS 1898

GENERAL CHURCH MATTERS       Editor       1898

AT six o'clock in the evening of February 20th the Local Assembly met to consider general matters relating to the General Church of the New Jerusalem. -
     After the opening service Bishop Pendleton made some remarks further explanatory of the general nature of the subjects proper to be brought before the Assembly, being not local but general matters, in the main the principles bearing on the uses of the Church. He stated that this Church is a product of the Academy, and holds to the principles of the Academy. In the meeting of ministers held here one year ago, for the initial organization of a new General. Church, it was stated that it was not intended to announce any new doctrine, but a new spirit and life in the doctrine. The movement had been characterized by a larger freedom, which always results, or should result, from entering more interiorly into truths, for this is to enter more into the heavenly sphere. An opportunity is offered to do this. There are two paths open. The one is to enter more interiorly into the truths heretofore believed, in the exercise of a new freedom; the other is, to turn more to the world, and to the guidance of a merely natural rationality, such as prevails in the world. Because both ways are open there is freedom. May the LORD guide the Church to choose the better course.

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     The Academy era will always be a marked one in the Church. Its central idea has been the announcing the Second Coming of the LORD in the Writings of the Church. This had been seen before, but not so clearly. The first distinct move had been a paper by Bishop Benade, read at the Conference of Ministers in Cincinnati, in 1873, and printed in the Journal of the Conference, announcing the doctrine that the Writings are the Word of the LORD, the Divine Human. It aroused debate, and was severely attacked.
     The initial organization of the Academy was in 1874, in Pittsburgh, when Mr. Benade and three other gentlemen met and agreed that the time had come to make a concerted, move against certain falsities in the Church.
     In 1876 the more complete organization was effected by twelve men centering around the idea that the Writings of Swedenborg constitute the Second Coming of the LORD. The first public announcement of the doctrines of the Academy was in the serial," Words for the New Church."
     The doctrine that the LORD appears to the Church as the Word, is fundamental to the life of the New Church.
     The LORD always appears as the Word. To the Ancient Church, to the Israelitish, to the Christian, the LORD appeared as the Word; and now to the New Christian Church he appears in the Word as the Word. It is the same Word to all the Churches because it is the same LORD; but in the New Church He appears as the Word such as it is heaven. To get away from this doctrine would be the spiritual ruin of the Church.
     This idea involved other doctrines generally denied in the Church, and they came to be known as Academy Doctrines. They are not Academy doctrines, they are New Church doctrine.
     As there has been uncertainty in the minds of some, not so well informed on these points, one of the subjects which might be considered here is the definition of what are known as Academy doctrines. Another question would be the organization of the Academy; a third, the Two Churches; a fourth, the Uses of the Church and of the General Assembly; a fifth, Our Relation to Convention; a sixth, Social Life, in relation to those outside of the New Church.
     Speaking of the government of the Academy, the Bishop said that it had at first consisted of a Council, with the Chancellor as the head. Some years after the organization, a body called the College had been added and the other members were known as Associate members, thus making a trial form. That form had finally ceased to exist, as not being suitable for a church-it was perhaps more or less artificial. The form and manner of the government of the body had come into dispute.
     Originally the principle of unanimous action had been pleasing to all. An issue had arisen, however, as to how far this was to be carried-whether there was not a limit to it. Suppose one Councillor held out, should the Chancellor have power to overrule his objection? The Chancellor took the ground, and was sustained by a majority of the Councillors, that an objection on the part of any Councillor was reason for a stay of action, but not an indefinite stay, and could be overruled in the discretion of the Chancellor. Afterward followed the dissolution of the Council, the Chancellor taking entire charge of the government of the Academy. He then announced that he would have a council of bishops, which he afterward modified into a council of ministers. But this also was dissolved, and he took the ground that he would call a council only as occasion arose, selecting according to his judgment those who were to constitute the temporary council. The result was a practical abolition of council.
     Another burning question was that of the two Churches. This has been settled in the way of Providence. It is not practicable to have two bodies doing a similar work composed of the same laymen and the same priests. It was doubtless a mistake when the decision was made that the Academy should have public worship. We still have two bodies, but the uses do not conflict, and we are working toward having them performed by a distinct set of men.
     The question of organization will be actively before the body at the General Assembly, next June, and it might be considered here. Some who may not be able to attend the General Assembly may desire to express themselves.
     The questions are now before you.
     Rev. Alfred Acton spoke of our relation to the General Convention, which he considered to be that of one Church to another Church in friendly and fraternal relations, but separated by differences as to doctrine. The Convention is part of the New Church. It accepts the LORD and the Writings, but it understands them differently. It has been claimed that the separation between the General Church of the Advent and the Convention was due to lack of charity on the part of Convention, but the speaker thought that what was so regarded was only the occasion; the cause was difference of understanding of the Doctrines. The separation of churches is based, upon differences of doctrine. In heaven all accept the LORD but are distinguished according to their various understandings of the LORD. Convention does accept the fundamental doctrines of the New Church, and we should recognize that and unite with them in any uses in which we may see alike with them. Not, however, on any other, as questions of government, in which our own freedom would have to be preserved.
     Mr. John Waelchli thought that we had kept away from our body some who fully agree with us as to doctrine, by our looking too much to mere organization.
     Rev. C. T. Odhner could not agree that difference of doctrine was the chief reason for keeping apart. Convention has never formulated a creed in which they differ from us. The main reason that we cannot unite with them is, lack of liberty. The fact is that we would be permitted by them to think as we pleased but not to live as we pleased. That insurmountable differences of doctrine do not exist is shown by the fact that several of our former members are now in Convention. The Academy had a mission to the New Church, but we cannot perform it if we have no relations with them. What we must have is freedom to teach and practice what we believe. But that freedom does not exist, and therefore it would be vain and suicidal to propose to join them under existing conditions.
     In answer to Mr. Waelchli's question as to what would be the restrictions placed upon us in Convention, Mr. Odhner explained that the restriction would be external, bearing upon the organic life of the body through its priesthood, not internal,- bearing upon the life of individuals; that cannot be restricted by earthly bonds. Non-freedom of the priesthood would destroy the organization, not individuals. The priesthood is hampered when it is subject to a mass meeting. They claim original power and jurisdiction over the priesthood. That was the external cause of the separation.
     Rev. G. O. Starkey explained how the constitution of convention, by its sections 4 and 5 of Article V, gives that body jurisdiction over the priesthood.
     Mr. John Pitcairn stated that the reasons for the existence of the Academy, as given by Bishop Pendleton, constitute the reasons for separation.

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     Mr. Acton said that there will be greater charity to Convention if it is seen that the difference is of doctrine. Whether there is charity or not is not the question; we could not-live with them in any case. We can go on with our work and leave them in freedom, also.
     Mr. Pitcairn said that the real cause lay, as he had said, in the conditions which made the necessity for such an organization as we have in the Academy. We could not go on so well if united to Convention, though we should have charity, of course; in the- past there had been a lack of this on both sides. But even with charity it would be very detrimental to unite. We propose to mend our ways and we hope that they do also.
     Mr. Odhner explained that the only possible union that has been suggested would be a confederation of churches, making each Association an independent church, the only bond between which would be an annual conference. He deprecated our taking an attitude that we would not confer with them, and asked what consideration of charity would prevent us from meeting in the performance of general uses. We are not of different genius from Convention. The difference is one of application as to-life. - They-have the same doctrine and can come into the same application. We have all the same opportunity.
     Rev. E. S. Price agreed that the difference between the Convention and us is one of doctrine. He could not imagine men organizing in bodies for use in the world except from some form of doctrine. Doctrine means what they believe. Convention is organized from what it believes. Although it contains within its boundary men who hold very nearly the same doctrinal views that we do, the general average is different, and the average carries the day. If we were there we would be carried with it. He had always believed them to be of the New Church, and had taught it in his classes when to do so was "heresy." We do not know where in the New Church they belong; there are all shades between the extremes the celestial and the natural. We are organized for specific uses, and he agreed with Mr. Pitcairn that it would be disastrous to join with them. But he also believed with Mr. Odhner that if they removed all barriers we would have no right to stay out. But he did not expect that; was not optimistic in that respect. He took his stand on the teaching in the Canons, that those who commit the sin against the Son of Man, who, though they deny this or that to be the Divine Truth from the Word, still believe in the Word, are not to be excluded from the brotherhood of the-New Church. "The Son of Man is the Divine Truth from the Word in the Church and this cannot be seen by all." With those who differ from us in doctrinals we can yet unite as individuals cooperating for the good of the Church. Let them work as they see, and let us work as we see.
     Rev. Homer Synnestvedt said that we are apt to forget that the members of Convention acted from what to them is conscience, equally as we did. We see that they are wrong [in certain things], and they think that they sea that we are. Conscience is formed on what one sees. There must be the greatest variety, and we should heave others freedom even to license. Our attitude to them should have in it respect for them. They have made progress in their positions.
     Mr. Starkey cited the statement in Arcana Coelestia, n. 1834, that in-the Ancient Churches only that was called heresy which denies the Divine and eternal life and is against order based on the Commandments. What has been done in the Convention does not seem to come under that definition of heresy, and it is a question how far we are entitled to apply the term to errors of view, as has been done in the past.
     Mr. Waelchli spoke appreciatively of the missionary use performed by Convention.

     GOVERNMENT AND ORGANIZATION.

     Mr. Charles S. Smith said that those who would not be able to attend the Assembly in Chicago would like to hear something about the form of government likely to be adopted there. He for one was very well satisfied with the present form. He was seconded by Mr. Starkey.
     Here Bishop Pendleton called attention to the fact that the present form was not a complete carrying out of the provisions of the proposed Plan, but the Council of Ministers has simply been asked to provide temporarily for the ecclesiastical matters in the Church, and an Executive Committee to administer the temporalities until the next Assembly.

     PROPOSED DIVISION INTO DIOCESES.

     Mr. Odhner here announced the proposed plan of Bishop Pendleton relative to establishing in course of time different dioceses in England, Canada, and the Western States, each under its own Bishop and independent in its government, but all united by meeting at intervals, on the basis of a common acceptance of the Authority of the Writings as that has been understood in the Academy, and of the Academy doctrines. He asked the Bishop whether this would require modification of his original Plan of Organization; whether there would be a similar Organization in each diocese, or whether instead there would be one common House of the Clergy and one of the Laity.
     Bishop Pendleton replied that in his idea each diocese would be free to have its own form of government. It would not necessarily interfere with any form of government we may adopt at the next meeting, or at any future meeting. These matters are for the future, but if it is proposed to divide into dioceses at the next meeting, the point asked about it might have to be decided at once. He would like to see it-the division-made, but the other ministers at present seemed inclined to hold back. So it would be best to go slowly and not push in advance of our needs.

     ORGANIZATION OF THE LAITY.

     Discussion of the feature of the plan of organization relating to the laity was introduced by the Rev. Alfred Acton, who thought that it would be better to have the Executive Committee not self-perpetuating, but perpetuated by-the general body of laymen in the Church, making use of the Assemblies to elect members. The three degrees in the Church are, the LORD, the priesthood, and the laity. The latter should not be divided. He said that it had been an error of the Academy to have three degrees of the men of the Church,-council, college, and laity.
     Bishop Pendleton said that beside the mode of organizing the laity proposed in his paper he had, had two others, one that the Committee be elected by the Local Assemblies, and the other that it be formed of all lay-men, without any fixed number constituting it. He explained that it was not proposed to perpetuate the present committee further than till the next Assembly. He further explained that the proposed form of having the committee self-perpetuating had been suggested from two sources; first, from the organization of the General Church of the Advent, which form he thought a good one; and, second, from the fact that in the Divine Providence the existence of the corporation of the Academy as an independent body, doing their work independently of the priesthood, had been the means of preserving the ultimate uses of the Church, and this might be taken as an indication of what the form ought to be.

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Independent, free of ecclesiastical control, and beyond reach of other restriction than that of understanding and conscience-the only way to reach men in the New Church-the Corporation, in the recent upheaval, had been the only thing left stable,-it was fixed in ultimates. The order of the General Church of the Advent had worked very well indeed.
     It seemed a necessity last spring that there should come a sense of freedom in the Church, that the Priesthood was willing to assure the freedom of the members of the Church to do whatever they pleased, even to place restrictions on the priesthood, involving also freedom not to do it. He felt that if we cannot trust the officials of the Church-if we cannot trust each other, perhaps it would be best to go to pieces. He had desired to make clear to the Church that its freedom was assured as well as its perpetuity. The Council of the Laity of the Church of the Advent had not been self-perpetuating; it was nominated by the Bishop, but it was practically free. The additional step has been proposed in order that the Church might feel free.
     Mr. Acton deprecated the idea of having the lay body self-perpetuating. The whole lay element should be represented in civil affairs. He acknowledged that if the Church were to own property as a church, it would be necessary for the lay body to-be self-perpetuating.
     Mr. Charles Smith recognized that whatever we do must be under Divine Providence, but he did not favor a self-perpetuating body of the laity. He thought it important to secure the active interest of every one, which would be hard to do if they were not called on to take active part.
     Mr. Glenn said that many things had to be considered in determining the exact nature of the representative body of the laity. It seems unnecessary to introduce the idea of whether or not we trust each other in assigning responsibilities. He took it for granted that we do so trust, and that hence all that is necessary is to find out what is the best way in which to carry on the work. The Corporation of the Academy had represented a certain limited use, and it had happened that its ability to control externals appears to have been the salvation of the Academy, from a worldly point of view. It now looked as if the body of the laity (but not the Academy corporation) would gradually expand again in size-that it might be well to select a pretty large body to carry on the active uses of the Church. If you have a smaller body you will have certain definite uses, but not the entire working activity of the Church. It will be an independent body, which, nevertheless, recognizes a trust. He favored the idea of having' the general body delegate certain uses to a body which they would elect for a year or so. On the other hand, he recognized that continuance in office makes a man become more and more valuable, and perhaps this is not incompatible with the other idea. An independent body might not wish to be there. He never had the idea of a certain aristocracy running things. The whole matter must be based on the purest confidence.
     Mr. Odhner said the clergy and laity are not two coordinate functions; that the laity as a whole, is self- perpetuating. There is no lay ordination The clergy represent the LORD'S office; the Council represents the people. A great source of weakness in our body in the past had been too great centralization of power. The people had not a sufficient sense of responsibility. The General Convention is more active and prosperous than we in that respect. They have committees, and the people go there to do what they can for the Church. There should be a chance for the people to feel that there is a responsibility and need of activity on their part.
     Mr. Glenn, answering a question whether it would be necessary for a small body of the laity to be incorporated in order to hold property for the Church, said that in an unincorporated body each member holds an interest, and in the case of death or separation there is likely to be troublesome litigation.

     THE TREASURER'S STATEMENT.

     The treasurer here made a statement, from which it appears that the end of the fiscal year will show a deficit of about four hundred dollars, a statement which calls for consideration by the Church.
     A resolution adopted by the Executive Committee relative to members bearing their own expenses when attending the Assemblies was presented which recommendation if carried out will make it possible to have the meetings at different centres without overtaxing The smaller societies.
     Mr. Odhner proposed to have a Local Assembly in the fall to hear reports from the General Assembly.
     The meeting closed with singing. Afterward a lunch was-given, chiefly for the benefit of those who had to go to the city.
MEETING IN PHILADELPHIA, MARCH 4TH 1898

MEETING IN PHILADELPHIA, MARCH 4TH       Editor       1898

BISHOP Pendleton opened the meeting with a brief service, which included the rending of Arcana Coelestia, n. 1802, teaching that not the external but the internal is the heir to the LORD'S kingdom. This afforded a text for the Bishop's remarks, for he dwelt upon the development-and building up of-the internal of the Church as the essential thing, while considering externals as things which will naturally take care of themselves.
     In substance he said that the use of the General Church of the New Jerusalem was announced a year ago to be worship and evangelization; these two terms embody all the uses of a Church. Evangelization is the "announcing of good tidings," and this with us consists in announcing the appearing of the LORD in His Word, which constitutes His Second Coming. There are internal and external evangelization. The former is what is known as missionary work, and is directed to the outside world which does not know of the New Church. This we have not undertaken in any very active way; it is not the first use of this body. Still it is a use of the Church. The form in which we are particularly interested is the announcing of internal teachings of the Church. This includes, also, giving religious instruction to children and youth-teaching them the truths of the Church. There is a body which is especially devoted to education-the Academy of the New Church-but some part of the use comes in under the uses of this body of ours, especially the education of young children.
     Worship is one of the uses of this Church, the coming together at stated times in the worship of the LORD-it exists in heaven The development of ritual is an important use. When the Academy took on the form of a Church, having external worship, considerable attention was given to ritual, but of late we have not studied the subject much. That will come further on. It is important in its place, but out of its place it is hurtful.

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The external is not the "heir." The internal of the Church is the first thing, it is heaven itself-love to the LORD and toward the neighbor, taking the form of truth in-the understanding.
     The question of organization is one that is actively before us at this time. Organization is for use-that is the end for which we organize. Mere structure without use is not the end. Organization is use taking form. I do not know of a better definition than this. The heart and brain cooperate in forming or organizing each organ of the body for use. Use comes first. Use forms - for itself an organization or structure, so that it may come down and ultimate itself on a lower plane. This is so in the body, and it is so in the Church, which is a collective man. It is very necessary, therefore, to see clearly the uses of the Church, and not to construct an organization on abstract lines, without regard to use Doctrine points out use; that must be seen and then given a proper form that it may become operative among men. When use is thus present among men the LORD is present, for the LORD dwells in use with men. The growth of the Church is its growth in use-is the growth of its uses, and it is according to the clear seeing of uses1 and providing for them that there will be proper administration of the affairs of the Church.
     This is a Church with a new beginning. It is a new formation for righting certain things which have been seen to be wrong in the Church. Certain principles have been acknowledged all along, but -in order that those principles may be carried out the Church must grow. The Church must grow out of its childhood and youth, when it is not in its own rationality. It is free when manhood is reached. We have been in a state of minority. Whether or not we are approaching a state of majority will appear later. In looking back we can see that there is not so much freedom as now; the child is not prepared for freedom. Doubtless the Church was gradually being prepared for greater freedom, and at the same time for a greater rationality.
     Every man undergoes changes of state. The child becomes a youth; the youth a man, the man an old man, and finally the body is laid aside, and man enters into the spiritual world.
     Those of us who have been in the Old Church have experienced what a great change it was to come into the New Church. Also we know what a change it was to come into the Academy-perhaps even a greater change than the other. There has now been a very great `change in the Academy. Changes of state are accompanied by temptations: this is a necessary element in the growth of the Church. Without them certain-evils cannot be laid aside and left behind.
     In order that use may be seen doctrine must be made' clear, for from doctrine use is seen. The doctrines distinctive of the Academy have been very clearly defined, and acknowledged; and they must be upheld. But - they are not to be enforced. It is the duty of the Church to teach its doctrines but not to enforce them. The priesthood must not do this, nor must any one. There should be no pressure of public opinion. There must be enlightened public opinion in the Church. In I the world public opinion has great power. It should be founded on public conscience. There may be in it great tyranny or there may be great toleration. If we have charity we will not make rules for others but for ourselves. Every man may do this for himself.
     This may be illustrated by the doctrine of "Marriage within the Church." It is a law of heaven and the church that two must be of the same religion in order to be united in the good and truth of the church. This must be taught openly and fearlessly, but it must not be enforced. Suppose any one chooses to violate this spiritual law he must be left free to do so, and not coerced by the state of thought and feeling in the church. Public opinion should be so enlightened, and have so much, charity and conscience, as to be willing for the neighbor even to go astray. The Divine Providence permits men to go into evil, even into hell, and in this way provides that freedom be not violated.
     Another illustration may be found in the teaching concerning social life. We must teach that it is not useful to seek social life outside the church; but the public opinion of the collective man called the church, should be tolerant. We may not know what of Divine Providence there may be in a given case. A man must he free to marry out of the church, or to go out of the church for social life, if he wishes to do so. Such a sphere of freedom will be much more likely to attract those who might be tempted to go away. Sometimes there may be an appearance without any real violation of the law. At all events there should be no external bond to hold them; they should be free to do what appears to be wrong without the restraint of a fear of criticism.
     There has been a good deal said concerning the habit of criticism in the church. The subject may be classified as follows: First, no one should criticise harshly. Second, one who hears such harsh criticism should not repeat it, especially to the one criticised; and, third, if the person criticised does hear it he should ignore it, and not be disturbed by it, not be affected by the evils of others, nor allow uncharitableness to be excited in himself. If these rules were followed it would do away with much of the trouble we have to undergo in the way of personal criticism, and would bring about a nearly ideal state of society. There is no harsh or uncharitable criticism in heaven.
     Bishop Pendleton here invited remarks or questions on any subject which it might be thought useful to consider and discuss.
     Rev. Homer Synnestvedt suggested discussing the practice of forcing doctrine upon the young.
     Bishop Pendleton stated that it must be harmful to enforce a doctrine upon another when it cannot be received.
     Mr. John Pitcairn asked whether the young do not come under a different category; whether it was not right that they should receive from another that which they were told.
     Mr. Synnestvedt said that if at first the obedience was only external, it necessitated at least a leading into a better obedience, a more free obedience. [To which it was added that in all government there is a basis of freedom]
     Rev. Alfred Acton quoted some passages from the Divine Providence, showing that the LORD leads man as to the least things of his life. But if man saw this he would rebel against it or think himself a god. The same principle holds in the case of children, because the parents are in place of the LORD. There must be the appearance of freedom in the child. There are cases in which the parent must lead the child as if in freedom from itself. Then as the child grows up the parents leading gradually gives way to the LORD'S leading in freedom. If we receive the teaching that the LORD is Himself really leading and ruling, that in itself will greatly tend to cure us of the criticism which has been spoken of and of contempt of others. If we are willing that the LORD'S will be done we will be willing that He should lead the neighbor.

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     Mr. Pitcairn thought that sufficient distinction had not been made by the last speaker between the state of children and that of the adult. If a child wishes to eat something that the parent thinks will be unwholesome, regard for the child's freedom should not prevent the parent from going against the will of the child. The child is then led not by the will of the parent, but by his judgment. Disorder would result if the child were allowed to-carry out its own will.
     Mr. Acton recognized that the judgment of the parent should lead, but that it should be part of that judgment to regard the apparent freedom of the child to some extent. If the child is to obey absolutely in everything, as in the army, you will be apt to train it into interior rebellion. There must be some image of the LORD'S leading man in-freedom, even in the case of the child.
     Bishop Pendleton thought that there was a real agreement between the two speakers. Obedience is undoubtedly the plane on which the child's freedom is established. "Thou shalt not" is the beginning of all future growth.
     A lady suggested that the preservation of the freedom of the child might be better secured if, in regard to what commands were given, distinction were to be made between what was essential and what was not.
     Further remarks were made upon the difference between the adult and the childish state, in the matter of freedom.
     Mr. Synnestvedt said that he had some questions to propose which had come through some of the ladies, who were desirous to have them considered. They related chiefly to social and family life. Our former views and practice in regard to social life being kept strictly within the Church, had-from several reasons-come somewhat into question. First, some outsiders coming into our midst, and so into our social life, had modified the views of some, showing the need of greater pliability in order that the way may be opened to outsiders to come in if they want to. Some thought that our social life should be thrown entirely open on this account. Social life is essentially a part of church life, and therefore necessarily distinct from the Old Church, in view of the fact that there are degrees of social life, on account of our obligations to the neighbor, namely, on the civil, the moral, and other planes. He thought that these ideas carried out to their logical conclusion would destroy the New Church social life, because it would leave no room for that-it would crowd it out. The sphere of the Old Church is very persuasive; she is like the Scarlet Woman, with a cup of gold in her hand. It has many beautiful and alluring externals, outward forms of charity itself so like the genuine that only the older and wiser can see through them, and withal, her power is so great because she appeals to the sensual.
     In the New Church we are sensitive as to our limitations, but we cannot come into the true Church without a struggle. We must be willing to "seek first the kingdom of heaven," and let the rest come. The young see, or imagine they see, more natural good in the Old Church, and it is a great temptation to seek the appearance of that good instead of the reality-to turn to the Old Church, where they cultivate external good as an end, and so seem to have it in greater measure than we who are willing to sacrifice something of the external for, the sake of a greater building up first of the internal. I have little sympathy, after all, with those who imagine that they are giving up something when- they seek to withdraw from the sphere of Old Church society in order that they may grow into the sphere of New Church social life-for they are leaving behind such an empty show, and we - have so much more of solid delight and satisfaction in spite of our shortcomings. And underlying and permeating the whole social atmosphere is the golden aura of conjugial love itself-at any rate, of the restored knowledge and acknowledgment of its sanctity. We are not called upon, therefore, to sacrifice anything but our natural man and its persuasions-nothing that is really of value.
     There has been a relaxing of external bonds, recently, which had been forced upon some, it seemed, under a sort of puritanical public opinion which had been among us, so that we did not discriminate between personal hostility to outsiders and an attitude of interior good-will to men, combined with a determination to keep apart from their false and evil ways. But the reaction against that persuasive faith has tended to the other extreme until there is danger of losing sight of all bonds, so that we may possibly need to go all over the ground again, in order to see what are the real rational grounds of our exclusiveness. The Academy taught, for cogent reasons; that if, as the Writings teach, there should be no marriage with those of the Old Church, that this means no social life with them. We cannot cultivate a New Church social sphere so long as we are cultivating the other sphere. Young people who go to this, that, and the other thing all the time have no appetite for the things of the New Church life. We need to realize that the sphere of the good of the Old Church is destructive of spiritual life, though the external be similar to that of the good of social life in the Church. They have parties, entertainments, etc., but they have an opposite internal because an opposite end. The end enters into all the rest, and descends into the lowest planes. But it is not my intention to review the whole doctrine to night: Passages bearing on this can be furnished to those desiring.
     Our protection lies in seeing that the New Church in is to be regarded in the first place, and then drawing away from that which has as its end a persuasion of the opposite, judging it from its symptoms or effects. But before reaching the age of judgment, we must maintain a sphere where the affirmative of truth is at least universally reigning. That will come, and will come only so far as the other is left behind.
     Bishop Pendleton said that our children certainly should be kept in the sphere of the Church until they reach adult age, because they are not able to protect themselves. The LORD acts mediately through the parents.
     [Asked what should be done by those who are isolated, where there is no social life whatever, Bishop Pendleton said that we cannot say what they should do-they must decide that for themselves. They must apply the doctrine in the light of their own minds. The duty of the priest is to give the truth, he can go no further than that. The LORD alone has to do with it after it has entered the mind of the bearer. The priest is not to govern the souls or minds of men. He cannot say what a person should do under certain circumstances. The LORD will give the individual man light by which to regulate his own life.] -
     Mr. Acton said that the real issue seems to be as to friendship out of the Church. Bearing on that point he read from The True Christian Religion, n. 434, which shows that social life to be really founded on charity, and to contain spiritual quality, must rest upon an acknowledgment of the LORD God the Saviour, as the God of heaven and earth, and that without this there is no conjunction of minds, but only counterfeits of friendship and indulgences of natural loves.

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The speaker called attention to the reason advanced in the passage, for the hollowness of social life in Swedenborg's time, that it applies just as much at this day, for the Old Church does not acknowledge the LORD. He recognized that there is a social life on the moral and civil planes, where the ends are; either business, as on the civil plane, where dinners are given for business purposes, or on the moral plane, the good of one's country, as in the case of political dinners, etc. But for those of the New Church the real end in real friendship is in the other world, not in this emulating that friendship which conjoins the societies in heaven. If we really love the Church-love to read the Writings, to go to worship, and attend to the duties of the Church-we will not long be satisfied with continued intercourse with the Old Church, we will revolt against it. But our natural man does not love the Church and the things enumerated, but rebels against it; and so we are open to the seductions of Old Church social life.
     The remainder of the discussion on Social Life is thought of sufficient use to be continued in the May number, space being lacking in this. For the imperfections and omissions of the foregoing report, which was taken in longhand and written out some time after the occasion, the Editor asks leniency. G. G. S.
PROPOSITION TO FORM A "SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION." 1898

PROPOSITION TO FORM A "SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION."       FRANK SEWALL       1898

[SIGNS seem to point to a revival of a spirit of New Church scientific research, like that which in 1845 led to the formation of the English "Swedenborg Association," concerning which body Prof. Odhner contributes timely information in the Messenger for March 30th. The increasing number of contributions to the New Church periodicals, grappling with the problems of Science, and attacking the accepted theories of to-day; the recent establishment of the monthly journal, The New Philosophy; and now the proposal to found a new Swedenborg Scientific Association, all give promise of such a revival-EDITOR OF NEW CHURCH LIFE.] -

     THE measures adopted at the last meeting of the Convention looking to the republication of Swedenborg's Principia, is only one of the numerous indications of a reawakened interest, in many quarters both in and out of the Church, in the scientific and philosophic Writings of Swedenborg, and of a desire to have those which are now out of print republished, and those which have never been published now translated and given to the world.
     The extraordinary value of these Writings and their important bearings on the science of to-day and of the future, have been attested by high scientific authority from the time of the Acta Eruditorum, published in Swedenborg's time, to the present day, and far from being left behind in the rapid strides of scientific discovery, it would appear that the principles they contain are more applicable to the researches of science at present than at any former time. The American Journal of Science, Vol. V, in the number of February, 1898, in an article on "Kant as a Natural Philosopher," mentions the endorsement by the astronomers Nyren and Holden of Swedenborg's claim to priority in the discovery of the nebular hypothesis of the formation of the universe, and refers to the translation of M. Nyren's article in the New Church Review. The editor
of the Bibliography of Chemistry, published by the Smithsonian institution in 1893, adds this note to the title of the Principles of Chemistry by Emanuel Swedenborg: "Swedenborg attempts in this work to explain the phenomena of chemistry and physics on geometrical principles anticipating modern stereochemistry." In the series of "Kantstudien," edited by Prof. H. Vailinger, of the University of Halle, in Germany, there is promised as soon to appear a contribution by Professor Doering, of Berlin, on "Swedenborg's Significance in the Idealistic Tendency of Kant," and also other articles on Kant's indebtedness to Swedenborg. Among Newchurchmen there is also a growing conviction of the need of a more thorough acquaintance with Swedenborg's own science and philosophy in order to truly understand the meaning of the terms he uses in his theology and also of the great service to be rendered to the science and philosophy of to day by a clear showing of the harmonious relations that must exist between a true science and a true theology, in accordance with Swedenborg's statement in the work on "Influx," that from a philosopher he became a theologian even as the apostles were taken from fishermen, "since a fisherman spiritually is one who investigates and teaches natural truths, and afterwards spiritual truths in a rational manner."
     Recognizing the fact that it is unworthy of a true appreciation of Swedenborg's teaching to allow his great philosophic and scientific Writings to remain unpublished or to pass out of print, a number of persons, both of the ministry and the laity, including scientific scholars and professors, and connected with both the Academy of the New Church and the General Convention, have expressed the wish that there might be organized independently of nationality or of any of the existing ecclesiastical bodies of the Church, a "Swedenborg Scientific Association," having for its object "The Translation and Publication of the Scientific and Philosophic Writings of Swedenborg and the Study and Discussion of the Principles Laid Down Therein." It is thought that upon the broad basis of this important use many will gladly unite in cordial co- operation who have for various reasons acted apart in their ecclesiastical affiliations, that our brethren in England will respond, and that the Church in every section will feel the benefit of this reunion and will rejoice in the work it may be enabled to perform.
     It has been thought that it would be well to call at an early day, and at a convenient place, a meeting for the forming of such an association and the adoption of the necessary rules and the arranging of a plan of work. Before doing so, however, it is desirable that opportunity should be offered to all interested in the movement, for a free expression either to the undersigned or through the columns of the several journals where this preliminary proposition appears, as to the usefulness of such a body as is proposed, the form it had better assume, and the best plan of proceeding in effecting the organization, together with suggestions as to the most convenient time and place, whether in connection with the annual meetings of any of the larger bodies of the Church, or at a time and place apart. All responses and suggestions should be published or sent to the undersigned before the first of May next. This late day is named in order that opportunity may be allowed for a wide publication of this notice and to enable our friends in foreign countries to be heard from. - In behalf of many interested, and at their request, I have submitted this proposition. FRANK SEWALL.
1618 RIGGS PLACE, WASHINGTON, D. C.

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CHURCH NEWS 1898

CHURCH NEWS       Various       1898

Huntingdon Valley.-IN March Pastor Synnestvedt began a series of sermons on the Seven Churches in Asia.
     In the doctrinal class the subject of Infants has been taken up-especially infants in the other life. Some of the numbers read showed what a difference there is between the reading of the Word or the repeating of the LORD'S Prayer, when done by an infant, and when done by an adult. Since infants are in innocence they put nothing of the proprium into it, as adults do; and the angels therefore feel a greater delight, and can flow in with a much fuller influx than with adults. Some of the numbers read would seem to teach that a man is better off to die in infancy than to grow to adult life in this world; but it was pointed out from other numbers cited, and from general teachings throughout the Writings, that though it is best for those who die young, still the most complete life is that of a man who lives to a good old age, and becomes regenerated in this world.
     On March 18th the class was the occasion of an animated conversation elicited by teaching on "Self-consciousness and Its Detrimental Effects Upon Children." A report of this may be brought out in the next number.
     On Monday evening, March 7th the annual meeting of the Civic and Social Club was held at the Club building. The Council of the year just closed was re-elected, the Rev. E. S. Price being chosen to fill the place of Dr. G. R. Starkey, deceased. The Council elects the officers.
     ON Monday evening, March, 20th the Civic and Social Club organized itself into a meeting, under the chairmanship of the Rev. J. F Potts, to consider the feasibility and desirableness of cooperating, as individuals, in the formation of the proposed Swedenborg Scientific Association. Rev. C. T. Odhner acted as secretary. The sense of the meeting was strongly affirmative, although one note of warning was raised against adding one more burden, however light, to the labors and expenses already being borne. After full discussion the meeting adjourned with the resolution to reassemble under the same officers at call of the chairman, to hear the report of a committee appointed to consider the points of Mr. Sewall's proposition, and also the formation of a local branch of the Association or some other local form of organization.
     As stated last month, the local school here celebrated the birthdays of Swedenborg, Washington, and Lincoln. It was thought to be more useful to have the pupils take part in a commemorative celebration of the birthdays of these men than merely to be given a holiday. Since they were all on the same general plan, a short account of the program for Washington's birthday will suffice. The large school room was decorated with American flags, scarfs of red and white, a crayon drawing of Washington, a black-board sketch of his house at Mount Vernon, and on the other blackboard a large scroll with the name "George Washington" the date of his birth and that-of his death, and the memorable saying, "First in war, first in peace, first in the heart's of his country-men." The children assembled at the usual hour for school, and after the regular opening service, which included singing the hymn to our country (the last in the Liturgy) was sung, the chairs were re-arranged to face the large blackboard and the picture of Washington, and at each chair was placed a flag to be waved during the singing of the patriotic songs. When the pupils had taken their places, Mr. Cowley made a few opening remarks and then called on one of the boys in the oldest class to read an original composition, giving a short sketch of Washington's life. This was followed by the youngest class reciting in concert the saying quoted -above. The next class (the fourth) then recited together a short poem on Washington, written by Miss Evelyn E. Plummer; and the school rose and joined in singing with much enthusiasm our national song to "The Red, White, and Blue," waving the flags at the chorus of each verse. Then each of the pupils in the third and second classes advanced, and read or told from memory some incident or characteristic of Washington's life as a boy or as a young man, after which the "Star Spangled Banner" was sung to the waving of the flags. The incidents told by the older pupils, who now followed, related to Washington's life as a soldier, as commander of the American army, and as President. One of the pupils read the epitaph written upon his tomb at Mount Vernon, two others recited from memory paragraphs of his Farewell Address to the citizens of the United States, and the last pupil recited the eulogic tribute to Washington of the English historian, John Richard Green, in his History of the English People. This was followed by the singing of "Hail Columbia!" and the exercises were closed by Mr. Synnestvedt, who briefly addressed the children on our reason for celebrating Washington's Birthday, impressing upon them the thought that we should honor a man according to the use which he has performed in the world, and in proportion to his faithfulness, sincerity, an justice in the performance of that use. Swedenborg's Birthday is of greatest importance, because his use was most universal-he was instrumental in establishing the New Church. But George Washington did more, probably, than any other man to establish this free country of ours, and that for the sake of the Church for thus Church has grown more in this country than in any other, and George Washington and Abraham Lincoln-whose birthday we celebrated not long ago-were instrument in the hands of the LORD in forming and preserving this country, which we love above any other.
     A VERY successful musicale, arranged and managed by Mr. Walter Van Horn, was given at the Club hall on Saturday evening, March 5th. A nominal admission was charged for the benefit of the fund which is being raised to build a chapel.
     The dancing class which a number of the young people have been enjoying during the winter, and also a children's dancing class, were discontinued the third week of March. The latter was conducted as a part of the school instruction.
     ON March 27th, the Church here suffered a sudden loss in the removal of Mrs. John Pitcairn to the other world after an illness of only three days. The burial, two days later, was an affecting demonstration of the universal love and esteem with which, Mrs. Pitcairn was regarded, both, within and without the Church. In the evening a memorial meeting at Cairnwood gave opportunity for the presentation of the brighter side of her removal to the higher life, and for the expression for tributes to her memory. The latter, however, though sincere and unstinted, were less eloquent than the mute tokens of a, grief which all the consolations of the glorious truths concerning the other life could not wholly overcome. We hope to present nest month some of the thoughts presented, which may thus serve wider use.

     Philadelphia.-ON Wednesday evening, March 28d, Dr. and Mrs. J. T. Kent gave a reception for the members of the Church here and in Huntingdon Valley. An opportunity such as this to get the two parts of our flock together, and to enjoy the hospitality of the genial Doctor and his wife, would of itself be an unusual treat; but there was more than this in store for those who braved the inclement weather upon occasion. This was the play given by a company of our young people entitled "Barbara," by Jerome. The performance was perfected and well-balanced in every detail, which is unusual praise for an amateur performance. The work of the young lady who played the lending role calls for especial commendation. Barbara carried the sympathy of the audience so completely that, at the climax, "there was not a dry eye in the house," to use a time-honored phrase. The stage was decidedly pretty, with its handsome fireplace, blue carpet, white walls with blue border, etc.
     H. S.

     Brooklyn, N. Y.-THERE has been a revival of interest in the work here of late, and things begin to look more encouraging than they did last fall. We are going slowly, and have made some progress. A Doctrinal Class begun in the fall has met regularly Sunday evenings. Services, too, were started again in January, after having been discontinued for about six months. These have been held monthly so far, but we hope before long to have them every Sunday.
     In the beginning of March we had the pleasure of having Bishop Pendleton with us. He arrived on Saturday, 5th, and remained until Monday, 7th. On Sunday hue conducted services for us, and preached a very Instructive sermon. In the evening of the same day there was an informal meeting at the house of Mr. Klein, which was attended by all who were able to come. The greater part of the evening was taken up with considering certain matters relating to the work in Brooklyn, and concerning which we desired Mr. Pendleton's advice. The meeting was in every way a pleasant and profitable one, and will long be remembered by us.
     A. CZERNY.

     Chicago and Glenview, Illinois.-As the summer approaches, preparations for and interest in the coming General Assembly are manifested throughout the Society. Speculations are often indulged in as to the probable number of visitors who will attend, and the estimates differ widely. A committee of three has been appointed to arrange for the entertainment, but as yet they have made no official report of their plans. It is generally supposed however, that the plan will be similar to the entertainment in Huntingdon Valley last summer, in that the visitors will be entertained in the hones of the members, for sleeping and for breakfast's-the dinners and suppers to be served in the Club-house by a caterer at a cost charge.
     A canvass of the matter has demonstrated that ample sleeping accommodations are available for all who are likely to come. The first funds for the incidental expenses of the Assembly were raised at a social last month at which each lad brought a decorated box containing a delicious luncheon and her card. These boxes were sold by auction, and the gentlemen had to bid spiritedly in order to get the particular boxes that they thought they wanted.

64



     In Glenview, Mr. Pendleton and Mr. Klein are conducting a class of young folks in the study of English history and literature.     A. E. N.
     Berlin.-THE past month has not witnessed anything of special note. We seem to be going on in the even tenor of our way. On the 8th of March the usual quarter meeting of the Society was held. There was a very full attendance and a pleasant sphere prevailed. After the reading of the reports which were all satisfactory, the pastor real a form of constitution which he had prepared for the Society. This document expresses the principles of government and the uses of the Society. It met with general approval, but it was decided to wait until after the forthcoming Assembly before adopting it. The document is prepared, among other reasons, to satisfy the requirements of the law. The meeting ended in a social way and was much enjoyed.
     On March 11th, in the afternoon, Mr. Rudolph Roschman entertained the old pupils of the school in the school-house.
     After various games and dances all sat down to refreshments, which brought the social to a pleasant conclusion.
     It having been suggested that it would be pleasant for the young people to meet occasionally for their weekly class at the houses of the members of the Society, Mr. Richard Roschman extended an invitation for March 11th, which was gladly accepted. After the class, which lasted an hour, followed a social time, during which refreshment were served. Pleasant features of this occasion were the singing of a song by one of our young ladies, and the orchestral music provided by four members of Mr. Roschman's family.
     Mr. Rosenqvist preached in Milverton on March 20th, and your correspondent occupied the pulpit in his absence.
     A meeting of the men of the Society was called for March 23d, ostensibly to discuss the ways and means for taking care of the church property. Incidentally refreshments were provided, which brought about a unanimous state in favor of contributing means and services for the beautifying of the grounds and keeping them in order. A very pleasant and profitable time was spent.
     E. J. S.

     Parkdale, Canada--A DOCTRINAL error crept into my last report owing to the accidental omission of the- word "extraordinary" in referring to the "efforts of the understanding." As the passage reads, the teaching would be opposed to one of the cardinal tenets of the New Church, that "it Is now permitted to enter intellectually into the mysteries of faith." The mere effort of the understanding, without an attitude of applying them, is the evil our Pastor warned us against.
     This month has been somewhat uneventful with us. On Friday, 18th, the members of the Society were guests of the young people, and an evening of music, recitations, and dancing composed the entertainment. W. B. C.

     FROM THE PERIODICALS.

     Maine.-AT the unanimous request of the Bath Society the Rev. G. H. Dole has withdrawn his resignation as pastor.
     Massachusetts,-A COURSE of six evening lectures was recently given in the Boston Society.
     Pennsylvania.-THE completion of the new chancel erected in the church of the Philadelphia "First Society," in memory of the Rev. Chauncey Giles, was observed by a special service on February 20th. The Messenger of March 2d contains the memorial address delivered on the occasion, and also a description of the chancel.
     New York.-THE New York Association held its thirty-fourth annual meeting in Orange, New Jersey, February 22d.
     Illinois.-THE Chicago Young People's League has voted to endow a "Little Chair" in the Mary Allen Home School for Homeless Little Boys and Girls. The little ones now in the Home number ten.
     Florida.-DURING the month of February the little Jacksonville Society enjoyed the ministrations of the Rev. Jabez Fox, missionary of the General Convention.

     ENGLAND.

     AT a "Combined Meeting" of the members of the London New Churches, held on March 2d, to consider the sustentation of the Missionary Ministry Fund, speeches were made by Messrs. Deans, Ramage, Claxton, Backhouse, Hyde, Gardiner and Speirs. In all the sum of L90 was subscribed.
     Morning Light for March 12th contains a very interesting sketch by Rev. W. H. Buss of the late Frederick Tennyson, brother of the Laureate-in kinship and poetry-and a member of the New Church.

     FRANCE.

     THE Missionary Society of the New Church in Park was organized in January last to propagate the Doctrines of the New Church and to combat materialism and atheism. A journal is to be founded, public lectures arranged for, and places of worship established in different parts of Paris, from which centre it is expected to evangelize in the surrounding country, and if possible form circles of readers.
ANNOUNCEMENT 1898

ANNOUNCEMENT       Editor       1898

IT is requested that those who expect to attend the sessions of the Second Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, to be held in Glenview next summer, communicate as soon as possible with Mr. Seymour G. Nelson, 145 Hartford Building, Chicago.
WANTED 1898

WANTED       Editor       1898

At "Cairnwood"-some one to do cooking; also an assistant in kitchen work. Address Mr. John Pitcairn, Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery County, Pa.
ANNALS OF THE NEW CHURCH 1898

ANNALS OF THE NEW CHURCH       Editor       1898

Compiled by the Rev. C. Th. Odhner. Published in bi-monthly parts of 32 pages. Price, $1.00 a year.
     Although as yet only two numbers have been published of this work, it has been given a very appreciative reception by the New Church Press as well as by individuals.
     Bound copies of New Church Life for the year 1897 are now on sale. Price, $1.25.
Subscribers having their loose copies in good condition may have them exchanged or bound copies on payment of 75 cents.
SACRED SCRIPTURES, OR THE WORD OF THE LORD 1898

SACRED SCRIPTURES, OR THE WORD OF THE LORD       Editor       1898

Containing only those books which have an internal sense [A. C. 10,325]. Bound in three grades of morocco, with round corners and gilt edges. Price, $2.00, $3.00, and $4.00 postage 25 cents.
The above books have been prepared
y our London Branch, and, being tastefully bound, they will supply a long-felt want for copies of the Word at a price within reach of every one.

JUST PUBLISHED.

A Brief View of the Heavenly Doctrines
REVEALED IN THE THEOLOGICAL

WRITINGS OF
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.
By C. THEOPHILUS ODHNER.

     In paper 10 cts; cloth, 25 cts; Postage, 3 cts.
WAR ISSUE 1898

WAR ISSUE       Editor       1898


NEW CHURCH LIFE.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH.


TERMS:-One Dollar per annum, payable in advance.
FOUR SHILLINGS IN GREAT BRITIAN.

     Address all communications for publication to the Editor, the Rev. George G. Starkey, Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery Co., Pa.
     Address all business communications to Academy Book Boom, Carl Hj. Asplundh, Manager, No. 1821 Wallace Street, Philadelphia. Pa.
     Subscriptions also received through the following agents:
UNITED STATES.
     Chicago, Ill., Mr. A. E. Nelson, Chicago Agent of Academy Book Boom No 545 West Superior Street.
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CANADA.
     Toronto, Ont., Mr. B. Carswell, No. 47 Elm Grove.
     Waterloo, Mr. Rudolf Roschman.
GREAT BRITIAN.
     Mr. Wiebe Poethuma, Agent for Greet Britain, of Academy Book Boom, Burton Road, Brixton, London. S. W.

     ACADEMY BOOK ROOM,
1821 Wallace Street, - Philadelphia.

     PHILADELPHIA. APRIL. 1898-128.

     CONTENTS          PAGE
EDITORIAL: Notes          49
THE SERMON: Life According to the Doctrines of
     the New Jerusalem                50
     Diseases or The Fibres (XI continued)     52
     Local Assembly In Huntingdon Valley and
          Philadelphia     53
COMMUNICATED:
      Proposition to Form a "Swedenborg Scientific Association,"     59
CHURCH NEWS:     
BIRTHS: MARRIAGES: DEATHS     64
ANNOUNCEMENT               64
ACADEMY BOOK ROOM               64


65


     THE war, which, as we go to press, is indeed on in earnest, is one which will stand unique in history. When has any great nation ever similarly gone to war in behalf of a helpless and down-trodden people, and this in the name of humanity and of decent, liberal government? Let not Americans be in any way obscure as to the issue. This is not a war of conquest or annexation, nor of unholy revenge, nor of mere defense of moneyed interests. Such motives may animate many, nor are they without palliating circumstances; but neither demagogue, foreign schemer, nor hireling agitator would ever have had power to draw this great nation into the toils of bloody war. When the turning of the long lane of endurance of Cuban horrors was reached, and all hope in the sincerity of Spanish promises of reform or of Spanish intention or ability to keep them failed, it was then the heart and brain as well as the bone and sinew of the nation, who rose up with an impulse like an inspiration to say that the cruelty, oppression, and outrage at the nation's threshold must cease-that the stench in civilization's nostrils must be swept away. No American who knows how to weigh and discriminate evidence-who has heard the reports of the trusted servants of the nation, corroborated from innumerable sources, as to the state of things in Cuba-should allow himself to be diverted for one moment by any minor issues from the fundamental fact of Spanish misrule and inhumanity, and its inevitable consequence of moral and material injury inflicted thereby upon the United States. Whatever rash or sordid influences may have been at work to hurry on the final rupture, our cause itself, we firmly believe, is inspired by right and justice. Whatever considerations of material interest enter into the case to urge us to action, injuries to our commerce and to property rights of citizens, as well as the moral effect of the disorders upon our national tranquillity-all these constitute simply those ultimate indications of Providence which man should ever take into account in determining his actions, and which in this case fully warrant us in taking upon ourselves to intervene in behalf of order in Cuba. (The would-be reformer should be sure, first, that there is something needing reform, and second, that it is his place to reform it.)
     The Writings speak of an aggression which in its spirit is simply defense (Doct. Char. 105). To one who is possessed of the vital points in this case, and who is not influenced by cavil and quibbles, the United States will appear as really the defender and not the aggressor. That this nation had the sincerity and courage to be more concerned with finding the right and taking stand upon it than with making its case impregnable against the assaults of captious or hostile critics, when time meant human lives, and when further delay meant possible division at home-should be matter of pride and gratification to every loyal citizen.
     We would not be understood, however, as underestimating the importance of commercial interests. They go hand in hand with the course of events that have for over a century been working toward the downfall of the love of dominion which so long enslaved the minds and bodies of men, represented in one form by the papacy and in another by autocracy. That dominion of self-love all the important wars since the Last Judgment have tended to weaken and break down, mitigating its virulency by distributing it among many, as in democracy. It would seem that instead of it love of the world has become the ascendant love at this day. This is a milder evil than love of self, and one which can be more bent to serve the establishment of order in external things. For instance, he who would get rich must give some equivalent service, or at least appear to, and conform to the laws of order and of business. This involves the doing of uses. The laws of service are external expressions of spiritual laws, and whoever conforms to them is not only in a condition more favorable to receiving spiritual influences, but he contributes to the general state of preparedness whereby the internal can be present in the external, ready to affect him who opens his mind. Love of the world favors the growth of commerce, which is the external representative of the interchange of the goods and truths of the Word. Indeed, its greatest use, and that for which it is permitted to flourish on this earth as 6n no other, is the dissemination of the Word. The Last Judgment brought the world into a state in which men's minds were freed to receive the Word. Since that event, as, indeed, for a long time previous, witness the manifold evidences that Providence has been and is preparing for the general distribution of the Word all over the world, and for the establishment of conditions of liberal government, liberal arts, and free commerce, as necessary contributory means. All this for the sake of the Church "to be." To it America offers especially inviting soil.
     Spain, more than any other country, represents papal dominion, and the abhorrent accompaniments of her rule in Cuba and elsewhere are but legitimate fruits of that spirit. Decrepit, decadent, and corrupt, in Providence she now has been confronted with the freest race on earth and by its youngest representative. The result is not doubtful. The signs of the times confirm the rational conclusion based on doctrine, that the Anglo-Saxon race, Which favors freedom of government and commerce, is likely to prevail, because these prepare for the establishment of the Church.
     For the reasons mentioned, and because Spain a situation seems now to illustrate the teaching that from its own nature all evil runs into its own limitation and punishment, we conclude that the cause of the United States in this war is inspired from a world where right makes might. Thence descends the power that in the end, even in this lower world of apparent chaos and evil, slowly grinds out the fine flour of the Divine mills and crowns justice at last with the wreath of victory.

66


DEGREES IN THE HUMAN MIND 1898

DEGREES IN THE HUMAN MIND       Rev. EDWARD C. BOSTOCK       1898

     A window thou shalt make to the ark, and to a cubit thou shalt finish it from above; and a door to the ark thou shalt place in its side; lowests, seconds, and thirds thou shalt make it.-Genesis vi, 16.
     THE ark, and the salvation of Noah and his family from the waters of the flood, represent the reformation of the man of the ancient church. The men of this church were of a spiritual genius, and they were regenerated by the formation of a new will in the understanding. The window of the ark represents the intellectual, and the door hearing or obedience. Lowests, seconds, and thirds represent scientifics, rationals, and intellectuals, thus degrees of truth in the understanding.
     I propose to call your attention this morning to a doctrine of the Church, in the light of which we must view this and many other passages of the Word, if we would understand them aright. This doctrine is the Doctrine of Degrees. Without a clear idea of this doctrine it is impossible to understand what is meant by "lowests, seconds and thirds," or indeed by "scientifics, rationals, and intellectuals."
     Without some distinct ideas of degrees we cannot understand the existence and relation of the spiritual world to the natural world, much less the order and distinctions which exist in each world. Without a knowledge of degrees we cannot comprehend the difference between men and beasts; we cannot understand why one is immortal and the other not. Again, we cannot understand the formation of man and the necessity for regeneration, much less can we understand the process of regeneration. But above all, without a knowledge of degrees we cannot comprehend the assumption and glorification of the Human by the LORD, and yet this is the highest and most important of all subjects which can engage the attention of man.
     It is with a view to the consideration of the regeneration of man and the Glorification of the LORD that I wish to refresh your memories this morning by calling to mind some of the most important teachings of the Doctrines concerning Discrete and Continuous Degrees.
     In studying the subject it is most essential to form a distinct idea of the difference between continuous degrees and discrete degrees. Continuous degrees are well known and are very easily understood, but there is some danger of mixing them with discrete degrees. Continuous degrees are degrees of more or less, as the degrees of heat from its greatest to its leasts, or as the degrees from light to shade. Every one knows that it is very hot close to a fire, and that as you go away from the fire it becomes less and less hot. This difference of heat is continuous from its greatest to its leasts. The quality does not change; it is still heat. These degrees are measured by a thermometer. It is the same with light, and with all other things on the same plane- differ very much according to continuous degrees. Human muscles are, for example, all in the same plane, still they differ much in power, but never according to discrete degrees, but always according to continuous degrees. Continuous degrees are also called degrees of breadth.
     Discrete degrees, which are also called degrees of height, are not so well known. They differ very much from continuous degrees. Two things related by discrete degrees are so different one from the other that the relation might easily be overlooked. In general they are related as cause and effect, or as what is prior to what is posterior. That is to say, the things which are in the higher degree are the cause of the existence of the things which are in the lower; the lower is formed from the higher by conformations and conglobations.
     But let us illustrate this by examples. From the sun to the earth there are in general three atmospheres, which we may call aura, ether, and air. These three are related to each other according to the order of discrete degrees. Now it is well known that the two lower atmospheres are so different one from the other that we require different senses to perceive their different qualities or modifications. For example, sound, which is a modification of the air, is perceived by the ear, while light, a modification of the ether, is perceived by the eye. Again, air may be confined in vessels, but ether cannot-i. e., not by anything that man has, so far, discovered.
     Now from these qualities of air and ether we are able to see that they are very different things. The ether is a discrete degree above the air; and now follows what is an essential of discrete degrees, viz.: the fact that air is made from ether-i. e., a particle of air is composed of innumerable particles of ether, arranged in order. A particle of air is therefore similar to a particle of ether, it is of the same kind-i. e, it is homogeneous. But it is grosser, more sluggish, and in many ways different, because on a lower plane. Ether and air1 therefore, are perfectly distinct, though of a like genus or kind.
     Aura and ether are similarly related. Again, to take a simple illustration given in the Doctrines. The first fibres, the motor fibres, and the muscles, are in the relation of discrete degrees. The first minute fibres of a muscle are not muscles, but they compose muscles. When many of these minute fibres are formed together into larger fibres they form motor fibres. From these, gathered into a larger form, muscles exist. Each is perfectly distinct from the one above, and is kept distinct by a covering or skin. The whole is covered by a general skin which connects with the skins of the motor fibres, and by them with the skins of the fibrils, and by this means all together make a one. From these and other similar things on the plane of nature we may form some idea of the distinction and conjunction which exist by means of discrete degrees.
     Now let us consider the mind of man, remembering that affections and thoughts do not exist in nothing, but in forms suited to their reception. We find that there are three things, viz.: will, understanding, and action, or affection, thought, and deed. These may also be called end, cause, and effect. Now these three are related to each other according to the order of discrete degrees. Will or affection is the inmost, the most perfect in the series. Will or affection produces thought in the understanding, and both together produce action. We have but to turn our minds inward and to examine these three, to see the quality of discrete degrees. It is very manifest that affection is not thought, that it exists before thought, and yet thought is affection manifesting itself in another plane. In the thought affection presents itself with an intention of going forth into act, and finally when the act takes place affection and thought are both present in it in quite another form; and the quality of the act is such as are the affection and thought in it.
     The relation existing between the different degrees of the order of discrete degrees is called correspondence.

67


There is very full teaching in the doctrines of the Church on the subject of degrees; what has been said is but a brief summary. In order that we may have the subject before us in the language of the Writings I will quote from the work Divine Love and Wisdom:
     "That it may be still better comprehended what and of what quality are discrete degrees, and what their difference from continuous degrees is, let the Angelic Heavens be for example. There are three heavens, and they are distinct by degrees of altitude; wherefore one heaven is under another; nor do they communicate among themselves except by influx, which takes place from the LORD through the heavens in their order to the lowest, and not vice versa. But every heaven by itself is not distinct by degrees of altitude, but by degrees of latitude. They who are in the midst or in the centre are in the light of wisdom, but they who are in the peripheries even to the ends are in the shade of wisdom; thus wisdom decreases even to ignorance, as light decreases into shade, which takes place by what is continuous. It is similar with men; the interiors which are of their minds are distinct in as many degrees as there are angelic heavens, and one of these degrees is above the other; wherefore the interiors of men, which are of their minds, are distinguished by discrete degrees or degrees of altitude. Thence it is that man may be in the lowest degree, then in the superior and also in the supreme degree of his wisdom; and that when he is in the lowest degree alone, the superior degree is closed, and that it is opened as he receives wisdom from the LORD. There are also with men, as in heaven, continuous degrees or degrees of latitude. That man is similar to the heavens is because, as to the interiors of his mind, he is a heaven in the least form, so far as he is in love and wisdom from the LORD" (D. L. W. 186).
      The teaching of the above passage brings us to the consideration of the degrees in man. We find that man is not a simple structure, but that he is, as it were, formed of man within man. Inmostly there is a most perfect human form, receptible of life from the LORD, which is called, in the Writings, The Human Internal. Sometimes this man is called The Soul, and again, The Internal Man. We ought to think of this Human Internal as in the human form, composed of spiritual substances such as exist above the highest heaven. It is not life in itself, but a finite form receptive of life from the LORD. It is the first entrance of life from the LORD into man. By it man is conjoined to the LORD and is thus enabled to live forever. From it the LORD rules man as to every degree of life which is below it. Neither man nor the highest angel ever becomes conscious in this degree of his mind, and he knows what takes place there only by its manifestation in the degrees below. Remember well this degree, for here is where existed the great distinction between the LORD and man, when the LORD assumed the Human. In man this Human Internal is a form receptive of life; in the LORD it was Life Himself-i. e., JEHOVAH.
     Below the Human Internal, or soul proper, the Human begins. In general we have three degrees, viz.: the Celestial, the Spiritual, and the Natural. These are three degrees of the Spirit of man; below them is the natural or material body These are also in the human form, and are composed of Spiritual substances which are separated by discrete degrees. The Celestial is the highest, the most perfect, the inmost. It is the plane in which the Celestial angels dwell or are conscious. The ruling love in this plane is love to the LORD, and its external is mutual love.
     The middle degree is the plane of life of the Spiritual angels. The ruling love here is love of the neighbor, in which is love to the LORD. Love to the neighbor is the same as the Spiritual affection of truth, or charity. This degree is composed of spiritual substances of a more external or grosser nature than the Celestial. It is, in fact, formed from the Celestial by innumerable things of the Celestial forming one of the Spiritual. It is, therefore, more general. In a truth which the spiritual perceive as one the celestial perceive innumerable particulars.
     Below this comes the Natural, which is so called because its affections and thoughts are proper to this world. They relate to the love of self and of the world. In order, they are subject to the Spiritual and the Celestial. In disorder, they are opposed to them. It is not necessary to dwell much on this degree at present, for we are conscious in it, and all the affections and thoughts which come to our manifold perception are natural.
     Now if we have in our mind a clear idea of these degrees of life, or of forms recipient of life, let us consider some of their general qualities. In the first place, it is important to think of them as human forms within human forms, and as being forms receptive of human affections and thoughts. Also, it is well to think of the affections and thoughts, and try to form an idea of them and their actual differences. These degrees are in every man, but in different states and conditions. They may exist in a totally undeveloped form, or in various degrees of development. They are all undeveloped at birth. The natural is first opened and developed. Then, with those who are reformed and regenerated, first the Spiritual and then the Celestial is opened and formed-i. e., with those who become Celestial. If only the Spiritual is opened, man becomes Spiritual.
     It is a wonderful thing that the LORD has created man a form, receptive of life, but with absolutely no life of his own. It is still more wonderful that He has given to man the perception of life as if it were in him, his own. Let this be well considered. A lifeless form is animated by inflowing life from the LORD in such a way that life appears to be in the form itself. I This form of life has a consciousness of its own, and perceives and feels the delight and pleasantness of life, as its own. Further than this, the inflowing life may be received and perceived by man in any one degree by itself. Man may be conscious, may love and think and feel delight, in his natural degree, and be utterly unconscious of it in the spiritual or the celestial degrees. Or he may be elevated into the spiritual and there become conscious, while the natural becomes quiescent. Then he perceives life in quite another and more internal form, the affections of which are so different as to be related to his former affections only by correspondence. Or, again, he may be elevated into the Celestial degree of his mind and there feel and perceive things which are utterly incomprehensible to his spiritual mind. Or, again, man may become utterly unconscious as to all the degrees of his mind, so that life goes on and he is unconscious of what occurs, as is the case in sleep. This quality of the human soul is most wonderful, and is well to be remembered, for it is of great assistance, not only in enabling us to understand the regeneration of man, but also the assumption and glorification of the Human of the LORD.
     While man lives in this world he is in the natural degree of his mind. All his affections, thoughts, and actions are natural. Nevertheless, while man is in this world, his Spiritual and his Celestial may be opened and formed, and as to his spirit he may be in celestial affection and thought.

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In this case, his natural affections and thoughts will be affected. If his spiritual mind is opened and formed the inflowing life and light will warm and illuminate his natural mind, and his affections and thoughts will become spiritual-natural. If the celestial is also opened, his affections and thoughts will be celestial-natural. But he will not come into the perception of celestial or spiritual wisdom itself till he come into the spiritual world and is elevated into heaven.
     In conclusion, let me quote from Divine Love and Wisdom concerning this important subject, that it may be clearly before us in the very words of the Doctrines themselves:
     "The three degrees of altitude are named Natural, Spiritual, and Celestial, as was said above. When man is born he comes first into the natural degree, and this1 grows with him through what is continuous, according to sciences and according to understanding acquired through them, even to the highest understanding, which is called rational. But still by this the second degree, which is called spiritual, is not opened; this is opened by the love of use from intellectuals, but by the spiritual love of use, which love is love toward the neighbor. This degree, likewise, can grow by continuous degrees even to its highest, and it grows by cognitions of truth and of good, or by spiritual truths. But, nevertheless, by this, the third degree, which is called celestial, is not opened, but this is opened by the celestial love of use, which love is love to the LORD; and love to the LORD is nothing else than to commit the precepts of the Word, to life, which in a summary are to shun evils because they are infernal and diabolical, and to do goods because they are heavenly and Divine. Those three degrees are thus successively opened with man."
     "Man while he lives in the world does not know anything concerning the opening of those degrees with himself because he is then in the natural degree, which is the ultimate, and from it he then thinks, wills, speaks and acts; and the spiritual degree which is interior does not communicate with the natural by what is continuous, but by correspondences, and communication by correspondences is not perceived. But, nevertheless, when man puts off the natural degree, which takes place when he dies, then he comes into that degree which was opened with him in the world; into the spiritual he with whom the Spiritual degree was opened; into the Celestial he with whom the Celestial degree was opened. He who comes into the Spiritual degree after death no more thinks, wills, speaks and acts naturally, but spiritually; and he who comes into the' Celestial, thinks, wills, speaks and acts according to his degree. And because communication between the three' degrees among themselves is only given by correspondences, therefore the differences of love, wisdom and use, as to those degrees, are such that they have no communication by anything continuous among themselves. From these things it is manifest that man has three degrees of altitude, and that they may successively be opened" (D. L. W. 237-8).
SELF-SACRIFICE NOT ASCETICISM 1898

SELF-SACRIFICE NOT ASCETICISM       G.G.S       1898

     CHRISTIAN patience, which is a defense against the assaults of both evil and misfortune, is born of self-sacrifice; but this is not asceticism. Indeed it is important to distinguish between the two in order to escape the snares of meritoriousness and human prudence. The spirit of true self-sacrifice is a willingness, to endure the sacrifice of natural delight whenever the truth points out that this is necessary; and as every natural delight is inclined to usurp the dominion of truth, all man's delights must sooner or later be subjugated and, as it were, sacrificed; the merely natural life, as such, must die, in order that man may spiritually live.
     The foregoing truth, as the Church fell away from charity and from spiritual enlightenment, became externalized into asceticism or mortification of the flesh. This gross and non-spiritual conception of spiritual life, and of the mode of its attainment, involves the idea that to man pertains the power of making himself spiritual; for it involves the idea that man has in himself good or spiritual life, which would come into full activity if only natural life were curtailed. But this is not so. Man has no other life of his own than that of natural loves and their delights. Therefore if he is to attain spiritual life it must be through or by means-including natural life, which is given him for that very purpose-and in no other way. The way must be of the providing and leading of the LORD who gave the natural life.
     Since man has no good of his own he must be led into good by truth-that is, by the form into the substance. And so the affection of truth is his one sole hope of spiritual life; it is the spiritual element amid all his natural loves and impulses, by which he has free choice that may blossom into true spiritual freedom. Thus at first he approaches good, as it were, from without. The ultimate form of good is use. In use it is that the Divine influx of good terminates and there meets the reciprocal effort of man; while man, by truth-that is, by doing the uses which truth prescribes, and by shunning the evils which the truth shows to be inimical to use-advances on his part to meet the LORD; by truth he meets good descending from the LORD. There is no merit here-no assumption of good on the part of man. He simply resists evil, and so enters, as it were, from without into the sphere of good which belongs to use; while the LORD, Who gives him power thus to dispose his acts and his thoughts as to intention, enters from within and imparts and imputes the internal good of use. This the LORD does in proportion as man entirely submits self and self-gratification to the requirements of use.
     Thus by the opportunity and necessity which everywhere exist for men to perform some use, a plane is provided whereby every one can be reached by good in this its lowest form, called use. And as he performs use from conscience, according to truth's leading, man is gifted with internal faculties and newer and truer conceptions of what use really is, and thus he co-operates more and more fully with the LORD'S insinuation of good. Thus it is that he acquires new insight as to what will injure use, new insight into the meaning of the laws of life. He no longer thinks it sufficient not to lie, kill, steal, commit adultery, and blaspheme, but as his ideals grow higher as to sincerity, mercy, regard for the neighbor's good, and innocence of any misusing the gifts of the LORD, he discovers that many things to which he has become habituated as allowable must be given up as injurious to spiritual use. It longer suffices to barely stop short of gluttony-he is careful to eat and drink no more than conduces to make the body most alert and fit for use; he not only refuses to allow mere pleasures to draw him away from duty, but he shuns every thought and affection which can distract from concentration upon his use as the thing to be placed first, as the very expression of his charity derived from the LORD; and all the promptings of self-glory, worldliness, and self-interest which continually intrude into his natural life, he sees to be enemies of use, clouds engendered by the proprium, which shut out enlightenment in use, and with it the very sunlight of heaven; and hence he shuns them.

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     Yet because habits are nothing else than crystallized loves, and as love is full of its own sensitive life,-to suppress the delights that have become inherent in the habits means pain and death to the natural life. But although every portion of man's natural life which he will suffer to be regenerated must undergo this subjugation and self-sacrifice, it is not and cannot be all done at once. In order that his freedom and his very existence may be preserved, the process must proceed gradually, man consenting at every step, which could not be if the change were radical and violent. But in each case man yields himself up to death, and the LORD raises him into life. "So then, every one of you who doth not deny all his faculties, cannot be My disciple" (Luke xiv, 33).
     It should be evident how different is the spirit of asceticism from that of the self-sacrifice which the LORD asks of man. The former strikes at delights which in form and in designed use are good, and capable-if not destroyed-of becoming genuinely good; while the latter rejects nothing of natural delight but that which the LORD commands in His truth-that is, in the indications of use. In other words, the ascetic spirit looks to self in the good which it would do, while the other spirit looks to good outside of self, as embodied in use. In the New Church there should not be very great difficulty in distinguishing between the two.
     G.G.S.
TEACHERS' INSTITUTE OF THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH 1898

TEACHERS' INSTITUTE OF THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH       Editor       1898

ONE of the results that followed the reorganization of the Academy of the New Church was the formation of the "Teachers' Institute." This was to be composed of the teachers of the schools of the Academy, and of all the local schools conducted under the auspices of the societies of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. The latter bodies, being in sympathy with the Academy, though not officially connected with it, are in real internal connection with the work. According to the plan of Bishop Pendleton, the Institute is to act as an "arm" of the Academy-the other arm being the Corporation technically styled "The Academy of the New Church;" and these two "arms" are the working bodies whereby the uses are carried out which give effect to the ends and uses for which the movement was originally inaugurated. Intermediate between these two is a deliberative body to be called the Assembly of the Academy, composed of the members of the Corporation and the Institute, with the addition of the members of the local school boards. All these collectively constitute the Academy in the general sense of the name, using that term as a good working name to designate the movement rather than any definite organization. The meetings of the Assembly, when it is formed, are expected to be public, but those of the Teachers' Institute, that being a working body, will be private.
     The use of the Institute involves the particulars of teachers' work, including the discussion of principles, the laying out lines of study, etc. This body was provisionally organized on the ninth of October last, and since then regular meetings have been held pending the permanent organization expected to be effected next June, about the time of the General Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. After that shall have been effected the meetings in Huntingdon Valley will be those of a branch of the Institute. At present the officers are: President, Bishop Pendleton; Vice-President, Professor Price; Secretary-Treasurer, Mr. Henry B. Cowley.
     By courtesy of the members of the Institute the Editor of New Church Life has been invited to attend the meetings and to report for this journal such parts of the deliberations as are calculated to interest those readers engaged or interested in educational work. Consequently he hopes to be able to present here after abstracts in each number of this paper. Herewith follows a partial report of the first meeting.

     Curriculums.

     It was decided at this meeting that the several teachers should feel free to bring their work to the attention of the meetings for discussion of their problems and for assistance in the preparation of curriculums. In discussing the question to what grade the parochial schools were expected to advance their pupils to, it was suggested that they might be expected to take them as far as the high-school grade-that is, through the primary department and what is known in the public schools as the grammar- school grade. This would give what is called a common-school education, which fits them for entering business life. The high-school is for those who wish to go a little farther than the grammar-school course, yet cannot afford to take a college course; so that the high-school would be equivalent to the intermediate grade of the `Academy schools, and the colleges the same grade as ours.
     Professor Price, head of the College, said that it was his idea that we should give just as good instruction in our schools, and in just as many branches, as is given anywhere in the world. He said that under the Chancellor our curriculum had been longer than any in the country-i. e., six years, which he thought too long. Parents had complained of it.
     Bishop Pendleton also thought it too long, but said that our education in the past has been successful because the pupils had been taught to think, and religious instruction is most important in the development of a plane for the rational. Parents sometimes lose sight of this in their criticisms.
     Professor Odhner mentioned that the pupils in the Academy schools had not had to "cram," as in nearly all other educational institutions.
     Miss Grant thought that forcing the pupils through a certain amount of work, or at least a certain number of textbooks within a stated time was too much like public school methods.
     Mr. Synnestvedt said that a curriculum one year longer than is usually required in schools in the world would enable us to do all that they do, and in addition give religious instruction and teach pupils to think.
     Professor Price said that before entering college pupils should know thoroughly English grammar, geography and practical arithmetic, and that they should go through a course of high-school arithmetic in the intermediate grade.
     It was recognized by the meeting that girls differ from boys as to the formation of the mind, and that after a certain age they should be taught differently.
     Mr. Synnestvedt said that he agreed with the Chancelor's idea of keeping in mind in all our work the fact that we are not teaching so many machines, but human, spiritual beings; but he thought the idea had been applied in too external a way. For instance, religious instruction is indeed the most important of all studies, but it does not follow that more time should be spent on it than on all the other studies.

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Yet he thought that there was danger in the reaction against this, of becoming like schools which are New Church in little more than name.
     Miss Grant said that she had heard much criticism of our work, but she thought we had no reason to be' ashamed of our pupils. She had lately had an opportunity to compare our work with that of a large and popular Quaker school in Philadelphia, commonly considered one of the best in the city, and she had found that our pupils are quite as far advanced, if not farther, in everything but arithmetic, which has been somewhat neglected in the past,. In the Quaker school, however, in one of the primary grades three hours a day are given to that study.
     Mr. Price thought our sins in the past had been rather those of omission, and therefore to improve we must do that which has been heretofore neglected.
     Grammar also was spoken of as having been neglected, because of the Chancellor's strong objection to it, which was directed-the speaker thought-not so much against the study itself as against learning it by rote. Mr. Pendleton said that we should not give up learning by rote, but should be careful to make it serve and not be master.
     Mr. Price agreed that there must be some learning by1 rote. In the study of grammar, for instance, he said it was simply impossible to teach Latin grammar, or that of any other language, without a pretty thorough knowledge of English grammar, that being a basis for the grammar of any other tongue. Thoroughness is most important in any branch. In reply to questioning, Mr. Price said that he was not quite willing to do away with examinations. In regard to teaching he felt somewhat like the man who wanted work but was not willing to spend his time hammering on a log; he wanted to "see the chips fly." He wanted to see results.

     New Church Baptism.

     Speaking on the subject of New Church baptism as a. pre-requisite for entrance into the schools, Mr. Synnestvedt considered it a necessary protection to the life of the schools.
     Mr. Price brought up the point that the school is not the Church, but an institution to prepare men and women for the Church. He asked, Might not the rule debar from the schools some who may become members of the Church?
     Mr. Pendleton replied that the three uses of baptism were successive, and he read from the True Christian Religion the heading of the three chapters which treat of those uses: First: "That the first use of baptism is introduction into the Christian Church, and then at the same time insertion among Christians in the' spiritual world." Second: "The second use is that Christians might know and acknowledge the LORD JESUS CHRIST, the Redeemer and Savior, and follow Him." Third: "The third use, which is final, is that man may be regenerated." He explained that the first use is for the introduction of infants into the sphere of Christians, both in this world and in the other. According to this teaching, the rule that children about to enter the school must be baptized into the New Church, would mean that those children should be' introduced into the sphere of the Church, and that their parents should acknowledge the LORD. The schools are for the education of children of the Church, thus for the carrying out or unfolding of the first use of baptism, which includes the second and third uses as in a kernel. A child might, perhaps, be admitted into the school without baptism, even as a person might be admitted to the membership of the Church without it, but it would be the exception, not the rule.
     Mr. Acton cited the case of a man who did not think baptism necessary, but who still desired to have his children educated in the Church.
     Mr. Price had in mind another case of a man who was thoroughly dissatisfied with the country public schools, and who might, were it not for the rule regarding baptism, send his children to the Academy schools, where they might possibly receive the Doctrines, in time.
     Mr. Pendleton said that the heredity of children was a factor for consideration. Inherited conceit might be a bar to receptivity. Good results cannot be obtained in the schools unless the parents co-operate.
     Miss Jessie Moir considered it more harmful for a child to attend school and then have the school influence counteracted at home than for the child never to enter the school.
     Mr. Pendleton endorsed this view, and added that baptism was a divinely-appointed guard both to Church and to school. Without baptism the advent of the LORD would destroy the Christian Church.
     Professor Odhner cited the case of a school which had been opened in Abington, Massachusetts, in the early part of the century, having the rule that all pupils should be baptized before entrance; but after a number of years' prosperity the authorities were prompted, by a mistaken idea of charity, to abolish the rule, when the school soon lost its distinctive New Church quality and finally went to pieces.
     Miss Grant had noticed that even when children had been baptized we had not been successful where there was not co-operation at home.
     Mr. Pendleton said that judgment must be used even in carrying out the rule; it is not a mere form with us, but a living thing. As old Dr. Burnham used to say, "You can't baptize a post!" We must see some prospect of the uses of baptism being carried out. The rule is a rational one, based on rational principles.
     Miss Grant said that though we have sometimes had trouble, we have, notwithstanding, lost few. We might say, like the Catholics, "Give us a child to the twelfth year, and do what you p lease with him afterward."
     Mr. Acton thought that by going to work in a practical way we might copy after Old Church schools, but preserve a different sphere.
     Mr. Pendleton reminded the members, of the example of the Israelites borrowing from the Egyptians. We also must borrow natural and scientific truths, but must remelt these vessels, as did the Israelites.

     Borrowing from Old Church Sources.

     Mr. Acton held that we could learn much from teachers in the Old Church, because, having had more experience, they know more about teaching, and we can make use of their knowledge and experience.
     Mr. Pendleton considered it useful to present in these meetings ideas of Old Church teachers, even though they be false. It is useful to present opposites, for truth thereby appears in clearness. And there is no unmixed truth-we must always sift. Only we must be careful not to be carried away by these acquisitions from the Old Church-these glittering vessels of the Egyptians.
     Mr. Odhner suggested that it would be interesting to have educational papers and magazines here, from which we could get new ideas brought out by educators in the world.

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     Mr. Pendleton said that there had been a disinclination in the Church, heretofore, to receive anything from the Old Church; our state has been that which is represented by Ishmael, the "wild-ass" state, which must indeed be passed through, but we should not remain in it.
     Mr. Odhner thought that in former meetings the discussions used to go too much into details. Mr. Pendleton suggested as an improvement the preparation of papers, or reading of selections, or summaries of subjects met in reading.
     Mr. Synnestvedt mentioned a book he had lately been reading which gives quite an insight into the educational methods of the Jesuits, confirmatory of what is said of that body in the Writings-its love of ruling not only the b6dy of man, but also his conscience.
     In discussing the suitability of stories of the Bible prepared by Old Church sources, it was thought that these might be of use, but could not be taken in toto-would have to be gone over, for the elimination of false Doctrine or other objectionable matter. Two instances of useful books were mentioned, Line upon Line, and its sequel, Precept upon Precept.

     Teaching from the Word.

     In reply to a question Bishop Pendleton said that though the Church had been in the idea that the Word should be taught to children only in the form in which it is given in the Letter, he saw no harm in adapting it to their apprehension in simpler words. He added that Doctrine had been taught to them too soon, before they had sufficient of the Letter.
     Mr. Acton had been in the habit of giving the historicals of the Word in narrative form, like a story, at the same time, reading from the Word itself.
     To the point that not enough memorizing of the Word had been done, Mr. Pendleton said that he thought it would make a more internal impression to repeat verses or chapters again and again until the children became familiar with the Word in that way, than by formal memorizing. In giving it as a task to be learned a distaste for it might be created.
     Miss Hobart said that her experience in Pittsburg had been that the lesson in memorizing the Word was the most interesting in the week.
     Mr. Pendleton illustrated the adapting of truths to the child's sensual thought, by the case of his own boy, who asked him why the LORD did not take bad people, also, into heaven. He seemed quite satisfied with the answer, "Because He does not want them."
     Mr. Acton asked if the child might not have been told that bad people did not want to go to heaven; but Mr. Pendleton replied that that would have been a rational idea and beyond the childish comprehension, since he could not conceive but that every one must want to go to heaven.
     Reference was made to the fear which had at one time prevented parents and even teachers, not priests, from feeling free to give children anything in the way of religious instruction. Mr. Pendleton pointed out that as to fear of teaching the Word it should be a rational fear, not a fear of criticism. The "wild-ass" state had been in the Church throughout. The idea once went forth that it was necessary to spank little babies from the very be- ginning. It may sometimes be necessary to spank a child before it is a year old, but to say that it should be done was simply ridiculous. He argued that a rigid external should not be imposed upon mothers by either priests or physicians.
DISCUSSION CONCERNING SOCIAL LIFE 1898

DISCUSSION CONCERNING SOCIAL LIFE       Editor       1898

     CONTINUATION OF A REPORT OF THE LOCAL ASSEMBLY

     HELD IN PHILADELPHIA, MARCH 4TH, 1898.

     Bishop Pendleton said that one thing which has an important bearing upon the quality of social intercourse with the Old Church is, as to whether we are going into it of our own seeking, or whether it comes to us from circumstances over which we have no control.
     Mr. Synnestvedt added that the real danger is in putting your heart into those things of the Old Church. The LORD judges man from the heart. Which does he treasure most, and thus regard as an end? To stay out of the Old Church and long for it, would be bad. Hence the need of freedom. We must not, of course, neglect our external social obligations, but not seek this as the first, nor let it crowd itself in so as to impair the other.
     Bishop Pendleton said that it is important to teach the truth concerning distinct social life-this must be made clear; and we should stop there. The individual is free to receive and apply according to his own conscience. With children parents must judge for them. Where there are New Church schools children should have their social life in the school life. When grown they are then free even to leave the Church if they so desire. The rigid external rule against all intercourse with the outside, like all the rigidity in which we have been-was necessary at the time and in its place.
     Mr. Synnestvedt said that it does not detract from our loyalty to invite any one who shows a disposition to come among us-those who have not identified themselves with us, but have shown some interest. Judgment should be used in each case.
     Bishop Pendleton added that it is different when they come to us, from what it would be in our going to them.
     To the question whether, in the matter of harsh criticism, we ought not to be in the attitude of being willing to learn from our critics, Bishop Pendleton replied that what is said about us in an adverse sense is usually either a truth or an appearance of truth. We should not allow the natural man to be excited by it, but should look upon it as a thing that has come to us in the way of Divine Providence, for a purpose, and should seek to know that purpose and further it.
     Mr. Acton, returning to the subject of past rigidity and its necessity and usefulness, drew an analogy with the case of the Protestant Church and its false teaching concerning Faith Alone. This was permitted in order that they might be separated from the Catholic Church. They were not in a state to be separated in an orderly manner. In the Academy the first thing that had been necessary was separation from the Old Church. Let us not live in the dead past, but live in the present; let us see what the past meant, and preserve that, not losing sight of the end, but rejecting that only which is superfluous. There is great stress laid upon the importance of separation of societies in the other world. In a spirit of contempt for the past there is not a spirit of charity and trust in the LORD.
     Bishop Pendleton confirmed the idea that the end the LORD had in his Providence was distinctiveness, even by separation. That had been accomplished. Now He is leading to a more rational view of the same thing. We have the thing, the distinction, and now we are to preserve it. The natural man is prone to go to extremes in the application of truth-that comes from the natural rational. There was no doubt a good deal of this in the past. But without the natural rational at first there would be no rational at all. It is harsh, its hand against every man. The Old Church is in it; the New Church has been in it; it is in the natural with every one of us.

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     The phase of the subject bearing on the effect upon our children resulting from distinctions drawn between Old and New Church associations, inspiring condemnation and contempt toward others not of the Church, received due consideration. One lady, although deprecating contempt, asked whether there should not be a certain distinctness impressed, upon their minds lest they become lax in their associations, since natural good takes that form with some.
     Bishop Pendleton, responded that with children it is necessary to make a hard and fast distinction between right and wrong. If they are inmostly growing it will with them in time take the form, not of contempt for persons, but of aversion to evil. We should simply guide the feeling and at times check it.
     Another lady quoted Bishop Benade's teaching that the person who criticises expresses more of his own faults of character than of the one he criticises. As no two persons would make the same comments or estimates of any one, or the same judgments, it is plain that in their criticisms they will both reveal somewhat of their own character.
     Bishop Pendleton said that while we cannot approved what is wrong, that is very different from the spirit of fault-finding. The angels desire to see good in others, but evil spirits desire to see evil, in order to condemn. We need to guard against getting into their sphere.
     It was added by Mr. Acton that it was inherent in the love of self to love and seek to make others despicable, and to elevate one's self even as God. It was also added that a man is apt to be most irritated by those things in another which are faults in our own character; he knows the evil because he knows it in himself. Bishop Benade was again cited as saying that in cases of infestation by accusing spirits it is always well to hear what they have to say. But we are not to make the application of what they charge us with as they seek to do. They seek to drag us down to hell, but the LORD'S mercy ever lifts us up again toward heaven.
     Mr. Acton thought that the discussion went right to the root of social life. The unwillingness to dwell on the faults of others is inseparable from that charity upon which true social life is founded. There is that difference in the social life of the New Church from that prevailing in the world, namely, that there is in general an end to get away from that evil.
     Bishop Pendleton confirmed this, saying that where there is good-will there is genuine social life. It does not exist in the consummated Church, but it will exist in the New Church. "Only think," he said, "what it would be to be among those of whose good-will one is sure. But if he desires that he must begin and cultivate it in himself." When asked whether that good does not appear to be in the Old Church, he answered that in the Old Church it does appear to exist, but it is mostly external or natural good. Genuine spiritual good is rare. The external of the Old Church is more or less under the influence of the new heaven, but its' internal is dead. When asked why there appears to be more of disorder in social relations in the New Church-less appearance of harmony and charity-he answered that in the New Church there is less of repression, and. real internals come out. But that is a healthful feature. Internal good-will to the neighbor exists only where there is acknowledgment from the heart, of the LORD JESUS CHRIST.
     The hour being late the meeting adjourned to partake of the material repast which had been prepared more especially for those who had to return to the country, and also for the others, and a specially pleasant social side was added to the occasion. Some regret was expressed that we had not time to discuss some of the aspects of the question of government.
DISEASES OF THE FIBRES 1898

DISEASES OF THE FIBRES       Editor       1898

Chapter XI, continued.

     FANATICAL IMAGINATION.

     523.     LOSS of memory also involves loss of imagination and of thought, for imagination is an active state of the memory of generals and of particulars; and thought is an active state of the memory of universals and of singulars; so that when one perishes, the other of necessity perishes. But fanatical imagination or internal sight happens in the daytime almost without the use of external vision or-of the eye, except somewhat obscurely. This is called HEMERALOPIA,* and when it occurs at night, NYOTALOPIA.
     * The modern use of the words Hemeralopia and Nyctalopia is, for the most part, the opposite of Swedenborg's use; see Webster's Dictionary.-ED.
     524.     But before it can be known whence such a violent phantasy comes, it must be known what imagination is, and what thought is, and then their difference, and how the one acts into the other. That the imagination and the thought are faculties distinct in themselves, is noticed in brutes, which enjoy imagination, but not rational or intellectual thought; and that they [thought and imagination] may be separated in somnambulists, also in individual human subjects, for there are those who surpass in one but not in the other, and they rarely coincide in a similar degree in the same subject. Imagination is of the cerebrum, but thought is of the cortical substances of the cerebrum. Thus imagination is an active state of the cortical substances-that is, of the principal parts of the cerebrum; that is to say, that every gland of the cortex commonly takes on a change of state, for the cerebrum can imagine nothing except by means of its parts, which are organic. But thought is of the parts in the cortical gland; for so far as there is an organ, a little brain or a little sensory, it will consist of parts, that is to say, of the pure cortex (which is the origin of the simple fibres), disposed in a most orderly manner, according to the most perfect form of nature; thus thought is a change of internal state of the cortical substances. Therefore a similar state of all the cortical substances in themselves constitutes the gyre of our reason.
     525.     From the description it becomes apparent what the state of fanatical imagination is, that is to say, that the cortical substances of the brain remain rigidly in the state into which they have been once induced, nor do they suffer themselves to be turned from it into other states, therefore they do not dispel, dissipate, and remove the alluring, strange, and badly consociated ideas,* and either absorb them and by their immensity augment the conceived idea, or reject them as not concordant. For in every single thing of rational analysis there is a certain form composed of particular ideas, and these of more particular. Among such there will be a perpetual difference, so that taken together they constitute a certain rational harmony, which is the same as analysis itself.

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Thus things entirely relative are insinuated into things more or less opposite, which are not admitted into the sphere of this fanatical imagination. This state rigidly remaining, it it is also enkindled, made active and subtly trembling, that is to say, from some desire or grief finally increased from itself, then it rejects and turns back all objects perceptible by the senses inflowing by way of the external organs, or admits them as exasperations.
     * This is a doubtful passage. Perhaps the sense is: "Adscititious [alluentes), foreign, and badly associated ideas." Literally, alluentes might possibly be translated "washy."-ED.
     526. The cause of so dire and terrible a phantasy is, everything which was related of mania, phrenzy, and deliria. Thus all those things arising from an immoderate and acute fever of both bloods, from hardness, unition and grossness of the parts, from stoppage of the arteries, of the cortical substances and of the fibres, from the denied discharge of the dura mater into the veins and sinuses consequently from inflammation of the cortical substances. Similarly from sicknesses of the animus, forsooth, from its grief, sadness, sudden extinction of hope, or a relapse from the highest degree of internal joy and natural light into the lowest, and into the depths of despair; this especially comes from an excess of love or of pride, likewise from a most vehement zeal and ardor of the mind, and from a confused convolution of ideas, and thus form a precipitation of the mind from the sphere of a certain light into a sphere of darkness, especially with those who greatly desire to contemplate the state of the soul after the death of the body, that is to say, when intellectual faith desires to vindicate to itself the greatest part.
     527. Moreover the state of the sight itself or of the eye is also wont to be perverted, that is to say, by inflammations, fluxions, contusions, and tumors; it is perverted as to the tunics, liquors, uvea, iris, pupil, retina or optic nerve, and thus in the animus it is wont to represent images, which induce a dissimilar state in the things themselves, whence likewise illusions and imaginary things. But such things, by a mind still sane, can easily be dispersed, which, that they are mockeries and fallacious appearances and fatuities, it easily apperceives. But if both sights, the internal and the external, suffer from a similar sickness or rigidity, then the evil is doubled.
MEMORIAL MEETING 1898

MEMORIAL MEETING       Editor       1898

MRS. JOHN PITCAIRN.

     BORN APRIL 21ST, 1855; DIED MARCH 27TH, 1898.

     ON the evening of March 29th the members of the Huntingdon Valley and Philadelphia Church met at Cairnwood in memory of Mrs. Pitcairn, the burial having taken place in the afternoon. Since then it occurred to the editor of New Church Life that a reproduction of some of the remarks might be of interest to some of the many friends of the departed; hence the following very incomplete report.
     After a simple service Bishop Pendleton said in part:

     If we were to speak according to the appearance we should say that we are in the presence of death, but we prefer to speak according to the reality, which is that we are in the presence of life, the grave being but the portal into a higher and more perfect life than we know here. One much beloved had passed away from our natural sight; we shall see her face again in this world no more. By this time she is awake in the spiritual world. If I were to express in one word an estimate of her character I should choose the word loyalty. Throughout her life as we have known her-and I have known her since her infancy-Mrs. Pitcairn has ever shown herself consistently and unswervingly loyal to the truth. Her faithful support of the uses of the Church was a great strength to those engaged in the work, especially to the priesthood, who derived great sympathy and encouragement from her interest and intelligent co-operation.
     It is not of order that men should pass away from this world until old age. This is illustrated by pain, which is an evidence of the Divine will to preserve life. If men are taken away earlier this is of Divine permission, for the sake of uses in the spiritual world, and for other uses which are mentioned in the Spiritual Diary. This is especially illustrated in the case of infants, of whom the third part of heaven consists. It there were not this large accession to the numbers of heaven the equilibrium of heaven could not be preserved, such is the proponderance of evil at this day. It is of great comfort, therefore, to think of our friend's going into the other world as being because of uses to those who are there and, also to us who are here.

     Mr. Synnestvedt spoke of the propriety of turning the mind now, as well as the affections, away from the grave and all the natural which is to be left there, and endeavoring to elevate our spirits into the sphere of the thought and delight of the angels. When we do this we realize that the one who has departed has not gone to a strange nor even a very distant land. What is it that makes friends to be friends-that makes them stew familiar to us-that stirs our hearts at their presence? Is it not the sphere of spirits and angels which environs them, and which we share with them? Is it a strange land, therefore, where our friend comes among those who have been her heart's friends through life, and whose sphere has made us her friends, and her ours? All are united in spirit according to affinities of thought from affection, and hence when one who is dearly beloved leaves this world, it is not to leave us, but to enter more fully into the very interior of our lives. For this reason, as the colony of our friends grows there, we may expect this influence to grow the stronger with us, if we, realizing this, alt all duly strive to be worthy of it. Indeed, this striving of itself will be of greatest value to us.
     Mr. Starkey referred to Mrs. Pitcairn's characteristic habit of looking not to person in others, but to what of the Church appeared in them, as if to forecast the sort of angels they would make. In this tendency she was assisted by a strong native sense of justice. Her activity in Church uses and her thoughtfulness and generosity toward others, were of less importance than what she did in the way of strengthening the common bond of good feeling and mutual consideration in the Church. The speaker added that if the love for her which prompted the strong grief we all feel, was directed not to her person, but, following her own example, attached itself to what was of the Church in her, then we could retain among us her own sphere by cultivating a spirit of charity and mutual forbearance. It would undoubtedly be instinctively repugnant now to cherish remembrance of any faults of hers, who had gone from us; why not remember that every companion here is soon to follow her? Why not show the same tender regard and willingness to overlook the finite, mortal side now, while they still linger with us a few years, months, perhaps weeks only-who knows? Why not think of the real character that is to remain, and overlook the non-essentials which will be rejected into the grave, or, after rising again, rejected into what in the other world corresponds to the grave. It was as if her spirit still remained to encourage us to do this-as if she had left a message and an exhortation for us, for each and every one.
     Mr. Potts spoke feelingly of the use of such occasions and said that in times of trial like this we have a chance to find what is the quality of our Newchurchmanship.

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Any one can be a fair-weather Newchurchman, but when some great grief or some great evil is upon us we may know how deep a hold the Doctrines have upon us by our attitude toward them and by what they then are to us. He drew much comfort from the reflection that in the other world "thought brings presence," and this removes the idea that we have really lost our dear friend. In this connection he cited as of remarkable significance the statement that the spiritual world is in the extense of the natural sun (C. L. 380 and T. C. R. 35) as bearing on the fact of the nearness of the spiritual world.
     Mr. Odhner dwelt on the hope held out to us in the writings of the Church, of personal reunion in the other life with those loved ones with whom we have been associated in this life. The love which unites spiritual friends is the love of heavenly good and truth, but this love necessarily finds its subjects in individuals-men and women, who by their love and life have become good and truth embodied. According to the infinite varieties of goods and truths men are brought together and consociated in the Church, and more perfectly in Heaven. The individualities are preserved in the other life, and also our love of the individualities who have been and are in states similar to our own. Hence, also, our consociations will remain in general the same as in this world, when they have been based here on the love of spiritual things. Not only are different nationalities associated together in the spiritual world but even the contemporaries of each generation, as we know is the case with the Sophi of ancient Athens, such as Socrates, Xenophon, and others. These loved the same things of wisdom and are hence to eternity in the same heavenly society. The men of the New Church, who have been brought together in this world by a similarity of the faith and love of spiritual things, have therefore every hope to be united again, personally, with those beloved friends who have been our companions here. We shall see them again, love them, and live within their sphere and particular society if we but persevere in the endeavor to live according to those heavenly principles which have caused our past and present consociation in the LORD'S New Church on earth.
     Mr. Price said, in part:

     When he had first heard of Mrs. Pitcairn's death it had been a great shock to him; but he had reflected that in the Divine Providence there is neither accident nor misfortune; there are, however, many things that humanly speaking, we call accidents and misfortunes, and a misfortune this seems certainly to be. But the LORD in His wisdom and also in His love knows best.
     Mr. Price wished to say a few words from the standpoint of the schools of the Academy. The speaker had been acquainted with Mrs. Pitcairn for many years; he had known her before her marriage, while she was yet Miss Starkey, and had always found her to have the greatest interest in everything that had reference to the school and its work, and to be in the fullest sympathy with all connected therewith, whether teachers or students. There had been current, at one time, and perhaps not unjustly, severe criticisms of the students of the Academy, but the speaker had never heard that any of them had come from Mrs. Pitcairn; for she, in her womanly sympathy, was able to perceive in those students ends of life that overweighed their faults many as they were.
     As a teacher the speaker thought he spoke for all the teachers of the Academy work when he said that he had always felt that Mrs. Pitcairn was in sympathy with all he was trying to do; was not only in sympathy, but showed an intelligent interest such as few are able to do. This would be felt by all as a severe and deep loss. We have among us good, noble women, but where among them shall we look for such sympathy and interest, and such actual help as Mrs. Pitcairn's?

"Death, ere thou hast slain another
Wise and good and fair as she,
Time shall throw a dart at thee."

     Mr. Walter Childs spoke from a knowledge of Mrs. Pitcairn extending over twenty-three years. He said:

     "Gertrude Pitcairn was a rare and lovely woman, and, humanly speaking, her loss to our Church circle is scarcely less than a calamity. Clear as she ever was in her convictions, and candid in the expression of her views, it is still a notable fact that she never aroused the least personal antagonism in those from whom she differed. All of us, while admiring the charm of her gracious personality, perceived that the moving principle of her life was an unswerving loyalty to the truth. The loss of one so deeply loved seems to be irreparable, but, as in war apparent calamities have been turned into victories, so in this hard bereavement we may achieve victory by subduing the natural mind and looking forward to the happiness that may be ours, and which we believe our dear friend has even now begun to realize. This will leave us in spiritual freedom, for we are told that this freedom is from the love of eternal life, and that we may attain it by living in the belief that, compared with the life to come, the things of this world are but a fleeting shadow."

     The speaker referred to Mrs. Pitcairn's exceptional love of the beautiful, in nature and in art, and to the teaching that those who after resurrection desire it are gladly shown the glories of heaven by the attendant angels.
     Other remarks were made, but as this report is an afterthought it has been impossible to get them all or to give more than a suggestion of those which were made, or of the affectionate and uplifting sphere of the occasion.     G.G.S.
IN MEMORIAM 1898

IN MEMORIAM       EVELYN E. PLUMMER       1898

GERTRUDE STARKEY PITCAIRN.

     "Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken . . .
     "Then shalt the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."-Ecclesiastes xii, 6, 7.

I have come to your nooks in the garden bowers,
To seek for your fairest, O beautiful flowers-
I ask for your sweetest in fragrance and bloom
To rest on the verdure that covers a tomb.
     For loosed is the silver cord,
     And broken the golden bowl
     Of a well-beloved soul.

On the breath, soft and pure, of the sunny morn,
(That out of the night and the darkness is born,)
Arose from the flowers a sweet anthem's swell
That thrilled with its gladness each dew-laden bell.
     Forgot was the loosened cord,
     Forgotten the broken bowl
     In the joy of a risen soul!


For they sang: "It is well. We may give our best,
To brighten with beauty where lied, at rest
The tenement frail-though the spirit hath flown
To dwell with the blest in the light of the throne
     Of Him Who hath loosed the cord,
     And broken the golden bowl
     Of a glad rejoicing soul."
                                   EVELYN E. PLUMMER.
REMINISCENCE OF MRS. PITCAIRN 1898

REMINISCENCE OF MRS. PITCAIRN       PAULINE S. WELLS       1898

I HAVE been requested to write my recollections of my sister Gertrude in the early days of the Academy, and as the thought of her has always been a pleasure this will be a work of love.
     It was during the year 1875 that my father and Gertrude first heard the distinctive Academy doctrines taught. They were disturbed by them at first, but finally accepted heartily all the teaching concerning the Second Coming, the state of the Christian world, marriage within the Church, and the other Academy doctrines.

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I was in California during this period, and father and Gertrude decided that it would be best not to write me concerning this new development of truth, thinking it would be hard for a young girl to go through states of anxiety and doubt while separated from her family and from New Church influences.
     But on my return home Gertrude could hardly wait for the first greetings to be over, she was in such haste to have me alone for a talk; and then she told me this grand new truth learned while I was away-that the doctrines of the New Church are the actual Second Coming of the LORD, and are absolute, infallible, Divine truth.
     I distinctly remember the kind of blank expression that was on her face when I said, "I thought I had always been taught that." She said, "Why, no you weren't." I said, " Well, I certainly believed it." Great was her delight when she found that I would have no difficulty in seeing the many particulars of truth that she was then able to give me.
     At that time we were living in Vineland, and during the summer of 1877 my father's business kept him in Washington most of the time. But he came home on occasional visits, staying a few days each time, and Gertrude and I looked forward to these visits with intense eagerness, for he had always been our most intimate friend, our teacher, our counsellor, our father. And now more than ever we looked to him for instruction and sympathy, and he never failed us. My mother, who had never been strong, was at this time gradually succumbing to the brain trouble that made the last years of her life a blank, and so she could take very little part in the new life in the Church.
     The Rev. J. P. Stuart was then living in Vineland, very near us, and our dear Father Pendleton, who first preached Academy doctrines to our family, was spending the summer in the neighborhood; and when father was at home these two would spend many hours with him. And we girls revelled in the privilege of being allowed to hear them talk, even to the occasional neglect of housework.
     The young people of the present day can hardly imagine the state that then existed. There was an enthusiasm and warm fellow feeling, similar, I fancy, to that which characterized the early days of the first Christian Church. And there was not wanting the intense fervor and close, zealous brotherhood produced by persecution.
     Gertrude was elected to be a member of the Academy very early in its existence, and she felt that the greatest honor had been conferred upon her.
     By the time we returned to Philadelphia to live my mother had become a helpless invalid, making it necessary for Gertrude to take her place in the household. And because father was so genial and so ardent a New-churchman, and Gertrude was so gracious a hostess, and took so intelligent an interest in the Doctrines, our house became one of the centres for meeting. In those days impromptu occasions would often arise, when we would send around word that there would be an informal meeting at our house, and old and young would come, no matter what the weather might be. Most of the evening would be spent in conversation. The company would separate into little groups, each group discussing some absorbing doctrinal subject. This, of course, intensified the interest and the sphere, but as we girls wanted to be listening to all the various talkers at once, feeling unwilling to lose anything, it proved rather distracting at times. When the evening was half over wine or punch would be brought in, and there would be toasts, enlivened by much singing and replies to speeches as interesting as they were instructive. If Walter C--- (only the younger ones spoke of him as "Mister" C---) was present the grave conversations were brightened with more than the usual wit and humor, and the songs were given with more zest than at any other time.
     All this would seem extremely tame to Old Church persons, and even to many in the New Church, but to us this social life brought a keener delight that could have been afforded us in any other way.
     I find that my thoughts of Gertrude have led me into a reminiscence of the life in the Church at that time, and, indeed, that is as she would have it, for she would wish everything in connection with her to be subordinated to the Church.
     PAULINE S. WELLS.
AUTHORITY OF SWEDENBORG'S SCIENCE 1898

AUTHORITY OF SWEDENBORG'S SCIENCE       T. M. MARTIN       1898

THE AUTHORITY OF SWEDENBORG'S SCIENCE.

EDITOR NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     Two things in Mr. Swanton's reply to the hasty remarks I made in my private letter to you, I think, call for comment. First, the imputation that I must necessarily believe the erroneous science of to-day because I think it a false principle to make the acceptance of Swedenborg's science in toto the standard of New Church faith and membership; and second, the expression, "in view of these two quotations, how can any Newchurchman doubt the truth of Swedenborg's science?" which, being translated, means, if any man doubt the truth of Swedenborg's science he is ipso facto not a Newchurchman.
     As to my own case, I do not believe in modern science, which ignores spiritual life and its influx into nature, and so is utterly ignorant of the cause and continued existence of things natural; to me evolution as taught, determinism, the germ theory of disease, and the so-called science of medicine, being unenlightened by spiritual light, are all idle dreamings and soothsayings.
     Secondly, the criterion of New Church membership and life is the acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus Christ; belief in the sacred Scriptures, and the life which is called charity-this last being the basis, foundation, and ultimate of the other two; and not any belief or intellectual consent and acknowledgment of the verity of a fact.
     Again, it would be well, perhaps, not to formulate creeds for other minds whose interiors we do not know; and secondly, we must beware how we set bounds to the Lord's Church that He has not fixed. There are many who cannot believe that man originated as to his body from an egg born by a tree, having no idea or rational insight how such an extraordinary combination of circumstances could occur under any of the known laws of the Divine Providence governing influx or creation; but we read "to believe anything without having any idea of it, and without a rational insight into the subject, is only to retain in the memory words destitute of all life arising from perception and affection, which, in fact, is the same as not to believe" (W. H. 7).
     Any attempt thus to close the gates of the New Jerusalem (open continually) on account of doubts not yet solved, seems so belong rather to the professors of faith-alone, and to believers in immediate mercy. For how can we say that no Newchurchman can doubt even the doctrines of the Church, to which he has not attained by actual life; for doubt is always preliminary to confirmation, occurring, indeed, in each successive and progressive state of temptation. For we read, "He who is in temptation is in doubt about the end" (A. C. 1820); "In all temptation there is what is doubtful concerning the presence and mercy of the Loan"; and, "Doubts cannot be removed within a short time, on account of the fallacies of the senses which must first be dispelled; also, on account of the innumerable things which must first be known"(A. C. 6479). Much less ought we to condemn those who merely doubt the exactness of Swedenborg's science. The title "oneness" of Swedenborg's Writings seems to ignore the doctrine of discrete degrees, and to make natural science one with spiritual truth; and such a oneness is not in the least implied in the aforesaid quotations made by Mr. Swanton where the distinction is clearly made.
     Dividing the Church into classes or sects, according to belief or opinion, is from our proprium, and not from the Inspired Writings, which warn us fully and severely against it, giving plentiful reasons why it should not be done, and making the life of charity the bind of union, as must be known to all readers.

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Moreover, no one of us is in the Divine Truth, and we can help each other only by mutual love into mutual faith, not by coercion, antagonism, or division. And we must remember that "combat against the falses may be waged even from truth not genuine, provided it be such that by any means it can be conjoined with good by innocence, for that is the medium of conjunction; hence it is that they within the Church may be regenerated by means of any doctrine whatsoever, but they especially who are in genuine truths." T. M. MARTIN.
Notes and Reviews 1898

Notes and Reviews       Editor       1898

THE second number of The New Philosoph1j (April) presents editorially, three views of creation: that of the old theological interpretation of the literal Mosaic cosmogony, making the world to have been created out of nothing; that of materialistic science, which derives the creation of life from dead matter; and that of Swedenborg, which derives all life from Life Itself, or God, through means which are atmospheres. An article by the Rev. E. J. E. Schreck, " Darwin's Facts Illustrating Swedenborg's Philosophy," quotes largely from Darwin's description of what is called the "circumnutation of plants," or growth in spirals. The Rev. Frank Sewall announces concerning the proposed new edition of the Principia, that the work this year has been wholly in the way of sounding the attitude of scientific and educational circles, the object being not merely to print the work but to get it actually into the hands of scholars and scientific workers everywhere.
     "The replies from learned institutions and individuals in this country have thus far been quite satisfactory, and those from England and Scotland are just beginning to come in." Secretary Swanton, of the Committee on Republication, submits the text of the circular issued on the subject, including the contents of the Principia, and "Some Opinions of Scientific Men and Scholars." The latter make interesting reading. Mr. Sewall's communication upon forming a Swedenborg Scientific Association appears also.
     If the people realized bat faintly alt that is involved in this movement toward a new science-its promise even as to the ultimate plane of effects and of industrial and commercial achievement-even the Cuban embroglio would hardly exceed the interest aroused. Fortunately for the healthful growth of the movement, those who are taking hold are far more concerned with establishing and elaborating fundamental principles than with premature -and fruitless-striving after effects.



     THE New Church Review, which sir months ago was the vehicle for Mr. Swanton's strong plea for Swedenborg's scientific writings, in its April number contains another thoughtful contribution to the new scientific revival, this time from the pen of Mr. George W. Worcester. It is entitled "Series and Degrees, from the Scientific Point of View," and its chief object is to show, by quotations from Swedenborg and by rational confirmations, that without a knowledge of the order of creation, natural as well as spiritual, there can be no real light in the spiritual things of regeneration, of Divine Influx, and especially those of the Glorification of the LORD'S Human. The scope of she paper is too broad and deep to receive adequate notice in the space at our command in this number; but we must at least note that it sets forth with force and effect the one grand universal purpose which underlies all knowledge of creation-namely, knowledge of the Creator, Whose image and reflection appears more and more clearly as the hidden things of His creation are uncovered. The writer has, however, laid himself open to certain points of criticism, as where he says that "the general deductions found in his (Swedenborg's) scientific and philosophical works are just as much to be considered as Divine Truth as any of his so-called theological works." In a dissertation on " Degrees" there should be a more distinct recognition of the discreteness of spiritual from natural truth than here appears. Granted that Nature and her laws maybe said to be Divine Truth crystallized into representative forms it will not do to call those forms "just as much Divine Truth" as the spiritual verities which they effigy. To call the Scientific Works "inspired," as the paper does, is to inject into that word a meaning which practically invalidates the meaning commonly attributed to it, one that is at once more legitimate and more interior, in fact, nearer to the truth. The truth is, that-as the article in question admirably exemplifies-the system of Swedenborg's science appeals to enlightened reason and does not rest upon the same basis as spiritual faith, which it, however, agrees with and supports.
     Other contents of the Review are, "The Philosophy of Fire," by the Rev. William H. Buss, treating of the spiritual significance of fire in connection with the ancient religions: "The Bible Sacrifices," by Mr. Chauncey G. Hubbell, discussing the origin and significance of sacrificial worship; "A Newchurchman," by Mr. Francis Dewson, a homily which tempts us to comment further upon its elevated and elevating tone; "The Valedictory of 1798," being the farewell address of Adam Fonerden and John Hargrove to the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore, another of the interesting historical documents with which the Review not infrequently favors its readers (it is accompanied by an introduction, by the Rev. Willard H. Hinkley, which sounds a ringing note of New Church distinctiveness). In "Possible Traces of the Ancient Church and the Ancient Word in Great Tartary," Mr. Gilbert Hawkes sets forth, from authoritative sources, new and significant facts concerning the character, customs, and writings of the Tartar tribes. Mr. Hawkes quotes from a French writer and traveler one statement concerning certain ancient writings in the Tartar, Kalmuck, and Mongolian tongues, which were sent in 1720 by Peter the Great to the French Royal Academy of Sciences, and Mr. Hawkes makes-the startling proposition that they may he a copy of the Ancient Word itself thus brought right within our reach in the custody of the body named. He also remarks that in any event the discovery of the Ancient Word as presaged by Swedenborg, will be a decisive test of the authenticity of his Writings.
     The heading editorial, "National Self-Control," commends the national attitude, and, from the text of Divine Providence, n. 251, 252, gives timely and wholesome teaching upon the Providential use of war as a vent to the loves of self and possession whereby their true quality may appear and the wish to be free from them be given.
NOTES ON "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES." 1898

NOTES ON "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES."       GEORGE E. HOLMAN       1898

     III.

     IN the preceding sections of this paper, an attempt has been made to show that the New Church philosophy of creation gives an explanation-on the basis of the separate creation of each species-of all those facts connected with geographical distribution of animals and plants, which form such a strong argument in favor of Darwinism, and that it also easily explains a number of facts which Darwinism is quite incompetent to account for.
     The New Church student, however, will encounter a difficulty only second to that of the geographical distribution of species, and that is the existence of the so-called useless or rudimentary organs.
     Through all the phases of Darwin's long-drawn argument runs the fundamental assumption that all the differences of structure, of color, and of every other quality, have been produced by accumulated variations, preserved in the struggle for existence. He frankly admits that he does not know how these variations originate, but he says that no sooner does a small beneficial variation arise than it is seized upon by natural selection and preserved for the benefit of its owner and its owner's descend ants.
     Now, some animals are vividly colored, and a great number of these vividly-colored creatures have, it is found by A. R. Wallace, special means of defense. For instance, the brilliant dragon fly must attract the notice of birds, and would be destroyed by them if it were not that its extraordinary powers of flight give it security. Consequently, its brilliant attractions are no particular drawback. The wasp, with its bright yellow stripes, would attract the attention of birds were it not that it has a sting, and birds know better than to make any attempt on the gaudy little insect.

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Hence its color is in some measure a protection to it. But suppose a brightly colored insect with no means of defense be preyed upon by birds, its brilliancy is vital to it. Accordingly, if, from some unknown cause, it should happen that one individual be less highly colored, that individual would have a better chance of escaping and producing offspring. The tendency would be that the duller- colored insects would survive, and that their brilliant-colored relatives would be destroyed. In course of time, therefore (according to Darwin), the species would undergo an entire transformation by losing all its beauty.
     Again, beauty may be preserved or heightened by selection. In animals having separate sexes there will be a struggle among the males for the females, and the victorious lover may be the strongest and win by vanquishing his rivals in battle, or he may possess personal charms and so gain favor. This Darwin calls sexual selection, and, according to him, we must assume, whenever we see any brilliantly-colored creature, that that beauty has been acquired through sexual selection.
     Now, of course, many possible objections will occur to the mind on learning of this argument for the first time, but such is the power of this materialistic kind of reasoning that all our learned men have succumbed to
it. But to be true, such a theory should be universally applicable. The following quotation, however, gives an instance which cannot possibly be explained by either of the foregoing hypotheses. It is from Karl Semper's Natural Conditions of Existence as they Affect Animal Life:

     "According to Darwin, 'coloring has resulted from the determining selective influence of the sexes and their preference for certain colors and modes of coloring.' Still, Darwin had himself already mentioned, though only incidentally, that there are many animals characterized by their splendid motley or metallic coloring, which could not have preserved it through sexual selection; for example, all the different polypes, and more particularly the sea-anemones and true corals, are conspicuous for their colors. The surface of a reef lying just under water, has often been compared to a gay garden of flowers, and the splendor of such a bed of animals, is, in fact, quite astonishing. It is as though Mother Nature had here given free play to the fancy she is elsewhere compelled to restrain in some degree, by indulging her delight in lavishing all the colors of the rainbow, and by inviting a motley group of creatures to disport themselves among the flowers and fruit of her submarine garden-blue and red starfish, holothuriw of every hue, and gaudily-painted fishes.
     "The fishes in which the sexes are separate, and swim about freely, may perhaps have preserved their brilliant coloring be sexual selection, or even in the way put forward so emphatically by Wallace; but neither hypothesis suffices as a satisfactory explanation of the equally bright colors of polypes. No kind of sexual selection can here come into play, for she simple reason that the sexes do not seek each other; they are all sessile animals; male and female alike are obliged to throw off the sexual element into the water and leave it to chance, or rather to the currents, whether fertilization is effected or not. Wallace's explanation is equally inapplicable. All polypes are predatory creatures, feeding on fishes, crabs, worms, etc. Hence their striking and ornamental coloring would seem rather to be a disadvantage to them, for since they cannot move about they are fitted to catch such animals as approach too near them with their long arms and the weapons with which these are furnished, and their coloring, therefore, would seem calculated to warn all creatures swimming in the sea, even at a distance, against coming within range of their perilous embrace. This apparent disadvantage might perhaps be outweighed by a greater advantage connected with this bright coloring, namely, that it warns the fish that prey upon them not to approach, which, of course, presupposes that those enemies have real cause to dread the weapons of these polypes. This, however, is by no means the case; the fishes which feed on the true corals are perfectly indifferent as to whether the creatures they feed on try to clutch them with their tentacles or pierce their skin with their microscopic, dart- like, stinging threads. It is impossible, so far as our present knowledge extends, to discover the faintest trace of usefulness in the brilliant colors of the polypes."
     St. George Mivart (Genesis of Species, chapter II), cites a similar example:
     "Referring once more to beauty of form and color there is a manifestation of it for which no one will pretend that sexual selection can possibly account. The instance referred to is that presented by bivalve shell fish. Here we meet with brilliant tints and elegant forms and markings of no direct use to their possessors in the struggle for life, and of no direct utility as regards sexual selection, for fertilization takes place by the mere action of currents of water, and the least beautiful individual has fully as good a chance of becoming a parent as has the one which is the most favored in beauty of form and color."

     Now, here we have creatures which seemingly have no use for their most striking characteristics. "Organs bearing the plain stamp of inutility are extremely common throughout nature," says Darwin. In mammalia, for instance, the males possess rudimentary breasts; in snakes one lobe of the lungs is rudimentary; the boa constrictor has the rudiments of hind limbs and of pelvis; the wing of an ostrich is only useful as a sail, while that of an apteryx is quite useless. Many insects have the merest vestiges of wings; moles have rudimentary eyes; some animals living in dark caves are quite blind and others have no eyes at all, such as the often-quoted instance of crabs in the Kentucky caves, where (as Darwin puts it) "The footstalk for the eye remains, though the eye is gone; the stand for the telescope is there, though the telescope, with its glasses, has been lost."
     It is supposed that this eyeless condition is the effect of disuse. In fact, most "rudimentary" organs are supposed to have been the effects of disuse, sometimes aided by natural selection, and Darwin supposes that sometimes they may be organs in a nascent condition-prophetic of higher development.
     Now if the darkness of these caves causes blindness, why should not all the inhabitants he blind? Karl Semper says (Natural Conditions of Existence, p. 82):

     "Among the numerous cave insects there are many which have well-developed eyes and yet inhabit the same spot as blind species. In some caves in the Philippines and the Pelew Islands which I myself explored, I found, in spots where the most absolute and total darkness reigned, only insects with eyes."

     He mentions in a note the following species of insects etc., living in dark eaves and yet furnished with welldeveloped eyes:
     "Machaerites, 7 species (Coleoptera); Anthomyia, Phora (Diptera); Hadeuncus, 2 species (Orthoptera); Spirostrepton, several species in caves (Myriapoda); Nesticus, 2 species; Linyphia, 8 species (Spiders in the Kentucky caves).
     "It might be said-in fact it has been said-that the cave animals which can see have migrated into the cave only within a short period, and have not been exposed to the influence of the darkness long enough to suffer; while the blind or half blind, having entered the cave at a remote period, have lost the use of their eyes wholly or partially in consequence of long desuetude. But this explanation contradicts the fact . . . that every mole, Pinnotheres, etc., originally had eyes apparently capable of further development and of perfectly fulfilling their normal function, and that the influence of darkness is proved to be direct in each individual and not hereditary."

     And Semper goes on to give a fact which quite decisively contradicts such an explanation:

     "In all the species of the cave beetle machaerites, the females only are blind, while the males have well-developed eyes; in spite of this they both live together in absolute darkness. . . . We may fairly regard it as impossible that the darkness of the cave has affected the females alone and been ineffective on the males. Hence the blindness of the former cannot be caused by darkness."

     Semper also mentions cases of blind and half-blind I animals living in full light.

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     As I have mentioned, a very great many insects have rudimentary wings; but in a great many cases it is
only in the females that the wings are either wanting altogether or so small as to be absolutely useless-witness the glow-worm among beetles and the common vapourer moth (Orgyia) among lepidoptera. Now, bearing in mind the correspondential significance of wings and of eyes, is it not very suggestive that in those cases where the atrophied condition is confined to one sex it is the females who are eyeless or wingless?
     It Darwin's theory were correct, it would meet all the facts: But as we have seen, it offers no sort of explanation for the brilliant coloring of sea-anemones and some shellfish; and if the coloring of polypes is not affected by natural selection or sexual selection, this alone gives us good ground for doubting whether it is ever effective in producing permanent modifications of color. In the same way, even if we had no authoritative statement in the Writings on the subject, the case of the cave beetle machaerites would make it extremely doubtful whether the eyeless condition of the cave crab had been brought about by darkness.
     These apparently useless, rudimentary or atrophied organs are absolutely necessary means to the perfect expression in the animal of that spiritual affection from which it takes its origin. In the human form we see the same thing. A beautiful mouth is of no more use as regards speaking or eating than an unbeautiful one; but physiognomists read in the lips the quality of the social affections. The particular form of the lips is an ultimation of the mind and is dependent on its quality. The form could never be effected by external conditions So in the fingers, their form is determined not by the work they do, but by the character of the brain from' which they have their origin. In like manner, the "rudimentary" breasts of man are not rudimentary at all, and they are not useless. Their use is the ultimation of charity-the milk of human kindness;" that is to say, they are the basis or foundation on which reaction can take place in respect of that particular affection of the mind, and are therefore necessary-that is, useful, to the mind, though they perform no external use. In the same way, the wings of birds which cannot fly, the rudimentary feet of snakes, the blindness of some fishes and insects, the eyeless condition of some crabs, the wingless condition of some insects, are all necessary elements in the perfect expression of the spiritual principle which they represent and which is their cause. "There is not a hair or a thread of wool on any beast, not a filament of a quill or a feather upon any bird, not the apex of a scale or fin upon any fish, that is not formed from the life of their soul" (Athanasian Creed, n. 88).
     So-called useless organs bear the same relation to the animal physiology of an individual as so-called useless, animals do to the universal physiology of the whole world. Few people, but have been puzzled by the existence of cats and mice. Mice are created to feed cats; cats were created to destroy mice; why not do away with both? That is the reasoning of the pure materialist, and is on a par with the reasoning which calls the curious organs we have been considering "useless." But the cats and mice are necessary ultimations of affections in the spiritual world. "Rudimentary" organs are witnesses to the spiritual architecture of the individual; "useless" animals, rightly considered, are proofs of the spiritual need of a material world.
     I have said that the fingers of a man are not formed from the work which he does with them, but they are formed in accordance with, and represent his character. This any chirognomist will confirm. But this idea is quite opposed to the reasoning of the old-fashioned natural theologians. They taught that the forms of all animals were adapted to the habits and surroundings of the animals, on which teaching Darwin offers the following criticism: "What can be plainer than that the webbed feet of ducks and geese are formed for swimming? Yet there are upland geese with webbed feet which rarely go near the water, and no one except Audubon has seen the frigate bird, which has all its four toes webbed, alight on the surface of the ocean. On the other hand, grebes and coots are eminently aquatic although their toes are only bordered by membrane."-(Origin of Species, p. 142, 6th edit.)
     Structure and habits are collateral modes of expression. They are, of course, generally in accord (sometimes, indeed, wondrously so), but sometimes they are not, and we should then, I think, look upon the divergence as an additional item in the description of the spiritual cause.
     Every creature has a certain liability to variation. In all life there is action and reaction between the spiritual influx and the dead forces of the material world, and the lower we descend in the scale the weaker is the spiritual influx and the stronger comparatively the natural forces. But as in the child there is always the tendency in the maternal influence to give way to the deeper-seated paternal nature, so in the animal and vegetable kingdoms the spiritual influx is a corrective to undue variation.
     Too much stress has been laid by evolutionists upon analogies taken from domesticated breeds. Breeders have seized upon external variations and preserved them and accumulated them, but they know that left to a state of nature all their strongly-marked varieties would give way in a few generations, and that we should have again perfect representations of the real natures of the different domesticated animals.
     GEORGE E. HOLMAN.
TRUE SOLDIERLY SPIRIT 1898

TRUE SOLDIERLY SPIRIT       Editor       1898

IN times of war it is well to remember that patriotism, like other moral virtues, is apt to be mixed with unregenerate affections. It is important not to confound zeal for the cause with mere last for fighting. The latter, though an evil, is s common as to be extenuated by many. If at this juncture Spain was to compromise, without a decisive battle, there would doubtless be very great disappointment in America. In so far as this arose from conviction that only armed conquest could now bring about an enduring settlement of the issue, very well; but in so far as it was inspired by mere impetuosity of young or belligerent blood it would be a thing to be curbed. The professional soldier, if animated by conscience and wise from experience, does not court war.
     Thus "He is averse to depredation; he abominates the wrongful effusion of blood. Otherwise in battles: he then is not averse to it, because he then does not think about it, but about the enemy as an enemy, who wants his blood" (Doctrine of Charity, n. 107).
CALL FOR A MEETING OF THE PROPOSED SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION 1898

CALL FOR A MEETING OF THE PROPOSED SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION       Editor       1898

THE meeting to organize the Swedenborg Scientific Association will probably be held in New York City in the latter part of May. For more definite information readers are referred to the columns of the New Church Messenger, or to the Rev. Frank Sewall, 1618 Riggs Place, Washington, D.C., who is now arranging for the projected meeting.

79


CHURCH NEWS 1898

CHURCH NEWS       Various       1898

THE GENEEAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM.

     THE episcopal visits of Bishop Pendleton during March included one to Allentown, dating from the 10th to the 14th. A Council in that place was organized, with Mr. John Waelchli as chairman, Mr. J.--- Kessler as secretary, and Mr.--- Wunderlich as treasurer. Bishop Pendleton past with the Council, and it was decided to hold services once a month if ministers could be provided.
     It may be mentioned here that on Easter Rev. E. S. Price administered the Holy Supper to the Allentown circle.
     Scranton was visited on March 20th The interest here seemed very much alive; and the Rev. Charles E. Doering began on the Sunday following Easter a series of monthly visits.
     Renovo enjoyed the ministrations of Mr. Pendleton on Easter Sunday. He found that the New Church Union, noticed below, was formed to meet special conditions, with special view to social life, and that there was far from any falling off of interest in the General Church.
     Mr. Pendleton also visited the earnest Van Sickles family, near North Bend.
     The Sunday following Easter Mr. Pendleton spent at Erie, where conditions seem favorable. He also saw Mr. Glen of the U. S. naval vessel, "Michigan," stationed there. Another Newchurchman, Mr. Burns, is now detached from the "Michigan" on active duty on board the cruiser "Minneapolis."

     ATTENTION of the renders of the Life is called to the notices regarding the coming General Assembly, which will be found at the close of these columns.

     Huntingdon Valley.-THE Pastor continues in his course of sermons on the Seven Churches in Asia, the last having completed the series on the Church in Ephesus. In the Doctrinal class the subject of infants is still under consideration. Much useful instruction and very interesting conversations have been brought out in the classes. On Monday evening, April 25th, the Pastor resumed his lectures on Pedagogy.
     Social life has been quite active during the month, not only in the Society, but in the Schools. One very pleasant event was a dance social given by the Students' Athletic Association to a number 9f the young folks. On April 22d the pretty one-act play "Barbara," given previously in the city, as already noted, was reproduced here in Huntingdon Valley "by the original company," with even greater success than that attained in their first performance. The occasion was utilized for a warm, patriotic demonstration, which was intensified by the fact that some of our young men are enlisting, some prospectively and some actually.
     Following Easter Sunday the Academy Schools here were given nine days' vacation and the local school two weeks. DEDICATION OF THE NEW SCHOOL BUILDING.
     The new building erected by the Academy for the Theological School, College and Seminary was dedicated on the morning of Wednesday, April 20th, by Bishop Pendleton, with a very simple ceremony. After the singing of the Hebrew anthem "Shema Israel," followed by some short introductory remarks, the Bishop placed a copy of the Word in the repository and in a few solemn words dedicated the building in the name of the LORD to the uses of the Theological School, the College, the Seminary, the Library, and the Book Room of the Academy of the New Church. The LORD'S Prayer was then repeated and the 30th Psalm sung. This was followed by reading the True Christian Religion (n. 24) and Psalm cxi. Then, when the 24th Psalm had been sung, Mr. Pendleton addressed the people on the uses for which this building had been erected. It was the first realization of a long-cherished desire to have the school established in the country in their own building. Though the schools had been carried on here for more than a year they had not had a building for the purpose. Another pressing need, which it is hoped may be supplied in the near future, is a boarding place for pupils who come from a distance. He especially asserted the vital nature of home work in New Church education. Schools have been established in order to educate children in the Church. This use his been seen by the Academy from the first, and has been so munch dwelt upon, as essential to the life of the Church, that the importance of the home-life in the Church has not been sufficiently emphasized. The teaching of children at school will not keep them in the Church, unless there is also the co-operation of the parents; whereas, right home training and home influence sell keep children in the Church even where the assistance of New Church schools is not attainable. We have attributed the loss of children to the Church to the lack of schools, and that is partly the reason, but not all: There has been a lack of Church life in the homes. The home sphere in the Church must come first, and the children must be made to feel that; then the schools will do their best work; for, in the formation of character, the school is supplementary to the home. Let us then, both parents and teachers, recognize our own responsibilities and our limitations, and not unduly magnify the work of either teachers or parents. Education is still the work before us-education, both in home and in school, in which, with the LORD'S help, we may hope for the growth and increase of the Church.
     Grant'S Birthday (April 27th) was celebrated by a flag-raising by the Local School. Bishop Pendleton made an address, and saluting the flag and singing patriotic songs, gave outlet to the enthusiasm of the children.
     Berlin-FOR a number of Sundays a class has been held in the afternoon, under the direction of Mr. Samuel Roschman, for the practice of choruses of mixed voices. The class is very well attended and much interest is shown. Five of Mendelssohn's' songs, such as "Departure," "May Song," "The Nightingale," etc., have been learned with varying degrees of perfection.
     School closed for the Easter vacation on April 7th, and reopened on the 18th.
     Good Friday was celebrated by a social, given under the auspices of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Stroh. Supper was served in the school about 6 o'clock, at which a number of guests from Toronto and the surrounding country were present, contributing not a little to the enjoyment of the occasion. At 8 o'clock all adjourned to the hall above the school, to witness the performance of a comedy entitled "Six to One," produced by seven of our young ladies. To some the talent displayed by the actresses was a revelation. All deserve praise for the pains taken, and for the manner in which they acquitted themselves. The only thing that could have been improved was the plot of the play. The New Church has not "permeated" the drama yet, and consequently New Church principles do not predominate in the play of to-day. After the play refreshments were served, and Mr. Stroh proposed several toasts, and called upon one or two to respond. Dancing brought a very pleasant occasion to a close.
     Au Easter service was held on Sunday, the 10th, and the service (in German) of the Holy Supper on the following Sunday.
     The school has just lost the efficient services of Miss Centennia Bellinger as singing teacher. Miss Laura Stroh has, however, kindly consented to perform this use.
     E. J. S.

     THE NEW CHURCH UNION OF RENOVO.

     Renovo, Pa.-THE members of the New Church in Renovo, Pa., desiring to unite in New Church worship and religious and social life, but differing in views as to existing general organizations of the Church, have formed an independent body known as the "New Church Union." The Union by its instrument of organization, places itself beyond the jurisdiction of all general Church bodies; offers membership to all Newchurchmen who desire to participate in the Church work in that vicinity who acknowledged the Internal Sense of the Word, and who subscribe to the instrument; allows members to affiliate themselves with whatever general body they may prefer; and recognizes the pastoral office of the Rev. Ellis I. Kirk, and promises to support him so far as means and conditions permit. The Declaration of Principles was adopted March 25th. On March 27th, at another meeting, Mr. Kirk, as non-resident pastor, appointed Mr. Joseph R. Kendig as leader, to conduct public worship, and the appointment was unanimously approved. Dr. C. L. Olds was appointed treasurer and Mr. James B. Kirk secretary. It was decided to assume the debt of the former organization in Renovo; to devote the Sunday offerings to the support of the pastor; to meet contingent expenses by special contributions; to hold worship every Sunday at 11 A. M.; to hold doctrinal class every Friday evening at 9 P. M.; to submit all differences of opinion, so Air as they concern the Union, to the judgment of the pastor; to welcome any New Church minister as a minister and instructor, but not as an officer of any general body; and to take steps toward studying science and literature in the light of the New Church. At a meeting held April 1st the following eight names were subscribed to the official declaration: Joseph R. Kendig, Rebecca B. Kendig, C. L. Olds, M. B. Kendig, J. J. Kintner, Florence Kendig Kintner, James B. Kirk, and Laura M. Kirk.

LETTER5 FROM MR. BOWERS.

     Ohio.-AFTER visiting and preaching in several places in Michigan and Indiana I came into this State on March 9th. Made my first visit to Washington C. H., Fayette County, and found two members of the Church. On Sunday, March 13th, we had a meeting at the home of Mr. James R. Dill and sisters, near Bainbridge, Ross County. Thirteen persons attended. Some others could not come on account of illness. The Dills are earnest New Church people, and the sermon was heartily appreciated. Subject was: "The LORD'S Admonition and Promise to the Little Flock." Text: Luke xii, 32-34. At Waverly, Pike County, on the 15th, visited Lewis G. Dill, who is Judge of the Probate Court of said county and a believer in the Heavenly Doctrines. Next day I went to Givens, same county, where a visit was much enjoyed with Mr. N. A. Powell and family.

80


A neighbor and his wife came in the evening to learn something new, and expressed themselves as interested in instruction given. The present is my ninth tour in Ohio and adjacent parts of other States.

     Second Letter.

     West Virginia.-I AM now engaged in doing missionary work in places along the Ohio river in this State. On Easter Sunday, April 10th, we held a meeting at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Mortinier Pollock, in Wheeling when a sermon was delivered, and the Sacrament of the LORD'S Supper war administered. Have preached to good audiences in school-houses in three places, and have had many conversations with people respecting the Heavenly Doctrines. Also spent two days across the river, in Monroe County, Ohio; and, on April 15th, baptized a child there, near Clarington.
     J. E. BOWERS.

FROM THE PERIODICALS.

     Pennsylvania.-THE tenth annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Association, held in Frankford, on April 5th, seems to have been particularly interesting and satisfactory to those concerned. The Philadelphia Society's report especially mentions "the active interest and faithful work of the young people" which is "regarded as an element of strength" . . . "and one of the chief encouragements for the future."
     The little Montgomery's Ferry Society (of eight) report their new building nearly completed and practically free of debt. Mr. Dolly drew a vivid picture of the self-sacrificing zeal of these people, instancing a little boy who, having laid aside $7.50 of self-earned money, for clothing and toward a bicycle, said, when the Church building was proposed, "That five dollars (the bicycle money) must go for the Church." That money paid for the Church lot! Mr. Smith spoke of the earnestness, energy, and intelligence of the people in this locality and said that the percentage who receive the New Church is remarkable-that their efforts to instruct themselves had affected the whole county.
     Mr. Hinkley gave an interesting account of his missionary work in Texas and the South. After the collation a new feature was introduced, an informal meeting which was addressed by laymen. Among others, Mr. Thomas Fardon spoke of mission work within the borders of our own societies. He felt that the lack among us is largely that of individual faithfulness-in our struggle for money we depend for truth too much on the ministry, when we should look for it ourselves. The New Church is said to lack warmth. We have light enough- we need warmth. We stagger under the weight of philosophy we have, but we "can easily handle the love" If every New-churchman regarded the truth as If he feared he would be robbed of it next week, not keep it as his own, but bring it out-he would have warmth enough; he would not like the ancient Athenians, worship an "unknown God." Mr. Walter C. Rod man pointed out how the charge the LORD had given to but eleven disciples, had gone forth till it reached millions, and from this he drew encouragement for the New Church in its missionary work.
     The following officers were elected: President, Rev. W. L. Worcester; Vice-President, Rev. A. Roeder; Secretary, Richard A. Lewis; Treasurer, Julien Shoemaker.
     Massachusetts-The 136th meeting of the Massachusetts Association was held in Boston on April 7th. The ordination of James Taylor as pastor of the Abington Society was performed, with the entire ministry of the Association-some 16 or 18 standing on either side of the candidate. The Rev. James Reed made the presentation, stating the grounds on which the ordination was deemed wise. The Abington Society shows a membership of 55.
     In the Boston Society the changing the hour for communion service from three o'clock to twelve has so increased the attendance that the change has been made permanent.
     The Lancaster Society "was rejoicing in its young pastor, the Rev. Chauncey G. Hubbell, who had been recently ordained and installed."
     Resolutions were adopted by the Association deprecating the resort to war and declaring support of the President in his conservative Course.
     The Association voted to invite the General Convention to meet in Massachusetts in 1899.
Title Unspecified 1898

Title Unspecified       Editor       1898

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

     The Second General Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held at Glenview, Cook county, Ill., on June 24th to 28th. C. Th. ODHNER.
     Secretary.


     EXPENSES.

     At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the General Church of the New Church it was
     Resolved, That, in the opinion of the Executive Committee, persons attending the General Assembly should in all cases expect to bear their own expenses, except where special arrangements are made to the contrary.


     ANNOUNCEMENT.

     It is specially requested that all those who expect to attend the sessions of the Second Assembly of the General Church, of the New Jerusalem, to be held in Glenview, Illinois, June 24th to 28th, communicate as soon as possible with Mr. Seymour G. Nelson, 145 Hartford Building, Chicago. Accommodations for sleeping will be provided, and also for the morning meal. Dinners and suppers will be furnished by a caterer at cost price.
     On Sunday evening of the General Assembly a sacred concert will be held, and in order to make the chorus singing as effective as possible all are requested to practice in the meantime, wherever feasible, Psalms xxxi, xli, xlv, xxv, and ix.


     FOR SUMMER RENTAL.

     From. July 1st to September 15th, two pleasant furnished rooms in the Club House, Huntingdon Valley, Pa. Light housekeeping can he done if desired. Apply to Miss A. E. Grant, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.
ANNALS OF THE NEW CHURCH 1898

ANNALS OF THE NEW CHURCH       Editor       1898

Compiled by the Rev. C. Th. Odhner. Published in bi-monthly parts of 32 pages. Price, $1.00 a year.

     Although as yet only two numbers have been published of this work, it has been given a very appreciative reception by the New Church Press as well as by individuals.
     Bound copies of New Church Life for the year 1897 are now on sale. Price, $1.25.
     Subscribers having their loose copies in good condition may have them exchanged for bound copies on payment of 75 cents.
JUST PUBLISHED 1898

JUST PUBLISHED       Editor       1898

A Brief View of the Heavenly Doctrine
REVEALED IN THE THEOLOGICAL WRITINGS OF

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.
By C. THEOPHILUS ODIINER.
In paper 10 cts; cloth, 25 cts; Postage, 3 cts.

ACADEMY BOOK ROOM,
1821 Wallace Street,     Philadelphia.
Editorial 1898

Editorial       Editor       1898


NEW CHURCH LIFE.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH.

TERMS:-One Dollar per annum, payable in advance.
FOUR SHILLINGS IN GREAT BRITIAN.

     Address all communications for publication to the Editor, the Rev. George G. Starkey, Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery Co., Pa.
     Address all business communications to Academy Book Boom, Carl Hj. Asplundh, Manager, No. 1821 Wallace Street, Philadelphia. Pa.
     Subscriptions also received through the following agents:
UNITED STATES.
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CANADA.
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     Waterloo, Mr. Rudolf Roschman.
GREAT BRITIAN.
     Mr. Wiebe Posthuma, Agent for Greet Britain, of Academy Book Boom, Burton Road, Brixton, London. S. W.

PHILADELPHIA, MAY, 1898-128.
     CONTENTS     Page
EDITORIAL: The War Issue     65
THE SERMON: Degrees of the Human Mind,     34
     Self-Sacrifice, not Asceticism,     68
     The Teachers' Institute of the Academy of the
          New Church          69
     Discussion Concerning Social Life     71
     Diseases of The Fibers (XI continued)     72
     Memorial Meeting          73
     "In Memoriam" (poem)     74
     Reminiscence of Mrs. Pitcairn          74
COMMUNICATED:
     The Authority of Swedenborg's Science     75
NOTES AND REVIEWS:
     Notes on "The Origin of Species"     76
     The True Soldierly Spirit          78
     A Meeting to Organize the Swedenborg Scientific
          Association          78
CHURCH NEWS:     79
     From the Periodicals          80
BIRTHS: MARRIAGE: DEATHS      80
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY          80
EXPENSES                    80
ANNOUNCEMENT               80
FOR SUMMER RENTAL               80


81



NOTES.

     THE Academy of the New Church has removed its Schools and its Book Room and Library to Huntingdon Valley, Pa.



     THE coming General Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, in Glenview, will have before it the duty of acting finally upon the question of organization. Hence the importance of a full attendance. May the members enjoy as much enlightenment for the need of the hour, and as much harmony of action, I as characterized the meeting of a year ago.



     THE passing away of Gladstone has affected the civilized world in a degree which, considering his complete retirement and the present pressure of anxious problems on the public mind in all quarters, is remarkable. The chief element of this general esteem we conceive to be the dominant religious conscientiousness of the man. Religion and sincerity do tell, even in a world which is all too largely irreligious and insincere. If the passing away of the brilliant but less religious and scrupulous Beaconsfield be recalled there was no such demonstration of feeling as now in the departure of his great rival. And we think that in the case of men of non-religious views generally, even when-as is sometimes the case-they possess estimable and lovable personal traits, there will be found a lack of deep popular affection for them. Coming at this time Gladstone's death has especial significance for Americans, since he of all statesmen stood for those qualities of breadth and freedom which make England's mission in the world more or less bound up with that of this country.



     NOT only those who have to go to the front are called upon to sacrifice life for the good of the country. Those who remain at home have to face enemies which threaten the real welfare of the nation more than the armies and navies of the foe; they are called upon to lay down the dearly-loved life of unregenerate affections. The national welfare depends upon the self-government of its citizens. The collective ability and faithfulness of individual citizens in keeping to the strict and faithful discharge of their respective uses as they are given to see them, constitutes the real strength of a people. That secured, no external force can crush; that lost, the seeds of destruction lie within the nation itself. "He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city." But how weak if he rule in his own strength! Given national humility and national conscience and high conceptions as to the duties of life, and national security is secured.

"For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard,
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding calls not Thee to guard,
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy mercy on Thy people, Lord! Amen:"



     WAR performs to a nation uses analogous to those which temptations and judgment perform in the regenerate life of the individual. By temptation, more or less active evils are brought to a head, and latent ones are discovered; and if man, thus awakened to a sense of these disturbing forces, resists, and thus cooperates with the forces of spiritual healing which are ever present to rescue, his evils will be judged and removed and a new equilibrium will thus be established. Equilibrium is the necessary starting-point of all freedom and human progress. But if man succumbs to evil then to that extent it is good which is separated and removed to the circumference, and though, in this case also, a new equilibrium is established it is of a different kind. In the former case he was initiated into a freedom to do good; in the latter he is only brought into a freedom to repent, and with each defeat the repentance still possible will be of a lower kind, leaving still a long and weary journey to recover lost ground. Thus after temptation and judgment a man's state is new, either higher or lower than before.



     WAR, like Judgment, establishes new equilibrium and affects all states that follow. It is known by political students that victory in war is a more severe test of a nation than defeat: that the victor is apt to enter upon a career of expansion and corruption, furnishing another confirmation of the old saying that prosperity is harder to bear than adversity.



     THE war with Spain is certain to bring with it such consequences and responsibilities for the United States as may well tend to temper the exultation of the thoughtful patriot with concern for the future. In the present case, to the ordinary and inevitable attendants upon war must be added the important feature that this country is now, as it were, just attaining its majority. In its geographical isolation and in the vigor of its youth, self-preservation and development have nearly monopolized the national thought and energy. It has attended pretty closely to its own affairs, without being affected by the international responsibilities which for centuries have burdened older members in the family of great nations. But it would seem as though we now stood upon the threshold of a new era. The country has been "growing up," and meanwhile, under Providence, mighty forces have been at work preparing for an ultimate unification of the world. The most obvious result is the opening of the channels of a worldwide commerce, until now even the darkest corners of the globe are being involved, weaving humanity into one grand fabric of interests all connected more or less vitally with each other. Not even the international hatreds of civilized peoples, nor the ignorance and exclusiveness of savage or barbarous ones, suffice to thwart the Divine design which, by making thought and intercourse free and the knowledge of the Word universal, is preparing for the ultimate building up of a Church destined to prevail in its various forms in all the orb of lands.

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In the face of the new conditions our old traditions of national self-sufficiency if still retained would seem to hang on us like antiquated garments, useful in their day, but now outgrown.



     THERE is no need, and indeed no excuse for shrinking from the responsibilities that come with the rights and privileges of manhood, and yet who can look upon a loved youth just passing into his manly heritage and not feel concern. New consciousness of power is accompanied by suggestions of unwise and unholy use of it, and these, if they be not rejected, divert from true conceptions and aspirations as to true power and lead to presumption and self-aggrandizement and degeneracy of character. Even so with this young nation of ours in its present awakening to new and broader relations and duties. Other peoples are being taught anew the quality of American prowess, while to our own people has come the suggestion of new possibilities in the way of national greatness. In what form will that suggestion define itself? Lust of conquest is catching and the force of example is strong. Other nations already show that they expect our policy to be dictated by the same motives of territorial greed in which they have set us the example. Is our national conscience robust enough to resist the infection? Will the nation be content with peaceful conquests of commerce-content to use its growing physical power only to safeguard its commercial and other rights, and fulfil its highest trusts? If so, then will America prove worthy of the high position for which she seems fitted, as a leader in the cause of a benign and progressive civilization. If not, she will sooner or later be gathered among the elements of decay, and when judgment comes she will give place to some more worthy nation. But to the loyal citizen discussion of the gloomier alternative is likely to seem as unnecessary as distasteful.



     THE New Church Messenger states that there is much confusion of thought on the subject of the distinction between habits and character, either confounding them, or separating them too widely. It says: "Habits are as distinct from character as bandages are from a wounded limb, and sustain very much the same relation I to it. Habits are not character, but they hold the character in a certain form from without, from which it is often very difficult to break away. That habits are not character may be seen from the world of spirits; for there the man cannot go to his real home until he has laid aside the habits which are not a part of his real character."
     Light is thrown upon this subject by the statement which, if we recollect aright, was made in an address given to the Academy schools by the Rev. W. F. Pendleton, to this effect: "Habit is love taken form. Loves express themselves in act and thereby acquire a body, and repetition of the act gives permanence and organic existence to a love. Because man has an internal and an external his habits may some of them be evil, owing to unregenerate natural loves, and also some of them good, arising from the development of remains and their confirmation in deeds of life. For remains are rudimentary spiritual loves which become actual loves by exercise of life according to the truths. Thus there are habits on every plane,-not only habits of act, but habits of thought and affection, and these again are of different degrees, higher and lower. A man may be good internally yet be in bonds to evil habits in his external; and vice versa, an evil man may be held by good habits, on earth. Those habits which correspond to the affections which are to remain in the life hereafter are the character,-yet not all of it; for character involves not only the form and habitable body of its loves, but, essentially, the invisible loves themselves. The character of a good man, interiorly considered, is the Divine with him. But the Divine cannot he separated from good deeds, for these are the very manifestation of the Divine Life. The Creator without His Creation-of forms of use-is unthinkable; even so, man without his habits. But to discriminate those habits which are inseparable from his character, from others which are evanescent, in this world, is possible only in limited measure.



     ON the subject of "Knowledge of Life" the New Church Messenger comments instructively upon the falsity of the idea-growing in the world-that to "know life" is chiefly to know the seamy side, to discover by experiment the lower possibilities of human nature, to dabble in the dregs of life. Especially among novelists does this idea seem to gain ground. The Messenger handles the subject effectively. We quote the following:

     To a great many men experience of the larger world means familiarity with indecent women and drunken men. There are boys in their teens in every city that have more of this sort of knowledge of life than is possessed by all the good men taken together in the world of letters. On the other hand, it is absurd to suppose that the best knowledge of life comes from going away from home. Unless a man has learned to know, to observe, to think, where he is brought up, he can never acquire these abilities abroad. The value of foreign experience is that it gives one a new point of view from which to study what he already knows, and supplies a larger field for the exercise of the faculties he already possesses. The true theory for the development of masculine purity is that boys shall grow up in an atmosphere where they instinctively sense the evil and falsity of the opposite.
     The young man who has been trained to understand and execute harmonies of a high order is not likely to spend much time hammering noises out of a tin kettle; neither will one who has a cultivated taste for pictures be much attracted by daubs that would delight a Choctaw. So the boy who is fast friends with his father, and is accustomed to the influence of really fine women, will find little to attract him in the vulgarity of the larger world. All else that is there he will be able to know and take without harm. . . .
     For, as a matter of fact, the true knowledge of life, even in reference to men and things, is very different from what many of our writers imagine. George Moore describes the squalid and seamy side of life and would have us think that he understands human nature. So he does, but it is human nature living very near to hell. The declaration concerning our Lord, that he needed no one to tell him concerning another because he knew `what was in man, reveals a knowledge of human nature that comprehends the whole man from centre to circumference. What every young man needs is a knowledge of men that embraces a recognition of the spiritual and celestial depths of experience and character. We must have experience of the world to know its evil, if we would live well as of ourselves, but we do not need to besmirch ourselves with vice. The child must have experience in learning to walk on his legs. But it is no advantage to him to stand on his head in a cesspool.
     If parents would only live up to their responsibilities as indicated here the young whose tastes and habits were formed in such an atmosphere, would be apt to resent, as impugning their intelligence as well as repugnant to their better instincts-temptation to regard the shallow and fleeting excitements of a "fast" life as constituting life's highest joy and wisdom-they would only wonder at the presumption of the roue in supposing that he, wrapped in the grossness of his animal instincts, knows even the a, b, c's of truly human life. Such young people would be little affected by the perverted views of one who makes "the measure of a man" not "that of an angel," but of a beast.

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SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION ORGANIZED 1898

SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION ORGANIZED       Editor       1898

THE recent meeting in New York to organize the Swedenborg Scientific Association gives promise of, great things, the more so that no pretense was made of undertaking to do great things. Modesty, when sincere, indicates something of humility, and it is only by humility in men that the LORD can effect among them works which shall be enduring and increasingly fruitful, thus truly great.
     Quite in accord with such a spirit was the friendliness and concord which marked the meeting. Undoubtedly differences of view-and wide ones-do exist among the members of the new body, and when it comes to active research and study in the fields of the new philosophy these differences may appear in sharp contrast; but we think there is good ground to hope that the resulting intellectual conflicts will tend only to strengthen the rational thought of the Church,-that the outcome will be agreement on all essential principles, and on others only that variety from which arises the greatest perfection. If, as appears, the present scientific revival is animated by a genuine love of the Church's real good, and not merely by intellectual delight in things of science and learning without regard to uses of charity, we may assume that its present proportions are as little indicative of its latent possibilities as was the mustard seed of the parable. But we believe that the only hope of a fate different from that of the former Swedenborg Association, and of many other Church bodies, lies in conservativeness in undertaking burdens and modesty in anticipating results.



     THE need of such a scientific revival is more vital to the Church than probably is realized, for its object involves the very fulfillment of the mission of the New Church to the world. The present is preeminently a scientific era. The "love of knowing" is the last resource and hope of the race. In the Golden Age of the world men could be led by the perception of truth in the understanding, arising from the affection of good in the will. Perception is a seeing from the fire of good in the will,-intuitively; but because spiritual cold occupies the will of mankind, such perception is at this day practically unknown. Men have no other consciousness or insight than that of the senses and of thought based thereon; therefore they must be taught truths scientifically, acquired with labor by an external way. But by obedience to truth so learned, they may thus be initiated into good, yea, even into celestial good, if they will suffer themselves to be led so far; and thus they may attain even perception. But in the meantime men must first know the truth by the way of scientific thought, in which at first no genuine affection takes part-only the affection of knowing. To this state the truths of religion must be accommodated, in forms which are scientific and rational in character and in themselves dead until implanted in the will by life. If spiritual truth could not be thus accommodated to reception as science it would remain altogether unknown, since perception of heavenly things is for the most part extinct. Again and again the Writings say that such; and such a teaching must be demonstrated rationally and scientifically because man is such that he will not be satisfied otherwise. If we had perception, that is, good in the will, there would not be the same need. But even in the merely scientific state may exist germs of the affirmative state, and if man will but obey truths scientifically implanted in the memory, he can be saved. This picture of our modern state may not seem flattering to one's conceit of intelligence as to truth, still less to his conceit of his own good; but it is important, nevertheless, to recognize it as the actual state of the world, and of the New Church which as yet is decidedly of the world. It should he a cure for pseudo-celestialism, permeation theories and all other notions, to know that man's only hope of regeneration is by the laborious acquisition of truth by an external way-coupled, however, with affirmation of the truth, which can exist only where there is the beginning of the affection of truth.



     TO understand, even naturally, heavenly truths accommodated to natural thought, natural intelligence is required, and hence Swedenborg himself was prepared to receive a spiritual revelation by previous instruction in true science and philosophy. This was according to a universal principle of order, and we must follow the same path.
     Especially important is it that the intelligence of our children and youth should be formed and trained on the lines of a true science, in order to make of them full, rounded-out Newchurchmen, capable of establishing their faith in the foundation-work of Nature. And because the state of childhood and youth is that of the natural, scientific and rational, in what other way can we secure our hold upon them so well as by feeding their love of knowing and understanding by the principles and illustrative facts of a true and living science and philosophy? These, as any one who has experience knows, can be made infinitely more interesting than by the materialistic and fatuous theories of the old science. It is the difference between a dead skeleton and one clothed with flesh and blood. Thus, and thus only, can we make seem really living the dead things of this world, although if we neglect to do so, the young themselves will certainly invest the things of the world with an appearance of life derived from the concupiscences of the natural man; that is, self and the world will become to them the apparent realities of life, while the verities of heavenly life will fade into the realm of the obscure and unknown. How pressing the need for a New Church science, and for New Church schools, as the only place where that science may be inculcated!
USE OF TEMPTATION 1898

USE OF TEMPTATION       Rev. HOMER SYNNESTVEDT       1898

To him that o'vercometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.- Apoc. ii, 7.

     THESE words are said to those who are of the Church in Ephesus, and are therefore adopted to their state-the state of doctrine, not yet of life. The first words, indeed, "To him that overcometh," are addressed to each of the seven churches, followed by the promise of a reward, which is in each case suitable to the state of the church addressed. It was similar with the words, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches," because it is this quality of hearkening upon which hinges everything of the church, and without which all the truths of wisdom, all the revealings of the Son of Man, are of no avail. As it was said, it is not the perception that a thing is so that makes it effective, but the perception and conviction that so it is to be done.

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     Now this is said to each of the seven churches, because it is the "enacting clause," so to speak, without which none of the rest becomes effective-that impulse-the feeling that so it must be done, which is especially represented by the ears, and especially aroused by speaking into the ears; since the societies of heaven to which the ear corresponds are of such a character. It is essentially a passive, receptive or feminine state, and is thus fundamental, and indispensable to bring each state of the church into effect.
     So in the next words, "To him that overcometh," which are also repeated to each of the churches, we are taught a further means, which is indispensable to the establishment of any state of the church, and that is, the necessity of encountering temptations, and, through victories therein, of subduing our evils.
     Let us not forget that there never was and never can be any peace that is not won by war. Not a single step of human progress ever was or ever can be taken and maintained without a combat and a victory. And yet, I you will say, "Combat is painful-it entails suffering and great deprivation. Did our loving and ever-merciful Creator then design and intend that we should toil and struggle all our days?"
     No, it is indeed not of the Divine will, but is owing to conditions which cannot but be permitted in order that the ends of the Divine will may be attained. War originates in hell. If there were no hell there would be no war, and, with individuals, no temptations. But there is a hell, and hell at this day has dominion, both in the world and in the church. On every hand, without and within, instead of charity there is self-love; instead of truth, lies and deceit.
A country, as a greater man before the LORD, is situated in relation to other countries precisely as any man is to his neighbors. Her first duty is to overcome her own evils, and then to do the goods of civil life. I But owing to the perverted condition of the world, it is not only necessary to guard yourself, lest you do wrong to your neighbors, but also to watch and be on your guard lest others do wrong to you and thus injure your own uses. Use, and the love of use, is what makes a, man, greater or less, and what is to be loved and. defended in a man. It is regard for this in your neighbor-namely, his use-which contains within it the common welfare that makes it incumbent upon you to fight the devils and satans who stir up your natural lusts and phantasies to his hurt; and the same love will blaze forth as zeal against whatever through others1 injures or threatens the same goods or uses. Charity begins at home, but it does not end there. The first of charity is for each and every man to protect the commonwealth from his own evils and falsities, or rather from letting the hells make a tool of him. But will not the same charity just as surely lead him to fight against those same hells when they come in the person of others?; When through others, or by acts done to others, they injure the peace and welfare of the community?
     When Solon was asked what city was best modeled, he replied: "That one where those who are not injured are no less ready to punish the unjust than those who are." What better definition could he have given of charity toward the neighbor? for does not the good of each individual make up the sum of the commonweal? Without such a charity and common interest, each for the welfare of all, and all for each, there can be no cooperation, no organization, no "greater man" of any kind, but only detached and therefore ineffective units. This is not the order of heaven.
     To rightly grasp this subject, however, and our own responsibilities in relation to others, especially to the greater man of the country, which stands next to the church or kingdom of the LORD upon earth, we must go back to the text and study what is involved in temptations, and how necessary they are-what they effect, and especially why it should be said to each church so explicitly that "To him that overcometh" will be given the various rewards which constitute the function of the various states of the church.
     Briefly, then, the case is this: The natural man of every one is in possession of the hells. Evils and falsities have dominion in that region, and as man cannot be held forever in the borrowed innocence and good of childhood and youth, he, must when the time conies, be let into his proprium or natural loves, in order that he may have his own life, and his own freedom, and thus the ability to really appropriate the remains which were stored up with him before, and thus make them forever his own. The LORD has led him up out of Egypt,-He has trained him well,-has taught his hands war, and armed him with sword and shield, with the javelin, and with the bow of Divine Truth. Furthermore, He has shown him from afar the land which is to be his as an eternal possession. Indeed it is a beauteous inheritance-it floweth with the milk of innocent love, and with the honey of delight. It is the CHURCH-our own native land-which we have inherited from our Father: but it is as yet in the possession of enemies-fierce, cruel, idolatrous,-inhuman wretches who ravish their virgins at the very altars of their gods and burn their infants in the arms of their idols, to glut their own lusts and to add to their self-righteousness.
     Or, to abandon the representative form, when our youths arrive at the age of their own right and responsibility they have been equipped with all manner of good affections, useful knowledges, and all the equipment necessary to meet the difficulties and dangers which will beset them in their future usefulness in the world. They have been shown what the church is and ought to be; they have seen the beauties of its wisdom, which are the parks, gardens, and forests, and they have had a foreshadowing of the delights of conjugial life; and all these are promised them if they will but enter in and fight the good battle.
     What shall we think, then, of a youth who shrinks from the combat when the time has come, after having received all his training?
     "From the love from which any one fights, is known what his faith is" (A. C. 1812). If a man really has a faith he will fight for it.
     The benefits accruing to "him who overcometh" in the combats of temptation, and which cannot be attained in any other way, may be briefly summed up under three heads: first, the softening of the natural man and of its vessels, which renders them more receptive of good; second, the clearer perception of good and truth; and third, the resultant confirmation in these, involving a more complete and permanent rejection of evils and falsities.
     (For the general doctrine concerning temptations, read the two pages in the Arcana beginning with n. 8958.)
     The first effect, as to the softening of the natural man is evident, for during the combat of temptation there is induced pain and anguish of mind, and so long as this lasts the delights of the natural man are quite broken up and interrupted, so that he is, for the time being, greatly softened. As to the second point, the apperception of good and truth is secured by temptations, because a sense of relation comes from the opposites, which are infused by the evil spirits and hence the apperception of quality.

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The real reason, however, is that through temptations, if man is victorious, he is led into more interior societies of heaven, and from this he has his clearer perception. As to the third point, if there were not the means and chance of overcoming, it would be better never to enter into temptations, because as long as a good is unchallenged, it has some lodgment, and may at some time come into play; but when `brought to the front by conflict, and then overthrown, its power is indeed gone, together with the hope of its future usefulness. It is better not to think much of a truth, than, having brought it into conflict, to throw it over.
     By victory the truths of faith are confirmed, and concupiscences are subdued, and the spiritual or internal man rules over the natural or external, whence a perception of truth and good is enjoyed, and increase of intelligence and wisdom. But by defeat, just the reverse takes place, and the man's last state is worse than his first. That combats serve to bring out and confirm truths, may be illustrated by the wars in the history of nations, where some great principle was at stake, as in the matter of slavery in our civil war. The evil of this system was not so clearly seen until it became a matter of vital conflict. Now, however, it is so strongly ingrained in the national conscience that it can never again hope for a foothold. To give up, in such a conflict, however, could not but lead to fatal results.
     To be a man, therefore-or a woman-means and involves, above all else, to enter upon the field of life's battles, the greatest and most momentous of which are fought and won alone. Let us glory in the conflict; let us approach the battles of life without fear, and-as far as may be-without reproach.
     Life from its beginning is a succession of hardships and trials, mercifully interspersed with as much of peace and rest, with as many Sabbaths for rest and refreshment as we need or can bear.
     It is one of the errors of the world to suppose that combat is of itself an evil, to be avoided and dreaded above all else. Nothing could be wider from the truth. Evil reigns within and without, and if this is tolerable to us, so much the worse for us. It is when good begins to act that these states become apparent, and more and more intolerable, until, f6r the very love of peace and freedom itself, we are obliged to arm ourselves and go forth to give battle to those things which wound our loves, and injure our uses. Then comes peace-not before; and thus, not otherwise, can we become men and women in the true sense.
     Yet how vain to go forth to battle against the country's enemies before we have conquered those within our own breasts! It is but a hollow patriotism, barren of fruits.
     To conquer self is greater than to conquer kingdoms. It is only a kingdom of such as have in some measure conquered self which merits victory. Victory, when given to such a country, promotes the welfare of the human race. Hence every man and every woman, whether in the field or at home, has an equal obligation of patriotism, and equal responsibility to contribute to the common welfare, each in his place, by overcoming the evils which rise up within his own reach. Who can say that this is not after all the most important, and the most difficult patriotism?
Title Unspecified 1898

Title Unspecified       Editor       1898

TRUTH is cause for dishonor when used like a sting in a wasp's tail.-New Church Magazine.
TEACHER'S INSTITUTE 1898

TEACHER'S INSTITUTE       Editor       1898

EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES.

     AT the second meeting of the Teachers' Institute the Vice-President, Rev. E. S. Price, presided, in Bishop Pendleton's absence on an episcopal tour.
     The proposition to discuss "the uses of the body" brought out the objection that experience is the best teacher as to what are the uses of a body; to which Mr. Synnestvedt answered that it is necessary to find out the limits of our sphere of use in order to work within them. Mr. Odhner thought that any educational matter might be brought up in the meetings without either defining or discussing the uses; and Mr. Price reminded the speakers that the organizer, Mr. Pendleton, had described the Institute as a working body, though the particulars of the work rest with the Faculties of the schools.
     Mr. Odhner then read a paper, containing a tentative curriculum for the study of History and Geography, from the earliest years of school life until the completion of Collegiate studies. The paper may be published before long.
     Miss Grant, in connection with the curriculum, suggested provision for fairy tales and folk lore. She spoke of the omission of mythology in the public schools as a fault, and thought that the Academy schools should not follow their example.
     Mr. Price thought that the paper included more than could be carried out in the time assigned; to which it was answered that only suggestions were therein offered, from which each teacher could choose for himself.
     Mr. Acton said that he did not feel competent to criticize the paper without careful reading, but had received a general impression as of too much of a smattering-no one subject entered into and taught thoroughly-a jumbling together of many histories. It might be an improvement to leave out Greece and Rome in the earlier part of the course, taking more of American history and that of some other near nation-England for instance. Greece and Rome might be taken up later.
     Mr. Price replied to the first criticism that a child cannot learn any thing thoroughly. For instance, it can have no understanding of political schemes and intrigues, or of the causes of events, but can learn only facts or stories of what happened.
     Mr. Odhner added that a child cannot learn many facts, but only a very general outline of events.
     Mr. Doering desired to have American history taught not only for the history itself but as a means of inculcating patriotism. This, Mr. Odhner explained, had been in mind in the preparation of the curriculum.
     Mr. Synnestvedt thought that it would be well in preparing our curricula to refer to those of other schools, for they are the results of many years of experience, and at least show what can be done. Normal school curricula are good but have the reputation of being too theoretical, not practical enough. There is danger, also, of going too much into particulars. We must leave much to home training and home surroundings. Hereditary brightness also must be considered. The children of scholarly parents will learn more quickly than others.
     Mr. Odhner did not think there was so much in mere heredity nor in passive home surroundings as in active instruction given at home, not only in conversation but also in lessons. He desired that the other teachers would take the paper under consideration in order that a curriculum for history might be made, which would be quite a step toward the general curriculum.

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     He replied to the suggestion that children cannot go over a subject rapidly and remember much of it, that for that reason he had included geography and something of literature in the study of history, each being thereby more easily retained, There had been in the past a tendency to go too much into detail in little corners of history and to neglect the general subject.
     Mr. Synnestvedt added that United States history is sometimes taught in the same way, to the exclusion of other history. It is a poor kind of patriotism to teach children that their own country is the only one of any importance.
     Miss Ashley suggested that the best way is to take up the leading men of the country and group the history around them.
     Mr. Odhner agreed that this was best with girls, but that boys take delight also in wars and battles. Without this, history would be tame to them.
     Miss Grant referred to an error of the early days of the Girls' School, in remaining so long over ancient history that there was no time left for modern.
     Mr. Odhner, replying to a question, explained that it was according to his plan to make history at first a part of the religious instruction, beginning with the Creation, afterward gradually separating the two subjects.
     Mr. Acton commented upon the matter of the average intelligence of pupils; that he thought it depended more upon home surroundings and the parents' guidance of their children's reading than upon instruction at, school.
     Miss Grant, on the other hand, mentioned the instances of pupils who grew up quite intelligent without such home training.
     Mr. Synnestvedt compared the home sphere to the air we breathe, and the school training to the food we eat.
     Messrs. Price and Odhner agreed that some branches, had been followed up at the expense of others, but that the error had been on the better side; to which Mr. Acton added that religious training had made up for failings in other things; yet we need not fear to condemn what had been done where deserving of it.
     Mr. Price said that there had been too much of what Page calls "the pouring-in process" in teaching, the pupils not applying or exercising the knowledge received.
     Mr. Odhner suggested that postage stamps may be used with effect in teaching geography. A large number of those of different countries can be bought for a small sum, and can be given to the pupils a few at a time, as reward for good work, the teacher showing him how to arrange them and to find the various countries, on the map. As he succeeds in this others can be given him, with instruction as to the products of the country, the government, history, people, etc.
PATRIOTISM 1898

PATRIOTISM       G. G. S       1898

PATRIOTISM is not only vouchsafed to man as a glorious privilege, it is enjoined upon him as a sacred duty. Upon the Newchurchman especially do its obligations rest with not only civil and moral weight, but with the solemn authority of divine command. To understand this in its full scope requires study and reflection. Otherwise the more external conception of patriotism will prevail. The following is the LORD'S teaching concerning the natural sense of the command, "Honor thy father and mother:"
     "In the widest sense by the Fourth Commandment is meant to love our country, because it feeds and protects us; wherefore country [patria] or fatherland, is, named from father [pater]" (T. C. R. 305). This is said treating of the natural sense of that commandment. In the spiritual sense-which explains the natural and removes from it any appearance, even, of arbitrary exaction-the "father and mother" which are to be honored are shown to be the LORD and the Church; to love and honor these is essential to man's eternal welfare. The following throws further light on the subject:
     "A man should from love do good to his country, according to its necessities, some of which are natural and some spiritual; the natural respect civil life and order, and the spiritual, spiritual life and order. That one's country should be loved, not as a man loves himself, but more than himself, is a law inscribed on the human heart; whence is promulgated this-which is professed by every just man-that if its ruin is threatened by an enemy, or by anything whatever, it is honorable to die for it, and for a soldier to shed his blood for it; this is said because it is to be loved so much. It should be known that those who love their country, and from good-will do good to it, after death love the kingdom of the LORD, for this is then their country; and those who love the kingdom of the LORD love the LORD, because the LORD is the all in all in His kingdom" (T. C. R. 414).
     Love of country, then, is the fitting expression and embodiment of love of the LORD and of His kingdom, and without it the higher loves cannot descend into man's conscious natural life and become his so as to be appropriated to him. If he would be an heir of the LORD'S kingdom he must share in the LORD'S love of doing good to others outside of self. This is what it is to have love of the neighbor, and although this love manifests itself first towards those who are nearest, love towards the neighbor ascends more and more interiorly with man, and as it ascends he loves a society more than a single man, and his country more than a society (T. C. R. 413). Elsewhere we are taught that the Church is neighbor in a higher sense than the country, and that in the supreme sense the LORD is Neighbor, to Whom we are to offer and attribute every power of good which we possess.
     Patriotism, then, in order to be genuine, such as the LORD enjoins, must be more than a mere natural affection for the country as a benefactor; it must have a motive other than that which is only natural, personal, and selfish. It must be love of the neighbor-a spiritual love,-a love which looks with spiritual vision past the visible objects of our affection and care to the spiritual kingdom of the LORD and thus to Himself. This must be realized if we would be consistently, effectively, and enduringly patriotic.
     There are many reasons for loving, our country. There we first received the gift of life, and there our kindred and friends live. We love its beauties and its products, its scenery, its industries, and its very soil. We love the order which prevails, the freedom and justice which make it possible and desirable to live there. We love it because of the benefits it extends to human society, lesser and greater-for this also we love if we will well and do well to our fellow-men. All these loves have their place. But highest and best, and sanctifying all these with its spiritual quality, comes love of the Church-love of the LORD'S kingdom as it exists in visible form on earth. We love the country because it secures to us freedom for the Church, and thus the opportunity for spiritual growth. Without the natural liberty and protection which the nation provides, and the material goods which are essential to the carrying out of Church uses-there could be no Church and church-life in visible, active form.

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We love the country because it is the LORD'S instrument in securing the civil freedom and protection in which the Church can exist and grow. Whatever nation provides this-and which one does not do so in some measure?-has a right to the loyal support of the men who elect to live there.
     Thus love of country derives its real life from love of the Church; and since he who loves the end loves also the means, it is plain that love of country is indispensable to the Newchurchman, and that lack of patriotism in him suggests lack of genuine love of the spiritual things of the Church. Let such as find themselves lukewarm in patriotism examine themselves. If they so misapply the doctrine of the state of the Christian world, and are so keenly alive to the evidences of decaying religion around them, as to feel little or no appreciation of the blessings enumerated above, or fail to be thrilled by the real and extended uses referred to merely on account of civil and social evils in the nation, let them contrast their attitude with that of the angels, who prefer to dwell rather upon goods than on evils. Says Swedenborg, in a memorial to the Swedish Diet (in 1761) in which we italicize for our purposes:

     "Should I undertake to make known all the mistakes of which I heard and which I know from my own experience have happened in England and Holland, to the detriment of justice and the public good, I believe I might fill a whole book with lamentations; when, nevertheless, those governments, together with our own in Sweden, are the very best in Europe; since every inhabitant, notwithstanding all the shortcomings which happen there, is safe in his life and property, and no one is a slave, but they are all free men. . . . If in this world there should exist a heavenly government, consisting of men who had an angelic disposition, there would nevertheless be in it faults caused by weakness, together with other shortcomings and if these were ferreted out, reported, and exaggerated, this government, too, might be undermined by calumny, and thereby gradually a desire might be raised among the well-disposed to change and destroy it."

     Any nation at all deserving of the name, provides for its citizens all that is necessary to enable them to become good subjects and members of the LORD'S Church, and therefore is entitled to their loyal and zealous support; and for its deficiencies it is entitled to consideration and to that exercise of charity which, if concededly due to "the neighbor" individually, is far more so to that collective form-that higher degree of the neighbor-called the Country. Those who most freely criticise their country should reflect that wisdom begins with humility, and an attitude of affirmativeness toward what is of the LORD'S providing. By casting out the "beam" of self-intelligence they may acquire somewhat of that power of discrimination whereby the evils of the country may be recognized and separated from its goods, and perhaps removed, without weakening or injuring it in the eyes of men.
     Internal humility is not incompatible, however, with an uncompromising and aggressive patriotism. The man who boldly proclaims "My country, right or wrong," who is ready to uphold it with his last drop of blood, and in war shows utmost zeal in exterminating its enemies, may hide beneath that fierce exterior a spirit of true self-abnegation, a willingness to subordinate even his zeal to the dictates of authority-the authority of rulers, and still more, that of the truth. Furthermore, he may be humble in his very patriotism and acknowledge that his country may make mistakes or do wrong, yet not on that account withholding his loyal support. The righting of such wrongs he hopes for, but recognizes that it must be done by the organic action of the nation as a unit through official and orderly means,-not by its individuals acting against the national gyre. In council a man's voice should be from conviction, let differ who may; in action he should help to make the country a unit. Providence overrules the national life as it does that of the individual, and for national sins will bring repentance to the "greater man" just so soon as its state will permit. But that general state cannot be improved or reformed except in organic freedom,-that is, by the action of the national will expressed through its legitimate channels,-namely, by its government. This the individual must respect and obey; to oppose it in public speech and act is to contravene order, a poor way to go to work to cure disorder. The nation is an organic unit and must act as such, including its acts of repentance.
     Humility must precede true patriotism, it must also accompany it. Humility is very far from weakness, timidity or lack of zeal and indomitable resolution. The man who in all things trusts in the LORD rather than in his own strength, is the man who in the knowledge and consciousness of God-given powers goes on fearlessly to trial and to battle, unflinchingly and with even fiery zeal for the precious objects of his love, for home, for country, and for the Church. The more tender and deep the love the more intense the zeal. We read: "He who assaults the love assaults the life itself; and then there ensues a state of wrath against the assailant, like the state of every man whose life is attempted by another" (C. L. 368). But accompanying this passage is the teaching that the quality of zeal is according to that of the love; and that the zeal of a good love in its internals contains a store of love and friendship, which is manifested so soon as the assault ceases and zeal in consequence burns away and is allayed. It is a puritanical spirit which would rebuke all fiery zeal for the country; on the other hand, it would be a vindictive and malevolent spirit which would encourage and cherish animosity and ill-will when danger is past.
     These distinctions are important. The young especially should not be discouraged from fervid patriotism, but they should also be taught to discriminate between a foe active and threatening and a foe disarmed. At the same time, where possible, their thought should be elevated from the personal and partisan aspect of love of country to the consideration of principles represented. They should be taught not to confine their thought too much to the natural plane, but to consider that what is done visibly, in this world .of effects, is really done first in the spiritual world, the world of causes. There is where origin ate all the phenomena of this world. There is the seat of all loves and ideas, the activity of which operate upon and into this lower sphere, to give power and efficacy to earthly forces. And all earthly and spiritual forces the Divine Providence overrules, to produce uses, all which regard Infinite ends for the establishment of the Church, for the support, perpetuation, and increase of heaven, and for the salvation and happiness of mankind. From the spiritual world are derived all order and government, and likewise all the elements which make for or against order,-all being under the Providential or permissive control of the LORD. Without influx from the spiritual world no human instrument, from any power of his own could effect uses for the country; and but for the permission of an opposite influx from societies of internal spirits, who hate and seek to destroy the Church, the State, and mankind, there could not occur the wars and disturbances which are suffered at times to act as purifying temptations.
     The following application is suggested.. Viewing the country thus, from its use to the other world and to the furthering of spiritual and Divine ends, our personal feelings will be modified toward both its benefactors and heroes, and its foes, restraining personal idolatry on the one hand, and malevolent hatred on the other.

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This self-control will be the inevitable effect of looking to see the LORD'S workings in all human affairs. It will assist to free the mind from the appearance that men really effect anything of themselves if we reflect upon the many, many failures recorded of even the most careful human effort, and, on the other hand, of wonderful achievements or occurrences wherein human foresight and effort were plainly absent. As to whether earthly enterprises come to anything all depends upon whether the use is ripe for fruitfulness, and upon the consequent concurrence of favorable conditions in both worlds, under the omniscient Providence of the LORD.
     Yet the personal side has its use; and since the LORD loves also the means as well as the ends, we too are permitted to love the country itself, the institutions, inhabitants, mountains, fields, and rivers, yea, its very soil. The natural man-especially with the young-cannot be denied these things, and they are indispensable so long as we are of the earth. But we are to love not ourselves in them, but uses, lesser and greater.
     An important result of such a line of thought will be that it will elevate our conceptions as to the good of the country, by revealing interests even more extended than, those of any single nation. Love of mankind is larger than love of country even. Patriotism is love of the neighbor in an eminent degree, but, according to the. Doctrine of Charity, "neighbor, in the widest sense, means the whole human race" (n. 39). The more one's thoughts and affections are subordinated to this universal truth the broader and more genuine and whole-some will become his patriotism. The country will be valued in proportion as it contributes to the universal end of establishing order on earth in which the Church may grow. Upon such spiritual-rational grounds must rest the principles of a true political science, the right development of which is essential to the formation of an enlightened and disinterested patriotism. No man can truly love his country's good who ignores the good of other nations and of mankind as a whole. We cannot isolate our interests; we should rather seek to learn and understand those broad and fundamental laws which underlie all human industry and human intercourse, viewed in the light of what we know to be the spiritual ends for which men and nations exist on earth. From such ends we should regard uses, putting in the first place those which are most universal. Such a use is commerce, whereby are disseminated not only the natural goods and products of different parts of the earth, but also the spiritual treasures of the Word, to which natural goods correspond. Wherever national legislation lays artificial restraint upon such universal uses we may know that the national policy is tending toward a selfish isolation which, whatever the apparent wealth it may bring, can no more be of real benefit to the country than can wealth to the individual who acquires it by disorderly means.
     Then let us cultivate patriotism, not only in our children, but in ourselves; nor be too much concerned if some of its ebullitions are not entirely heavenly in form, so long as the common laws of humanity and justice are not violated. Let us show appreciation of the natural and civil blessings the LORD bestows, by loving and reverencing the country and the uses which the country serves. Let us recognize and not disturb that order which the country adopts, and, so far as conscience is not violated thereby, let us support every law and every official act which goes forth as the nation's will. In doubtful matters let us look to those in authority as not only better informed but as having an illustration peculiar to their office; and whatever our own view, let us not lift hand or voice to weaken the administration which in Providence is permitted to direct affairs. Let our charity be broad enough to include mankind; and above all things let us be tumble, diligent, and sincere in our own employment, for thus can we best serve our country and the general good. G. G. S.
DISEASES OF THE FIBRES.* 1898

DISEASES OF THE FIBRES.*       Editor       1898

* Translated from the Latin of Emanuel Swedenborg by Dr. C. L. Olds; edited by Prof. E. S. Price, B. A.

     STUPIDITY, IDIOCY.

     528. THERE are those who live obscurely, almost solely in the body, and but little in the mind. They are absent-minded, simple, stupid blockheads, perpetually confused, doltish; they grasp generals without particulars, universals without singulars; their speech is without energy, nor do they perceive more than half; they see objects indistinctly, and they do not even have an inkling of the connection of things, and of the higher forms and ideas thence resulting; without reason they make offerings to inclination and indulge the animus; they snore night and day, and hence are obese, thus they are, as it were, subjects midway between the animal and vegetable kingdoms. There are those who are impotent and were born foolish, which thing is wont to be ascribed to the art of magic and witchcraft.
     529. The brain of these is commonly watery, pituitous, obsessed by tough and viscid phlegm, of great size, without training, inactive, loosened from its connections, atonic, and thus disordered and, as it were, overgrown with moss. Then also it is misshapen, not being rounded at the sides, sharp or pointed at the sinciput, its image very often shows itself in the forehead and face. The dura-mater is flaccid, torpid, non-elastic. The membranes of the cerebrum itself are not allotted their place, extent or natural connection. Similarly the cortex in its own inclosure is otherwise gross, sluggish, thin, not being fully-still less distinctly-formed. The cortical convolutions are conglutinated, and because not erect, are inattentive, insensible, gaping open, somnolent, flattened; they are, as it were, sons of the fat Minerva.* The cerebellum holds the helm even in the daytime.
     * Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom; but the "fat Minerva" signifies just the opposite, therefore awkwardness, unskillfulness, want of learning.-En.
     530.     The causes are many: congenital or hereditary; proceeding immediately from the parents by reason of their contrary inclination, from the affection of the mother during gestation, from imprudence, from compression of the head or other injury in the womb. Contingent causes; from chronic diseases, cachexia of the humors, malignant catarrhs, coldness of the blood, and, as it were, congelation of the lymphs. Adscititious causes are from long-continued remission of the mind, from dejection of the animus, the desires, cupidities and loves-that is, from privation of the beats of life, from defect of spirits,-wherefore, in the aged, from the government of the mind given over to the animus, from the government of the animus given over to the body, from sluggishness, from an immoderate use of sleep, from gross aliments, from service-berries or sorb-apples; similarly from the confused method of teachers, inopportune flogging, etc.

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Notes and Reviews 1898

Notes and Reviews       Editor       1898

     "WHAT you do in life," says an English preacher, "depends very much on what you drop." In other words, a certain degree of concentration is necessary.-Morning Light.



     THE letters of the Rev. Willard H. Hinkley, Superintendent of missions, published in the Messenger, concerning his trip through the Southern States, have constituted an interesting feature of several numbers of that journal.



     A very interesting account of an introduction into the New Church is furnished by the Rev. L. P. Mercer, in the New-Church Messenger of March 30th. The subject is "Mr. Alexander Officer, of the Chicago Society, the last among the men of its pioneer generation," who departed this life January 21st, aged seventy-eight years.



     "HE who objects to the preaching of doctrine uses the word in a degraded sense. Doctrine is systematic instruction. Commonly the objection is not to the preaching of doctrine, but to doctrine which one does not believe, or to doctrine which has become merely formal, and no longer represents knowledge."- Morning Light.



     THE Young People's League of the General Convention has been taking action to co-operate with the Cuban Central Relief Committee, which has been arranging to send supplies to Cuba under government convoy. The Cuban Famine Relief Fund, care The Christian Herald, 92 Bible House, New York City," will receive contributions to the cause of humanity.



     THE character of man morally depends very decidedly on the conditions of his environment. His personal spiritual life as to good or evil is in nowise determined by those conditions or his moral form, but exclusively by the attitude he assumes in his own consciousness toward the LORD and the opportunities of his destiny. However unfortunately be may be circumstanced by having been born a multi-millionaire or a denizen of the slums, the LORD'S love saves, him if he inclines to the best his lot allows.-New Church Messenger.



     "IN the human body every part, organ, and member exists for the whole. The less a particular organ or member asserts individuality the more perfect is the general health, and hence the more perfect is the state of each individual member and organ. . . . Strange to say, the less any member or organ asserts its individuality, so that its possessor is conscious of it, the more perfect an organ or member it is. The more it sacrifices its individuality the more real individuality it possesses."-New Church Messenger.
     A more affirmative putting would seem to be, that the more distinct the individuality the more perfectly can the use be performed, and yet the more unobtrusively. Individuality is exalted by use and fits for use; but the proprium, which asserts itself against use, is quite another thing than individuality.



     "THE committee on compulsory education, of Philadelphia, report extremely slow progress in establishing special classes for backward children, and owing to this fact, discouragement in the work of enforcing the compulsory education law."-The Pathfinder.
     Those who, under the belief that crime is born chiefly of ignorance, would regenerate the race by simply instructing the understanding, have a hopeless and unprofitable task before them. Compulsory education is un-American, and incompatible with the true spirit of education.



     ANNALS of the New Church for May presents as a frontispiece an excellent reproduction of the portrait of Swedenborg now in the possession of the Academy of the New Church, said by Dr. R. L. Tafel, in the Documents, Vol. II, p. 1197, to be the best likeness extant. (Enlarged copies of this reproduction, for sale by the Academy Book Room, constitute a fine memorial of Swedenborg, suitable for framing.) The number contains likenesses also of King Adolphus Frederick, Count von Hopken, William Cookworthy, and another of Swedenborg. The record is brought down to October 11th, 1770.



     THE decision of the Supreme Court of the State of Michigan in the case of the Peninsular Trust Company, the executors of the will of the late George Barker versus Silas Barker and Imogene Chappell, contestants of the will, the full text of which is given In the New Church Messenger, April 13th, brings out the point-important in cases of Newchurchmen's wills contested on the ground of mental unsoundness-that the testament of even a monomaniac cannot be set aside by the mere fact of mental disorder existing. It must be proved that the disorder is such as to affect the proviaio7ls of the will. According to this ruling, the mere fact of a testator's belonging to that "visionary sect called Swedenborgians" does not necessarily invalidate his will.

     MR. ANDREW LANG, from the standpoint of the literary man, makes a keen attack in Longman's Magazine on the "Higher Criticism." He writes, apropos of the Polychrome Bible:
     "If the people, or any one, thinks that the riddle of Biblical criticism is mastered, I congratulate it or him on inexperience of misfortune. It hath been my lot lately to read a good deal of Biblical criticism made in Germany. The method is simple and Teutonic. You have a theory; you accept the evidence of the sacred writers as far as it suits your theory, and when it does not suit, you say that the inconvenient passage is an interpolation. It must be; for, if not, what becomes of your theory?"- Morning Light.



     FROM the Massachusetts New-Church Union we have received studies of the Five Books of Psalms (paper: 20 cents), being a reprint of the articles on the subject which have appeared in The New-Church Review. The several "Books" are treated by the Rev. Messrs. John Worcester, T. F. Wright, H. C. Hay, Albinus F. Frost, and W. H. Mayhew, respectively, and their character is what their title implies, studies, the exegesis being necessarily most general and the literal criticism rather too much in the line of Old-Church learning to meet our idea of what New-Church studies of the Word should be. Still such scientifics have their place; but in reading the pamphlet before us we are impressed anew with the very elementary stage in which the Church is as yet in the exposition of those parts of the Word of which the Writings give no detailed explanation. The Review's high standard of typographical excellence is, of course, preserved in the reprint.



     "ASSOCIATE Superintendent of Schools William L. Felter, of Brooklyn, claims that the handwriting of the future will not be a vertical hand, but a round hand, with a slant off the vertical, from ten degrees to twenty degrees. `Investigation shows that this is the style written by business men. These writers were taught the old slant. They have worked up to a slant of about seventy-five degrees. Why have they not gone up to ninety degrees? Because they could not do so and preserve the essential element of rapidity."-Pathfinder.
     This item will be of interest to the. Academy schools, in which vertical handwriting has been taught for some two years.



     THE Rev. Dr. Charles W. Shields, professor in Princeton University, has withdrawn from the Presbyterian Church and has joined the Episcopalians. It will be remembered that this gentleman was called for trial before the New Brunswick Presbytery for having added his signature to an application for a license for the Princeton Inn, in contravention of a rule of the Presbyterian General Assembly, prohibiting its ministers from assisting the liquor traffic. The incident emphasizes two points, one, the growth among Presbyterians of the idea that total abstinence is a matter of religion, and the other that lines between the sects are not so distinct but that a man of eminence may find it entirely compatible with conscience to change standards for comparatively external reasons.



     FROM Saltillo, Coals., Mexico, Dr. L. E. Calleja writes, interestingly, to the Messenger (issue of May 11th), concerning his introduction to a knowledge of the Doctrines, and concerning his efforts to interest his friends-one of them a retired Catholic Bishop-in which he seems to have received encouragement. Calleja desires to see an active New Church propaganda pursued in Mexico: First, by publishing a weekly paper in Spanish, for the propagation of the Doctrines (he reports total ignorance of Swedenborg in his country), second, by organizing an "Emanuel Swedenborg Society," in the city of Mexico, "to study in an earnest and methodical manner" the Writings; third, by organizing a New Church for the public worship of the LORD.
     While the idea of introducing the Church into wholly new territory must always prove attractive to Newchurchmen, and Dr. Calleja's pioneer efforts must enlist sympathy,-nevertheless, it is safe to say that the Board of Missions will proceed conservatively in the matter and with due regard for indications of actual demand. May we hear good news from Dr. Calleja.

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     AT the last meeting of the Conference of the Ministers of the Maryland Association a discussion of the Loan's method of explaining the Word brought out a view different from that expressed of late by certain writers in the Messenger adverse to the presentation of the spiritual sense of the Word in preaching. As Mr. Altbutt well put it, "The spiritual sense is revealed for the New Church, as taught frequently in the Thee Christian Religion. We should make its presentation a distinctive feature of our preaching, though avoiding the technicalities of expression which would make it difficult to grasp." Mr. Spamer said that the lay mind needs to have the subject brought home practically. Mr. Waelchli spoke of those in the early history of the Church who were delighted even with the technical terms of the Church, because there is too great a clinging to natural good. Spiritual good is obedience to the truth, and in this state doctrine is welcomed. Mr. Sewall said that the spiritual sense applied I to the natural life becomes the natural sense of the LORD'S teaching.



     THE Academy Church Music, which has been issued in sheets from time to time during the last three years, is now published in bound form, under the title A Psalmody for the New Church. It has been carefully revised as to the translation including whatever changes in the music have been necessitated thereby. These changes should be noted by those who have, become accustomed to the sheets, in order not to be disconcerted by meeting them unexpectedly in worship. All paid subscribers who have received the sheets will receive the volume free of further charge. It is gratifying to note the relaxation of Academy translation of the sacred books, from the rigidity of the past. We understand that but for the trouble and expense, the expurgation of too literal and awkward expressions would have been still more extensive. Even as it is, the outlay has been heavy. Time was when such a reason for retaining a rendering of the holy text which is confessedly not the best conceivable, would not have been tolerated. At best, an ideal translation of the Word is hardly attainable at one effort, but will be a matter of growth and gradual perfection. The present effort is a distinct advance.



     SAYS The Christian Register: "The American people are rapidly coming to the parting of the ways which lead the one to the highest ideals of the republic, the other to prizes which are attractive, but mercenary. Fredrika Bremer said, half a century ago, after visiting the United States, that our people seemed to be marching in a procession, carrying on their banners the symbols of lofty ideals of which they had forgotten the meaning. This was true only in the seeming. Every great struggle through which our nation passes brings out anew the great ideas upon which the fathers founded the republic. But at every such crisis in our history comes the temptation to lower thoughts and meaner ambitions. Our first brilliant success at the Philippine Islands has brought into view with startling suddenness un-American ideas of our place among the nations and our mission to the world. Already we begin to talk about buying and selling a nation, as if seven millions of people in the Philippine Islands were of no more importance than a bale of cotton. With the capture of that Spanish colony some of the gravest problems, not merely of diplomacy, but of common humanity, will rush upon the minds of our statesmen."



     WE have before referred to the review-questions on the course of reading in the little work, God, Providence, Creation, prepared by the Rev. W. L. Gladish. We reproduce the last series from the Messenger for the benefit of those of our readers who care to answer them for themselves and thus to inform or to strengthen their thoughts.
     1. Why should a man compel himself away from evil, but not compel himself to good? 2. Under what conditions may compelling one's self to pure thoughts and kindliness be harmful? 3. Can an evil man do any good thing? Why? 4. What danger is there in desiring to be sensible to the leading of the Holy Spirit? 5. Why does not the Lord teach man immediately from himself or by means of angels? 6. Why does the Lord so carefully conceal His providence? 7. Why is man led by' the Lord by means of the affections rather than thoughts? 8. Since man should not feel that he is only a recipient of good or of evil, why need he know it? 9. When is it right to seek eminence and wealth? 10. In the light of the statement on page 158 (A. E. 1183) how far may we trust what Swedenborg has written, and how far is it right to question any statement he has made?



     IN two interesting papers entitled "Reflections," by the late Mr. Joseph Andrews, dated March, 1863, and recently published in the Messenger, we read that during Mr. Andrews's travel in England he was "confirmed in the wisdom of the course pursued in Boston-to preach to the New Church, first; to those outside of it, second." He says: "I used frequently to say to our English brethren that they seemed to take more delight in standing at the threshold of the temple, turned from the entrance, doing battle for the truth, than in entering in to enjoy what there awaited them."
     Later on the communication says: "The works of Swedenborg I have read far more than the collateral works of the Church, especially during my early study of the Doctrines. I wished to go to the fountain head. The daily reading of Swedenborg seems to me the great support of the spiritual organization, the basis upon which it rests and is enabled to advance . . . "
     And in conclusion: "Some things I trust I have learned in a somewhat long pilgrimage in the piercing light of the Doctrines; if not I hope I have power yet so to do-to be merciful to the faults and tender of the freedom of others; not to expect too much from others; to rejoice in any good I may find in them and ever to seek to discover it. It is a comfort to know that redemption is from the LORD alone, through our willing co-operation; that He saves us through our living desire to have Him do so; that therefore we may be led to Heaven and to Him, if we can in sincerity pray as did the publican, 'God be merciful to me a sinner.'"



     THE following quotation (in substance) from a Congregational clergyman of well-known Swedenborgian tinct, is so pertinent to the question of distinctive New Church preaching that we copy it from our "larger contemporary:"
     "In some respects I can do very well. The simple, apparent aspects of a doctrine which any one of good common sense can see to be fair, I can present with tolerable certainty that they will be seen and received. I can rely upon my audience seeing what can be shown to have a surface compatibility with what they already know. But when it comes to deeper spiritual meanings, those aspects of doctrine which are more complex, I fare differently. 1 am frequently told that my hearers do not know what I am driving at. Then you see I have nothing to fall back on. I cannot show how it fits in logically with what Swedenborg teaches elsewhere, how it is a beautiful part of a coherent system. Swedenborg is nothing to them. Whereas you [New Church ministers] can appeal not only to the common sense and perception of your hearers but to their traditions, their rational acceptance of authority, and a whole world of concordant corroborative ideas."
     Just so. The clergyman shows that a common-sense appreciation of "what is fair" cannot be called "New Church receptivity," nor can there be particular illustration and perception without knowledges in which interior truths can ultimate. As the editorial from which the above is quoted says: "From the preacher's point of view it is a distinct handicap to be aloof from the organization. All that is gained in a possibly larger crowd of hearers is more than counterbalanced by loss in the quality of hearing." And, "The preacher's aim is not to make a numerical haul of converts, but to build up the rationality and life of all who supply a plane for influx to his ministry.' [instruction is one of the necessities in preparing such a plane.] "According to the previous ideas of the pew will the truths of the pulpit go forward or fall flat. Our Church is built on genuine doctrine in accordance with the spiritual sense of the Word. It grows only as the spiritual sense of the Word grows and dominates in the understandings and lives of its members. There is in the Church a considerable degree of reactionary anxiety to skip the spiritual sense in the preaching of sermons. Let it be understood that any exposition of the Word that does not present a spiritual sense is not-whatever else it may be a 'New Church' sermon."



     THE New Church Messenger has not left its readers in doubt as to its attitude on the war with Spain. It says, editorially: "There is a limit as to man's non-interference with fellow-man. Thus, although we hold that each family should be left in freedom to manage its own affairs, to select its own religion, and to determine upon and administer its own discipline, yet there are distinct limits to family authority. A parent may not take the life of even his own child, and that although he be only an infant. Nor is a parent, notwithstanding he is the Loan a vicegerent with his children and their legal guardian, allowed unduly to punish them. It is under this principle that in the families of the nations there are limits to the inhumanity which the neighboring nations will suffer a government to practice upon even its own subjects.

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This is a general principle which we believe that the laws of charity as taught in the New Church warrant us in affirming in our relation to Cuba."
     And in a later number: "The war means that this country is not to be a forced party to maintaining a system of rule that was outrageous enough in the sixteenth century, and is simply intolerable on the eve of the twentieth. It is of providence and wholly fitting that the forces of freedom and light should oppose the continued embodiment and activity of political oppression and religious intolerance; and it will be an undoubted blessing for humanity when Spanish influence on this hemisphere has become unknown. This idea and aim can alone justify our war. It is a war in behalf of good and truth, waged in the only manner that could be effective with a nation that has never outgrown the besotted ideals of the Dark Ages, when war was the ordinary business of all able-bodied men. The more vigorously it is prosecuted the more merciful and truly kind it is. We may rest assured that this war is entirely in accord with the principles of genuine charity, for it is in defence of the truths on which our homes and country are established. It is vastly better than a merely selfish and literal defense of our acres and crops, for it looks to the extension to others of the liberties and benefactions that we enjoy."



     THE latter-quoted editorial contains also the following whole-some warning against vindictiveness toward the enemy:
     "When we oppose even very evil men it is possible for us to dissociate persons from evils in such a way as to deprive our antagonism of every vestige of hatred or vindictiveness. The judge who sentences the criminal is not only the friend of society in that he removes from it a menace, but he is also the friend of the criminal by marking out and condemning his evils, and tacitly commending and encouraging the possibilities of good in him. What is thus true as regards charity in severe dealing with manifestly bad men, is much more true of our opposition to men who are devoted to a bad cause, while they themselves may be animated by the purest motives. Only very ignorant and narrow-minded men condemn the persons of their opponents on account of the mistaken cause which they have espoused. Ideas move the world, as Plato said, and ideas retard progress and make one nation in one way rather than in another."
     The New Christianity takes similar affirmative attitude towards the war.



     SCIENTIFIC investigation, it seems, is to be extended to the subject of immortality. According to The Pathfinder, Mr. W. T. Stead, "the famous English editor of the Review of Reviews," has exchanged journalism for psychological investigation, under the tutelage of a spirit-friend," Julia," who died some five years ago, who promises to furnish him with absolute demonstration of the truth of immortality. She says to him, in a dictated letter:
     "'You may think it strange that the verification of another life should increase the importance of this. But you can never understand the importance of your life until you see it from this side. You are never for one moment idle from influencing eternity. . . . You are, far more really than you imagine, making this world of ours in that world of yours. Yes, this is a manufactured article, so to speak. You are in the loom of time weaving the fabric of this [the spirit] world. You make your next life. Yes, and you make your life here. You make your next life. You do it day by day; you do it hour by hour. You make your next life. To make that quite clear will be the result of our retirement.'"
     Obedient to her bidding, Mr. Stead thus announces his course:
     "I go from my literature to do this. I shut myself up to begin the building of the bridge between this world and the world of spirits. When I have bridged the abyss I will emerge from my retirement, and those who are qualified to receive enlightenment shall know the result."
     In these closing words, "those who are qualified to receive enlightenment," Mr. Stead himself demonstrates the fatuity of his attempt, and his own inconsistency; for he shows that his is not to be a universal demonstration, but that it will appeal only to those who are "qualified to receive spiritual enlightenment" Does he think that those who are truly such need finite man's puny labors? Those who are "qualified to receive" have long been provided for-ages ago. So long as he ignores the fact that Divine hands have already bridged the abyss,-which exists for the very safety of the human race, and which can be spanned by no other than Divine means,-he shows conclusively that he himself is not one of those "qualified to receive enlightenment," but is in danger of being counted among those who "seek a sign," which will not-cannot, be given. The sunlight and air of heaven are free to all who will avail themselves of the means for rising there into out of the mole-like, bat-like state which believes not "Moses and the Prophets "-i. e., Divine Revelation. To this state it is said that "no sign can be given but the sign of the Prophet Jonas," which sign is, the manifestation of the Divine power over the hells with those who suffer themselves to be affected by the truths of salvation in the Word,-and so to be convinced, reformed, and regenerated. This power the LORD took to Himself by His combats and victories over the hells in the assumed Human, and he extends it to those who are willing to be saved. The Divine Human is present in the world at this day, visible to all who really seek truth and justice; and there is no need of the testimony of spirit-announcements, or human labors, or other signs, to provide another gate of entrance or bridge by which access is possible to the realities of the other life. Yet the prevalence of dense ignorance of this presence is illustrated by the following comments of the Pathfinder's editor:
     "Leaning on a generalized faith civilization marches toward its great goal. But it often wonders where knowledge leaves off. In that wonderment, and in the lines of instinctive conjecture that result, may not light yet come across that dark, mysterious river to the banks of which our lives surely lead? Surely the most skeptical can scarcely do less than wish Mr. Stead all success in the venture."
     Apropos of the foregoing, Morning Light quotes from the London Daily Chronicle in review of the little book edited by Mr. Stead, entitled Letters from Julia: "In the first place, she strikes us as uncommonly like Mr. Stead himself," and further on: "She has a way-common to spirits-of avoiding answers to such questions as 'What about space?' or, 'Describe heaven?'" Swedenborg has said more in a single page of Heaven end Hell than Julia in a small octavo."     
PLEA FOR CHURCH REORGANIZATION 1898

PLEA FOR CHURCH REORGANIZATION       Editor       1898

MR. L. P. FORD is well-known in England as an active layman and the proposer of a scheme of union by which the visible New Church should co-operate in matters of love and of life with all religions bodies and men in the world, without regard to creeds Prom him we have received an illustrated pamphlet, in which he proposes a reorganization of the New Church in a form to "meet all objections, please all reasonable New Church people, and be most in accordance with our LORD'S teachings." Taking as his guides Nature, Experience, Common Sense, and Revelation, he argues against the existing independence of Societies and in favor of a centralized government, which "should be constantly active (not a six-days-a-year conference)." Illustrations of the necessity for the mutual action and reaction of a central power and its derived numbers are given in the case of the planets and the sun, the vine and its branches, the wheels, hub, and spokes, and a chariot and its wheels, the pages being adorned with pictorial representations.
TEMPTATION 1898

TEMPTATION       EVELYN E. PLUMMER       1898

O LORD, in the depths of my sorrow and anguish,
     Despairing, I kneel at the foot of Thy throne;
The heavens are closed to the voice of my crying,
     And night veils the path where I wander alone.

Like waves of the ocean, resistless, o'erwhelming,
     The hells fiercely raging, are threat'ning my soul;
While helpless I seek Thee, beseeching, imploring
     Thine aid, for around me the mad billows roll.

Save, Lord, or I perish, engulfed in these waters;
     The vile floods are o'er me, I sink in the deeps;
When lo! at Thy touch, my Redeemer and Helper,
     They part, and are piled in tumultuous heaps

Between their dark walls lies the pathway to heaven,
     Restrained is their fury, though reach they the sky:
Their wrath made to praise Thee, in gladness and wonder,
     With hymns of thanksgiving, I walk through the dry.

How sweet to the soul that has sorrowed despairing,
     Is hope of salvation, and promise of rest;
I walk in Thy peace, for Thy wisdom will guide me,
     Thy love lights the way to the land of the blest.
           -EVELYN E. PLUMMER,

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DOCTRINE CONCERNING CHARITY 1898

DOCTRINE CONCERNING CHARITY       Editor       1898

THE latest donation of the London Swedenborg I Society to the Church is an edition of The Doctrine Concerning Charity, which has been translated anew by the Rev. John Presland and Mr. A. H. Searle, completed and revised by the latter. By oversight, this edition, although now some months old, has not been noticed before in these columns. The little volume ranks with other convenient and attractive productions of the Writings brought out by the Swedenborg Society.
TRUTH AS MASTER OR AS SERVANT? 1898

TRUTH AS MASTER OR AS SERVANT?       Editor       1898

A FAMILIAR illustration of our natural tendency to regard truth from a sense of proprietorship-as some thing to be made use of for our own advantage-may often be seen in the matter of argument. We see a flaw in our opponent's logic, or an obscurity arising from imperfect information or insufficient reflection, and we lunge in with our thrusts, perhaps to his discomfiture; we feel a glow of triumph and a sense of power arising from our superior intellectual equipment. But in so far as our position was not based upon that love of the truth for its own sake which is too sincere to be affected by considerations of self, how barren and pitiful the victory. Is it not really a defeat-defeat of charity, which looks ever to use, and so never advances truth but with that end in view? Truth, unless accommodated to reception and need, becomes cold, piercing, destructive. The various matters of controversy, of which contact with our fellow-beings is so productive, will uncover to him who is on his guard many impulses merely natural and unregenerate, even when the motive in the main looks to use; and he will see many opportunities for self-restraint in speech and act, which if neglected operate to mar the effecting of his more genuine ends. The more keen or brilliant the mind the greater the liability to this fault. The discovery of such mixed motives need not discourage, but it should teach us humility toward the neighbor, but especially before God.
CURE FOR WORRY 1898

CURE FOR WORRY       Editor       1898

THE state of care and pressure of work which is so prevalent in our modern civilization, is pretty generally recognized to be an evil, and, in the New Church, to be mainly the result of lack of trust in Providence. Yet the value of this acknowledgment is largely nullified by lack of practical application in conduct. To say that reform in this matter of overwork is impracticable, that conditions render it impossible, is to put one's self in the attitude of charging the LORD with giving man truth which cannot be lived. When it is given man to see a truth, it is given to will to apply it, and this will in itself is an intention, an effort toward application, which will place man in an attitude to see a way to ultimate it sooner or later; but such a will is paralyzed at the outset when it is assumed that application is impossible. The negative state never accomplishes anything, never gets anywhere.
     One of the chief sources of wear and worry-if not the chief-is discontent; desire for other things than come to us under Providence. Providence endows us with certain faculties of judgment, and bodily strength to employ the same to the affairs of life; and surrounds us with certain environment in which to exercise those faculties. This exercise is a basis by which is made possible the development of faculties interior to these-spiritual faculties of love to God and the neighbor. In each case the environment is perfectly adapted to this spiritual end, if man makes the proper use of it, which an environment selected by himself would not. Therefore the first requisite in man's co-operation with Providence, is the attitude of submission and content. Yet how many are contented?
     It is not only those who aspire to certain standards of worldly goods, comfort and pleasure, who are discontented. He who reaches out to perform more or greater uses than are suited to his strength or ability-the indications of Providence-is acting from -natural loves, not from rational, contented acquiescence in the part given him to play in the drama of life.
     The spirit of content may be cultivated even by those whom an inscrutable Providence has placed in conditions which seem not only disorderly and hurtful, but also iron-cast in their fixedness. Having exercised their best efforts so to adapt themselves to their surroundings as to do away with needless wear and outlay, they can rest content in the knowledge that thus-if they have shunned evil as sins-they have co-operated, to the best of their power, with the Loan, to Whom results can safely be left. If it be recognized that the results which are of real importance are spiritual, and therefore solely in the LORD'S hands, there need be no worry, and such hardships as may come will not be greater than can be borne and profited by. The rock of support and refuge is, to know that the spiritual life is in the keeping of the Loan. To him who meets life thus, will be given patience, courage, and cheerfulness,- treasures greater than earth can afford, and at the same time a certain perceptiveness as to things of use which will always tend to restoration of order even on the natural plane of existence, and to consequent mitigation of trials there. For the LORD ever provides all the material blessings of which man can make use, which is in the degree that those evils are removed which are so stubborn that they cannot be broken except by adversity.
PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATIONS 1898

PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATIONS       Editor       1898

     MODERN civilization manifests two apparently non- agreeing tendencies, one to develop the individual, the other to produce a dead level of uniformity among the many. The first-mentioned tendency may be seen in education, where the pupil is studied more and more from the view-point of his own capacities for character; professional men tend to specialism; and even in military tactics the soldier is recognized more as a fighting unit, capable of independent judgment and action. In industrial matters the best service is that of the specialist. If we are content to take the machine-made product, turned out by the thousands, we get great cheapness, but not ideal results. Special and original things cost labor and money. Thus we find different standards and diverging interests in the "upper ten" and "the lower twenty thousand."
     In reality, the one element cannot get along without the other. Without the abundance of common things there would be far less chance for the development of the select; and on the other hand, without striving for the higher excellence of individualism there would be too great utilitarianism, monotony, and a lowering of standards and ideals.
     May there not be an analogy in the things of the Church? There are those who seek to develop the things of the Church by external, almost mechanical methods. There are others who delight in studying the profounder things of doctrine.

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Each side needs the other, the one to give practicality, the other ideality.
     But the most internal doctrine of itself, as doctrine, is an external, and without the presence of an enkindling fire of spiritual love, it will be used in a mechanical way, looking to the cut-and-dried results of intellectualism not made internal-not instinct with the true individuality that characterizes all forms of a genuine spiritual Jove. We can turn out the externals of the Church by the wholesale; but internal growth comes slowly, by individual processes.
INTERVALS OF REST 1898

INTERVALS OF REST       H. S       1898

The LORD it is who supports man through his states of obscurity and of surrounding evil. He guards, and gives good and truth in abundance. His rod and His staff will support the weary pilgrim. When He sees that we are awearied of the struggle with our restless workings, while being left, as it were, to ourselves, we have to meet them single-handed; and when He knows that we have done as much as He can get us to accomplish at one time as of ourselves, then He kindly relieves us of the pressure for a time. He composes the strife by holding off the enemy until He can give us a period of rest and refreshment. Then His presence becomes again manifest to us, and we think that He is more present than He was before, and that we are making more progress. But it is not so. It is in the midst of the struggle that we are accomplishing most, otherwise He would keep us out of it. It is not His wish to see us unhappy, as we have to be, more or less, when let into the states of our natural lusts; and He would keep us always out of temptations if that were best for us. But it is in this as in labor-it is while the pain is greatest that most is being accomplished. Hence the pain must not be suppressed. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for Thou art near me." He is guiding, directing, regulating all the time, and when he finds that our freedom, and the apparent isolation which is indispensable to our freedom, are too much for us, He mercifully stays the conflict, arranges a table before us over against our enemies, anoints our heads with oil, and fills our cup to overflowing, that we, being revivified and strengthened, may recommence the noble work with new energy and renewed powers.     H. S.
WHAT WE CAN DO FOR THE CHURCH 1898

WHAT WE CAN DO FOR THE CHURCH       Editor       1898

DISCOURAGEMENT at the state of the Church is a common enough trouble, and one which seems to have real justification. Yet the true answer has been made to it, over and over again,-that if each one would only "sweep before his own door" the cause would disappear; and this duty never ceases to be seasonable, nor its exercise to be efficacious. Of course if the Church is indifferent and apathetic we cannot help suffering, if the welfare of the Church is near our heart; but our first duty-first in time-is to the Church within us, that which is of the LORD in us, which alone can make our membership of any advantage to the Church, and our interest in her welfare genuine and productive of good. As has been said by one of the greatest teachers the Church has ever seen, "The indications of Providence are to be seen rather in what other men do to us than in what we do to them,"-that is, what originates without us, being beyond our control, is an unmistakable call for us to meet it with the best possible exercise of our divinely given faculties of rationality and freedom, while what we do to others is always more or less colored by the bias of natural loves, tainted by the proprium. Hence the visible state of the Church, and her functions, always give us something to do in the way of control of our natural man,-opportunities to check all impulses of ill-feeling and fault-finding toward our fellow-members and toward the administration of affairs, to avoid all interference from self-intelligence, and to remove all apathy on our own part toward the manifold uses, general and particular. Spiritual affairs differ greatly from temporal ones in this, that no "hard times" in the Church can ever throw us-against our will-into the ranks of the (spiritually)" unemployed." When we thus apply ourselves assiduously to the duties indicated to us, we are placing ourselves in the fullest measure of protection from all possible ills of real moment, and at the same time fitting ourselves for the fullest possible measure of usefulness to the Church we love-or wish to love.
HANDMAID OF RELIGION 1898

HANDMAID OF RELIGION       Editor       1898

IN order that he may believe, man must knots and understand. It seems plain, therefore, that, in order for the faith of the New Church to be fully established on earth, there needs to be a New Church science and philosophy. By such means spiritual truths may be adapted to every phase of human thought and comprehension; for when man thinks he does so naturally, that is, in natural forms, and hence the more abundant and adequate in his mind are the forms which may serve as receptacles of spiritual truths, the more full and perfect will his thought be. Likewise, the more clear the principles and the more abundant the facts of confirmatory science, the better equipped are we to reach all grades of receptive intelligence. Hence, the spiritual truths of the New Church were not revealed without adequate provision for their reception and establishment in the sensual and scientific things of nature. To Swedenborg was revealed in natural manner the truths of the visible universe, for no other purpose than that those truths might furnish suitable vehicles of thought for the truths of the invisible universe which was to be revealed to him in a supernatural manner.
     Those fundamental and confirmatory truths are placed within our reach if we will exert ourselves, and by means of them we may meet the needs of the young, the simple, and of those who can be reached only by scientific demonstration; and since the states of youth, of ignorance, and of blind clinging to the demonstrations of the external, are represented in every one, we, too-the wisest of us-need the nourishment and support of a true and larger science of the New Church.
     In the Spiritual Diary, n. 249 and 250, Swedenborg, while he states that at that day natural science was "such as not to be capable of serving as a plane for spiritual truths, still less for celestial truths," and that with the learned the spiritual principle can hardly operate, still he intimates that there may be healing if that false and mendacious, perverting plane be "changed into a plane of natural truths." Does not this contain, for those who can read it, solemn injunction and instruction as to our duty as regards the promotion of science?
NOTICE 1898

NOTICE       FRANK SEWALL       1898

SWEDENEORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION.-A meeting of the BOARD OF DIRECTORS will be held at the Stillman Hotel, Cleveland, O., on Monday, at 5 P. M., June 13th, 1898. Business of importance requires the attendance of as large a number as possible.
FRANK SEWALL,
Chairman.

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CHURCH NEWS 1898

CHURCH NEWS       Editor       1898

THE GENERAL CHURCH OP THE NEW JERUSALEM.


     THE Second General Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in Glenview, Cook Co., Ill., June 24th to 28th. It will be preceded by a meeting of ministers and followed by a meeting of the Teachers' Institute.
     Huntingdon Valley.-DURING the past month the pastor has been continuing the lectures on education, which commenced during the winter. Some time was spent reading Prof. Mahaffy's interesting little work on Ancient Greek Education, in which we find confirmation of the teaching in the Writings that the Greeks had something of true wisdom.
     Education in Rome was at first quite simple. Not till the third century was it made a public institution, though this had been suggested by Quintilian in the first century. At that time the young were educated in the house, either by teachers taken into the family or by the parents. For that time this seems to have been the best way, for with the early Romans there seems to have been something of, the conjugial, and the women, whose part in the child's education is of the greatest importance, were considered men's equals. After the Roman period there is but little of interest in the history of education till we approach the age of the Reformation, when there was a revival of classical learning brought about by such men as Reuchlin, Erasmus, Melanchthon, Calvin, and Luther, and greatly encouraged even in the Catholic Church by the Jesuits, and especially by Pope Lao X. Luther, though by no means the most learned of all those mentioned, was the most practical educator. During the same period flourished the two great French writers, Rabelais and (fifty years later) Montaigne, whose works had much influence on the education of succeeding generations. They were not classicists, however, but believed more in the practical sciences, though Montaigne was taught to speak Latin before his mother tongue.
     Several different subjects have been considered in the doctrinal class. The general plan now followed is to take up the questions requiring study which are asked in one class, and consider them more or less at length the following week. The question was asked whether the position of a military spy were an honorable or justifiable one. Being a spy always involves deceit, and in the common opinion there seems to be much of odium attached to it. In reply, the teaching from the Writings was given, that cunning with the general of an army, if he is acting for the good of his country, is not cunning, but prudence (Doc. Char. 164). The same statement would apply also to a spy, who is likewise acting for his country, and in one of the most dangerous positions. The odium attached to it is mainly from the side of the enemy. Sometimes a spy, who is at the same time an upright man, is held in great honor by his countrymen, as may be seen from the pages of history.
     In the last class some interesting teachings were brought out concerning the women who are called in the Writings sirens-those who place their whole life in what is becoming, not for the sake of justice and order, but for their own ends, which are to gain possession of a man's ruling love, and thereby make him their slave.

     Dedication Supper.

     A VERY enjoyable event of the month was a supper given in the new building of the Academy, Saturday, May 7th. The tables were spread in the large assembly room, and in one of the adjoining class rooms, which communicated with the assembly room by large folding doors. The tables were tastefully laid, I and one end of the large room was adorned with a fine American eagle and two large United States flags. Some of the young ladies who waited on the tables also wore belts and ribbons of patriotic colors. The entire evening was spent at the tables, a number of toasts being proposed and responded to interspersed with songs and music from the piano and from mandolins and guitars, played by some of the pupils in the schools.
     The company was seated about eight o'clock. When the keen edge of appetite had been relieved, Mr. Odhner, who was toastmaster, proposed the first cup, "To the New Church, which is the end to which the Academy is but a means." "Vivat Nova Ecclesia" was sung to this. The second toast, "To the Academy," was responded to by Mr. Pit cairn, who spoke of the institution of the Academy twenty-four years ago, of the work performed by that body and especially of the usefulness of the publication of the first numbers of Words for the New Church.
     The next toast, "To the Schools," was responded to by Prof. Price, who gave a brief retrospect of the school work, recalling the small beginning made in the humble quarters on Friedlander street in Philadelphia, where the Theological School was opened. This was followed by a cup "To the Building the new home of the Academy." Mr. Glenn in response said that this movement to the country was a great step forward, and one which had been contemplated for some time before its final accomplishment. But as we can see now, it was of the Divine Providence that we were not permitted to carry out the plans first proposed. The3 were much too large for our needs, and seem to have been the result of a rather external state.
     The fifth toast was "To the Needs of the School-a true understanding of them and supplying of them." Bishop Pendleton responding, said that we should discriminate between needs and desire. From lack of experience in the past our desire has been too large. Knowing what grand spiritual possessions we have in the Doctrines of the Church, we have thought the natural also, ought to be grand. But we have found it to have been more desire than a recognition of the needs for our work. The LORD has instructed us and we have become more modest. The Church will some time have grand externals, but it is not good for us now. Our first need, therefore, is that our understandings be instructed to see real, internal needs and not imaginary ones, which arise from the natural man; and our prayer to the LORD ought to be that He show us our real needs more and more and teach us to be humble. For the Church must be humble in its growth, just as a man should be; and only by true humility will we come into true contentment in a state to see that this day of the Church is a day of small things. We are very thankful for this new building, which is admirably adapted to our present needs, though we hope to outgrow it. We are thankful to the LORD, and to the men whose generosity and care have provided it. A pressing need now is scholars. With the present number of teachers we can teach many more than we have. There are many who would like to come to the school, but cannot afford it, on account of the expense of living away from home. If we can solve the problem of cheap living, we will get more scholars. The speaker expressed the hope that the people here in Huntingdon Valley would interest themselves in this question and co-operate in the endeavor to solve the problem. Another need for the furtherance of our work is the training of teachers to carry on the work of those who may be removed from our midst.
     Following this speech, a toast was proposed to "Science in Our Schools," and Prof. Vinet responded. After thanking the people of the church here feelingly for the hearty and welcome reception accorded himself and his wife since their coming to this country, M. Vinet stated that he had been appointed to teach French and chemistry in the Academy schools. The science of chemistry, he said, was important in many matters of every-day life, and he mentioned coking as one of the common, yet necessary arts, in which a knowledge of chemistry would be useful. He then referred to the boundless possibilities the field of true scientific research opens to the Newchurchman.
     After the singing of the little chemical tragedy, "H2SO4," by the students a toast was drunk to the "New Scientific development in the Church' to which Mr.
C. Doering responded. He spoke of the Impetus the study of science had received in the Church, particularly Swedenborg's science. Be thought it of first importance to study the scientific works of Swedenborg, and thereby to grouse an interest in them, after which their republication would follow as a consequence. Theology in the Academy school had always been given the first place, and rightly, but we should study the sciences also, keeping them in their proper place.
     The next toast was "To the Young Ladies' Seminary." Mr. Synnestvedt, who was called upon to respond, begged to be excused from making a formal speech, pleading the lateness of the hour; but he indulged in a prophetic vision of what our schools might be a few years hence.
     "To our Country" was the next cup, pledged with a hearty good-will, which gave vent to its enthusiasm in the company's rousing singing in chorus "The Star Spangled Banner.' Mr. Starkey, responding, spoke of that true patriotism which has in it love of the Loan's kingdom, and of the country for the sake of that-although he did not decry enthusiasm and appreciation of the natural blessings which the country secures. He pointed out the distinction between a narrow and a broad love of country; granting that every nation has claims upon its citizens, but dwelling on the eminent freedom of thought and speech that flourish in this hand and among Anglo-Saxons generally-a condition most important to the growth of the Church.
     A cup was here pledged to "The Boys who have gone to the War." (Enthusiasm.)
     Bishop Pendleton then proposed "President McKinley." speaking of him as a God-fearing man, and alluding to the Providence which, in the great crises of this country, had raised up such men to guide her. (Great enthusiasm.)
     Mr. Odhner then proposed "Old England"-not merely the Church in England, but the Nation itself.
     Rev. J. F. Potts, in responding, received a warm welcome.

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He said that what is said of the English in the Writings is no doubt true also of Americans," in so far as they are English-not Germans, Swedes, French, etc."
     Some rueful looks followed this remark, until the speaker added, "except in so far as they become Americanized-i. e., Anglicized." He went on to say that England is the true home of freedom-the home of a free Parliament, a free press, a free people, a free trade. An American novelist W. D. Howells, has said that the English are a romantic people, and he thought it might be true, for some of them certainly have a most romantic attachment for America- stronger than for their own colonies. He was glad of one good thing that would come out of the present war-it would give us another war to think about than the unfortunate ones with Great Britain. Since the abolition of slavery the heart of the English people was with us here. It was great gratification to him now to see the bonds stronger than ever. Peace and sympathy between the two countries are necessary for the progress of enlightened civilization.
     Here Kipling's fine "Recessional" was sung with impressiveness.
     A toast to Mr. Henry Stroh, the builder of the new school-house was followed by another to Mr. John F. Van Horn, the long-tried janitor of the Academy School and church buildings. The latter was called on for a speech, but instead sang a humorous song, after which the company broke up.

     OUR FLAG.

     Recited by the children of the Primary School in Huntingdon Valley, on the anniversary of Washington's birthday, erroneously reported In the Life for March as a poem on Washington.

THE flag afoul native land!
     The wind softly plays
     In its folds and displays
All the red and the white of its bars.

Our flag has red bars for pure love;
     And white for the true,
     While above is the blue,
And the glitter and gleam of its stars.

We love it, this flag of our land!
     In storm and in shine,
     It is ever a sign
That we all must be loyal and true.
Three cheers for the flag of our land!
     Three cheers for its bars,
     And three more for its stars,
And its colors, the red, white, and blue!
     E. E. PLUMMER.

     Pittsburgh, Pa.-ON May 14th, the Pittsburgh Society had the pleasure of a very useful and pleasant visit from Bishop Pendleton. On Sunday morning, May 15th, the Bishop conducted service and preached a very useful and instructive sermon. In the evening there was a general meeting of the congregation at which Bishop Pendleton explained the proposed organization of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and answered questions as to membership in that body. He also explained the present status of the Academy of the New Church. Several members made remarks relating to the subjects before the meeting, and after some useful conversation the meeting adjourned. On Monday evening there was a social in the school-room. Bishop Pendleton, in response to a toast to the General Church of the New Jerusalem,- spoke of the temptations through which the Church has recently passed, and gave encouragement to the hope of a state of rest such as always follows temptation; but he warned us not to expect the Church to be entirely free from trial, for without trial and temptation there can be no change of state and thus no growth. We ought not to court temptation, but when it comes we should face it and pray for the removal of the evil rather than for relief from combat. In the course of his remarks he compared temptation to war and made some very interesting and instructive remarks concerning the present war and the use it would be in the Divine Providence both to our own country and to Spain.
     We also drank a toast to the "Educational Work of the Church," to which Rev. E. C. Bostock responded. He continued the subject of temptation, saying that temptation could not take place if there were no evils for evil spirits to excite and thus assault and condemn man. There has been an assault on the Church, and this assault has extended to its educational work. This use has suffered and in some places has been much enfeebled. But the LORD has held the Church in an affection for this use and in the determination to persevere in the work, notwithstanding the assault. The LORD also has enabled us to see many of the weaknesses of our work, and He will enable us to remove them. The speaker warned those present to look not at the faults alone, but to remember also the uses the schools have performed notwithstanding their faults. They have been of great use in the past; let us hope that they will be of still greater use in the future. He called upon all to give their hearty co-operation, both at home and in public, to the educational uses of the Church.
     Mr. William Norris made a few remarks in response to the toast to "Our Country," urging upon all the necessity of giving a hearty support to the President in this crisis. Bishop Pendleton also took this opportunity to add a few words concerning the Country.
     During the evening Mr. William Caldwell favored us with two solos on the violin, which were very much enjoyed. The New Church orchestra played a selection from Haydn, which was generously applauded.
     On Wednesday evening Bishop Pendleton left by boat en route to Middleport, Ohio.
     It may be of interest to mention that four or five of our young men met Mr. Robert Caldwell at 4 A. M. Tuesday morning, as the First Regiment passed through on its way to the South. They gave him a hearty greeting and bade him farewell, with the hope that he would come back to us alive and well.     E. C. B.
     Middleport, O.-On May 22d the Rev. Richard H. Keep was ordained into the pastoral degree of the ministry by Bishop Pendleton.
     Denver, Colorado.-OUR celebration of the festival of the LORD'S resurrection was observed in the usual way by appropriate services at the chapel and by the administration of the Holy Supper on the evening of the same day. On March 6th we were greatly pleased to find at our services of worship, as visitors, Miss Maria Hogan, Miss Pitcairn, and Mrs. Roth, of the Pittsburgh Church, who, as part of the Raymond excursion stopped in Denver on their way home from a tour of the Pacific coast. It is so seldom that we are visited by members of the General Church that the genial sphere and church-loving presence of these visitors had a truly refreshing and strengthening effect upon us all. Their stay was short, but an impromptu supper was prepared in their honor and a most enjoyable evening spent in joining them in hearty and affectionate expressions of mutual love for the Church, the sending of fraternal greetings to the Pittsburgh friends, and personal and direct ultimation of our friendship and affection for the visitors by expressing in song our heartfelt wish for their true prosperity, "not for time alone, but to eternity."
     R. DE CHARMS.

     LETTER FROM MR. BOWERS.

     Ohio.-I preached for the Society at Greenford, Mahoning County, and administered the sacrament of the LORD'S Supper on Sunday, April 24th. Also preached for the same Society again on 8unday, May 8th. As our folks there had not had services for more than six months, these visits were quite acceptable. Tried to find a New-churchman at Alliance, but did not succeed. May 11th, spent the night with Mr. George Elbel, at Canton. Had a pleasant and useful visit with Mr. John F. Gray and others, intelligent Newchurchmen, at Cochranton, Marion County, and preached to an audience of thirty on Sunday morning, May 15th. It was rainy weather, or audience would have been larger. May 16th visited a New- churchman at Kenton, Hardin County.
     J. E. BOWERS.

     GREAT BRITAIN.

     Liverpool.-Op Monday, April 18th, the Rev. B. I. Tilson, of London, made a pastoral visit to the Circle of the New Church, Radstock Road, and remained until the following Thursday. On the day after his arrival in the city the members and friends assembled at 15 Radstock Road to hear a lecture by Pastor Tilson, on the subject of "Cowper." The lecturer recounted many important incidents and particulars of the life-history of the poet, and supplemented his remarks by readings of choice selections from the poet's works. Cowper, it was observed, excelled as a hymn-writer, and, on account of the great beauty of some of his sacred Songs, his productions have long taken rank as gems in several modern collections. The New Church Conference hymn-book contains ten of his compositions. The lecture was highly appreciated by a delighted audience.
     On Wednesday, April 20th, was held a service of Divine Worship, including the administration of the sacrament of the Holy Supper. The sermon on this occasion was directed to the paramount need for an undivided recognition of the two essentials of the doctrine which enjoins "the acknowledgment of the LORD, and the shunning of all evils as sins." Neglect, it was remarked, to observe the all-important condition by a favoring of one essential to the exclusion of the other, invalidated the religion vainly raised upon a riven foundation. After the service an informal meeting took place, and during the course of the evening the pastor invited the members to express their opinions freely concerning the proposal of Bishop Pendleton in favor of union of the English Church with the General Church of the New Jerusalem, but the resolution of the meeting was unfavorable to the entertainment of proposals having this object in view, and it was decided that no action should be taken until the course of events should warrant a departure from the position of isolation already held. N. S.

     ORGANIZATION OF THE SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION.

     IN two meetings held in New York on May 27th and 28th, the above association was formed with the avowed purpose, first:

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To preserve, translate and publish the scientific and philosophical works of Emanuel Swedenborg; and second: To promote the study of the principles taught in those works; having in view likewise their relation to the science and philosophy of the present day. This constitution adopted provides for the government of the association by a Board of Directors, consisting of a president, recording and corresponding secretary, and a treasurer with eight additional elective members. The Board has power to appoint special committees to carry out the purposes of the organization. The officers for the present year are: Rev. Frank Sewall, President; Mr. John R. Swanton, Recording Secretary; Mr. Riborg Mann, Corresponding Secretary; E. C. Brown, Esq., Treasurer, and Messrs. F. A. Boericke, M. D., Rev. John Whitehead, J. B. S. Kink, M. Edward Cranch, M. D., Rev. Schreck, Rev. Lewis F. Hite, L. C. Ager, M.D., and Harvey Farrington, M. D.
      Some account of the transactions will be given in the July Life.

     FROM THE PERIODICALS.

     Massachusetts.-THE Animal Meeting of the Massachusetts Sabbath-school Conference was held in Boston on February 22d. In the report of the Boston Society we notice that mothers' meetings have been held to bring the parents into closer relations with the school. In the Boston Highlands School the Word is being studied in the original Hebrew, under the direction of the Rev. J. B. Werren, in the effort to "enable the scholars to see the spiritual sense shining out of the very letter of the Scriptures." The Bridgewater school reports steadily increasing interest and activity. Illustrative helps to teaching are given prominence in several of the schools.
     ON Sunday, May 8th, after service, the Rev. J. K. Smyth read to his Roxbury congregation a letter of resignation, announcing his acceptance of a second call to the pastorate of the New York Society, which he felt unable longer to ignore.
     Maryland.-THE Preston Society, which has been struggling for some years under adverse conditions, in the latter part of February enjoyed a series of lectures and sermons by the Rev. J. E. Smith, which, it would seem, aroused an unusual amount of interest in the neighborhood. On one evening the aisles were filled with chairs, and all standing space occupied. Persons attended regularly from distances of seven miles, while one lady moved into town until the lectures were over. A minister who heard the lecture on the Second Coming of the LORD said: "It has put me to thinking. I know that when the LORD came before the Jews would not accept Him: and I have been thinking that this may be the second coming of the LORD, and we may be rejecting Him." Seven persons have expressed the intention of being baptized and uniting with the Society. Another visit was arranged for, to occur the latter part of May.
     The services at Preston were followed by four lectures at Denton, the shire town of the county, sixteen miles distant from Preston. The last of these were attended by nearly three hundred persons. Mr. Smith seems to have a gift in the way of arousing interest in the Doctrines.
     On the eastern shore of Maryland an earnest colored man has been trying to spread the Doctrines in the town of Crisfield. Led to the Doctrines by an advertisement in a secular magazine he has been laboring independently, but asked that a missionary be sent to further the cause. The Maryland Board of Missions has taken the matter up. The Board has received a letter from South Carolina indicating the opening up of a field in that State.
     Texas.-DURING the latter two spring months the Rev. L. G. Landenberger has been preaching for the Galveston Society.
     Tennessee.-ON May 8th the Rev. Mr. Buchanan, minister of the little flock at Gruetli, was shot in the back and killed by an assassin-some one unknown-it is presumed as a consequence of offense at his preaching. The Gruethi Society will have the unstinted sympathy of the entire Church in this tragical occurrence.

     THE ACADEMY SCHOOLS.

     The closing exercises of the schools of the Academy of the New Church will be held in Huntingdon Valley, Pa., on June 16th, at 11 A. at. Dr. Edward Cranch will deliver the annual address.

     WEDDING.

     MR. ANDREW KLEIN, of Brooklyn, desires to invite the members of the General Church of the New Jerusalem to the approaching marriage of his daughter Julia Viola, and Mr. Henry B. Cowley. The ceremony will take place in the chapel at Huntingdon Valley, Pa., on Wednesday, June 15th, at 8 o'clock P. M. Immediately afterward a reception will be held in the same place.
RAILROAD FARES 1898

RAILROAD FARES       Editor       1898

THE Baltimore and Ohio Railroad offers the following special rates from Philadelphia to Chicago for persons desiring to attend the General Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem For parties of ten or over, $23.00 for the round trip, $13.00 one way. Individuals may return singly at any time.
JUST PUBLISHED: 1898

JUST PUBLISHED:       Editor       1898

A PSALMODY FOR THE NEW CHURCH,

     CONTAINING

     THE FIRST FIFTY PSALMS AND OTHER
     SELECTIONS FROM THE WORD.

     Half leather, 7 1/4 xl0 1/4 inches, 387 pages. Price $2.50, including postage.
     The above music, which has been published in parts for some years past, is now after a careful revision, offered in its complete form, to the kindly consideration of the members of the New Church.
     "It is written for the New Church, based upon a recognition of the fact that, in the Word of God there is an internal or spiritual sense, in the understanding of which the Church is to be; and, as it is believed that this is probably the first published musical work of the kind, some indulgence is craved for those who, so far, enter upon untrodden ground.
     "The short statements of the 'internal sense' of the Psalms are taken from the work of Emanuel Swedenborg, entitled 'A Summary Exposition of the Internal Sense of the Prophets and Psalms.'
     "A new translation of the original Hebrew text of the Psalms has been made, and the selections from the other parts of the Word, which are appended, have also been retranslated and a summary of their spiritual sense extracted from the Writings of Swedenborg.
     "The translation is by the Rev. E. S Price, A. B., Th. B., and others, and the music by Mr. C. J. Whittington.
     "The feature of the musical treatment is that there is no repetition of the words and that antiphony is frequently made use of."
     (From the Preface to the Psalmody.)
     Since the entire volume may be more than some would desire we will also sell the work in twelve parts at 25 cents a part. Part 1 contains Ps. i-ix; Part 2 contains Ps. x-xvii; Part 3 contains Ps. xviii-xx; Part 4 contains Ps. xxi-xxv; Part 5 contains Ps. xxvi-xxxi; Part 6 contains Ps. xxxii-xxxv; Part 7 contains Ps. xxxvi-xxxvii; Part 8 contains Ps. xxxviii-xl ; Part 9 contains Ps. xli-xliv; Part 10 contains Ps. xlv-xlviil; Part 11 contains Ps. xlix-l; Part 12 contains thirty-nine short selections.

ACADEMY BOOK ROOM,
Huntingdon Valley, Pa.
NOTES 1898

NOTES       Editor       1898


NEW CHURCH LIFE.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH.

TERMS:-One Dollar per annum, payable in advance.
FOUR SHILLINGS IN GREAT BRITIAN.

     Address all communications for publication to the Editor, the Rev. George G. Starkey, Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery Co., Pa.
     Address all business communications to Academy Book Boom, Carl Hj. Asplundh, Manager, No. 1821 Wallace Street, Philadelphia. Pa.
     Subscriptions also received through the following agents:
UNITED STATES.
     Chicago, Ill., Mr. H. S. Maynard, Chicago Agent of Academy Book Boom No 545 West Superior Street.
     Denver, Col., Mr. Geo. W. Tyler, Denver Agent of Academy Book Boom, No. 644 South Thirteenth Street.
CANADA.
     Toronto, Ont., Mr. B. Carswell, No. 47 Elm Grove.
     Waterloo, Mr. Rudolf Roschman.
GREAT BRITIAN.
     Mr. Wiebe Posthuma, Agent for Greet Britain, of Academy Book Boom, Burton Road, Brixton, London. S. W.

PHILADELPHIA, JUNE, 1881-128.

     CONTENTS.          PAGE
EDITORIAL Notes          81
     The Swedenborg Scientific Association Organized     83
THE SERMON: The Use of Temptation     83
     The Teachers' Institute     85
     Patriotism               86
     Diseases of The Fibres (XI continued), . . . 88
NOTES AND REVIEWS          89
Temptation (a poem)     91
The Doctrine concerning Charity     92
Truth as Master or Servant     92
The Cure for Worry,          92               
Principles and Applications     92
Intervals of Rest               93
What we Can Do for the Church     93
The Handmaid of Religion     93
Notice                    93
CHURCH NEWS
     General Church of the New Jerusalem, 94
     Organization of the Swedenborg Scientific Association     95
From the Periodicals,      98
THE ACADEMY SCHOOLS     96
WEDDING NOTICE          96                    
BIRTH: DEATH          96
RAILROAD FARES          96
ACADEMY BOOK ROOM          96


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THE second General Assembly of the "General Church of the New Jerusalem" marks another and a thoroughly satisfactory step in the development of that body, which may now be said to be launched and well under way in the carrying out of its particular uses. Although the attendance was full there were necessarily some who, despite their own inclinations and the urgent and peculiarly enticing invitation of the Glenview Committee, were unable to be there. These will be glad to learn that full stenographic notes were taken, ensuring a satisfactory reproduction of the occasion in type. The visit of the messengers from the General Convent ion was a notable feature.



     IT is matter for self-congratulation on the part of the Church that the photo-typing of the Swedenborg manuscripts is proceeding under such favorable auspices as is indicated in the reports from Convention and from the Academy Book Room. It is to be hoped that the interest that the work has aroused, and the realization of its transcendent importance, will continue to be manifested in the practical shape of subscriptions. The Spiritual Diary, which is the work now being reproduced, is in such form in the original that the utmost accuracy and opportunity for study of the form Swedenborg gave it are needed, It is needless to say that of all the Works this is one of the most interesting, naturally speaking.



     THE Sacred Writings enjoins us not to dwell upon evil. This teaching has innumerable bearings upon our social and other intercourse with each other. In the world we believe that the best society recognizes the "cut direct" as not well bred. There seems to be reason for this. Such retaliation for even very unwarranted treatment, is a continued dwelling upon evil, and has that; effect upon the minds of all parties concerned. Furthermore, it curtails the opportunities for making amends, and, in fact, condemns and exiles the offending party utterly, so far as we are concerned. So long as a man commits no deed which should exclude him from civil society we think that it is due to him and to ourselves, and to that external form of charity which is called the etiquette of good breeding, to extend to him some degree, at least, of the recognition which belongs to a fellow being, and a possible angel. The amenities of life belong to the externals of charity, such as are essential to the maintenance of order and the performance of uses.



     STATES of doubt should generally be states of waiting for the light. There are few but have many times of uncertainty as to whether their impulses to act are from judgment or from persuasion arising from self-intelligence or self-will. The natural man, even of one who is in the effort to follow the truth, inclines to attribute all things to human prudence; and though the operation of Providence should be presented ever so convincingly, still there is the tendency to return to that merely natural thought, that the wisdom and strength are our own,-so strong are the appearances and so tenacious are affections, or, what is the same thing, habits. "Unless the affection is broken the thought continues in its own state, for thought derives its faith and life from affection" (A. C. 2604). If a man is strongly urged to do a certain thing and yet is not wholly comfortable about it in his mind-if he feels certain misgivings as to its wisdom or as to his motives, then is a good time to exercise self-control and patience-to refrain from action,-lest he find later that he has acted from self-will and not from a wish to obey the truth,-from self-intelligence and not from a desire to see the LORD'S leading. Even in cases of apparent urgency, if he find himself torn by doubts as to whether or not he is really subjecting his own way to the LORD'S, it will be apt to prove useful to keep the mind in a waiting attitude until the light comes. And it will often come when least expected; for it is withheld only till the proprium has been sufficiently softened and man is humble and teachable; and the LORD alone knows when that time has arrived.



     HE who would have his desire for heaven purified of selfishness may profitably spend some time in reflection on the nature and origin of delight and happiness. The origin of delight is the LORD'S love of doing uses to His creatures, an d this is an infinite joy, past human conception, but full of capacity for communicating itself to all who reciprocate in kind. Thus the way to happiness is through the performance of uses. The more thoroughly a man throws himself into his uses, and studies to see in them the LORD'S ends and methods, the more will he be gifted with light in their execution, and at the same time his increasing self-forgetfulness in the use will be the very surest protection against selfish suggestions as to his own happiness and against infesting doubts as to the purity of his motives.
     It is recognized even by men in the world that all natural delights, even the most exquisite, undiversified by useful employment become stale, flat, and unprofitable. They recognize that the mind needs to be keyed up by use; but they do not see the internal cause, because they do not know the LORD as the Divine Love of Use, they do not acknowledge Him in the very ultimate embodiment of that use, the human in which He descended to earth and which He glorified and made divine.
     Study of this point will discover the strongest confirmatory reasons why the acknowledgment of the LORD JESUS CHRIST is essential to all true conceptions of happiness, and of the truly human life of religion. It will thus show also that we cannot without great caution and scrutiny accept the intuitions and conclusions of modern educators of the Old Church, who of late years give more and more attention to the subject of delight. In other words, although even New Churchmen's ideas are not to be taken undigested, we especially cannot be too careful and studious in examining the internal trend of all educational thought that comes to us from with out the Church.

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REFORMATION 1898

REFORMATION       Rev. RICHARD DE CHARMS       1898

     "And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter inquire who in it is worthy, and there abide till ye go thence."-Matthew x: 11.

     WE had before us for consideration, on the last LORD'S day we were privileged to address you, the words of the LORD commanding His disciples to "provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass for your purses, nor scrip for your Journey, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor yet staves, for the workman is worthy of his meat." We referred to the strictly literal sense of these words as involving a command from the LORD to His natural disciples, that, as they went forth to preach, they were to take with them not only no money but no food nor extra clothing. The command, we surmised, was intended to teach the disciples entire dependence on the LORD. A reference to the laws of hospitality prevailing in the East, and illustrated in the Word, was made, to show that this command would not operate as a hardship, and we concluded that this Literal command to the disciples was given in accordance with the customs of that country,-that there was nothing to show that it interfered seriously with the performance of their uses, or caused any suffering or hardship on their part. Besides, there are statements in other parts of the Gospels-which show that the command was not intended to be permanent. These we quoted.
     We then sought to draw your minds to the more interior and universal meaning of these words: a meaning which is applicable to the preachers of the Gospel now and to every humble disciple of the LORD. We first learned that every single thing in this passage was representative of the celestial and spiritual things of the LORD'S kingdom which the disciples were sent to preach. Then, the reason they were not to take gold, silver, brass, scrip or bread with them was because, those things signified goods and truths, which are from the LORD alone, and must not be regarded as from the man himself.
     The definite spiritual idea and teaching of those words then, was, that they who are in goods and truths from the LORD possess nothing of good and truth from themselves, but have all good and truth from the LORD, for by the twelve disciples were represented all who are in, goods and truths from the LORD, and in the abstract sense all the goods from love and the truths from faith, from the LORD. When the LORD commanded His' disciples, therefore, to take neither gold, nor silver, no brass in their purses His meaning in a general sense was, that nothing of their own was to be mixed with what was from Him. Again, there were three other things not to be taken-i. e., food, clothing, a staff, representing things that belong to the will, the understanding, and to the outward life, the prohibition implying that nothing that ministers to the life of either must be' self-derived, but derived solely from the LORD, whose gifts are to be preserved single, unmixed with anything of our own.
     The lesson, then, we asserted, was plain and simple. Those who receive these goods and truths of heaven and the LORD are to confess all to be from the LORD alone and nothing from themselves. This confession was to be of the heart' and come forth in humiliation,' and in the affection of good. The very essence of such confession was, we assured you, the heartfelt acknowledgment that all good is from the LORD and all evil from self. The true disciple of the LORD, then, we; further asserted, is not to provide gold, or silver, or scrip, or two coats, or shoes, or staves; and he obeys this command when he earnestly avoids mixing what is from himself and others with what he knows to be good and true from the LORD out of His Word; and when he confesses from the heart all these things to be from the LORD alone and nothing of them from himself. In speaking of the words "for the workman is worthy of his meat" we adverted to their more external meaning as referring to a man's provision for the necessaries of this life, such as food, clothing, and shelter for the body, and then drew your attention to that meat which most men know not of, the meat the LORD speaks of, calling it "to do the will of the Father.",
     In the heavens the angels labor for this meat which perisheth not, and in order that they may so labor in fullness the LORD provides gratuitously their food, raiment and places of habitation. This, meat is, doing good to others from a love of good itself, performing uses from the love of use itself, looking for no return but the delight found in the happiness to others which results from the use performed. Only as a man looks to the LORD, shuns his evils and sins, and receives goods and truths out of heaven from Him, and in receiving acknowledges from the heart that his gold, silver, brass, scrip, coat, shoes, and staff are provided not of and from himself, but are from the LORD alone, of His mercy-can he become, a workman worthy of heavenly meat: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
     We then endeavored to point out to you the application of the teaching given to priest and layman, closing with the exhortation that whether as priest or layman, as pastor or members of the flock, we strive to procure these goods and truths of the church, for teaching or living, let us remember the law taught by the LORD in the text of the last LORD'S day, in its application to every true disciple of the LORD here and now,-that as we go forth to teach and to live in the LORD'S vineyard, and in the world around us, we are to provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass for our purses, nor scrip for our journey, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor yet staves; and remember, too, that the spiritual workman is worthy of his meat, which is "that meat which endureth unto everlasting life." This meat the Son of Man will give unto him only as he labors and faints not, in the spirit of this law, and as a humble and faithful disciple of the LORD provides for the things which are from the LORD alone, while he provides not for the things which are from himself; and if they be external things provided of and for the body, or internal things of and for the soul, still they will be dedicated to the service of his immortal soul in the acknowledgment that they are from the LORD for that all-important use; and he will give all the glory to Him now and forevermore as he endeavors to become a workman worthy of his meat.
     To understand the spiritual meaning of the words of the text we have before us this morning, we must bear in mind that the twelve disciples represent all who are in goods and truths from the LORD, and in the abstract sense such goods and truths themselves. When these goods and truths of heaven and the Church are received from the LORD, and those receiving them confess all to be from the LORD `alone and nothing from themselves, they first enter the understanding, and this entrance of them into the understanding is represented in the text by the disciples entering into a city or village. For a city, as you know, corresponds to doctrine, and doctrine, or teaching, belongs to the faculty of the understanding.

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When, therefore, the heavenly principles of the Church enter into a city symbolizing the mind itself, and especially the understanding or intellectual faculty in which all the affections and thoughts, as its living inhabitants, are contained, they begin to inquire, or cause the man who has received them to inquire, and to scrutinize the things in this "city" of his understanding in order to ascertain who or what in that city is worthy; and with what therein is found worthy these spiritual principles of heaven abide until they are ready to go hence-i. e., until they are prepared to enter into the will and life of the man.
     This entrance of the truth into the understanding and scrutiny of things there, as to their being worthy or unworthy, that it may abide with the one and reject the other, suggests a presentation this morning of something of the teaching of the New Church concerning this faculty of the human mind called the understanding, with the view of illustrating the nature and spiritual use of this inquiry into and scrutiny of the things of the understanding, that a man's natural and spiritual principles may abide in what is worthy there and refuse to abide in what is unworthy therein. Now as to this faculty of the understanding we are taught: The understanding of man comes from the light of the spiritual sun. From this we understand that the understanding is an organ capable of receiving and manifesting the light of that spiritual sun which is divine truth, as the eye is an organ adapted to receive the light of the natural sun; hence the latter organ corresponds to the former. It enables a man to see in spiritual light as the natural eye enables him to see in natural light. All processes of thought, of reasoning, of the formation of ideas and conclusions, are operations of the understanding and involve internal, mental and spiritual sight and seeing. When a man uses the expression "I see," or "understand," he sees by virtue of the activity of this organ' and faculty of understanding; and if he says "I do not see" or "understand you," his failure to understand results `from the state of the organ being such that it cannot receive and introduce into its appropriate light the thing said or propounded. This failure may arise from the absence of the requisite knowledges, or it may be caused by the distorted form of the organ which so deflects and perverts the influent light as to turn it into mental and spiritual shade and darkness, and so prevent clear seeing; or it may be caused by the interior degree or plane of the mind being closed, as in the case of the merely natural man, who cannot vitally see spiritual truth because the spiritual degree proper is not opened in him.
     The various distorted and perverted forms of the understanding may be compared to, and in fact correspond to the various states of imperfect vision and diseased conditions of the natural eye, which are all caused by defects of form or inflammations and derangements of the natural organ. While, on the other hand, a good understanding is like a good eye, when, perfect in form and healthy in condition, it receives spiritual light and sees the things which are the objects of thought in clearness, reasons sanely and rationally about them, comes to sane and just conclusions concerning them, and uses the knowledges at hand to confirm truth and not to pervert it.
     From this it may appear that the understanding is one of the two essentials of man; it is the receptacle and habitation of his intelligence. For we are taught that every man is his own love and his own intelligence, and that whatever proceeds from him derives its essence from those two essentials or properties of his life; wherefore the angels know a man, what he is essentially, from a short intercourse with him-his love from the sound of his voice and his intelligence from his speech: the reason is, because there are two universals of the life of every man, the will and the understanding; and the will is the receptacle and habitation of his love, and the understanding is the receptacle and habitation of his intelligence; wherefore all things that proceed from man, whether it be action or speech, make the man and are the man himself.
     As the understanding is the receptacle of intelligence, it is also the receptacle of wisdom and faith, according to the following teaching: There are two faculties of life in man, which are called the will and the understanding, and the will is the receptacle of love and the understanding the receptacle of wisdom; and thus, also, the will is the receptacle of charity and the understanding the receptacle of faith. All the things which man wills and all the things which he understands flow in from without; the goods which are of love and charity and the truths which are of wisdom and faith, from the LORD; but all the things contrary to those from hell. It is provided by the LORD that man may sensibly perceive in himself as his those things which flow in from without, and thence produce them of himself as his own, although nothing of them is his. Nevertheless, those things are imputed to him as his on account of the freedom in which he is to will and to think, and on account of the knowledges of good and truth which are given him, from which he can freely choose whatever conduces to his temporal life and to his eternal life.
     This teaching is suggestive and instructive, because it makes known the fact that it is provided by the LORD that a man should receive from without, and as a result of his own efforts, things affecting his temporal and eternal life. These things may be from the LORD and they may be from the hells. In order that a man may be in freedom he is kept in the appearance and sensible perception that those things which flow in from without are his own, and that he produces them. Thus he is gifted with the right of choice as to what enters into his understanding. He receive what is false, fallacious, irrational, and of the hells, or he may receive what is true, rational, and sane from the LORD.
     The understandings of men are more or less tainted and infected with falsities, with false doctrines and fallacious reasonings and conclusions; what they may have of good and truth is more or less mixed with falsity, so that when the disciples of the LORD, in the form of spiritual goods and truths from Heaven, enter into this city of the understanding they find the inhabitants of such a mixed character that it becomes necessary for them to inquire diligently as to who is worthy, and to abide only with those or those things which are worthy. Falsities, false doctrines, false reasonings, false and irrational conclusions, and everything in the understanding which flows from and has its roots in such things, is manifestly an unfit abode for these disciples of the LORD; while all that is true in thought, in reason, and in sound and sane deduction in this spiritual city, and which on inspection is found to be in harmony with the divine truth, may become a worthy resting place for the disciples of the LORD.
     But it is important to notice now that there is in man a higher and a lower understanding. The higher understanding is the abode of a man's spiritual thought, intelligence, and reason, and, the lower understanding is the abode of his natural thought, intelligence, and reason. When, therefore, the disciples of the LORD enter into the cities of this lower understanding it should be clear that the first thing they must do is to inquire and scrutinize closely as to who therein is worthy, and with whom they can abide till they go thence.

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Only those things in the lower understanding are worthy which are found on careful inquiry to be in correspondence with the things of the higher understanding, thus in harmony with genuine spiritual truths from Heaven and the Church, such as the disciples represent. From this it will further appear, I trust, how important it is that the spiritual command here given should be obeyed by every true disciple of the LORD.
     We are again taught in regard to the understanding, that the faith of God enters into man through a prior way, which is from the soul into the superior parts of this understanding, but knowledges concerning God enter through a posterior way, because they are imbibed from the revealed Word by the understanding through the senses of the body. There is a meeting of the influxes in the understanding, as a common centre, and their natural faith becomes spiritual; therefore the human understanding is as a refining vessel in which the change is effected. Now if we conceive of this faith of God entering into a man as spiritual disciples of the LORD by a prior way, and knowledges concerning God, imbibed from the revealed Word, entering through a posterior way by the understanding through the senses of the body, and there constituting a city of natural faith which is only persuasive-you will see that the effect of the disciples so entering this spiritual city is to set up a refining process which involves a process of inquiry and inspection, by which gross, impure, and unworthy things are rejected, and worthy and pure things are received and made the abode of a true and living faith. Here, too, we may perceive how, spiritually, the `disciples of the LORD may enter into the city of a man's understanding, and by the refining process referred to inquire and search out what is worthy, and there abide until they go thence. Again, although the will is the man himself, and it disposes the understanding according to its pleasure, and though base knowledge only enters the understanding which has not any authority over-the will-and so is not in man otherwise that as one who stands in the entry or at the door, and not as yet in the house-still it is to be observed and noted that the understanding does teach the will, and shows what is to be done from the will. To see clearly this important use of the understanding as man is now constituted, you need only to reflect on this teaching. The natural man viewed in himself, as to his nature differs not at all from the nature of beasts; he is likewise a wild beast, but he is such as to the will; but he differs from beasts as to the understanding; this (the understanding) can be elevated above the lusts of the will, and not only see them but also moderate them. You see from this teaching that the understanding can be elevated above the lusts of the will, can teach the will, show it what is to be done, cause it to see its evils and be instrumental in the moderation of its lusts. The understanding, we are taught, may rise almost into the light in which the angels of heaven are. Then you know that the Church is such," and the man of the Church such, as is the understanding of the Word in her and in him-excellent and precious if the understanding be from the genuine truths of the" Word, but destroyed, yea, filthy if from those that are falsified.
     Again, we are taught that the understanding of man is dedicated to the reception of the truths which are of faith. The understanding of man is of such a quality as are the truths which form it, and as is the faith of those truths. In the opposite sense there is a faith in what is false, hence also-an understanding; but the understanding is of such a quality as is the false which forms it, and as is the faith in what is false. The understanding of what is false is from hell, and is hell with man, because opposite to the understanding of truth, which is of heaven from the LORD. Man is not a man from the face, nor even from speech, but from understanding and will; such as his understanding and will is, such is the man. That he has nothing of understanding at his birth, and also nothing of will is a known thing; also that his understanding and his will is formed by degrees from infancy; hence man is made a man and of a quality according to the quality of the formation of both those principles with him. The understanding is formed by truths, and the will by goods, insomuch that his understanding is nothing else but the composition of such things as are referred to truths, and the will nothing else than the affection of such things as are called goods; hence it follows that man is nothing else but the truth and the good from which both his faculties are formed. All and singular the things of his body correspond to those faculties, so that the quality of the whole man throughout is according to the quality of his intellectual principle and his will principle, thus according to his quality as to truths and as to goods; for, as was said, truths constitute his intellectual principle, and goods his will principle, or, what is the same thing, man is his own truth and his own good. Hence it is that man after death remains as he has been made truth and good. It is said as he has been made truth and good, and thereby is also meant, as he has been made what is false and evil; for evil men call what is false truth, and what is evil good.
     If then a man is his own truth or falsity, or, in other words, a form either of truth or falsity, and if essentially this form depends upon the state and form of his understanding, how important it must be that his understanding should be formed from genuine truths so as to be itself an organic form receptive of truth and not falsity, and so likewise that a man may become a form of truth and not a form of falsity. The teaching you have had this morning, it seems to me, should enable you to see clearly, and enable you to realize fully, the important function of this faculty of the understanding, especially in its relation to the elevation of the will, for such elevation is really an elevation of the man himself, since the will is the man himself.
     And since the old will has been destroyed and cannot be regenerated, but `a new will must be built up in a new and reformed understanding, the importance of the understanding being formed as fully and perfectly as possible from genuine truth should assume an impressive force in view of a man's salvation.
     The practical value of the lesson of the text to you and me and all men, then, it seems to me, is, the bringing to view the necessity of the reformation of the understanding, so that from a form perverted and distorted by falsity, and thus a form of hell, it may become a form receptive of truth, and thus a form of heaven. In our progress from infancy to adult life there will flow into our understanding, from various sources, things good and bad, evil and false, thus things worthy and unworthy, things from the LORD and things from hell. These latter may come from false doctrines taught to us if we have been raised in the Old Church; from falsities imbibed from the letter of the Word, read and studied without true doctrine to guide us; from the fallacies of the senses; from those who have had more or less influence over us; and in other ways. Thus unworthy things have come to and are inhabiting the city of our understandings. But in the mercy of the LORD, and because of His provision for our salvation, worthy inhabitants, even good and true things from Him, have also come to reside in this city of our natural or lower understanding.

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     The time must come to every one who is to be reformed, regenerated and saved, when the words of the text will be fulfilled, when the disciples of the LORD, even the goods and truths of Heaven and the Church, by command of the LORD, will enter into the city of our understandings. And the first thing which they will do, and which we must have them do, is to inquire for, scrutinize carefully, and search thoroughly for things worthy, in order that they may abide there till they go thence.
     How shall these disciples decide for us this momentous question? The answer is a plain and simple one. Only those things in our understandings which are found, on inquiry and earnest scrutiny, to be in correspondence and harmony with the goods and truths of Heaven and the Church, which these disciples represent-are to be regarded as worthy, and with these alone are the disciples to abide till they go thence. Our understandings to this end are to become as refining vessels, to sift, separate, and remove the gross, impure, false, and fallacious and thus unworthy, things in our understandings; and we are not to ask or expect these heavenly disciples from the LORD to abide in such things.
     Have these disciples entered in through the gates of your city? If so, will you permit them to so inquire and scrutinize that they may find a worthy abode in your city till they go thence? You surely will not ask them to abide in some habitation of falsity and false doctrine, but will be anxious to have them take up their abode in a habitation of truth in correspondence with and congenial to their own heavenly quality! Let us, then, not only invite these heavenly disciples into the city of our understanding, but let us have them inquire and scrutinize till they find a worthy and suitable place of abode for themselves. Let us see to it that the unworthy things of falsity and false doctrine, either from past engrafting or present evil inclinings, are sent off to the confines of our city, and these disciples find their abode with us in the central and controlling places of our city, there to do their work of bringing all worthy things of our lowest understanding into correspondence with themselves, and so into conformity to the divine order, that our understandings may be reformed into vessels beautiful and comely, and thus receptive of the divine truth, and cease to be ugly and deformed vessels, receptive only of falsity and vain and foolish things, leading us to folly, insanity, and evil.
     In this view every thought which comes to us is to be made a subject of inquiry, is to be scrutinized, to see if it is a fit and worthy abode for these heavenly disciples of the LORD. We are to know how far it is fit by seeing how far it is in correspondence with the goods and truths of Heaven and the Church, for only so far is it a fit abode for these disciples. Every reason which we use to confirm ourselves in truth must stand or fall as it is seen on investigation to be in harmony with these disciples as divine principles of revealed truth, and so a worthy abode for them. If we could only get into the habit of instituting this system of inquiry, scrutiny, and refining in regard to the thoughts, reasons, and conclusions which daily call for the exercise of this faculty of the understanding, how practically useful it would be for each one of us. For we could soon fall into the constant habit of referring all our thoughts to the heavenly principles we know, to see if they were fit and worthy; and only as we saw them to be such-because in harmony with those principles-would we value, receive, I and love them, would we dare to invite the heavenly disciples to take up their abode in them, or would they be likely to do so. By this daily inquiry and scrutiny of all that enters our thoughts and is involved in the operations of our understandings, to see that it is fit and worthy as an abode for the disciples of the LORD, that it may be cast out if unworthy, and cherished, obeyed, and respected if found worthy-our understandings may become the abode of heavenly and rational thoughts, leading us to sane, rational conclusions conducive to spiritual and eternal life, and not the abode of every foul and unclean bird of falsity and night. This is the lesson I would earnestly and affectionately press upon your thoughts and affections this morning; and may the LORD help us all to learn the lesson well by a daily application of its evident meaning and the divine teaching from the LORD, which it contains.-Amen.
INTELLECTUAL CULTURE.* 1898

INTELLECTUAL CULTURE.*       EDWARD CRANCH       1898

* Annual address delivered et the closing of the Academy schools in Huntingdon Valley, Pa., June 16th, 1898.

     THE Academy of the New Church has brought to a close another year of its work, the first full year under its new administration.
     Work in all departments, Preparatory, Collegiate, Seminary, and Theological, has gone on with energy, and the teachers are now about to release their pupils, in some cases for the annual vacation, in others for wider work in the world; while the teachers themselves will bend to the task of careful preparation for the uses of years to come. There is so much to be done that the work would seem appalling, but for the consideration that the life of such use is a joy to the worker, and such joy is, in its very nature, limitless.
     The work of the Academy includes the promotion of all sorts of intellectual culture in the Church, and the special adaptation of that culture to various uses and amenities of life. Acting with the New Church in striving to promote Order, it is the special mission of the Academy to publish, in the class-room and in the lecture-room and by the press, the laws of order as applied to matters of education.
     As it is the privilege of the teachers to conduct original research and investigation, so it is their duty to impart of their knowledge and methods to the young persons especially intrusted to their care, and to let some portion of their use overflow, for the behoof of the parents and associates of those pupils, and of all others who may be led to inquire.
     It was long ago recognized that intellectual culture did not mean the bare accumulation of facts, the mere listing of observed forms-forms of speech and modes of thought, forms of historical association, forms of animal and vegetal life, forms of mechanical phenomena and the like-since this work employs only the memory, the storehouse or stomach of the mental organism, while true culture demands an assimilation of all such facts, according to laws of Order, that useful purposes may be promoted, and new truths and new uses propagated in the rational mind. Ideals of culture vary and have varied, but all that ate to be of real value must observe Order.
     Use is the grand motive of all creation, and Order is its law. Order is eternal, continuous, persistent, and supreme. Man's petty efforts to set it aside, do but result in his own discomfiture, and the defeat of his cherished plans. Order cannot be set aside, even by-the Omnipotence of God, for God is Order, and together with creation He introduced Order into the universe, and into all and single things thereof.

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The Omnipotence of God, in all things, proceeds and operates according to the laws of His Order. If the persistence of God's order should be suspended for a single breathing-space,- if there was any spark of self-existent power in anything outside of the One God,-the Universe would crumble into chaos, and cease to be.
     There is, however, in every least particular of Order a certain freedom, more or less limited in the world of nature below man, and very real in man, who is an organ of fullest created life, to whose service all other things are coincident. This freedom is necessary to the working of the universe, just as freedom from undue friction is necessary to the operation of every mechanism of man's invention; hence in this freedom man is at liberty to frame any ideal he pleases, and to attempt to carry it out, very often with success, that his better efforts may be encouraged, but with earlier or later certain disappointment if he sets himself against Divine Order.
     The first essential of intellectual culture is to have the proper point of view; for even Order, viewed askance, will assume the appearance of disorder, and that will be called useless which is essential, and that essential which is useless. For the want of a proper point of view many errors have arisen; as when it was believed that the sun moved around the earth; that the universe was created out of nothing, and in six natural days at that; when men thought they could develop learning and make new discoveries in natural science by the mere rules of logic; when they made the memorizing of grammars and lexicons a test of mental ability; but, above all, when they made the denial of God's work of design in creation the test of rational "scientific" qualification. Yet when we reflect upon this last error, and upon the ideas of creation that men have been expected to entertain, we must sadly grieve, while we can hardly wonder.
     The most incomprehensible view of creation, and, at the same time one of the most widespread, is that which seems to accept certain "general laws" as of unknown origin, including gravitation, cohesion, chemical force, heredity, variation, and so forth, while God is supposed to "intervene" now and then in some "special creation," or "answer to prayer" or "miracle," by which the general laws of the universe are imagined to be set aside. Since the time of Lyell, the eminent geologist, the idea of sudden changes in the order of events has been more and more weakened, and the doctrine of the continuity of natural forces more and more strengthened; but it has not seemed to occur to the average scientist to claim continuity of purpose for Divine acts and laws. Assuming the arbitrary ideas of "intervention" and "suspension of natural law," just as these are taught by a false theology, they see no way out of their difficulties but in the denial of God, or at least of His Word. Draper, in Religion and Science, says, "Such considerations, then, plainly force upon us the conclusion that the organic process of the world has been guided by the operation of immutable law, not determined by discontinuous, disconnected, arbitrary intervention of God."
     Erroneous ideas of God and creation have been responsible for many vital errors of observation, for men always see what they want to see. It is as Swedenborg says, "Thought from the eye closes the understanding, but thought from the understanding opens the eye." The celebrated Darwin could see no evidence of design in the wonderful adaptations of forms of life. Being once asked, late in life, what he thought of these testimonies to design, he replied: "Well, that often comes over me with overwhelming force, but at other times,"-and he shook his head vaguely," it seems to go away." Another time he said, "Thus disbelief has crept over me at a very slow rate, but was at last complete. The rate was so slow that I felt no distress." Again he says, "There seems to be no more design in the variability of organic beings, and in the action of natural selection, than in the course which the wind blows." The blowing of the wind, of course, is also ruled by design, but in this, as m all things, the principle of freedom must be considered. If God's designs were too open to sense and convincing observation, it would be detrimental to man's freedom, and prevent all hope of his being conjoined to his Maker, freely, intelligently, and joyfully, and so would defeat the prime end of creation, which is the conjunction of the universe with God, through a heaven of angels, all from the human race, thus leading creation back to the Creator from Whom it sprung. God hides himself behind His works, but reveals Himself in His Word. Darwin says again, "For myself, I do not believe that there ever has been any revelation." He saw only a selfish existence in every creature, he believed that no variation was developed except for the benefit of the being in whom it occurred (saving only in varieties bred by man for his own use or profit), and he denied that beauty, or any other endowment, was ever preserved in nature for general benefit in any degree whatsoever.
     Herbert Spencer, another ardent advocate of nature as against God, attributes all worship of gods or demons to an evolution from the veneration paid to generous or powerful superiors, whose continued favors were desired, after death. The shadow gave an idea of a "double" or soul, and the appearance of the departed in dreams proved continued existence, and hence came belief in a God! Tyndall saw nothing in creation but a cosmic gas, in the necessary changes of which-without a governing intelligence-were accurately predestinated every phase of form and thought and feeling thereafter to occur, thus establishing fatalism in its most dreary form.
     Oken, in his Elementary Physiology, says, "Light shines upon the water and it is salted. Light shines upon the salted sea, and it lives. Thus was produced the sea-mucus (or Bathybius) which is the protoplasm-or life-stuff, the physical basis of the earliest and simplest organisms." Buechner, in Force and Matter, says, "Matter is the origin of all that exists, without the intrusion of any creative energy; all natural and mental forces are inherent in it. Nature, the all-engendering and all-devouring, is its own beginning and end, birth and death."
     None of these, or any other, can "by searching, find out God," except so far as He has revealed himself in his Word, and now most fully, through his servant, Swedenborg, by the Spiritual Sense of that Word showing God Himself as the One Divine Man, incarnated in the LORD JESUS CHRIST, the only source of all substance and power, all life and order. Here we have the point of view needed at the outset of true intellectual culture; and all criticisms, from the permission of evil, cease, when the principles of order with freedom, and freedom under order, even begin to be grasped.
     What is the next essential in continued, intellectual culture? As one who is indifferent to the laws of order in any trade or profession will make but a poor workman in that use, so he who is indifferent in regard to the laws of Divine Order as they apply to his own thoughts and desires and life, will not be a reliable guide in his teachings of philosophy or science. As light without heat is unproductive, so the bare acknowledgment of God is unfruitful of permanent results.

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The man who would, do the most active and efficient work in any department of human activity must place himself on the side of Divine Order, and be prepared to obey its teachings as fast as he learns them, and as far as he sees that they' shed light upon his own affairs. To secure this co-operation with Divine Order, which is to ensure the permanence and usefulness of all understanding of truth, he must examine himself, and strive, by an inward way, from the teachings of the Word of the LORD, to separate from his own life all evils that he finds, even those that are hidden from the world, regarding them all as violations of Divine Order, thus as sins. Without this self-knowledge, self-compulsion, and cultivation of conscience, all understanding of truth will gradually perish, and the mind will create for itself one falsity after another,-until at last the ability to see any truth at all, even temporarily, will be seriously endangered, though, perhaps, never wholly lost. That to neglect self-examination and interior efforts at reformation is so dangerous to the understanding, is taught by Swedenborg, where he says: "Evils shut-in act against truths and goods, and at length destroy them, calling them fallacies and mockeries."
     In the same connection, it is narrated by Swedenborg that an experiment was made before him to demonstrate the origin of evil and the false: "A truth from the Word," says he, "was uttered with a loud voice from heaven, which flowed down to hell, and from one and another to the lowest hell. And it was heard that this truth, in its flowing down, was successively and by degrees turned into the false, and at length into such a false as was altogether, opposite to the truth, and in this case it was in the lowest hell. The reason why it was so turned was because everything was received according to state and form; hence truth, flowing in into inverted forms, such as are in hell, was successively inverted and changed into the false opposite to truth; from this circumstance it was also evident what is the quality of hell, from the highest hell to the lowest; likewise that there is but one active force, which is the Life, which is the LORD."
     It may be asked in passing, since, there is a hell, of whom does it consist? According to Swedenborg again, "Hell consists of spirits, who while they were men in the world, denied a God, acknowledged Nature, lived contrary to Divine Order, loved evils and falses, although not so much before the world because of appearance; and who were either insane with regard to truths, or despised them, or denied them, if not with the mouth, still in heart; of those who have been of this description since the world began, hell consists. . . . It does not consist of Spirits immediately created, neither does heaven consist of angels immediately created; but hell consists of human beings born in the world, who were made devils and satans by themselves; and heaven, in like manner, consists of human beings born in the world who were thereby made angels by the LORD. Every man is a spirit as to the interiors which are of his mind, clothed in the world with a material body which stands under the direction of the thought of his spirit, and. under the arbitration of its affection; for the mind, which is the spirit, acts, and the body, which is matter, is acted upon; and every spirit, after the rejection of the material body, is a man, in a form similar to what he had when a man in the world. From these considerations it is evident of whom hell consists."
     Hence, if man will not use his internal freedom to compel himself inwardly as well as outwardly away from evil, the organism of his mind will pervert all truth, more and more. Because men in-the world are in different degrees of evil, it follows that with all there may be some truth, more or less unperverted; but always we have to be on our guard, and view with especial doubt the reasonings and conclusions of those who deny God, or who deny that the LORD JESUS CHRIST is that God. No man, either, can rid himself of all evil whilst he lives in the world, but so far as he is in the effort to overcome his evils from conscience, so far his reason and will are more to be relied on than those of the man void of conscience, although the acts of both may be similar before the world. If man only compel himself to good, and not at the same time away from evil, if he does not sit in judgment on himself in his hours of quiet meditation and condemn his own evils to which he is inclined, recognizing their devilish origin, and imploring the help of the LORD-which is never refused-to fight against them,-if man is indifferent in this matter, then his outward good behavior is like the fair skin which hides an inward loathsome disease. Outward means of cure, external applications without internal proper medication, only put off the appearances of disorders for a time, for, by-and-by, they return, or assume new and aggravated forms; but, if the real internal cure is properly performed, fighting the very seat of the evil, in the inward organism, in its own degree of existence, then the lower degrees will either recover of themselves or will yield now to the cleansing of outward applications, which before were only prejudicial. We must make clean the inside of the cup and of the platter that the outside of them may be clean also!
     It may be urged that even a bad man may be convinced of the truth and see it clearly, for no man's rational faculty is wholly taken away, it is only closed by sin; yet the conviction in the case of the bad man is but momentary, for as soon as he lives in his own life his evils from the interior flow down, and pervert the just-seen truth, causing it to be despised, denied, or turned into the false.
     Let us, then, put ourselves on the side of Divine Order and make every effort of our lives bend freely to the Law of the LORD. Then will our minds be clearer, and our equipment for the uses of the world and heaven in every way more worthy.
     See, now, what we ought to stand for here in the Academy of the New Church,-for Religion and Science, not apart, but together, united in the acknowledgment of the LORD in his Divinely Omnipotent Humanity, and in affectionate obedience to the Spirit of His Revealed WORD.
USE OF INFESTATIONS 1898

USE OF INFESTATIONS       A. CZRRNY       1898

THE work of regeneration is the work of the establishment of the Church in man. This work is accomplished only after repeated efforts to resist the inclination to yield to one's evil loves; in other words, it consists in a persistent striving to reach a state which is the very opposite to that in which man is by heredity, and in which he has confirmed himself more or less by actual life. It is called a work to express the fact that it is not accomplished without difficulty, exertion, and self-compulsion on the part of man. For this reason the successive stages in the progress of this work are called days of labor, and these are followed by a day of rest, which is the state of the completion of this work.
     In the spiritual life of man there is no other labor than combat with evils and falses, nor any-other rest than rest from evils and falses, which follows when the latter have been so completely subdued that evil spirits dare no longer infest man.

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Combat against evils and falses is at the same time combat against evil spirits. For evils do not arise of their own accord; they are injected by evil spirits, and are received according as the affections of the will favor them or not.
     Evils and falses must be permitted to arise in order that they may be seen; for unless they are seen they cannot be removed. But when they do arise, two things ought to be remembered: first, that they are injected by' evil spirits, for ends of their own, and, secondly, that the LORD permits these spirits to inject them for a divine end. Let man remember this in times of trouble, and it will put him in a better state to receive power against1 the evil or falsity which infests. As long as man is under the persuasion that evil originates in man he will ascribe it to man; and when he discovers it in himself he will either seek to justify it, or if he does acknowledge it, the persuasion that he himself is the cause of it will render its removal well-nigh impossible. For he who ascribes evil to himself also believes that he can remove it by his own power; similarly as he who ascribes good to himself believes that he does it from his own power. The one implies the other. Consequently, instead of looking up for help against the evil, such a man looks down to self, where no help can be found, I and thus remains in evil. Self-reliance is the greatest of all obstacles in the removing of evils; for where self obtrudes itself there the LORD cannot operate. On the other hand, he who believes that evil spirits are the cause of evil will look to the LORD for help, for he acknowledges that the power to combat against evil is given by the LORD.
     The second thing to be remembered is that infestations are permitted for divine end which is, that goods and truths may be confirmed. It is through infestations that the evils and falses are revealed of which man is yet to be purified. But these are never removed without combats. In spiritual temptations, however, I the assault is not directed against evils or falses, but against some good or truth to be received, or which has partially been received and needs to be confirmed before it becomes man's own. Evils and falses are then injected by evil spirits in opposition to it, with a view to prevent its being received. This causes combat, and if the infestation is severe, it becomes temptation, in which man must fight until he conquers or becomes the slave of evil spirits. But the LORD supports him, and fights for him against the evil spirits who brought about the infestation. The LORD is always near, but never so near as "in the day of evil"; for then something of love or of faith is threatened, which Divine Power alone can protect.
     And yet man must fight against evils and falses as though the results depended entirely upon his own exertion; for it is by doing that man prepares himself for reception. Influx is according to efflux. As man uses the power given him from above he is gifted with new and greater power than he had before; so that the more he conquers, the more he is prepared to conquer, until evil spirits dare no longer approach him.
     Thus infestations, although evil in themselves, and due to the malice of the evil crew, serve a use. It is for us to recognize the object for which they are permitted, and to make the proper use of them. Without them there would be no progress in our spiritual life, because our unregenerated states would remain dormant; hence the obstacles which prevent the reception of spiritual goods and truths would not be removed. It is only by combats against them that evils are removed, and in order that this may be done, they must be brought out, else we would not even know that they exist in us.
     Now spiritual infestations are assaults upon goods and truths. But there is another kind of infestations of a lower order, so to say. These are assaults upon our natural affections and persuasions, upon our feelings and opinions. These are likewise caused by evil spirits, though brought about by external means, generally by those around us-at times willing, at times unconscious instruments of these spirits. For it must be remembered that the latter are constantly plotting against man, to trap him, and yet man never thinks of them as being the instigators of all this. For even after he has been instructed that not men, but evil spirits are the cause of evil, he never thinks of them in connection with any particular evils, at least not when any of his unregenerated states are active, because he does not sensibly perceive their operation.
     But although we lay so much stress upon the fact that evil spirits are the cause of all evil, we do by no means wish to be understood that therefore no guilt attaches to those who assist them in carrying out their designs-i e., if they do so consciously. As we understand it, this truth is emphasized in the Writings with a view to enable us to better fight the unregenerated states in us, revealed to us by these assaults, by elevating our minds above appearances, thus drawing away our attention from the instrumental to the real cause. That spirits are the cause of evil is evident from the fact that all thoughts inflow.
     Infestations refer more to the understanding, temptations to the will; for the former are caused by an injection of evils and falses into the thoughts, while temptations are assaults upon the love. In spiritual infestations and temptations there are always two forces arrayed against each other-evil and the false against good and truth. There must be these opposing forces or there can be no spiritual combat. He who is wholly devoid of spiritual good cannot be tempted, nor he who is totally ignorant of spiritual truth. The former yields to evils without resistance; the latter is without the means to repel the assault. Hence there is no combat in either case. But to the man of the Church both the means and the power to repel assaults are given; and to be able to make the proper use of them we must know and perceive that our real enemies are not men, but evils and falses, and that our warfare should be with them. No other enemies are treated of in the Word.
     Many and various are "the snares" which "the wicked lay privily" to catch the unwary and the self-confident. But the regenerating man "though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down." The LORD permits his being tried, and cannot always prevent his falling. But even these lapses serve a good purpose in the end. They demonstrate to him in an unmistakable way that he is not altogether proof against assaults; and especially do they teach him how much he depends upon that "mighty-hand" and the "outstretched arm" which are ever ready to support him.
     Salvation from evils and fakes is from the LORD, but man must do his p art to secure it. Salvation from them will come to us through trust in the LORD and our own exertions. Without these we must remain in evils, and finally be drawn down to destruction. A. CZRRNY.
FEAR OF DEATH 1898

FEAR OF DEATH       CLARENCE A. GILMORE       1898

Why fear the end of earthly strife,
When death is but the Gate of Life.
     CLARENCE A. GILMORE.

105


TEACHERS' INSTITUTE 1898

TEACHERS' INSTITUTE       Editor       1898

     III.

     AT the third meeting of the Teachers' Institute Bishop Pendleton took occasion to explain that he did not regard the meetings being here recorded as being those of a local branch, but of the provisional organization of the whole body. After more permanent organization had been effected then the teachers here would form a branch of the whole body. He added that on his episcopal tour last fall he had placed the plan of organization before the teachers of local schools in Glenview (Illinois), and Berlin and Parkdale (Canada), and that much interest had been shown and applications for membership had been made. Mr. Pendleton then presented the following names for membership in the Institute, all of which were accepted without dissent:
     Of Glenview: Rev. N. D. Pendleton, Mr. D. H. Klein, Mr. George A. Blackman, Miss Augusta Pendleton, and Miss Jessie Carpenter.
     Of Berlin: Rev. J. E. Rosenqvist, Mr. Ernest J. Stebbing, and Miss Annie E. Moir.
     Of Parkdale: Rev. E. S. Hyatt, Miss Zella Pendleton.
     This action included also the Rev. Richard de Charms, of Denver, Colorado, who had written asking admission for himself and wife, on account of the small school they are conducting, and for information regarding the conducting of the Huntingdon Valley school.
     It was decided to invite the editor of New Church Life to attend the meetings and to have access to the minutes for purposes of publication. Referring to the proposed publication of proceedings, Mr. Pendleton said that it is not the intention to keep these transactions secret as had been done in the past, although some things will not appear, such as belong rather to history and the future and are not suitable for publication now. He favored giving the names of the various speakers, considering it carrying privacy too far to suppress all individuality.

     Mind-Training.

     Mr. Pendleton referred to a book on mind training which he had just read, Methods of Mind Training, Concentrated Attention and Memory, by Catharine Aiken. (Harper Brothers.) The author has had remarkable success in developing in her pupils quickness of perception and of memory as well as retentiveness, and this by devoting but twenty minutes each day to exercises in seeing, hearing, and calculating, with increased rapidity. He said that she treats her method as new, but that it was practically involved in the memory system taught by Mr. Charles Leland. The question is, whether it might not be carried too far, since when too much stress is laid upon development of the memory there is danger of resting there, instead of advancing to the development of perception.
     Miss Grant said that she had always used such exercises with her pupils, writing, simple exercises, examples in arithmetic on the board; rubbing them out immediately, and then having the pupils work them out; or writing a verse of poetry, rubbing it out immediately, and then having the pupils recite it.
     Mr. Price spoke of the language-method of Professor Rosenthal, of New York, who does not give oral lessons, but corrects papers sent him by non-resident pupils. He requires them to study aloud, and three times daily at each language, giving only ten minutes to each at one time.
     Mr. Pendleton said that Miss Aiken professes to cure inattention; but the most striking thing to him about the book was the enthusiasm of the teacher, which he regarded as more important than the method or system. With another teacher who lacked this quality the method might become a mere "scientific," and therefore not be a success. The energetic interest or enthusiasm of the teacher stimulates the spirits of the pupils to quick thought, which cultivates perception. They might even be trained to quick speaking, as choirs are in the world of spirits. Hesitation in speaking is because of self-consciousness.
      Miss Grant said that in training of that kind there is danger of over-stimulating the pupils and injuring their health. Then there is such a difference in children; those who do not need stimulating are the ones most apt to take it; while there are others who learn slowly, but retain what they learn.
     Miss Jessie Moir added that there are some who are quite intelligent if given time, but who can do nothing if hurried. Sometimes the slow ones are the more original in thought. She thought it most important, however, to teach children to think quickly; then they can be trained to speak their thoughts quickly.
     Mr. Pendleton pointed out that there are two ways of looking at it, from proper stimulating and from forcing. The old saying is: "The more haste the worse speed." If pupils are forced there will be haste, but if they are led spontaneously there will be more speed.
     Mr. Price thought that the proper way to stimulate in using questions and answers is to begin by answering the question yourself; for a child at first does not know. He thought that the system of competitive prizes used in the public schools stimulates the bright ones and discourages the dull ones.
     Mr. Synnestvedt had found emulation in class-work, as in mental arithmetic, very useful in quickening the pupils' faculties.
     Miss Grant spoke of a plan adopted in the public schools of some of the large cities, namely, having special schools for the slow ones, and in them teachers who have marked abilities in instructing such. This, she thought, would be useful in our schools were it possible. Slow pupils are not always stupid, but often make intelligent men and women; but they need special teachers.
     Mr. Pendleton, in answer to a question, expressed the opinion that the giving of prizes is a good thing if done with judgment.

     Examinations.

     Mr. Synnestvedt received permission to introduce the question of "examinations" for discussion. He thought that there had been lack of definiteness in our schools heretofore, in our discarding the methods used in schools of the world and in our experimenting to find better ones. Among the things so discarded were examinations. It is true that these are abused in schools and colleges, and even in the civil service, by giving mere catch questions, and by "cramming," and in other ways, and that this abuse warps the growth of both teacher and pupil. But examinations have a use in establishing a standard for each of the several grades and keeping the pupils up to it. A pupil should not be graded solely on the result of his examination, but it would be of assistance. It would also be a stimulus and encouragement to those who should pass, and it would be a means of determining whether any of the pupils are unable to keep up with their class. He had-held an examination in the local school just before the holidays, and had found it useful. He had used the method in vogue in other schools-having both oral and written exercises and asking questions directed to the general intelligence of the pupils.

106


In reading, he had had them read from both old and new lessons. He had examined the classes one at a time in their regular lesson periods, though usually the time required had extended over two periods.
     Mr. Pendleton said that he could see no objection to holding examinations in that way. His greatest objection to them in general was to the method used in his boyhood, when they were made public exhibitions. Parents and friends were invited, and were permitted to ask questions on the subjects gone over during the term; and for this ordeal the pupils would be reviewed a month beforehand.
     Mr. Price said that where he had lived, in Illinois, they used to have exhibition examinations, but it was optional with the pupils whether they would enter them or not.
     Miss Moir said that Mr. Benade's objection to examinations was, to keeping a pupil back simply because he could not make a certain percentage.
     Mr. Price said that in the world, in colleges, they seemed necessary, but with us the word of the former teacher is usually taken in grading a pupil.
     Mr. Synnestvedt thought that it might be useful to have an examination for entrance into college, and that it would be useful for the pupils of all grades except the very youngest.
     Mr. Doering said that he had always used examinations in his classes,-that is, tests and reviews.
     Mr. Price remarked that there seemed to be an objection to the word "exhibition," but he thought it might be a good thing if the pupils were not too young, and if it were not given as an examination, but as an entertainment, the pupils being allowed to choose what they should do toward the entertainment.
     Mr. Pendleton thought that this would be particularly good for boys, as, for instance, a number of boys might be trained to speak quickly together.
     Mr. Price said that he had, from time to time, had a class of boys read a verse of poetry in the form of a round, so arranging it that the poetic metre would harmonize, like the phrases or bars in music. He had done it to develop concentration and good enunciation.
     Mr. Synnestvedt asked for opinions as to the relative value of short reviews or tests at frequent intervals compared with regular examinations at stated times and longer intervals. The former, he thought, would serve to form the teacher's judgment of the standing of the' pupil, but the formal regular examinations would be more impressive to the pupils, and hence of more1 use.
     Mr. Price thought that both ought to be used, the formal ones for boys rather than for girls, because girls are more easily confused and made nervous by them.
     Mr. Synnestvedt, speaking on the point of study of the character of pupils, thought that the test of a single examination was not enough to form much of a judgment upon.
     Miss Ashley spoke of a suggestion made in a magazine, that pupils write a composition on what kind of a "chum" each would like. In a Boston school where this had been tried, these compositions had been thought to be of great assistance in bringing out the character. The same had been tried in the local school here.

     Study of Pupils' Character.

     Mr. Pendleton asked for a consensus as to the best way to come to an understanding of the characters of the pupils.
     Mr. Synnestvedt considered the weekly meetings of the teachers as one of the best means.
     Miss Ashley mentioned the meetings of the teachers, with the various parents, as another way.
     Mr. Pendleton suggested, also, the use of a Head Master having talks with the individual pupils, to which Mr. Price added that this ought to be the privilege of every teacher.
     Mr. Doering referred to this plan as having failed in a case where the boys did not feel at home with the teacher.
     Mr. Pendleton was of the opinion that the talks should be with all the boys, both good and bad-not as a lecture. The endeavor should be to get into sympathy with those whom we teach; this is a part of the use of the priesthood as well as of teachers. It is a part of every man a progress in regeneration to study character; it is a part of perception, which in the Writings is divided into two kinds, the perception of good and truth in the abstract, and the perception of character or good and truth in man.
     Miss Ashley asked how to reach those pupils who appear all right but of whom the teacher could not help having a strong suspicion.
     Mr. Synnestvedt suggested noticing them in their unconscious moments.
     Mr. Pendleton said that this could sometimes be done, but not always, as some persons seem never to be off their guard. In such cases we can only wait for the' character to develop, for something to come to a head.
     Miss Ashley asked if anything could be done by the teachers to bring things to a head.
     Mr. Synnestvedt thought that there was danger in this of inducing upon the pupil a more strict external and making the deceitfulness deeper.
     Mr. Pendleton said that the very deceitful, in society, are like an ulcer in the body, which homoeopaths now do not treat by lancing but wait for it to break; to lance it relieves the pain but interferes with the cure. As Dr. Kent says: "The true homoeopath does not treat pain." An ulcer in its shut-in condition-that is, while gathering-is like the imaginary heavens. The LORD does not judge those who form such heavens, but waits for them to break out; then He disposes into order both the good and the evil. But the LORD foresees this outbreak, and so must we, in such cases, watch closely for indications. It is sometimes difficult to know just when to act. The spirits in the imaginary heavens think they are in good, and so do the children who are under the influence of such spirits, for it is such spirits who induce the state; and this must be taken into consideration in considering bringing such children to task. Such cases are also a discipline to the teacher in cultivating patience and endurance. As to the influence of such pupils upon other children, that cannot always be prevented, for it is among the things which we leave to the Divine Providence, without being anxious.
     Miss Ashley brought forward the point that such pupils might sometimes serve the use of bringing out the evils of other pupils, which might not otherwise be known to the teacher.
     Mr. Pendleton added that when we recognize an evil in ourselves and will not to do it, half the battle is fought. The same principle holds good when parents recognize the evils in their children, or teachers an evil in the school, they must then watch and wait for it to come out. Such pupils, on account of natural brightness or external goodness, are sometimes petted and
flattered, which is of course most hurtful.
     The discussion here passed over onto subjects not of general interest.

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SOME NEW DOCUMENTS CONCERNING SWEDENBORG 1898

SOME NEW DOCUMENTS CONCERNING SWEDENBORG        C. TH. ODHNER       1898

As THE years pass by it becomes more and more evident that the Church, before long, will have to publish a supplementary volume of documents concerning Swedenborg, to contain the accumulation of new evidences which have come to light since Dr. R. L. Tafel published his great collection in 1875-1877. In response to a request for a portrait of Swedenborg's intimate friend, Count Andrew von Hopken-for reproduction in the Annals of the New Church-the Rev. Joseph E. Boyesen, of Stockholm, recently sent us a volume of Hopken's collected writings, edited and published by Mr. Carl Silfverstolpe in Stockholm, 1890. We found here all the letters of Von Hopken which have been incorporated in Dr. Tafel's Documents, and, in addition, some news letters referring to Swedenborg which have never been published before. Though containing nothing of a startling character the new documents are valuable as affording additional sidelight upon the first persecution of the New Church and of Von Hopken's own relations to Swedenborg. The writer, one of the first statesmen of Europe, twice Prime Minister of Sweden, Chancellor of the University of Upsala, and founder of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, was one of the most enlightened men of his age, somewhat world-worn and cynical, perhaps, but a true patriot and an earnest, liberal, inquiring Christian.
     At the time of his writing the subjoined letters his attitude toward the Heavenly Doctrines seems to have been somewhat unsettled, though friendly. Subsequently, however, his devotion to the New Church became more pronounced, as is evident from the fact that he became a member, and afterwards the president and chief patron of the Exegetic-Philanthropic Society, the first New Church Association in Sweden. He died in 1785.
     The volume from which the new documents have been translated is entitled Riksradat Grefve Anders Johan von Hopkens Skrifter, Vol. I, Stockholm, Norstedt, 1890, pp. 488.
LETTERS OF COUNT VON HOPKEN 1898

LETTERS OF COUNT VON HOPKEN       Editor       1898

     I.

     TO PROFESSOR SAMUEL ALF.*

                    Ulfasa, December 10th, 1769.

     "I gratefully return the documents which you kindly sent me. Swedenborg's letter interested me the most.** He has written to me in the same way, of which I enclose a copy,*** which, if you care, you may preserve among the other writings of this extraordinary man. I am one of those who have especially defended and protected him against persecutions,**** for I have been convinced that he has been sincere in his views and has written from a pure motive, without any lust for fame. I have also been of the opinion that his theology would gain adherents, though not as quickly as now seems to be the case.' - The causes of this are various: Partly defective learning, partly the political fanaticism, which easily, when occasion is provided, may turn to religious- subjects with still greater heat, and which now seems to be the case so much the more, as the minds are ripe, prepared and excited for all sorts of novelties. In short, `I fear that the old gentleman, Swedenborg, contrary to his own desire and intention, may have kindled a fire which will be dampened and extinguished, God knows when! The clergy of Gottenburg and Westgothland are more infected than is generally believed. His Excellence, Count Ekeblad, has told me some particulars as to this, and he also mentioned the persons, but I do not now recollect the names.
     * Professor Samuel Alf, one of the greatest classical scholars or Sweden, Professor of Latin Eloquence, subsequently of Theology, at the College of Linkoping; Archdean of that city, 1781; died 1796. He married Anna Filenius, daughter of Swedenborg's great hater, Bishop Filenius, who had married Swedenborg's niece, Ulrika Benzelstjerna. Professor Alf does not appear to have shared his father-in-law's enmity toward the aged revelator. See Doc. II, 1132.
     ** This letter was not Swedenborg's letter to Hartley, as surmised by the editor of The Writings of Hopken, but the famous letter to Dr. Beyer of October 30th, 1769, which was published by the latter at Gottenburg. Doc. II, 305.
     *** Compare Swedenborg's letter to Hopken, dated Nov. 17th, 1769. Doc. II, 980.
     **** From this statement it would appear that "persecutions" against Swedenborg had been contemplated by his enemies before the date of the above letter, a fact hitherto unknown.

     "Have you read Swedenborg's Expositio Doctrinoe Novoe Hierosolymoe? This work in reality favors the Catholics, and is directed against the Reformed-that is, Calvinists and Lutherans. All of them are opposed as to the doctrine of the Trinity, but the Calvinists especially in the article on Justification by Faith alone. If you would like to read this treatise I will bring it with me when next time I visit Link6ping. It has also been translated into English.
     "His little tract, De Commercio Animoe et Corporis et de Influxa, is to my mind the one least well developed, although the hypothesis may seem plausible. The last words, which he also insists upon in the printed letter, state that Charity and Faith make the whole of Religion.
     Another person is represented as asking, "Quis hoc negat." Swedenborg answers," Theologia hodierna interius lustrata."' (Skrifter, p. 446.)     

     II.

     TO PROFESSOR ALF.
                         April 10th, 1770.

     "As I am about to send a horse to Linkoping with my coachman, I use this occasion to express my obligation for the Swedenborgiana* which you have sent me. I have found nothing edifying in these. As your friend, I may say, sub rosa, that the letter of Bishop Filenius** made me most sad. As a priest he ought to have exhibited more charity and politeness toward an erring neighbor, more consideration for an uncle, and more love of truth than he has shown, for that he is not acquainted with Swedenborg's work and system is shown when he accuses the latter of trying to make faith of no account. Swedenborg everywhere insists upon fides cum charitate conjuncta. Is it that chant as destroys fidem? Bishop Lamberg*** accuses Swedenborg of socinianism. Has he read Swedenborg? Does he know what socinianism is? I doubt it. You are aware of my opinion as to Swedenborg's commercium cum angelis et spiritibus. I never read his Memorabilia. His Judicium is in better order than his imagination.

108


But I ask, with what grace can your father-in-law deny apparitionem spirituum to Swedenborg when only a few years ago he admitted apparitionem et influxum diaboli in the case of a female who was able to live without food? Some persons seem ready to tolerate visions, etc., as long as these are considered opera diaboli, because the remedy against this, viz., exorcisms, preserves cleri anctoritas; but that boni spiritus might be seen-from that there is nothing to be gained, and so it is considered a delirium and an abominable heresy.
     * "Swedenborgiana," probably the "Minutes of the Gottenburg Consistory," referring to the trial of Dr. Beyer and Dr. Rosen, which, together with inflammatory letters from the Bishops Lamberg and Filenius, were printed this year by Assessor Anrell, a most violent enemy of the New Church.
     ** See D. II, 313.
     *** Bishop Lamberg's letter to the Gottenburg Consistory of December 4th, 1769, in which he says: "Socinianism manifests itself so clearly there (in Swedenborg's letter to Dr. Beyer, of October 30th, 1769) that no one except the merest idiot in polemics can dare deny it." D. II, 310.
     "Bishop Lamberg a year ago stated to me and to Count Tessin that Ekeborn's behavior in causa Swedenborgiana was indefensible. Were Bishop Filenius to confess what have been his political methods and motives at the present diet, then one might well have cause to groan over his zeal pro dei gloria et religione christiana. Such incongruities and inconsistencies in actions are of more harm than any dogmatical deliria and phantasies.
     "But I must change the subject, and I expect from your friendship that what I have said here will remain sub fide silentii. I am not of Swedenborg's religion, but it is painful to me to see this honorable man troubled and persecuted in his old age; it is painful also to notice that when even the Catholics are doing away l'esprit de persecution, and when all enlightened nations begin to embrace un esprit de charite et d'humanite, these sentiments have not yet gained an entrance among us. It pains me, finally, that in so seething an age as the present there must be excited religious quarrels, which of all are the most inflammable, and which most quickly will hasten us toward our misfortune and destruction." (Skrifter, p. 448.)

     III.

     TO PROFESSOR ALF.

               Boxholm, April 29th, 1770.

     "I think I told you some years ago that I believed Swedenborg's theology would in time gain adherents. All repressive measures, such as are generally adopted, are in vain, and tend to increase rather than diminish the number of heretics. The only measure which really would be effective no one seems to think of or believes necessary. This is, that the triumphing Church should begin to reform itself. From old age to security the Church has grown cold, and has lost that spirit by means of which it became established.
     "I am reading the Sermons,* and on every page I recognize Swedenborg. If I could save myself from the suspicion that I am devoted to the new doctrine I would praise this theology in one point especially, namely, that it insists, as among the duties of Christianity, upon the love of one's country, which I never hear mentioned by our orthodox preachers, who are occupied exclusively by abstract ideas, which neither they themselves nor their simple minded hearers really understand. If religion is a support of the political government, then that religion is the best which most serves for the preservation of the country.** I desire soon to have the opportunity of expressing my thoughts to you by word of mouth. I am always forgetting that you yourself are a clergyman, supposedly of that spirit and disposition which is shown by the majority in your office and cloth." (Skrifter, p. 449.)
     * Undoubtedly Dr. Beyer's volume of sermons, entitled Sermon-Essays, which first led to the persecution against him in 1767.
     ** Compare Hopken's recommendation of Swedenborg's Doctrines to King Gustavus III, on the ground that no religion could be better, as it, more than any other, must produce the most honest and industrious subjects, and as it causes the least fear of death. (D. II, 416.)

supposedly of that spirit and disposition which is shown by the majority in your office and cloth." (Skrifter, p. 449.)


     IV.

     TO PROFESSOR ALP.

                         Ulfdsa, June 14th, 1772.

     "The Councillor Sandels* has taken upon himself the teak of writing a Eulogy of Swedenborg for the Academy of Sciences. He has much merit and ability with his pen in the Academical style, but I fear that he has accepted a more difficult task than his shoulders are able to bear. If I had any knowledge 6f Mineralogy, on which Swedenborg has written a great work, and it I were familiar with his other philosophical writings. I should have liked to accept this task, in view of [my knowledge of] his later works. To speak abstractly from his theology, his last works contain great genius, great knowledge of man and of the philosophy of the ancients. Few have really studied the latter, and made themselves familiar with their point of view, and their point of view is really most favorable to Swedenborg. To criticise is not in harmony with the character of Eloge funebre; to praise his later opinions is dangerous in view of the 'rabies theologorum,' to use an expression of Melanethon's. Some day I may be able to exhibit Swedenborg's Systema Theologicum, which he sent to me just before his death.** He had a greater opinion of my understanding of his system than I have myself, and I owe him, hence, all gratitude." (Skrifter, p. 456.)
     * Sir Samuel Sandels, Councillor of Mines, and a prominent member of the Academy of Sciences. His famous "Eulogium on Swedenborg" was delivered before the Academy on October 7th. 1772.
     ** It is uncertain whether communication of Swedenborg to Hopken was in a printed or a written form. The expression used by Hopken seems to point to the latter, but no such document is known to exist. A careful investigation might be highly profitable.


     V.

     TO P. V. WARGENTINE.

                         Ulfasa, November 22d, 1772.

     "You are very kind to take upon yourself the arrangement as to the portrait of the late Swedenborg.* Nyreen is ready to pay the cost. I am afraid that Mr. Halenina** might make a wrong use of the scattered notes in the Swedenborgian papers, and from an imprudent devotion serve him the same bad turn as was done to Luther by the publication of the latter's formless 'Table-Talks,' which no one can read without nausen." (Skrifter, p. 402.)
     * This portrait of Swedenborg was painted at Hopken's orders by Peter Kraft, Sr., and is now preserved in the National Gallery in the castle of Gripaholm. P. V. Wargenuine was the Secretary of the Academy of Sciences. 1749-1783. Another letter from Hopken to Wargentine is published in Doc. I, 633.
     ** "Mr. Halenius, "Brukopatron;" an unknown person, and evidently an admirer of Swedenborg; perhaps the son of Bishop Halenius, of Skara. What were these private notes and papers of Swedenborg's here referred to?


     VI.

     TO ABRAHAM SAHLSTEDT,

     Norrkoping, January 18th, 1773.

     "Among the books left by Swedenborg I understand there is a copy of the Opera Philosophica, by Ptolinus. I would like to become the owner of this work, but I do not know whom to address." (Skrifter, p. 427.)
     FINIS.

109


HOPE 1898

HOPE       Editor       1898

We wait for the LORD, our glory and hope;
     We rest and bide in His strength.
Though captive and bound, we patiently wait,
     Our chains He loosens at length.

We know that our hopes to earth fondly turn,
     Our loves lie prone in the dust:
Uplift them, O LORD, and draw them to Thee,
     Our help art Thou, and our trust.

He bids us fear not, but flee unto Him,
     Our Shield, when hell would invade;
O blessed are they whose faith on the LORD,
     The Rock of Ages, is stayed.

Give glory and thanks, ye ransomed, upraise
     Your songs in praise to the LORD:
For life and its blessings, flowing from Him,
     For hope and trust in His Word.
                              E. E. PLUMMER.
OUR EXPERIENCE MEETINGS 1898

OUR EXPERIENCE MEETINGS       Editor       1898

     V.

     [The following interesting letter explains itself. We have not been privileged to append the name of the writer.-EDITOR.]

     DEAR FRIEND :-It is interesting, and I think it is also useful for us to look back to the time when we first became receptive of the Doctrines of the LORD'S New Church. When I was in my teens there were a few Swedenborgians in this village who used to meet in a small chapel either for reading and conversation upon the Writings of the Church, or for service conducted by a Mr. Grigga who used to come over from Brightlingsea. Although they appeared as distinct and separate from the Church of England and the Wesleyans their distinction caused no confusion or disquietude between them and the other denominations. The cause of this quietude I found out afterwards.
     I was very fond of reading when a boy and felt delight in looking into the wonders of nature, and as years advanced I turned my attention to the higher and more important subject, Religion. What are the Swedenborgians? What do they believe? I thought I should like to know, and therefore began to inquire. I soon found some of another denomination who were willing to give one some information. I was told That the Swedenborgians denied the LORD JESUS CHRIST; that they wanted to do away with the Bible; that we should be the same in the other world as we are in this, by which they evidently meant that we should be in .i material world, subject to the laws and circumstances of material existence; and also that Swedenborg was himself devoid of rational judgment-indeed a madman.
     While pondering over these things my thoughts naturally turned to those who professed them. I remember an old gentleman, an unlettered man, who used to go to the chapel; but if, as was the case sometimes, there was no meeting at the chapel he would go to the church and pass the house where I lived with my father, and looking at him as he passed. I have thought with pity, "Poor old man, how could you be led to believe such ridiculous things and put your trust in them as true?"
     I thought I should like to read the Swedenborgians' books and hear them talk, so that I could understand and get a correct view of the wonderfully ridiculous things they believed. I therefore began to read their books and occasionally went to the chapel to hear a sermon or lecture. Imagine my surprise when I found they believed and taught the very opposite to what I had been told. Instead of denying the LORD JESUS CHRIST they taught that He was the Creator, Redeemer and Saviour of man, God manifest in the flesh for the great work of Redemption and Salvation which could only be done by the Omnipotent. This I found to be clearly taught in the literal sense of the Word of God.
     Respecting the Bible, I found that Swedenborg plainly taught that it is a Divine Revelation, the Word of God, prepared by the Divine Mercy of the LORD to meet the requirements of humanity in all its states, that we might be led thereby from the lowest degrees of man's ignorance to the highest degrees of Angelic Wisdom. It is thus au inexhaustible fountain with streams flowing therefrom in all directions. Thus evidently humanity could not exist on earth without the Bible.
     Respecting the future life I found that Swedenborg taught that it was not a material world, but spiritual, that there is no dead matter there, but living spirit, that all our surroundings there will be exactly suitable to our inward state, and thus we shall be in reality at home blessed with every possible human requirement, and oh! if our states be pure and holy, what a home!
     I had mentally blamed the Swedenborgians for believing the ridiculous things I was told they believed, but having found out what they really believed I again mentally blamed them for what then appeared to me a neglect of evident duty. Why didn't they make these things known to the world? Why didn't they bring them forward in their conversation with their friends and acquaintances? My duty in this matter I thought I would perform; but I soon discovered my own mistake respecting making known to the world at large the Doctrines of the New Church. With religious professors I found so much sectarianism and prejudice which closed their minds against the truth. With people in general I found so much indifference, although some would listen with attention and at the time would any they thought it quite right, what I had told them. I therefore discovered that the reason why the Doctrines of the New Church were not made known to the world was a want of reception. Prejudice and careless indifference keep the mind closed.
Title Unspecified 1898

Title Unspecified       Editor       1898

THE New Church has recently lost two of her more prominent women, Mrs. Abiel Silver at the advanced age of 94, and Miss A. E. Scammon, one of the most active workers the Church has seen.
Title Unspecified 1898

Title Unspecified       Editor       1898

MORNING Light of May 21st, reports the return, to Glasgow from Australia, of the Rev. James F. Buss, in wholly restored health. He expects soon to resume his pastoral duties in the Cathedral St. Society.
Title Unspecified 1898

Title Unspecified       Editor       1898

THE Helper for June 29th contains a sermon by the Rev. Phillip B. Cabell explanatory of the parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matt. xx. 1-16). Those who came to work at the first hour represent the desire for the reward of heaven and for escape from hell; those at the third hour the love of obedience; the sixth hour worker is "faith," a constant looking to the LORD in His truth; the ninth hour is the state of love, of charity; while the eleventh hour is supreme love of the LORD. Thus in the states of regeneration "the last shall be first and the first last." The greater ability to produce results or fruits of use is shown to be in an ascending series. It might have been added also that the penny which all received alike is the full measure of reception which with each one, whatever his quality, is according to his ability to receive. The steward who paid the hire is the rational mind through which descends the spiritual rewards of the spiritual man into the natural. The sermon seems to us calculated to be very useful.

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CHURCH NEWS 1898

CHURCH NEWS       Editor       1898

REPORTS AND LETTERS.

     THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM.

     THE annual General Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem was held at Glenview, near Chicago, Illinois, June 24th to 27th. Among the transactions we note the following points of interest: The cordial reception of the messengers from the General Convention the hearty indorsement, by vote, of the principles presented in Bishop Pendleton's Plan of Organization, read at the meeting last year; the final action of the body in accepting Bishop Pendleton as its ecclesiastical head; the ventilation of the question as to how the House of the Laity should be constituted, and the reference of the subject of the subject to the Executive Committee to hold over till next year; and the discussion of the Name of the body, with final reference to the Council of the Clergy, but not until almost unanimous preference had been expressed for the name, "Academy Church of the New Jerusalem." The Assembly adjourned on Monday evening."
     On Tuesday, June 28th, a meeting was called by the Board of Directors of the Academy of the New Church, which was attended, by invitation, by those who were interested in the uses of that body. The question of whether or not the Academy I should be merged in the "General Church" was fully discussed. The view which finally prevailed was that the Academy, as a corporate, civil body, should remain distinct, but with the Bishop of the General Church as this recognized head in matters ecclesiastical.
     On Wednesday, June 29th, the Teachers' Institute met and discussed educational matters. Reports of all these meetings will appear in these columns later.
     On Thursday the Council of the Clergy held a meeting.
     On Sunday, June 26th, Bishop Pendleton ordained Candidates Ernest J. Stebbing, of Berlin, Canada, and David H. Klein, of Glenview. There were also several baptisms. In the afternoon the Holy Supper was administered.
     On Sunday evening a Sacred Concert was given with great success, some of the most beautiful numbers of the New Music being rendered in exceptional manner.
     It is only due to the Immanuel Church to say that the great success of the whole occasion was in large measure due to their enthusiastic hospitality and able management of the external arrangements. The meetings, in spirit and in quality of results attained, were a fitting sequel to the initial Assembly at Huntingdon Valley last year.
     Huntingdon Valley, Pa.-ON Wednesday, June 15th, the Local School in this place held its closing exercises.
     THE same evening witnessed the marriage of Mr. Henry Cowley and Miss Julia Viola Klein, by Bishop Pendleton.
Title Unspecified 1898

Title Unspecified       Editor       1898

THURSDAY, the 16th, witnessed this closing of the Schools of the Academy' in the new building at 11 A. M. Dr. Edward Cranch, of Erie, Pa., delivered the Annual Address, on "Intellectual Culture" (this is printed on another page). Bishop Pendleton then bestowed upon Miss Lucy Potts the gold medallion by which the Academy recognizes the graduation of young lady pupils, asking her to wear it as an evidence of the affection which would go with her from the school in all her future life. Bishop Pendleton then bestowed upon Professors Enoch S. Price and Carl Theophilus Odhner, the degree of Master of Arts granted by the
Academy of the New Church in recognition of their proficiency in their respective fields, and of their faithful services. Bishop Pendleton then announced that the schools were closed for the summer, out that they would re-open in the fall, this year earlier than heretofore-namely, on the 15th of September; and he added that hereafter that will be the date' of re-opening, except when the 15th falls on Saturday or Sunday, in which case the following Monday will be taken instead. He then gave a short address recognizing the new auspices and many blessings in which the work of the schools is going on, with a hope that we may be able to do such work as will be a proper expression of our appreciation. He alluded to further steps in the direction of extending our facilities, which had been under consideration, and which might follow, especially as regards accommodating pupils from a distance. He further announced that in the fall, in a small way, a Training School for teachers would be begun, a use which is distinctly in the line of those coming under the objects of the Academy. In conclusion, he thanked Dr. Cranch for the excellent address with which he had favored us.
     ON Thursday evening the pupils of the Academy Schools gave an exhibition, under the direction of Professor Price and the other teachers, consisting of the reading of essays, music, dialogue, "The Debating Club" (original), in which Ignatius Donnelly's authorship of Shakespeare was amusingly discussed, and finally a comedietta which was a burlesque on the hackneyed melodrama of the modern stage. The occasion was much enjoyed.
     Middleport, Ohio.-Bishop PENDLETON visited the society on Friday, May 20th. In the evening an informal gathering met at the home of Mr. L. O. Cooper, at which the Bishop made appropriate remarks on Academy and General Church work, and responded to questions. Pomeroy was visited by the Bishop and party the following day, where he dined at Mr. Cyrus Grant's hospitable home. In the evening another meeting was held at Dr. and Mrs. Davis's. General social intercourse, music, a speech from the Bishop, and refreshments were the features of the occasion.
     On Sunday morning Bishop Pendleton ordained Rev. Richard H. Keep into the second degree of the priesthood. Mr. Keep has been minister to the society since December 15th, 1895. The Bishop made a beautiful and impressive charge, and after he had received the newly-made Pastor he preached a powerful and enlightening sermon. The services were greatly enjoyed by the people, who said there had never before been such a delightful and impressive sphere of worship.
     At three o'clock in the afternoon the Bishop performed the Rite of Coming of Age for Miss Kathleen Grant, of Ellinwood, Kans., at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jas. S. Boggess. Miss Grant is the first young lady to have the ceremony performed in this society. At four o'clock the Pastor assisted the Bishop in the administration of the Sacrament of the Holy Supper.
     In the evening all were invited to gather at the home of Mrs. William Grant, where so many notable meetings have taken place in the past history of the Church. Again, as on the evenings previous, the address by the Bishop formed the centre of the thought and life of the assembly, and he was heard with an affirmative and genuine appreciation.
     Monday morning early he left for home. It is truly to be hoped that when he returns to us next year he will stay in our midst a much longer time, to become individually acquainted with the members and friends of the Church, and to discuss with us the problems of our life as a church.
     We were much indebted to Miss Edith Hudson, of this place, and to Mr. Colon Schott, of Cincinnati, for many songs most cheerfully given at the meetings. The rendering of the new music on Sunday was one of the features of that memorable day.
     B. H. K.
     Baltimore.-THE First German New Jerusalem Society of Baltimore this year celebrated the 19th of June. The services on that day (Sunday) had special reference to the sending forth of the disciples in the spiritual world. Two adults were baptized into the church, and the Holy Supper was administered. The church was decorated with flowers for the occasion.
     In the afternoon of the same day the 19th was celebrated by the Sunday-school. The pastor preached a children's sermon, and afterwards presented to each child a plant in bloom to be cared for and kept in remembrance of the day. The children were much delighted with these gifts.
     On Monday evening the day was celebrated with a social, prepared for the congregation by the young people. Three addresses were made: "The Day we Celebrate," by the Rev. F. E. Waelchli, pastor of the society; "The Internal Growth of the Church," by the Rev. G. L. Allbutt, pastor of the English Society; and "The External Growth of the Church," by Mr. Frederick Leist, president of the society. Musical selections were rendered between the addresses. Refreshments were then served, and the evening closed with pleasant conversation.

     CANADA.

     Berlin.-WITH the beginning of May the Young Folks' Class was discontinued for the season. The Queen's birthday was, as usual, celebrated on May 24th with various games and refreshments on the school grounds. The school of the Carmel Church closed on June 17th with a programme of an interesting character; the day before the annual picnic was held in Waterloo Park, and was much enjoyed by young and old. The 19th of June was celebrated as usual with a special service.     J. E. R.

     ENGLAND.

     Colchester.-NEW Church Day was observed here by a special service on Sunday, the 19th, when Pastor Acton gave an address, dealing with the three-fold character of the work involved in the establishment of The Church. On the following Tuesday most of the friends journeyed to Frintonon-Sea, and enjoyed the usual pleasure to be obtained from a visit to the seaside, later on fifty persons sat down to tea, the meal being followed by the singing of "Vivat Nova Ecclesia." The day was made especially memorable to the children attending the School and belonging to the Society.
     June 23d, 1898.     J. P.

     SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION.

As already noted in these columns, the Organization Meeting of the Swedenborg Scientific Association was very interesting and satisfactory. Chairman Sewall's conduct of the proceedings was in keeping with that gentleman's culture and experience, and they received appreciative recognition by those present.

111


His opening address set effectively before the meeting the history and present status of New Church science, its position before the Church and the world at large, and the great need for taking up and prosecuting a work which, as yet, has hardly been broached.
     A regrettable feature was the unavoidable absence of most of the gentlemen of distinctively scientific bent who are expected to form so important a part of the membership of the Association.
     Letters read, received from gentlemen unable to attend, evinced the spread of interest in the objects in view, and Mr. Mercer added to the interest and encouragement of this sort by announcing the sympathy and promised co-operation of quite a large circle in Chicago, including several specialists in scientific pursuits, with a cheery message also from the Swedenborg Club of St. Louis. As an earnest of the work that lies before the Association' in the line of study and elaboration of principles, the papers which were presented were enjoyed, and gave flavor to the occasion. A valuable contribution was that of Mr. Riborg Mann, of the Chicago University-a lucid piper on "The Value of Swedenborg's Chemistry," evidencing clear and careful thought. Extracts from a lengthy paper by the Rev. Samuel Beswick, on "Swedenborg as a Scientist," making comparison with other thinkers and systems, were more especially interesting to those who were not familiar with the material as set forth elsewhere in the Church's literature, and very interesting they were, too. A paper by Mr. John R. Swanton, on "Methods of Study in the New Dispensation," set forth very clearly the necessity for an affirmative attitude toward- Divine revelation and spiritual things generally on the part of him who would seek to be wise in natural things. Professor Odhner's "Study of Swedenborg's Science: an Historical Sketch," was a useful complement to the Chairman's opening address. A leaflet printed by Mr. Henry S wanton, presenting Swedenborg's Corpuscular Theory, was distributed by courtesy of that gentleman.
     The instrument of organization adopted by the meeting was brief and simple, designedly adapted to modification to meet such needs as might arise in the development of the body's uses. It states the name of the body and sets forth its objects, namely: "1. To preserve, translate, publish, and distribute the Scientific and Philosophical Works of Emanuel Swedenborg; and, 2. To promote the principles taught in those works, having in view, likewise, their relation to the Science and Philosophy of the present day." Membership is obtained by written application to the Secretary and by payment of an annual fee of $2. The officers are as stated in last mouth's Life;- "all to be elected by ballot at the annual meeting." The Board of Directors "devise ways and means to carry out the objects of the Association, both by the procuring of the necessary funds and the p roper classification and organization of the work to be done." They also have power to call special meetings in addition to the regular annual one. Changes in the constitution may be made on the recommendation of the Board of Directors, at any annual meeting, by a two-thirds vote of the members then present. The By-laws make provision for transaction of business, by the Board and by Committees, by means of correspondence.
     One gentleman, not able to be present, expressed his view, through a friend as spokesman, that the officers of the' body ought to be men of position in the scientific world, and that the membership of the body should, so far as possible, consist of lay scientists. On the other hand, it was held that in this body all are laymen together, and the sentiment we took to be, rather that in the essential matter of evolving the philosophy of a true science there is no need-but the contrary-of excluding the rational thought of any one in the Church. Special scientific research should properly be given into the hands of committees formed of men suitably qualified but it is too early to look for an extensive organization of practical workers' exclusively. There seemed to be favorable reception of the idea that the young should be encouraged to co-operate in the purposes of this body.
     Interesting results are to be looked for from the Committee appointed-on motion of Rev. Adolph Roeder-to consider questions arising from scientific statements in the Theological Works of Swedenborg, especially those that seem paradoxical or otherwise hard to understand. It was the idea of some, among them the presiding officer, that the President should be a man eminent in the field of science; but in view of Mr. Sewall's qualifications as an executive officer, as well as by his literary attainments and his experience as the translator and editor of the work on Psychology, his candidacy seemed most practicable, and to that indication he deferred in accepting the position.
     By courtesy of the gentlemen in charge of publishing the minutes of the meeting we are enabled to give the following list of the persons who attended:
     From Boston, Mass., Rev. Samuel M. Warren
     Brooklyn, N. Y., Rev. J. C. Ager, Dr. L. C. Ager, M. D., Rev. A. Czerny, M. A., Th.B., Mrs. A. M. Miller, Miss M. K. Walker.
     Chicago, Ill., Rev. L. P. Mercer.
     Detroit, Mich., Rev. E. J. E. Schreck, M. A., Th. B.
     Erie, Pa., Mr. Arthur Cranch.
     Hnntingdon Valley, Pa., Mr. C. H. Asplundh, Mr. S. H. Hicks, Prof. C. Th.
Odhner, A. B., Th. B., Mr. John Pitcairn, Rev. J. F. Potts, A. B., Rev. G. G. Starkey, A. B., Th. B., Mr. Alfred Stroh, Rev. Homer Synnestvedt, A. B., Th. B.
     Newark, N. J., Mr. A. J. Auchterlonie.
     New York City, Mr. E. C. Brown, Mrs. George Chase, Mr. George W. Colton, Mr. W. E. Curtis, Mr. J. R. Hunter, Mr. George V. Nash, Mr. C. C Parsons, Mrs. T
Robinson, Rev. S. S. Seward, Dr. J. W. Thomson, M. D.               -
     Orange. N. J., Rev. C. H. Mann.
     Philadelphia, Pa., Prof. Alfred Acton A. B., Th. B., Dr. F. A. Boericke, M. D., Dr. Harvey Farrington, M. D., A. B., Mr. Ernest Farrington.
     St. Petersburg, Russia, Madame Anna Povolni.
     Vineland, N. J., Rev. Adolph Roeder.
     Washington, D. C., Rev. Frank Sewall.
     Yonkers, N. Y., Mr. Walter C. Childs.
     Total number, 37.
          G. G. S.

     FROM THE PERIODICALS.

     THE GENERAL CONVENTION.

     THE seventy-eighth meeting of the General Convention met at Cleveland, Ohio, June 11th to 14th. Thirty-five ministers and forty-eight delegates attended. Mr. Samuel McLaughlin, president of the New Christianity Society, of Los Angeles, Cal., attended as messenger of that body and received suitable recognition. The Revs. J. F. Potts and J. E. Bowers were visitors, the former receiving an especially warm welcome as compiler of the Concordance.
     We note among features of the reports, that the Theological School has at present six students; that the enrollment and care of isolated receivers is recommended to the several associations having territorial jurisdiction, the Board of Missions providing for those not otherwise cared for; that the translations of this Psalms has been completed but printing Is not yet finished. Rev. Frank Sewall, president of the Swedenborg Scientific Association, presented the Memorial of that body to Convention, stating I the objects of the organization and urging its usefulness. Later it was moved that the Convention committee on publishing the Principia turn over the work to the Scientific Association, which was done with the good-will of the Convention. (We understand that more tangible assets were not available in this case.)
     Owing to the recent decision of the American Swedenborg Printing and Publishing Society to carry on the work of re-printing the Writings in Latin, Convention voted to devote the interest of the "Emily S. White" fund to photo-lithographing the Swedenborg MSS. instead of to the re-printing.
     An important action of this Convention was the transferrence of the control of this New Church Messenger to an editorial and business "Messenger Board," the appointments for this year being the Rev. J. C. Ager, Rev. S. S. Seward, and Mr. J. Fred Goddard. The Board has power to make such changes in the form and size of the paper as will make it more nearly self-supporting at the subscription price of $2.00. We understand that the Rev. C. H. Mann's services will continue to be utilized.
     The communication of Dr. L. E. Calleja, of Mexico, asking Convention to adopt certain measures in the missionary line, for Mexico, was received sympathetically and referred to the Board of Missions to ascertain the practicability of the propositions, this results to be published in the Messenger. The Rev. B. J. B. Schreck contributed a little bit of history concerning the original enlistment in New Church work, of Revs. A. O. Brickman and F. W. Tuerk, by a German painter, resident of Mexico, who had come thence to preach the Doctrines, and who afterward had returned thither satisfied with, the promise of the two young men,-never to be heard of again by the Church here. Others spoke of the favorable impression made by Dr. Calleja's letters and photograph.
     The Committee on Photo-lithographing the Manuscripts reported 110 pages of the Diary completed, under the careful supervision of the Rev. J. E. Boyesen. The Convention and the Academy in this country and the Conference and the Swedenborg Society in England, are co-operating in this work. There were numerous expressions of interest and appreciation of its importance.
     Interesting reports of missionary work were made by Revs. T. F. Wright, W. H. Hinkley, Alexander Henry, S. S. Seward, A. F. Frost, and L. G. Landenburger, and by Mrs. E. S. Mussey. Mr. Henry told of how he had been received most warily by his former old-church associates, on the occasion of re-visiting them, and how they had shown much interest in his statements as to what the second coming of the LORD really is
     New Church Education received more than usual attention by Convention, the committee presenting a full report, calling forth general discussion and the passing of resolutions commending the New Church schools of Convention to the support of the Church.

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Steps were taken to facilitate the bestowal of endowments upon them. The report will be printed in the Messenger.
     Rev. Thomas A. King offered a resolution to appoint two messengers to the General Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, meeting in Glenview, June 24th to 28th, in order "to express to that body the fraternal regard of the General Convention for the General Assembly." "In presenting the resolution Mr. King declared that it committed the Convention to nothing but this doctrine of charity, to which it was already committed." In supporting this resolution Rev. T. F. Wright spoke of the efficiency of the co-operation of the Academy in this work of the photo-lithographing and of the care and ability of the Academy's agent; Mr. Whitehead favored the expression of good-will, but thought that was as far as Convention should go; Mr. Sewall reminded Convention that the General Church had taken the initiative when its messengers had been received by Convention at Washington, two years ago,-explaining, when it was pointed out that that errand was of a merely business nature, that he had referred to the' spirit that was in the action,-not that they were messengers in any official sense. Mr. Mercer testified to his gratitude and affection for the loyalty to New Church revelation evinced in the reports of the General Assembly such as had enabled those members to take back previous actions. Mr. Wheeler was glad to be relieved of a doubt as to the propriety of the action as an overture toward the body which had voluntarily separated from Convention. Mr. Browne also spoke affirmatively. Messrs. Tafel and Law gave some accounts of unsuccessful efforts on the part of the Berlin and Toronto societies toward closer connections with the General Assembly, but evidently allowance was made by Convention for special circumstances in those cases into which the larger body could not profitably go. Mr. Potts roused some enthusiasm by referring to the new spirit of this newly-formed Church body. The resolution went "not too far, but just far enough. The ice had worn very thin, and it only required one beam of heavenly sunshine to melt it away altogether." The resolution was then very heartily adopted without a dissenting voice. The president appointed the Rev. Messrs. T. A. King and L. P. Mercer as messengers to the Assembly.
     Revs. T. F. Wright and Schreck were appointed a committee to see through the press the Latin version of the Psalms. The Pentateuch will be taken up next.
     The reports of ordination included those of James Taylor and Chauncey G. Hubbel; of authorizations as candidates, Benjamin Worcester and F. A. Gustafson. Installatious: Rev. T. S. Harris (at Providence, R. I.) and Rev. H. C. Hay (at Brockton, Mass. The name of William P. Hartliill was added to the list of ministers, and that of J. S. Saul was restored. From it the name of Rev. L. G Hoeck (removed to England) was removed; and from the list of candidates, those of J. B. Pershall and T. W. Harris.
     Convention Sunday was made memorable by the unprecedented number of New Church sermons and discourses (about fifteen) preached to audiences chiefly Old Church.
     (Abridged from the report in the New-Church Messenger.)

     MINISTERS' CONFERENCE.

     THE meeting of the Ministers' Conference was held at Lakewood, Ohio (near Cleveland), on June 7th. About twenty-four responded to their names.
     Papers which were issued were, "Woman's Place and Work in the Church," by Rev. W. H. Mayhew; "A Plan of General Missionary Work among Colored People," by Rev. W. H. Hinkley; "Worshiping with the Old Church," by Rev. W. L. Gladish; "The Problems of the New Testament," by Rev. F. Sewall; "The LORD'S Temptations," by Rev. W. L. Gladish; and "Kant and Swedenborg on Cognitions," by Rev. F. Sewall. Both of Mr. Sewall's papers are to be published, and we hope others also of this interesting list.
     Other meetings held co-incidentally with Convention, were: The Alumni of the Theological School, The Round Table, and the League of Young Peoples' Societies. The latter body prefers to maintain its independent position rather than being merged in any way in the Convention, as was proposed.

     THE LATE HENRY DOERING.

     MR. Doering was born in Alsfeldt, Prussia, in 1824. When old enough he attended the village school until he was eleven, when he removed with his parents to Canada, in which country they took up land and settled in Philipsburg, Ontario, about twelve miles from the town of Berlin. His school days thus came abruptly to an end, as there was no school then in their settlement, and besides, he had to help his parents in their struggle in a new country. Here be worked for a number of years and then became apprenticed to a Newchurchman-a Mr. Abrens-to learn the trade of a carpenter. While serving his apprenticeship he heard and received the Doctrines of the New Church from his employer. From this time until the end of his life he was a firm believer in and lover of the Heavenly Doctrines, and he did all in his power to inculcate this same love in his family. The Doctrines took such a hold of him that he would walk miles to attend New Church worship, and although he understood little English, still he would sit listening with rapt attention to a discourse in English, getting what little he could from it.
     At the age of twenty-two he married and settled in Wellesley, and while there, he, together with, his brother Christopher, was mainly instrumental in erecting a New Church chapel in that place, which chapel is still used as a place of worship by the New Church Society there.
     Meeting with business reverses he sold out all his interests, and moved his then growing family to a farm twelve miles from Wellesley, near what is now the village of Milverton. Here he remained until his departure to the spiritual world
     Although twelve miles from Wellesley, he seldom ever missed going to church, no matter how inclement the weather, and only' stopped attending worship at that place when a Society in connection with the Genera] Church of the Advent of the LORD was formed in Milverton.
     He was one of the early New Churchmen In Canada who saw the need of New Church education, and hence became a firm supporter of the Academy and its principles, and did all in his power to give his children the benefit of that institution.
     For many years, especially during the summer months, many New Church people have enjoyed his hospitality, and nothing pleased him more than to have New Church people, with whom he could exchange views on the Doctrines, visit him.
     His departure from the world was sudden and unexpected, but we know he was anxious to go and meet his wife, who had shared all his love and affection for the Church, and who had preceded him into the other world by only a few months.
     C. E. DOERING.

     [To the foregoing sketch it is only proper to add that Mr. Doering raised a family of eleven children, who by training and by natural gifts. have been an element of strength in the Church, and that his open hospitality made his home always a centre of New Church life, especially in the summer months. His death was caused by a runaway accident.-EDITOR].
NOTES 1898

NOTES       Editor       1898


NEW CHURCH LIFE.

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     PHILADELPHIA, JULY, 1898=125.

     CONTENTS.               PAGE
EDITORIAL: Notes                    97

THE SERMON: Reformation          98          
     Intellectual Culture          101
     The Use of Infestatons,          103
     The Fear of Death (couplet)     104
     The Teachers' Institute          106
     Some New Documents Concerning Swedenborg     107
     Hope (a Hymn)               109
     Our Experience Meetings          109

CHURCH NEWS:
     Reports and Letters: The General Assembly; Huntingdon Valley; Middleport; Baltimore; Berlin; Colchester; The Swedenborg Scientific Association,     110
     From the Periodicals: The General Convention, p. 111; The Ministers' Conference     112
     The Late Henry Doering          112
BIRTH; WEDDING                    112


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     To remove the misapprehension which exists with some as to the nature of the communities in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, and Glenview, Illinois, it should he said that the term "colony," sometimes used, does not apply. "Colony," as its etymology shows, involves something of independence and self-support. Such communities have been established in the past by various sects, but rarely, if ever, have they been successful. Certainly the principle of such isolation does not exist in the cases we are considering. These are rather communities of New Church persons who have removed from the city for the same reasons in general which ordinarily induce city people to move to the suburbs, with the additional incentive of the opportunities for freer Church and social life thus afforded. The especial occasion for the movement is the desire for the physical and moral betterment of the children, and for the opportunity to have them grow up in the Church and in the sphere of New Church homes, to which must be added the advantages of the opportunity of attending a New Church School. But the business men of the community continue to conduct their businesses in the city as before, as is the case with suburbanites generally.
Title Unspecified 1898

Title Unspecified       Editor       1898

WITHOUT trying to make more out of the recent action of the General Convention, in sending messengers to the Glenview Assembly, than was really intended, it may certainly be said that it was an advance of a frank, courageous, and distinctly friendly character. It, and the Assembly's response, establish between the two bodies at least those relations of recognition and comity without which men in the world could not meet in civil intercourse and in the performance of mutual services; whereas, for some years before, the attitude had been that of men, who, if they do not indeed "cut" each other, at least so avert themselves from contact as far as possible as to make reciprocal good offices virtually impracticable. Such aloofness is an obstacle to mutual helpfulness-it does not comport with the form at least of charity; com ports not indeed with the dignity of mature, seriously-minded adults. The promise of its removal will bear with it elements of hope of better things in the Church as a whole, the more so since the initial action referred to was taken with a distinct recognition of its limitations-an acknowledgment that it laid no obligations upon either side other than those of charity-not a heavy burden to the man of conscience. The step taken wipes out no issues; it professes no repentance for the past; it ignores the past and simply says in effect: After all, there seems to be no reason why we should not be on living terms with each other.
     Not the least of the good features to be noted is the avowed recognition of the "General Church" as a sister Church-net as a prospective addition to the older body's ranks. This was openly expressed in Convention, and especially in the Assembly by the Convention messengers. The element of disinterestedness thus added should go far to make the attitude of the Convention generally satisfactory and gratifying to members of the newly formed "General Church."
WAR SPIRIT 1898

WAR SPIRIT       Editor       1898

     THE war continues to command much attention, even of the religious world, as evidenced in many sermons and editorials, some fervidly patriotic, others grieving and horror-stricken over the wide sweep of the war spirit. We think there is more of the latter tone than is called for. The enthusiasm and enjoyment of many-especially the young-in the features of the war, and the exultation displayed over the losses of the enemy, etc., have especially been lamented. The passion, too, of sailors and soldiers to get into action has come in for similar condemnation or deprecation. Now, while conceding that these affections belong to the natural man, and that the natural man before regeneration is not all that could be wished, we submit that without him things would not get along at all; and that if he is to perform certain uses on his plane he will have to be allowed some freedom to live his life-room to breathe, as it were.
     Whatever a man's calling, he should have a love for it-love of its activities as well as for the results. So with the soldier. He not only should exult over prospective victory for his country, but he is not to be condemned for enjoyment in contributing to it, and in the putting. forth of his strength to that end. Nowhere that we know of do the Writings speak of the soldiers use as an evil one. If in their pages the evils of war are fitly portrayed in all their hideousness, so also are its glories, the noble sentiments which are spoken of as animating the soldier who fights from principle and duty, and sacrifices himself in defense of his country. His very zeal and fury in slaying his country's enemies are touched on with implied approval, though it is said that these subside so soon as the conflict is over. It should be noted that it is unjust depredation and the wrongful effusion of blood to which he is said to be averse; and this means all depredation and bloodshed which are not demanded by the country's necessities. But while in action the soldier needs to exert all the strength and skill possible, and this would be impossible had he no enjoyment in their exercise. It is undoubtedly of Providence that since the state of the world is such that as yet wars must exist, the man who fights is protected, while in battle, from a keen sense of the horrors in which he is participating. Had he such a sense at the tune, he could hardly fight with zeal; or, the zest would be apt to be harmful.
     The words of great commanders deprecating war have been quoted as showing the proper spirit for a soldier, but it must he remembered that these were men who had grown in practical wisdom and appreciation of what constitutes truly human life, and hence in realization of the extent in which that better life suffers and is curtailed amid the disorders and horrors of war; which considerations, with a mature and high-souled man, would naturally outweigh such lower loves as we have been referring to.

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Nevertheless, it would probably be found that when necessity required him to lead an army into battle the actual exercise of his military skill would be a pleasure for the time being. But for the young, and for the unthinking, who regard but the one side, some allowance should be made; and even to the man who views things more in the light of a deeper experience, it is no disgrace if his pulses leap and whole body thrills at the battle note which sounds for native laud and victory. Activities are nothing in themselves- neither good nor evil; they are but opportunities and means whereby affections come into being. The effort that thrusts a weapon home, as well as that which drives the plane and saw, is of a quality determined wholly by the affection which flows into it. And the quality of the affections themselves is derived entirely from that of the end of life which rules in the man concerned. Therefore, we repeat that the man who cheers over the destruction of an enemy's fleet, or even over the loss of life, is not necessarily to be included at all with those lustful soldiers who are described in Arcana Coelestia, ii. 5,393, as exulting in slaughter; for it may spring from sheer love of country, exulting at her being freed from danger. The test is given in the Doctrine of Charity, VII, vii. The Christian soldier, so soon as the signal is given to cease from slaughter, looks upon the vanquished "as neighbors according to the quality of; their good." We have had gratifying demonstrations of this spirit on the occasion of each of the great naval battles which placed the enemy's fleet so completely at the mercy of the Americans, and again at Santiago. In the present state of the world there must be many among professional soldiers who, as in the number of the Arcana just referred to, are really in the lust of exterminating others, from which they are withheld only by external restraints. But remembering this, we should not be too much disturbed, nor too sweeping in our denunciations when we hear of excesses on either side. As in all other disorders and upheavals we should remember, with renewed trust and comfort, the omnipotence and universality of the Divine Providence which turneth even the wrath of man into praise. He who does this may look, with a serenity unattainable from any other source, upon the devices of men and the blasts of war and calamity. If this trust rule in the centre of a man's life, not only will the war fever, though it touch him, leave him unscathed, but he will view with composure its effect upon others, and in its manifestations he will be less concerned with the external form it takes than with what he may perceive indicated of the underlying spirit and prevailing end. In the present spirit of the world there is much to grieve the well-disposed, and in war that spirit has unusual opportunities to break out, even into unqualified, unredeemable evils; but we would not thus characterize the ebullitions referred to, except where indications warrant it.
TRUE PERMEATION 1898

TRUE PERMEATION       Editor       1898

NEW Church thought is undoubtedly affecting that of the world in all directions, as Mr. Backhouse in the Swedenborg Society a transactions, testifies (p. 128): but it is by the tangible dissemination of ideas,-not by any "permeating" influx apart from ultimate means. There may be instruction without enlightenment.
LET THE DEAD BURY THEIR DEAD 1898

LET THE DEAD BURY THEIR DEAD        PENDLETON.*       1898

* Delivered at the General Assembly in Glenview, Ill., June 26th.

     "And another of His disciples said unto Him, LORD suffer me first to go and bury my fat her. But Jeers said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead." -Matthew viii, 21, 22.

     THE appearances of truth in the Divine Word are full of fallacies, and a fallacy if confirmed becomes a falsity; and a falsity, established in the mind by confirmation, leads to evil, and tends to the destruction of spiritual life. But there is no fallacy in the Word, considered in itself; the fallacy is in the mind of man, and because it is in his mind, and appears when the Word is read, he thinks it is in the Word. It appears to him to be there because of his ignorance, because his mind is in merely natural light, because his thought is under the domination of time and space, is confined within the limitations of nature, does not rise into the realm of spirit and of spiritual things, does not know universal laws, nor see things in interior or abstract light.
     Under the domination of appearances, the natural man thinks that the teaching of the text is that there was something wrung in the desire of the disciple to bury his father, who was deceased; and as he knows that such a request was not unreasonable, a thing that any man may do and ought to do when occasion calls or duty requires, he considers the request more humane than the answer, and makes of it an argument against the Divinity of the LORD and the holiness of the Word. And so the natural man, not knowing what is really meant by the LORD, discerns a fallacy, sees something that is in his own mind, thinks that the LORD means by a father and the dead what he means by it,-a father according to the flesh, and the mere death of the body,- not knowing nor caring to know that the LORD was speaking, not merely to one of His followers among the Jews, but to all men in all time and in both worlds, especially to the angels of heaven, who see all things in universal light, or in a light abstracted from the appearances of time and space-who do not regard effects, but always see the causes that are in effects. As, for instance, when father is mentioned in the Word, the angels think of that which makes a father-that is, of what a father really is interiorly considered; and, removing the idea which is natural, personal, and limited, they are then able to see that the idea of a father in the abstract, or in essence, is the idea of source, origin, cause; and, transferring their thought from the natural idea of source, origin, and cause to the spiritual idea of the same, they are able to see that good or love is father because it is the source, origin, and cause of all things, and in the inmost idea the Divine Love, which is the Father of all. But if the word be used in the opposite, or evil sense, as in the text, then the angels think of that which is the source, origin or cause of all evil, the love of self, which is called the devil. The angels, therefore, sec in the words of the text, as in all the teachings of the LORD, that an eternal end is in view, and not that which is merely of time and nature, and in this view that the LORD is teaching that no man can follow or be conjoined with Him and be saved who clings to his love of self, and does not reject it and leave it behind him, the dead with the dead.

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     "LORD, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But JESUS said Follow me; let the dead bury their dead; or, as the LORD says elsewhere, "Call no man your father upon earth; for one is your Father, who is in the heavens" (Matt. xxiii, 9); and also where He said, "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke xiv, 26). Passages such as these confirm most strongly the teaching, in the Revelation to the New Church, that words and things have a more universal force, a more universal application, a more universal meaning than is commonly supposed; and the LORD in dictating the Word to prophet and apostle, spoke a most universal language, the language of spiritual thought in heaven, though at the same time clothing it and veiling it in the natural language of man-waiting for the time when the clothing could be taken away, and the veil uplifted; which time has now come.
     In order to understand the force of the LORD'S words, as bearing upon the time and place where He then was, or rather as bearing upon the state in which His immediate followers were, it is necessary to remember that the disciples were of the Jewish Church, and in common with the Jews had a temporal idea of the Messiah, and of the kingdom which He came to establish. He was to be their king, free them from a foreign yoke, make them the most powerful and the most wealthy nation in the whole world, and bring all other nations under their dominion. What is called in the Doctrines the internal historical sense of the Word, treats throughout of this state of the Jews; and in the Gospels it treats largely of the same state in the disciples themselves, the followers of the LORD among the Jews, and shows how the LORD by instruction and rebuke led them away by degrees from this state of national self-love, and insinuated into them the idea of a spiritual kingdom to be established, not with the Jews alone, but with all the nations of the earth; but that since the Jews would not permit this to be established among them, they were to be rejected, the LORD would depart from them, and plant His kingdom elsewhere. There was no spiritual life left in the Jewish Church, and hence that Church is spoken of in the Word as dead, and they of that Church are meant by the dead in the text, and by the father of the disciple who was dead, and whom the disciple wished to bury.
     Burial in the Word signifies resurrection, and the desire of the disciples that the Jewish nation should be revivified, and the Jewish Church resurrected and renewed, is signified by the words of the disciple, LORD, suffer me first to go and bury my father." But this could not be done; it was impossible to bring to life that which was dead; being dead, it was to be buried indeed, but it was not to be buried by the Apostles; their work was to be a work of revivification and renewal, and since the Jewish Church could not be renewed it was to be rejected; the disciples were to depart with the LORD from it, and it was to be given over to evil spirits, who are "the dead." Hence to the disciples He said, "Follow me; let the dead bury their dead."
     The disciples were to depart from the Jewish Church not only as an institution, or body of men, but were to leave behind that which made its essence and life, that which was the source and origin of all its activities, the national and ecclesiastical love of self, with its love of dominion and power, with its greed of wealth, with all its concomitant brood of evil lusts. This love, as the source, origin, and cause of all things With them, the spring and life of every thought and deed, is what is meant by father in the text, and also in the Gospel of John (viii, 44), where the LORD said to the Jews," Ye are of your father the devil, the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar and the father of it."
     The spiritual historical sense of the Word, however, applies not only to the Jewish Church, but also to the state of the Church in our own time, to the consummated or dead Christian Church, and the relation of the New Church with it.
     The desire to resurrect the Old Church has infested the New from the beginning, and has paralyzed its activities. A faith has been cherished that its essential interior life could be revived, and the dead rise again. It is natural that the disciple, or new receiver, should so regard the fallen Church; for, although a new light has come into his understanding, he still sees much in the old that appears like spiritual life, his love for that which is of the old still lingers with him, and he is prone to look backward rather than forward, even as the Jews, when in the desert, looked back to the flesh-pots of Egypt. This appearance of life in the old, this love of the old, can only be removed by degrees, and while it lasts can be bent to charity, or love to the neighbor; it is not hurtful for a time, provided the appearance be not confirmed as genuine truth, and the love become not strengthened and established as the true spiritual good of the Church. The man of the New Church must pass out of this first state, and come into the light of the real truth about the old Church, and thus be able to see what genuine charity is, and what it requires, and this for the sake of the growth of spiritual life, for the sake of the true advancement and prosperity of the Church. This true interior light about the old is given in the Word, it is given in the Doctrine, it is given in the internal sense of the text; and though the man of the New Church, like the disciple of the LORD, desires first to bury his father, to resurrect the dead Church, and conjoin himself with it, he must learn that what is spiritually dead cannot rise again to life- that it is therefore to be rejected and left behind, for the LORD Himself has left it; and to those of the old who have, some spiritual life remaining, and who would linger, He says, "Follow me; let the dead bury their dead;" or even as the angels said to the woman at the sepulchre, "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen."
     This state in the New Church, this attitude toward the old, this belief or persuasion that the dead Church can come to life, has become confirmed with many, and has dominated the thought and activity of the Church at large. This, together with related causes, has made it necessary, within the last twenty years, for those Newchurchmen who hold a radically different view in respect to the state of the old Church to withdraw themselves from active and organic connection with the general bodies of the Church. Such a movement for a separate and distinctive work was seen to be vital to the welfare of the Church in order to prevent internal disintegration, and to provide for a renewal of the Church, for the sake of its future growth, for the sake of its permanence and perpetuity in the Christian world. This movement did not have as its end and purpose so much a separation from those who are of the New Church-though it took, apparently, that form-as it was an effort for a more complete separation from the Old Church itself, involving of necessity a degree of separation from I those of the New Church who were still willing to join themselves with the life of the old, not seeing the need of a plenary separation from it, not seeing that without such a separation the New Church cannot exist and be preserved.

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There were those who saw this, and to them such a movement was a supreme necessity, recognizing in it the fulfilling of the spirit of the LORD'S words, "Let the dead bury their dead." In no other way can the New Church be prepared to rise into a fulness of life, in no other way than by a plenary separation from the old; a separation, not from the external civil activities of the world, but from its moral and spiritual activities, which appear as moral and spiritual in the outward form, but inwardly are corrupt and dead.
     The reason then for the separation which has taken place is that those who withdrew themselves from organic connection with the body of the New Church at large could not continue, in freedom according to reason, to join themselves with the desire to resurrect the old, to bring it to life again; seeing clearly the teaching of the LORD that this cannot be effected, even by the Divine Omnipotence itself.
     To those who withdrew themselves there came as the result of that withdrawal a larger degree of freedom, and a greater advancement in the rational life of the Church than was possible under the former conditions. But the necessary accompaniment has been trial and temptation, which has attended the movement from the beginning, and recently the greatest of all has come. Where there is freedom, where there is rationality, there is of necessity combat Without this there is stagnation, and stagnation is death. But out of the trial comes a renewal of life, increased energy and activity in the spiritual uses of the Church. There has arisen from the late trial a greater freedom and expansion of thought, a new hope and a new encouragement for future effort, a new confidence that that for which we have so long struggled will be preserved and perpetuated. But together with this renewal has come the suggestion to recede from the position taken and held in the past: a position based on the teaching of a distinctive New Church; based on the teaching of a successive and continuous consummation of the old Church; based on the necessity of a plenary separation from the activities of the old:-a position which cannot be successfully maintained, a distinctiveness which cannot be preserved, if there be allowed to enter into it a desire and effort to renew the life of the Old Church, if there be joined with it a purpose and endeavor to resurrect that which is dead, forsaken, and rejected, and from which the LORD has departed. This was the end, this was the internal reason, for establishing a separate work-the end that the New Church might have its own distinct life in the world, freed from the deadly spheres of the consummated Church, freed from the thought that the dead can be brought to life, and freed from the necessity of organic union with those whose end in Church activity is the resurrection of the old.
     To enter into organic union with the existing bodies of the Church, is to unite with the end in their work; the one involves the other. All union that is union is union in the ends of life; and a union in ends alone brings a true co-operation in the means, alone bears genuine fruit. Since the ends are diverse, there can be no real internal union so long as they are diverse. It would therefore be necessary for one party or the other to recede from the end, which has been the spring of activity in the past; without which no union is possible, and none should be attempted. Whenever those who have established a separate and distinct work, in a separate and distinct Church, are ready to recede from the end of a living Church entirely distinct and separate from that which is dead,-or whenever those whose end is the revivification of the old Church are ready to recede from their end,-then will organic union be possible, but not before. But so long as those of us, who have labored for the distinctiveness of the New Church continue to see as we have seen, the supreme and vital necessity for that distinctiveness, we must continue to believe as we have believed, to labor as we have labored; for otherwise we shall not carry out in freedom and according to conscience the spirit of the LORD'S teaching, as He has given us to see it in His words, "Follow me; let the dead bury their dead."
     The work of separation is the work of judgment, which takes place in both worlds, the spiritual and the natural; especially in the spiritual. It is said especially in the spiritual, because there the work of judgment is thorough, complete, and final. The good in the world of spirits are at first associated with the evil, and, feeling the sphere of the evil, or of those in natural evil loves, they desire that the evil also should be elevated, or raised up into heaven. "LORD, suffer me first to go and bury my father." This desire is the desire of the evil themselves, who wish to be taken into heaven as they are, without repentance, without regeneration; which cannot he done. The good are therefore instructed that it is necessary to be separated from the evil, in order to be conjoined with the LORD, that the evil cannot be taken into heaven, for this would be to destroy heaven; and hence they must be left to their own evils, and nothing else is possible to them but to be swallowed up by hell. The dead are all who are in hell, dwelling there deprived of all spiritual life; and their "dead" are all who are like them, and who are to be received and absorbed by them in the judgment. The good are therefore not to conjoin themselves with them and desire to raise them up to spiritual life, for this cannot be done; and hence they are to withdraw themselves from them in order that they themselves may be raised up, and the evil go to their like in hell, and disappear from the activities of human and heavenly use. "Let the dead bury their dead."
      When a friend or loved one passes from this world to the other, we accompany the body to the grave, and with tenderness and affection lay it in the bosom of the earth, returning it to the ground from which it came. Tears are shed-the natural thought is of separation and absence. But in the inmost of the sadness there is joy; faint it may he, but still it is there; for in the spiritual thought there is no idea of separation and absence, but of conjunction and presence. In the natural thought there is burial, in the spiritual thought there is resurrection. To bury the body of a loved one is therefore a significant act, expressive of a will and desire for conjunction with the loved one in the other world.
     Now, as the father of the disciple represented that which is spiritually dead, the dead Church, the dead natural, the love of self and its lusts-the disciple was not permitted to perform the rite of burial for his parent, for thereby would have been represented a will and desire to resurrect, or elevate into heaven, that which is spiritually dead, which can only be buried in hell, and buried by the dead who are there.
     Man has his natural by birth from his human father, but the spiritual he receives by the new birth from the LORD as his Father. The good in the natural, called natural, domestic, or hereditary good, has in it the love of self; in appearance it is good, but interiorly it is evil. This natural good is the father that is to be rejected, but good in the spiritual is the Father, which is the LORD, to which man is to cling, and become more and more closely conjoined.

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     Externally or historically considered a father is a person, who is so called, and is the natural source of one's existence. This is not the father that is meant in the text, but rather that which is inherited from one a father, the ruling love in the natural, the source and origin of all man's activities before he conjoins himself with his new father, the LORD. This ruling love in the natural is the father that man is to leave, with which he must not conjoin himself if he would follow the LORD. The disciple said in substance, "LORD, suffer me to go away from thee, suffer me to leave thee, permit me to depart, in order that I may bury my father." There is here the idea of disjunction; which man introduces; he does not in this state wish to be conjoined with the LORD, but he rather wishes to depart from him, and seek conjunction with the loves which rule in his natural. He wishes to be saved, or he thinks that he wishes to be saved, but he wishes to save all his father's house-that is, he wishes to elevate into heaven all things of his natural, even as evil spirits in the other world wish to be taken into heaven, with all that they have, and all that they are, with all their natural lusts and evil delights, unreformed, unregenerate, without repentance, without change of will, or change of life; but which they find by experiment is impossible. It is the state of those who are in faith alone, who cherish the persuasion that man can be saved without yielding and rejecting his natural loves and delights. Man, therefore, introduces the idea of disjunction from the LORD, with the clinging to natural loves, "LORD, suffer me first to go away and bury my father." But the LORD introduces the idea of conjunction with Him by a rejection and total renunciation of the evils of the natural man, "Follow me; let the dead bury their dead."
     In respect to the individual man, the dead are the evil spirits that are consociated with him, and their dead are the evils of the love of self, which are of them and from them in his natural. It is important for the man who has turned his face toward heaven to know and think that the evils which he sees in himself are not really his own, but that they belong to the evil spirits who are yet with him. Hence the LORD says, "Let the dead bury their dead." Evil spirits operate and man co-operates, and in his co-operating the evil becomes his own, and he himself becomes an evil spirit, dead with the dead. But when he ceases to co-operate, by acknowledging the evil to be sin, then it ceases to be his own, though it still appears to be present with him as his own. The acknowledgment from, profound conviction that evil is sin, removes that evil from the inmost of the life, though it may continue to infest, causing temptation and conflict, for many years afterward. The fact of internal resistance is evidence that the citadel is safe, even though the enemy is still in possession of the outer walls. All that is necessary is that man maintain the attitude of resistance to the end of life, and he will be saved. By holding this unyielding attitude, evils are gradually removed. And it is wonderful that evil spirits themselves are made the instruments of that removal; and this is what the LORD'S words mean, "Let the dead bury their dead."
     When man is profoundly convinced that the evil which he sees in himself is sin against God, its real power is broken, in the removal of its hold upon the inmost of his life. But evil spirits are not yet conquered, not yet cast into hell; they are still in the world of spirits, still encircling, still infesting, still assaulting, still exciting the delight of evil in the natural man; for though the trunk is felled, the roots are not dead; and new shoots continue to spring forth. The excitation of the delight of evil in the natural causes anxiety, conflict, temptation. What a man fights for he clings to with all his might, with a tenacity that is proportioned to the strength of his endeavor. According to the degree of the combat so is the love strengthened, so does it expand and grow, until at length its power is irresistible, for in it is the Divine Omnipotence. Evil is removed, the delight of evil can no longer be excited, evils depart and trouble man no more. But with evil spirits the battle is a losing one, for where man-cooperates with the Divine Omnipotence, they can effect nothing, and their power is weakened in every effort they make. Though the battle is a losing one, they cling tenaciously to the evil which they love, and with the greater effort as they observe their power waning; it is the energy of despair. Their love, which is evil, also grows and expands in the degree of their effort to overcome; until at last it takes possession of their whole life, and they become a form of hell, falling into it by the force of spiritual gravity; carrying with them also the evils of man. For the evil has been theirs ever since man acknowledged it to be sin against God, and all that is left is for them to take it away with them. This is what is meant by the removal of evil; it is the removal of evil spirits who are the inspiration, source, and life of the evil; and when they are gone there is nothing to excite, nothing to inspire into activity, evil delight in the natural of man. Let them go, let them take that which is their own, let them be what they are, the scavengers of the human race; theirs is the office of burial, let them perform it. Cling not to consociation with them, let them depart to their charnel house of death. "Follow me," saith the LORD, "let the dead bury their dead."
FRUITS 1898

FRUITS       JOHN WHITEHEAD       1898

MAN, in the Word, is compared to a tree: his thoughts to leaves, his intentions to flowers, and his deeds to fruits. The fruits have in them the essences produced by the leaves and the flowers, without which it would be impossible for the fruits to have been formed. The very form of the tree as to its internal construction gives a certain definite quality and nature to the sap which is to form the leaves, flowers, and fruit, so that in judging of a tree we must judge of its interior quality, and of the quality of the interior juices and essences of the tree and fruit; and these come forth even into the external forms.
     The leaves and flowers are representative images of the Divine Truth as it is received in man's rational faculty, and as it forms his intentions. To make good fruit, to be a good tree, the ideas, thoughts, doctrines, must be true and from the LORD. These are the forms which receive influx. If the forms are true the results will be good; if the forms are perverted and false the result will be a perversion of influx, and thence an evil result. "Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" Therefore a just judgment of the truth, of the ideas, thoughts, doctrines, and teachings is first necessary. We must beware of false prophets, false teachings, lest we be deceived and misled; but if the teaching be true, by no possibility can we be in error or in danger by loving and desiring to act according to the teaching. If the tree be correct and right in its form, its blossoms perfect and uninjured, it must produce good fruit.

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     Fruit represents the deeds of the life, and these are from the intentions of the will-the flowers; and these are from the thoughts of the understanding and doctrines, the tree and leaves. If, then, we form our ideas according to true doctrine; if from the rational perception of that doctrine we desire to perform the good uses of life which that doctrine teaches; and if we begin to do those things which the doctrine teaches,-we come into the period of fruit. The deeds are fruit. They are good works, and they are of a quality corresponding with the quality of the influx of the good of charity from the will into the deeds. The leaf period in the growth of a tree is a beautiful and pleasing sight to the eye. The flowering period gives more intense delight and satisfaction to the love of the beautiful things in, nature, but the external form of the green-fruit period, is not so pleasing in itself, but only in the prospect of a good crop of fruit. So it is on the spiritual plane. The development of the rational faculty, the exaltation of the affections in the love of and desire of doing the truth, are pleasing and delightful states, but the period of the green fruit when man begins to try to do what he sees to be right, is a period of temptation and trial; and if he does not persevere his good intentions will be blasted by the many attacks of adversaries.
     When man is in the exalted state represented by the flowering period, and in the happiness and delight which inflow from Heaven in that state, everything seems pleasant, the work seems easy and delightful, no obstructions appear in the way, and it seems as though he would leap from spring to harvest in a short time. It is like the Israelites in Egypt to whom the land of Canaan was promised, who expected to be introduced into the land flowing with milk and honey, a land of vine and fig tree, in a few days after they left Egypt, not knowing nor foreseeing the journey of forty years in the desert, and the death there of all the adults who left Egypt except Joshua and Caleb. It is like the state of a youth I just entering on the life of his own freedom which promises sweetness and delights in abundance, but no bitterness and disappointments; but as he goes on in life he meets with them and overcomes them, and thus, through hardships, he becomes inured and prepared to ripen into a full and strong man. So it is with the spiritual man, and the formation of spiritual good deeds or charity in the life.
     It is easy to feel charitable and happy, agreeable to others and full of good-will, when everything goes on smoothly, and everything seems to favor and co-operate with our plans and intentions. Who is not happy in this flowering period? Even the selfish and evil man is happy when his selfish plans are being formed and planned under favorable circumstances; but when they are frustrated, and even when they succeed, at last the bitterness and selfishness which lie underneath become manifest, if not in this life, at least in the other. But when man, from seeing the truth, desires to do right and begins to do it after the first happy period, the obstacles to his success begin to appear. He finds that he is not so perfect as he at first seemed. He finds that his intentions are not as pure and free from selfishness as he at first thought. He finds that instead of feeling full of charity and good-will to others he is at times bitter or sour, like unripe and unpalatable fruit. His intentions, his charitable and loving feelings, become deeply hidden-apparently lost; the difficulties of his position make him seem sour, harsh, imperfect in many ways. In this period of regeneration the influx from the old proprium, the selfish feelings and affections, is not entirely cut off, and they are shown in his deeds. But if he is sincere his good intentions are not destroyed, but are only hidden. There is still a corrective agency at work. His knowledge and acknowledgment of the truth serve as a guide to teach him what he should do and how he should do it, and keep him in the persevering effort to do it; like the leaves of a tree which continually purify the sap and prepare it for use in perfecting the growing fruit. The ripened state of the fruit comes only after a long period of growth, and so also the perfected fruits of a good life, where the deeds are filled with genuine charity and love toward the neighbor, come only after a long course of life. In fact, this world is the forming and developing stage in the regenerating man's life, and it is only as he draws near to its close or after he arrives in the spiritual world that he comes into the ripened and perfected state of true charity and love to the LORD.
     These things may teach us something hearing on our relations with each other. The LORD says "judge not" and yet He commands us to "judge a just judgment." We must not judge of an internal quality of any one and say that he is either evil or good, and thus goes to heaven or hell. But we must make a general judgment with the reservation that the LORD alone knows the true internal quality of any one. But the judgment we make, which is for the sake of external consociation and the performance of general or common uses, must be just. We must condemn that which is evil and false, but not that which is good and true in any one. And to be a just judgment it must take into consideration the position and conditions which each one holds, and his quality and disposition. We must not expect to find rationality in a child, ripened wisdom in a youth, or a regenerated condition in one just arrived at adult age. Every one has been created by the LORD for some use. Some have greater talents and can serve higher uses than others, but every one has a place and can serve a use which no one else can fill as well. Each one should be estimated and appreciated according to his use, his affection for it and his ability to do it, and more should not be expected of him. We must not expect grapes from the fig tree, nor olives from the vine. Thus we have a general canon of criticism which will keep us within bounds in judging of others. For we shall then try to see every one in his own place and not judge him from our own states.
     Again, to judge a just judgment we must see the conditions which surround one, know the difficulties which beset him and try to see the position from his view and not judge from an outside view, and make a sweeping condemnation when we do not know the conditions. We should not measure the deeds of a child by those of an adult. We should not judge an apprentice by the skill of a perfected workman. Neither should we judge the deeds of the young and those beginning the regenerate life, by the quality of one ripened in wisdom and experience. By these things we may indeed see how to lead from imperfect to more perfect states and gradually produce perfect fruit from that which was unripe. But we must not expect the unripe and green fruit to be delicious to the taste and palatable and nourishing to the body. The green fruit is not yet ready for use as food, neither are the deeds of the man struggling with his hereditary evils, his selfish and worldly impulses, and his inexperience, ready to be of use as a full and ripened expression of genuine charity toward the neighbor.
     To judge a tree by its fruits we must learn the essential quality of the tree, and the nature and quality or its fruits.

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And in judging of the nature of the deeds of man we must know the ideas and doctrines from which they, flow; we must know the source from which they are done, and we must allow for all the obstacles which' oppose the development of the uses which he desires to do. And man can do this only imperfectly of the deeds of others; he can do it more fully in himself, and of his own deeds; thus by self-examination he can learn the quality of the fruit which he is producing. Thus when each man applies the truth to himself and to his own life, it becomes more practical and useful than when he attempts to apply it to others.
     When man is in the state of green fruit, which is a state in which he is struggling to bring forth into external act those things which he sees to be true and right, he meets with much internal opposition. False ideas are injected into his mind, selfish affections rise up in opposition and infest him, and he is in a state of temptations. In this state he must hold the end and principles before his mind, and perseveringly follow them, judging all things by the Divine Truth, knowing that thus he will keep in the right path. Thus he will have the Divine Truth of the Word and Doctrine to decide the nature and quality of all ideas and affections; he will thus guard against injurious falsities and evils, and gradually infill his own deeds with the true affection and delights of love and charity, and thus will at length produce a ripened fruit, and this fruit of good works will as greatly excel the state of flowering, in beauty, in loveliness, and in ability to feed and nourish the affections, as the accomplished end and result is more excellent than the intention and end from which it was originally formed.     JOHN WHITEHEAD.
DISEASES OF THE FIBRES 1898

DISEASES OF THE FIBRES       Editor       1898

     (Chapter XI, continued.)

     SLEEP-WALKING.

     531.     THERE are those who are roused up at night just as if from sleep and half awake, with eyes open and with the other senses active, move the limbs and the body, as it were, voluntarily; they also talk, sing, yea, walk, ascend and descend ladders, and, like machines, with the body alone, do the things to be done, except that the rational mind, which still sleeps, does not sit at the helm, nor does it execute its own actions in. union with the body. Thus the external man seems to be awake, while the internal is separated from it, or remains quiescent. Yea, those things successively retract into the memory like dreams. From the superficial life they are aroused into the internal and genuine human only by some very strong sensation, pain, a fall, or in the end spontaneously. Who does not, hence, conclude that the imagination is one thing, the rational thought another, and that they may exist conjointly or separately?
     532.     As concerns the state of the brain of these individuals, there is nothing special in which it differs from the brains of others, for it may occur to any one; with others, however, it may be a family trait. Indeed, the cerebrum itself is erected, and the folds are separated, because they are roused from sleep. But the inmost cause lies in the cortical substances, which can, indeed, be expanded, turned about, change their states and pass through them, but only in general. But still their internal state is fast asleep, and remains incapable of elevating and turning itself; consequently it produces nothing rational until those little brains within are internally awakened. Wherefore the cause must be sought for in the internal state of the cortical substances, which does not appear to the most acute eye, although aided-by the microscope, unless viewed by comparison with the larger brain, of which the cortical substances are the likeness.
     533. But the usual cause is sleep which has penetrated even to the inmost parts of the brain, the imagination, in the meantime, remaining strong and the operation of the spirits lusty. Their natural constitution in the brain is invisible, being ingrafted in those most minute little brains or cortical substances. But from what is visible it is permissible to presage by comparison, that in the simple fibres, of which the entire body of the cortical glands consists, there is an abundance of the first essence of the blood, as it were, obstructed and constipated, which essence so compresses the most simple fibrils, yea, the most simple cortex, which is the origin of the fibrils, that the internal state cannot be changed. Thus thought is not present, still less judgment and will-power, which may be called rational. But those things are obscure as long as we remain ignorant of the form and contexture of composition of the cortical gland.

     INCUBUS OR NIGHTMARE.

     534. It is called incubus ["a lying upon"] because at night it seems as if there was a spectre pressing upon the thorax, and by the compression taking away the faculty of respiration. The subject is, as it were, awake, but immersed in phantasies; for he seems to himself to will, and is not able to act, so that the effect of the attempt fails.
     535.     The cerebrum suffers from lack of the arterial blood, which, while it is attracted from the channel of' the carotid, still does not penetrate to the cortex, but irritating the superficies of the meninx, suddenly glides into the veins and sinews of the dura mater. Thus the vascular substance, which is abundant in the medulla of the cerebrum, becomes void of blood, and thus extended and stretched implicates the fibres. The fourth sinus likewise pours forth but little blood. In the meantime the spirit flows through the aemulous vessels of the fibre and passes into the cortex. Thus an impotence of acting seizes the brain, yea, of feeling, except obscurely.
     536.     The cause is the result of lying on the back, whence the derivation of the blood is into the sinus of the dura mater, into the falciform and lateral sinuses, and but little into the cortical and medullary substances. For those sinuses hold and inclose the posterior part of the cerebrum. Similarly there is a compression of the larger arteries and veins in the body, so that the lungs which receive and transmit all the blood from the heart suffer from lack of blood. From such cause the respiration, as well that of the brain as that of the body, is stifled; for the action of the animation of the brain and of the respiration of the lungs is mutual and synchronous. The thickness of the blood also adds to these causes.

     ECSTASY, ENERGUMENE.*
     * Demoniacism.

     537. Ecstasy, which is variously explained, is a state in which the body and soul are, as it were, separated, while the person affected is still living, and it is believed that the soul in the meantime has departed from the body, or, though it may remain, still its bonds are removed. Some persons are wont to fall into ecstasy before the death agony, and the soul to be elevated beyond the world, as it were, but again to return into its dwelling or prison. There are some who likewise call the halt dead state of the shipwrecked ecstasy, who having been immersed in the water, are drawn forth, with the face and body livid, as though dead; but having expelled the deadly water, and the bodily heat having been brought back, they return into their former condition of life.

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Then also there are those who, suffocated, the passages to the lungs being obstructed, have often been borne to their biers and graves, and still have been revived. There are certain species of animals that spend the winter in a kind of death without food I and without breathing, as for example swallows,* bears and others; There are also instances of men so doing. They also denominate this life as ecstatic. In northern regions some persons skilled in the arts of magic are1 believed to be able to spontaneously fall into a certain ecstasy and be deprived of all action of the external senses, and in the meanwhile to attend to the operations of the soul alone, that when resuscitated they reveal one after the other things that have been stolen, and declare desired secrets. Thus it appears that there are many kinds of ecstasy, and they agree in this, that those affected lie, as it were, in a dead body, while the interior life remains. Nevertheless this affection differs from cataphora and coma vigil.
     * The word is hirundines, which means "swallows," or, "flying-fishes." The only word resembling it is, hirulines, "leeches,"-an unpromising alternative.-Editor New Church Life.
     538.     In these individuals the circulation of the blood seems to have ceased, for the pulsation of the arteries is nowhere felt except in the cervical artery, and, indeed, but slightly there, as also the respiration is wanting. Thus, there is nothing on the part of the blood which elevates the muscles and tori, nor on the part of the lungs, for each concurs in the single actions, especially the voluntary. The blood does not pass through its aorta or common trunk, of all the arteries of the body, but that which flows into the right auricle of the heart passes down through the foramen ovale (which in these subjects ought to be open), or by the coronary vessels, into the left heart, and from that it is borne by the ascending trunk of the aorta, and by the vertebral artery, and perchance also by the carotid, toward the cerebellum and the cerebrum. It is returned afterwards by the vertebral vein which descends from the cranium and by the spinal veins, which pass along the lengthy spinal arundo behind, and flows into the vena azygos, I and shortly into the vena cava inferior, and from that again into the right auricle of the heart. Such is seen to be the circle of the blood of these subjects. As regards the cerebrum itself, it is still vivified by this small quantity of blood, and at the same time by the spirit flowing through the aemulous vessels of the fibre. Thus the cortical substances draw feeble breaths, and the fibres likewise, and so long the hope of life remains in the cold body. Thus a peculiar disposition is required to lead an ecstatic life. This also is observed from the inspection of cadavers, likewise among amphibians, in the sea-tortoise, in ducks, and in other animals-that is to say, in their heart and brain, and the connection of each, which contributes a great part to undergoing and continuing such a life.
     539.     The causes are many-that is to say, such as have been alluded to, choking, stoppage of the trachea and bronchi by quinsy, of the lungs and of the stomach, by water when drowning, and by the air; by an eruption of the blood from the arteries into the veins, the animal spirit being deficient, in extreme agony; nor would it be altogether contrary to reason to add those who are likewise able to throw themselves into ecstacy by natural means, whence was the faith in magic.
TEACHERS' INSTITUTE 1898

TEACHERS' INSTITUTE       Editor       1898

     FIRST GENERAL MEETING, GLENVIEW, ILL., JUNE 29TH, 1898.

     THE meeting was opened with reading from the Word by Bishop Pendleton. It was then called to order at 10 A. M.
     Present: Bishop Pendleton (in the chair), the Revs. Bostock, Hyatt, de Charms, Price, Odhner, N. D. Pendleton, Synnestvedt, Stebbing, and Klein; Misses Ashley, Hobart, Grant, Emma Pendleton, Zella Pendleton, Augusta Pendleton, Jessie Carpenter, Jessie Moir, Annie Moir, Sherman, and Synnestvedt. As visitors, Revs. J. F. Potts, E. I. Kirk, and J. E. Bowers. Mr. Klein acted as Secretary pro tem.
     The following are the chief points which were under consideration in the discussions of the meeting.
     In connection with the subject of the proposed Training School for Teachers, to be opened in the fall, at Huntingdon Valley, it was asked whether young ladies taking the course would be permitted to attend the theological classes. Bishop Pendleton replied that it was not well to mix the spheres. They should receive theological instruction, but as teachers, not as ministers. On the other band, it was of very great use for theological students to attend classes and observe methods of teaching, inasmuch as most of them would be required to do some teaching when they go out into the ministerial field.
     It was decided that the provisional organization of the Institute could go on as it stood. The most important subject to be considered was,

THE CURRICULUM.

     Mr. Price, who has been studying the subject, spoke of the division into the Intermediate and College courses, and gave the requirements for entering the College. These are:
     1. A Knowledge of the Letter of the Word.
     2. Reading: The ability to read fluently and intelligently anything in the English language.
     3. Writing: Ability to write a hand that can be read.
     4. Grammar: The ability to tell the parts of speech in a sentence, and to what they relate. Also,
     The ability to compose a letter of any short description in an intelligent manner.
     5. Geography: A fair general knowledge of the geography of the world. A special knowledge of American geography.
     6. History: Knowledge of American history; also a knowledge of general history.
     7. Arithmetic: Knowledge of the ground covered in general by Robinson's Progressive Practical Arithmetic.
     The age of pupils who had completed this course would probably range from thirteen to sixteen.
     Mr. Stebbing said that with two subjects added this curriculum would qualify pupils for entrance into the High School in Berlin. They were about to try the experiment of preparing several pupils for the High School.
     Mr. N. D. Pendleton said that there were really two standards which the local schools had to strive for: one was, to qualify pupils for entrance to the Academy Schools in Philadelphia. As a matter of fact, however, there are comparatively few who can thus afford to send their children.

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Therefore another standard has to be set, and this more practical one involves an active preparation for business life.
     Mr. Price said that the local schools ought to so frame their curricula that a boy, if he cannot go to the Academy Schools in Philadelphia, shall be able to go to work, and that intelligently.
     Mr. Klein suggested considering the subject of textbooks in this connection, as it would help to give a more definite plan of work.
     Miss Ashley suggested Mary F. Hyde's Lessons in English for teaching grammar to girls. The first two books of that work would well qualify pupils to enter the Seminary. After the first two books it would be better for them to devote more time to other connected branches than to continue further in the books. There should be plenty of letter-writing and composition work for practice. Literature can be begun with children by the reading of stories, fairy tales, and myths, as a foundation to a knowledge of literature.
     Miss Jessie Moir said that she had given something of literature in connection with geography whenever she could, in the form of stories, and as many poems as were appropriate. They were asked also to write stories from time to time.
     Bishop Pendleton said that this was very useful, as it cultivated the plane of the imagination.
     There was a short discussion of the question of grammar, during which Mr. Bostock dwelt on the necessity of having a good, fundamental knowledge of the art of writing. Let a pupil be able to write a sentence properly and tell when it is finished.
     Mr. Price spoke of having a good knowledge of technical grammar also. This had been somewhat neglected in the past.
     Mr. Klein also spoke of the use of technical grammar. Apart from its practical use as a means of writing correct English, the determining of the various functions of the different words of a sentence was an excellent mental training.
     The subject of Arithmetic was then taken up.
     Mr. Price spoke of text-books, and said that Mr. Doering was now at work on a syllabus.
     Miss Hobart spoke of the requirements of girls who were to enter, the Seminary in Huntingdon Valley. She thought that if they had thoroughly learned fractions and decimals they would be prepared to go on with the work. Let the work in these two branches be thorough. She had had girls who had gone much beyond these branches in arithmetic, but who had, nevertheless, been found deficient in them, necessitating the loss of much valuable time in review.
     Miss Jessie Moir spoke of the use arithmetic had been to the girls under her care in giving them precision of mind, in which some of them had been lacking.
     Mr. Hyatt said that, after all, the cultivation of the rational faculty is the main thing. Children often know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, when, if mixed problems of these branches are given them, they are at sea. In the business world it is necessary to exercise the rational.
     Air Bostock believed in giving rules, and then enough problems to acquaint the pupil with the exercise and `applications of these rules.
     Miss Hobart said that it was well for the teacher to have two or three text-books, but let the class have only one. This, it was said, gives different aspects, each book supplying something, perhaps, left out in the others.
     Mr. Price said that the Intermediate Department proposes to give a thorough and severe drill in Arithmetic, Banking, Involution, etc. "We would like to give a young man enough to enable him to enter business without having to go to a business college.
     Bishop Pendleton said: "The effort, in passing a boy into the Intermediate School, should be to take the general average. Even if the boy does not in some studies, or in one study, come up to the average-if the general average is good he can be admitted. This rule has to be used rationally, and not with rigidity."
     Mr. Price spoke of the danger of relaxing requirements too much. There might be the old trouble of interlacing classes. The object of matriculation is to avoid this.
     The subject of History was then taken up.
     Mr. Bostock thought that the pupil should be taught first the history of the world, then that of his own country. Generals should precede particulars. A chronicle of dry facts is not what is wanted. Let the leading features of history be given, with enough particulars to make them interesting. Begin with the history of the Most Ancient Church and give the history of the churches, but not, as yet, their doctrinal differences. Take leading events, such as the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Council of Nice.
     In regard to text-books Barnes' History was spoken of, but with the admission that it is not just what is wanted. It was remarked that it is well to take up an epoch.
     Mr. Bostock said that certain landmarks must be thorough, and other things may be grouped around these. Let the most important things be firmly fixed.
     Favorable reference was made to a book called Literary Landmarks.
     Bishop Pendleton said that with children history is impressed by means of incident, especially interesting ones, and these make a great impression. At an early age the mere scientific is not so useful. Barnes' History is merely a skeleton of history.
     Mr. Bostock thought that in the ideal state we are striving for the teacher would be so well-versed that he could simply talk on the subject without books.
     Mr. Odhner did not believe in the scientific study or history at first. It ought to be taught in such a way as to develop a strong affection for it. The scientific study alone, at first, induces dislike. At the age of twelve a child is not in the scientific age, and is not yet out of the land of dreams and fairies. The descent should be gentle.
     Mr. Bostock would keep in view that we have to go over a subject more than once. The first time we should not be too anxious to tell the children everything. A teacher also is naturally inclined to give prominence to those things in which he himself experienced difficulty in his early studies.
     Bishop Pendleton said that the chief thing is to get the interest and love aroused. When you do this you have accomplished your most important work with a child. A slight historical inaccuracy is not always so harmful.
     Mr. Odhner said that in regard to dates, he did not think it well to burden the mind with them. In most cases it was sufficient to know the century in which an event took place. Some dates, however, should be well learned.
     In the afternoon session the subject of geography was taken up. Mr. Acton asked whether in the study of geography it was well to begin with the world as a whole or with the home. (This seems not to have been answered.)
     Mr. N. D. Pendleton spoke of geography in connection with history, in studying which he would look up every place mentioned, on the map. This made geography living.

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     Mr. Price said that on entering the Intermediate Department the study of geography ought to be fairly complete. Here the idea is to take geography in the form of physical geography and geology, the desire being to give a liberal understanding, but not a mere mass of technicalities-enough of the latter, however, to give an intelligent grasp.
     The subject of the Letter of the Word was taken up.
     Mr. Synnestvedt stated his method. In the beginning he teaches the literal appearances of the Word, beginning with Genesis-generally as far as the history of Abraham for the first year. He found this part of the Word of great power in enlisting their intense interest. In younger children there seemed a more lively and objective interest. They need to have a sensual idea. At the age of nine or ten they are somewhat more in the scientific state. He then gives them Exodus. At this period they also memorize the names of the books of the Word. When the state seems to require it he teaches them moral things, and therefore takes up the New Testament. He thought that remains of the affections for these things must be implanted in early childhood, or they will be deficient. Some of his boys had scarcely any reverence for the things of the Word.
     The speaker referred to the difficulty sometimes experienced in teaching the New Testament when the moral precepts there taught ran counter to the modern ideas of charity.
     He thought that among the requirements of those preparing to enter the Intermediate Department the Word ought to have been read.
     Mr. Odhner spoke of the necessity of a boy having a connected idea of what is in the Word.
     Mr. Acton had found some boys deplorably ignorant of the historicals of the Word-the story of the Israelites, for instance
     Bishop Pendleton pointed out that although some things may have gone from the external memory of the children they have often made a deep impression on the affections and internal memory.
     Mr. Price said that we could not, however, go on the basis of good impressions in determining the requirements of or entrance to the Intermediate Department in this branch of the work.
     Bishop Pendleton said that that, however, was the most important thing. The scientific is not the main thing.
     Mr. Synnestvedt said that at an older age the instruction should be in a more scientific form, but in the younger age it should partake more of the affectional. He had sometimes in class read but a few words of verses, spending the remainder of the lesson in talking about them.
     In connection with the foregoing subject that of Hebrew was taken up.
     Mr. Rosenqvist said that in the Berlin School the children are taught the Commandments first in English and then in Hebrew. He purposed to have them learn the Hebrew letters also.
     Mr. Klein said the same method was in use with the children under his care in Glenview. He noted that the younger children learned somewhat faster and with more lively interest.
     Mr. N. D. Pendleton did not believe in the scientific study of the Hebrew for children. "Let us keep to the virtue of the Hebrew, without its drudgery."
     Mr. Hyatt had tried not to react too much in the matter of Hebrew. All the children in the Parkdale School were taught the Hebrew Commandments.
     Mr. Acton said that the Letter of the Word ought to be studied with the Hebrew, and the connection ought to be in the mind of the child. As the age advances there is a falling off in the affection for the Hebrew Commandments. A knowledge of the Hebrew letters gives the basis for an idea of the holiness of the Word. The pupils ought to know enough Hebrew to follow a teacher who reads.
     Mr. Bostock held that we should have before us the idea that they who go to the College may be able to read the Word in Hebrew. We hear of the use of the Jews in preserving the Word, and we must not forget the use of the New Church in preserving it.
     Bishop Pendleton added that we provide, in connection with our work, for a thorough knowledge of Hebrew for those who wish to take it up.
     Mr. N. D. Pendleton said that he had heard regrets on the part of parents that Hebrew had been dropped so much. He felt that it ought to be kept going.
     Mr. Synnestvedt suggested teaching the Hebrew of the Hebrew music we have, for which in the past there had been great affection. You cannot get too much of Hebrew if you keep it in the sphere of affection.
     Bishop Pendleton said that there were two lines of thought in regard to this subject. One was, Hebrew as a science; and the other, Hebrew as a religious exercise. He was convinced that its usefulness did not consist in its being studied merely as a language. Let the teacher read and the children follow as they can. They pick up a little all the time, but its main use lies in bringing them into consociation with the angelic societies. Let the scientific part be incidental. The thing now is to cultivate an affection for the language.
     Mr. Acton noted that we had gone back to the fundamental idea with which the Academy has started the study of Hebrew.
     Miss Grant has found it very useful to have the children write Hebrew as "busy work," since they always enjoyed it so much.
     Mr. N. D. Pendleton said: "If we are going to make progress let us try to do it together, and then give results at the end of the year."
     Mr. Odhner said that the writing of Hebrew letters is of great use in inspiring affection. He recommended also the drawing of the letters.
     On the subject of Religious Instruction in general Mr. N. D. Pendleton said that with the young there ought to be a good historical knowledge of the Word. On the other hand, there ought to be a good, practical doctrinal knowledge of the difference between the New Church and the Old. Intermediate between these was something which he thought very important, namely, the literal or objective view of the other world. There should be a series of mental pictures, and these should be as strong and vivid as possible. This could be secured from the Memorabilia and from the Spiritual Diary. There was a difficulty in dealing with the Memorabilia in that there frequently occurred in them abstract questions which are too heavy for children. He wished some one would select the parts best suited for children.
     Mr. Odhner said that this was thought of before, and he favored it, but thought that nothing should he added it should be merely a work of selection.
     Mr. Acton did not see why some things might not be added, if done with discretion.
     Mr. Price thought that we might take liberties with the words so long as we keep the idea.
     Mr. Odhner said that we should remember that we have a Divine work: let us not add.

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He thought it would be like changing the story of Joseph, and if that were done bethought the effect of hearing the story told in different ways would not be good for the children.
     Mr. Acton said that it was not so much a question of changing nor of adding, but simply one of completing the picture from what we know from other parts of the Writings. Let us fill in the shadings.
     It was suggested that the different members of the clergy who felt so inclined should attempt this work and bring the results to the next meeting, in order to acquire a better idea of what is needed. It was agreed that there should be unity in the work.
     After some preliminary remarks, Mr. de Charms read a paper on the subject, "The Correspondence of Water," and, by request, one also on "The Doctrine of the Vegetable Kingdom in its application to Child Culture."
     This concluded the transactions.
IMPRESSIONS OF THE ASSEMBLY 1898

IMPRESSIONS OF THE ASSEMBLY       H. S       1898

ONCE more has the use and necessity of general assemblies of the Church been vindicated. The Second General Assembly of our incipient body has been a notable meeting, which will no doubt leave its traces upon the pages of the history of the Church; and all who were there will cherish its memories among the pleasant events of their lives. Three features of the meeting which stand out most prominently, in my mind, are, first (in order of time), the new sphere, introduced through the messengers of Convention. I say "the messengers" advisedly, for the message which they brought, of good-will and fraternal greeting, though momentous,-involving as it does the recognition of our use and body as distinct from theirs, and marking, as we hope, a new era of good-will between us,-had not so deep an effect as the messengers themselves, whose words had such a ring of soundness as to impress the Assembly deeply. Unconsciously to them, perhaps, their words made us all weigh more carefully the differences that separate us from the body to which they belong.
     The fact was brought home to us, that as to the general doctrines of the Church, even that of the authority of the Writings, there is no longer the same difference, as of yore, at least upon the part of some. We have realized for some time, however, that the difference is not so much in the general tenets, but rather in the application thereof to use, and it is this which distinguishes the angelic societies, which are independent of each other, though united before the LORD by charity or mutual good-will. The dominant quality or sphere of the love of use is different,-not, indeed, the inmost end, of saving souls. We are aiming to adapt all our means toward the conservation of the Church from within, believing this to be more important than "Church extension"-indeed, we feel that unless we cling to this policy the time will come when there will be nothing distinctive to extend. It is, indeed, important to gather the "remnant" out of the old Church and inaugurate them by baptism into the LORD'S new Church; but the main work of the Church then first begins; and thus we regard education of the young within the Church, and the development of a sphere of worship and society-life in general, which shall cut loose as far as possible from the worship and social sphere of the old Church,-as our prime duty. We think it a spurious charity toward our neighbors, who are yet of the old Church, to allow our worship and our common life to be dominated by the fear of what others think and feel, who are not as yet delivered from the bondage of perverted and false standards-whom, in fact, it is our desire to deliver from their own standards of worship and all that social sphere which should-but with them does not-centre about the conjugial. But too many new questions are involved in this to be hastily summed up. It was the unanimous desire to return the courtesy of Convention in the spirit in which it was intended.
     Now the second salient feature referred to just above, was the passing from the embryonic or provisional form to a permanent form-not full-panoplied, indeed, as Minerva sprang from the head of Jove, but still in a complete human form, capable of indefinite future growth. This was effected by adopting the Plan of Organization. We now have a permanent head, Bishop Pendleton having been chosen, and having accepted. The Council of the Clergy, which now includes all the clergy of the Church, are recognized as the House of the Clergy, and the Assembly stands as before, all members of the Church having equal part therein.
But after a whole day's discussion it was seen that we were not ready to complete the formation of a House I of the Laity at this time, so the present Executive Committee was continued for another year.
     The third salient feature of this meeting was that it seemed, as time went on, to "degenerate" into a regular Academy meeting-that is to say, that upon every occasion outside of the deliberations-at the meals, on the walks, in the homes, at the parties, everywhere, permeating the whole atmosphere, there was one happy and harmonious sphere of the Church life which we all recognize as being the distinctive sphere of our body. The mutual good-will, and mutual good understanding, and mutual desire and effort to promote the uses which the past has taught us to love and understand so well, left no room to doubt that there was here a body of the Church in the truest sense, that there was the essence of an organization, namely, consent to unity; and the desire to complete the organization was never even called into question. All, including our visitors of Convention, seemed to recognize this, and to wish it well.
     What was thus in the air as a state of the affections manifested itself toward the end of the meeting in a strong desire to take as part of our name the historic name of "Academy." There was some doubt, however, and as we did not wish to make a snap judgment upon this question, it was referred-to the Council of the Clergy. The same prevailing state showed itself in the proceedings of Tuesday, when a strong desire to keep our work a unit with that of the Corporation of the Academy, was manifested. The growth of certain disorders in the old order of things, was frankly recognized, and a determination to go forward, and, with the Loan's blessing, act our repentance.
     We cherish the hope that our use is now so well established, and that our leading doctrines are so well understood, that we shall not hereafter be subject to such violent organic upheavals as in the past. The Church longs for, and intends to have, if possible, something of organic stability, in order that its members may be more in freedom to attend to their own regeneration and to fight out their own individual battles in freedom. May the LORD grant us a true and lasting peace!     H. S.
LIFE'S USES 1898

LIFE'S USES       Editor       1898

TIME was, when men not only lived and died,
But each some lasting work performed beside.
     CLARENCE A. GILMORE.
FEAR NOT 1898

FEAR NOT       E. E. PLUMMER       1898



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We may not fear, O Lord, for Thou wilt lead us
     In peace, Thy perfect way.
Thy word is very Truth, its light will guide us
     To realms of endless day.

There are no depths of fear by Thee unconquered,
     No sorrow and no pain;
We turn to Thee, when torn with dread and terror,
     And we are whole again.

Come Thou, O Lord, with hand Divine to touch us
     And raise us from the dust.
"Be not afraid," our souls are straight uplifted
     To Thee in love and trust.

In desert wastes our dearest hopes are dying,
     Beneath a parching sky.
Thy voice, O Lord, Thy holy angel calling,
     Reveals that Thou art nigh.

The grief o'er heavy loss, its pain and sorrow,
     Aid us, O Lord, to bear.
The death of earthly hopes is resurrection
     Of love that knows no fear.
                    E. E. PLUMMER.
COMPULSORY EDUCATION 1898

COMPULSORY EDUCATION       J. B. SPIERS       1898

     EDITOR OF NEW CHURCH LIFE:-In June Life, commenting on the question from The Pathfinder, you say, "Compulsory education is non-American, and incompatible with the true spirit of education." In the first place, to prove that it is "non-American" you would have to prove what is "American," which would be a difficult task, considering the cosmopolitan condition of our country. I say, on the other hand, with equal conviction, that compulsory education is intensely American, as well as in full accord with the teachings of the New Church. You would compel your children to go to school, whether or not they were naturally inclined to, and this, it seems to me, solves the whole problem. If it is good for your children to be compelled by you to do what is right, thou gli against their inclination, for which they will bless you in after years, certainly it is good for the children of careless, ignorant parents to be compelled by the State, their father, to do what is right in the way of their becoming useful citizens, though against their parents' wishes, for which they will bless the State when they come to the age of appreciation.
     You will, perhaps, concede that the State should protect the children from the cruelty of their parents, and from unsanitary conditions which the ignorance of many parents impose, and is it not of as great importance that they may be protected from the cruelty of neglected education?
     Having served the town of Derby for nearly two years as a school director, has given me the opportunity of studying this question of compulsory education, which I had not before had. Certainly, waiving the theory, the result is strongly in favor of those States having compulsory laws.
     In Vermont all children between the ages of eight and fifteen are compelled to go to school, public, private, or otherwise, and I have yet to see one who has graduated from our public schools but who is glad that he was forced to go. And aside from the education obtained, the children of vicious and ignorant parents are taken from their natural environment for a few hours five days in the week and shown something of a better side to life; and, not the least important consideration, they are kept to this extent from idleness and mischief.
     I hear the lament of many parents because when they were children they were not protected from their ignorant parents and compelled, as their children are, to attend school; and, on the other hand, the grateful expression of scores of graduates from our public schools whose parents would have kept them in ignorance, had not their more considerate parent, the State, interfered.
     Very truly yours,
          J. B. SPIERS.
     West Derby, Vt.


REPLY.

     As we are able to view it, the whole problem is involved in the teaching concerning freedom, and concerning "compulsion to do good."
     "He who is compelled to think truth and to do good is not reformed, but then all the more thinks falsity and wills evil. All compulsion is attended with this" (A. C. 1747).
     To furnish the child with scientifics which shall serve as tools wherewith to carve its way into worldly success and useful citizenship, is indeed very important; but of more vital importance is the development of freedom to will good and to think truth. It is freedom which makes a man human.
     In compulsory education it is the freedom of the parent which is interfered with. To make good citizens is the function of the parent, not of the State. The function of the State is to protect him in that and other uses, and so far as needful and expedient, to supplement his limited resources as by providing schools, etc. But in the vital matter of so nurturing and forming the child's thought and affection and habits of life as to make it into a good citizen, the place of the parent is unique, and cannot be usurped without interfering with the Providential order of things-without detriment to the quality of citizenship. And if you have not good citizens as parents, heaven help the State, for legislation and educational devices will never supply the fatal lack. Salvation of the race by mere "head-educating," is-and according to doctrine must be-the dreariest of failures, although the world at large believes the other way.
     The Divine Providence gives men children, and the faculties of will and understanding whereby to rear their children. That they possess these in very limited degree they who have watched others trying to educate their children are usually ready to testify; but much or little, it is of the Divine Providence that in each case the exercise of just that amount and quality of judgment and of conscience is what is required in that case in order to secure the child's future equilibrium in which may be made the free choice between evil and good it finally must make. It is hard to bear this in mind `in the face of glaring deficiencies we see in parental control; but we will not make matters better by coercing the parents by curtailment of their freedom of action and of judgment. This would inevitably react upon the development of the child, in whom the human quality can be brought out only by observing the order and self-restraint enjoined by the ways of Providence, which never break, but lead man.
     Our correspondent cites cases of great disorder, of cruelty and of lack of sanitary treatment; but it seems the better way to deal with the exceptions and with the negative side after the general principle is established.

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We think that the general principle is, that parents must be free. The cases cited do not illustrate the point, for they come under the head of civil regulation, while education is concerned with developing the whole man, especially the higher faculties. Where parents carry their abuse of parental duties to the point of infringing civil order, the State steps in; but, it cannot regulate the many cases of unhygienic or even cruel treatment of offspring, which are not such as break the civil law. Undoubtedly by espionage and invasion of home rights certain external conditions in many households might be improved in appearance; but this would not be free government-it would not be American,- certainly not New Church;-palliation, not cure.
     With compulsory education, as with all the various social or economic devices for advancing the national welfare, the test should be, the question whether it tends to develop true rationality and freedom in the people. Without these improvement is a sham and a mockery. But compulsory education is a natural accompaniment of that false idea which prevails so generally that external results are the sufficient test. If education enforced makes a man orderly and moral and prosperous, it must be a good, says the world; making no allowance for hypocrisy and deceit, of which the world is full. This way of looking at things has produced an indifference and blindness as to the most important things of education-those which affect the will. Love of duty, love of serving the common weal, and thence contentment in whatever use Providence indicates these are rarely seen. The mere emoluments of use being the things sought after, unwholesome ambitions are habitually appealed to in child, man, and woman This excludes humility and common sense, which should teach men that not all men are adapted to the highest uses, and that hence an efficient discharge of a lower use is better than inefficient performance of a more eminent one. In consequence of this feeling lower uses are crippled by lack of workers, while the higher ones are crowded by incompetent self-seekers. If education will give them the eminence they wish, then their cry is for education, without considering whether more real happiness might not be attained by less education and more congeniality of occupation. But nowadays contentment in an inferior position is rare, and is even considered rather discreditable. We fully concede the desirability of education, even for the lowest classes, in the full measure suited to their natural and spiritual needs; but we believe that a man would better bring up a son in illiteracy, but grounded in general principles of duty and service, than be compelled to follow a standard higher, but not his own. So precious a jewel is freedom and so deeply does it affect the springs of character.
     EDITOR OF NEW CHURCH LIFE.
SOME CORRECTIONS OF THE TAFEL EDITION OF THE DIARY BY THE PHOTOTYPED MANUSCRIPT 1898

SOME CORRECTIONS OF THE TAFEL EDITION OF THE DIARY BY THE PHOTOTYPED MANUSCRIPT       T. F. WRIGHT       1898

THE process of phototyping the manuscript of the Diary has advanced so far that it is possible for those who have specimen pages to make comparisons with the Latin edition for which we are indebted to Dr. J. F. I. N Tafel. The result is to cause admiration and gratitude for the great labor performed by Dr. Tafel with general - success; but some important errors have been at once detected which show that he not only failed sometimes to read the MS. correctly but also omitted words which were very plain. We are indebted to Professor Vinet, who has recently come to this country from France and is teaching in the Academy, for a short list of corrigenda which is only a beginning, but is printed now in order that owners of the Tafel edition may correct their copies, and that all may see the great importance of carrying forward the work of phototyping, now well begun with only a small part of the amount needed in hand. I give only those suggestions of M. Vinet which are unquestionable, and express the hope that he will continue his useful comparison. It will be seen that only a few sheets have been examined:

     151 (1. 4), of the Tafel edition, for Domini read Divina.
     152, at bottom, for molimina read ratiocinia.
     153 (1. 12), for varius in read variis ex.
     185 (1. 8), after homo insert solum.
     186 (1. 6), for mundanis read maxime.
     186 (1. 7), for mente read parte.
     187 (1. 5,) for speciem read specierum.
     196 (title), for perpluries read per pluvias.
     927 (1. 2), for pateftunt read patescunt.
     932 (1. 2), for dissidia read discidia.
     946 (1. 1), for foedatis read foedatus.
     968 (1. 3), for expertes read expertia.
     972 (1. 7), for nunc read tune.

     As to the importance of these corrections we may note that in 152, the line which must have been rendered "all thoughts, efforts and phantasies" now becomes "all thoughts, reasonings and phantasies;" in 186 "the confused worldly and disturbed imaginations," of the Smithson translation, becomes "the most confused and disturbed imaginations;" the title of 196 in that translation has "by those changes which characterize the seasons as is very often the case," but the corrected Latin gives, "by those changes which are of the seasons by rains," which is what is treated of in the number; in 927 we have, instead of a word of doubtful Latinity, a common word, yielding just the sense required; and the same is true in 932.
     In noting these changes one feels that justice is being alone to Swedenborg's scholarship, while at the same time the real meaning of his words is obtained for the first time.
     T. F. WRIGHT,
Sec'y Manuscript Committee.
Title Unspecified 1898

Title Unspecified       Editor       1898

NUMBER Four of the Annals of the Yen Church (July) brings the record down to the year 1786, including in the events chronicled the closing scenes of the Gottenburg trial; Swedenborg's paralysis and death; the formation of "The Theosophical Society" (the first New Church organization in the world); and the introduction of she Writings and the Doctrines into America. Momentous are the "Contemporary Events" included in this period. Likenesses are given of the Rev. A. Ferelius, Rev. Jacob Duche, Gustavus III, Augustus Nordensjold, and Robert Hindmarsh.
APPEAL TO PATRIOTISM AND HUMANITY 1898

APPEAL TO PATRIOTISM AND HUMANITY       Editor       1898

WE have been requested, by the Associate Society of the Red Cross in Philadelphia, to publish their appeal to the people of Pennsylvania for aid in their work of succoring the sick and needy among the Cubans and our own soldiers in Santiago. Contributions are invited, not only of money, but of all forms of transportable food, such as salt meats and fish, corn meal, flour, etc., canned vegetables and meat, dried fruits, dry groceries, beef extracts condensed milk, wines, fruit juices, jellies, etc., disinfectants, drugs, ointments, bedclothing for hospitals, towels, soft handkerchiefs (especially bandanas), new plain clothing for children of five years and upwards and adults.
     Contributions in money may be sent to William Hill. Treasurer, 308 Walnut Street, Philadelphia; contributions of stores should be addressed to the Associate Society of the Red Cross, Philadelphia, 1501 Chestnut Street.

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CHURCH NEWS 1898

CHURCH NEWS       Various       1898

     REPORTS AND LETTERS.

     Huntingdon Valley, Pa.-ON June 19th Pastor Synnestvedt conducted a celebration of the Institution of the Church. On the same occasion Bishop Pendleton ordained Henry B. Cowley into the ministry of the New Church.
     The last lecture on Education, May 23d, treated of the life and work of Comenius. On May 27th Bishop Pendleton conducted Doctrinal Class, in the absence of Pastor Synnestvedt at the meeting of the Scientific Association in New York. In place of singing class that evening we enjoyed an impromptu celebration of the 26th wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Pendleton. On Monday evening May 30th, we listened to an informal account of the meeting in New York, from Mr. Odhner and 9thers. Friday the 10th was the last weekly supper and doctrinal class.
     On Wednesday, June 15th, the Local School held its closing exercises, in which eleven boys recited pieces of their own selection, varied by the reading of an original composition by one of the girls and the acting of another, written as a dialogue, called "The Fairy Queen's Council," a very pretty affair. The programme included singing by the smaller classes and also patriotic and other songs by the whole school. In conclusion prizes were awarded by Mr. Synnestvedt for highest standing in excellence of work, for faithfulness and exhibition of best effort. Mr. Cowley made honorable mention of several pupils in the different classes, and announced prizes from Miss Jessie Moir for excellence in the scrapbooks which she had had the children collect, of pictures illustrative of various countries. Bishop Pendleton, on being called upon for remarks, said that it was a pleasure to realize that while there were various degrees of merit among the pupils there was not one really bad boy or girl, which is not always the case in schools. Be added that there is more truth in fairy tales than is supposed. The real Fairyland is the lowest or Natural heaven. The school and audience then sang the Star Spangled Banner. The work of pupils was displayed around the walls of the room, and the exhibits were encouraging in quality.
     AT the Nineteenth of June Dinner, held In the Club House, Professor Odhner acted as host and toast-master, and the following symposium of thoughts was presented, each suggested by some portion of True Christian Religion, n. 791: The Crown of the Churches, by Rev. Alfred Acton; The Work of the Priesthood, by Jr. S. H. Hicks; The Propaganda of Truth, by Mr. John Pitcairn; The Gold of the Wedding Ring, by Bishop Pendleton; Spiritual Brotherhood, by Rev. G. G. Starkey, and The Babies, by Mr. R. M. Glenn. Other informal but appropriate toasts were duly proposed and honored.
     On the evening of July 10th the members of the Church in Huntingdon Valley assembled to hear from those who had returned from Glenview some notes of occurrences at the Assembly. The speakers were Messrs. Synnestvedt, Odhner, Glenn, Potts, and Pendleton.
     Mr. Synnestvedt mentioned the unfavorable weather-conditions of high wind for the first two days and then a cloud-burst. The noise of the wind flapped the great tent of meeting so as to make it difficult to hear, while the rain brought certain discomforts to the unusually crowded community. But nothing could dampen the spirits of guests or hosts. He spoke of the favorable impression made by the messengers from Convention and their hearty reception; also of the new sphere which their advent occasioned (especially at first).
     Mr. Odhner gave a more detailed account of the proceedings of the several days beginning with the Ministers' Meeting of June 22d and 23d, and ending with that of the same body on the 29th. Friday, Saturday, and Monday were devoted to the Assembly, and Tuesday to the Academy of the New Church. On Wednesday, the 29th, the Teachers' Institute met, and on the day following, the Council of the Clergy.
     One item of interest was the presence of Mr. A. W. Manning, of San Francisco, Cal., who, at the "smoker," Wednesday evening, 22d, told how he had rooted out the T. L. Harris community and its iniquities.
     The Assembly proper began on Friday, the 24th. After the Bishop's address, which was concerned wish the year's work, the messengers from Convention were introduced and read their addresses, which made a very favorable impression. Then communications were read from absent members, after which the subject of "Evangelization" was considered, Mr. Bowers leading off with a paper on that topic.
     Next came the subject of "Organization and Government," taken up from last year, and Bishop Pendleton's paper and "Plan of Organization" was read and discussed. Finally, the principles therein contained were formally endorsed by the meeting by resolution. Rev. E. I. Kirk read a paper, "Government by the Divine Providence."
     On Saturday the Council of the Clergy were re nested by the Assembly to name a Bishop or the governing priest of the body.
     Rev. Richard de Charms moved to draft resolutions reaffirming the original Academy Doctrine, principles. But this action, though in entire accord with the general sentiment, was not considered necessary-indeed it was pointed out that it would look like a confession of weakness, whereas the Academy principles were never were strongly held. The expressions called forth had the effect of satisfying all concerned.
     Then followed a discussion as to the constitution of the House of the Laity. Some thought that the Assembly should nominate and elect its members, while most preferred to see the nominating power placed in the hands of the Bishop. The matter was referred to the Executive Committee.
     On Sunday the Holy Supper was partaken of by about 183 communicants. The ordination of Messrs. Stebbing and Klein has already been mentioned in these columns, as also the administrations of baptism, one of these services being in Swedish. The stored concert in the evening was greatly enjoyed, the Psalms being rendered by a chorus of 75 voices.
     In this connection it was mentioned that in the deliberations of the meetings 175 persons took part.
     On Monday Rev. E. C. Bostock announced that the Council of the Clergy had invited the Rt. Rev. W. F. Pendleton to be the Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. The Assembly, by a unanimous vote, ratified this selection.
     The next subject of discussion was the name of the body. There was a very general feeling that the present name was too comprehensive, but the alternative which had been suggested, the "Episcopal General Church of the New Jerusalem" did not meet with more favor by most. Mr. Charles F. Browns suggested the name "Academy Church of the New Jerusalem," which nearly captured the meeting; but as not all were satisfied the matter was referred to the Council of the Clergy.
     On Tuesday, the 28th, a meeting was held at the call of the Corporation of the Academy of the New Church, to which the friends of the body were invited. The subject of the relation between the Academy and the "General Church" being taken, up, the Rev. E. C. Bostock made a strong plea for unity of organization between the two bodies. It was shown, however, to be very important, on considerations of civil order, to keep the civil functions distinct from the ecclesiastical. Ultimately Mr. Glenn, President of the Corporation, announced that a resolution was to be brought up in that body recognizing the Bishop of the General Church as ex officio head of the ecclesiastical uses of the Academy; and that for that resolution five of the members of the Corporation there present were pledged to vote. This proposition established a relation satisfactory to nearly all the friends of the uses of the two bodies.
     On that evening there was a reception at the house of Mr. L. G. Gyllenhaal.
     On Wednesday the Teachers' Institute held a meeting, when the chief subject was the curriculum needed for local schools in preparing for the Academy College and Seminary. In the evening the session was public.
     Mr. Odhner also recounted some features of his visit to Cincinnati, to consult the libraries there, on his way home from Glenview. He spoke appreciatively of material gathered for the Annals, and also of his intercourse with Mr. Colon Schott, of Cincinnati, and the Rev. John Whitehead and wife, of Urbana. He testified to the equipment of the Urbana University, but said that as a "missionary institution" it was a failure. Mr. Whitehead's affection and sympathy for our work were described.
     Bishop Pendleton, at the urgent desire of the audience, here expressed the following thoughts suggested by the Assembly. He first spoke of the new attitude of Convention toward our work and organization, remarking that before the first Assembly the uncertainties of the situation had led him to contemplate the possibility that a return of individuals to Convention would be the outcome. The idea of this necessity had been dissipated the very first day of that meeting, when he saw the spirit in which the members came together, as if only too glad to get together, notwithstanding marked differences of opinion. That state of warm good feeling had been repeated this year sad increased. We had taken decided steps of progress. The strong social sphere and the attendance, which was very large proportionately for such a body, showed an interest in the matters of the Church which was very encouraging. One pleasant and important feature was the desire of the young people to attend. He recognized with gratification the more friendly attitude of Convention, and hoped that it would continue; but he also hoped that there would continue the ability to see the distinctions between the two bodies. There is a difference of life-that is, of use. Convention in its uses looks outward to the world. We, in ours, look inward to building up the Church by virtue of its use of New Church education. To mix the two states or uses would produce conflict. There is greater freedom in separateness. If this is recognized by Convention, we may go on and co-operate in certain general uses, as we have begun to do in the case of the Scientific Association.

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     Speaking of the Assembly, he said warmly that it was a most useful meeting, and he had especially realized this in the final meeting of ministers, where was evinced a spirit of affection and unity and looking to the real good of the Church, which was the crown of the Assembly. This, he thought, ought to be known to the members. The Divine Providence had led us on into a very encouraging condition of things; it remains to be seen whether we are worthy of these blessings and opportunities. The use remains to us to build up the Church from within.
     This is a movement of a Church a whole body. It is marked by the independent thought of the men involved. We have passed out of the period of tutelage. In the beginning we had been all ignorant. There was one man who was far ahead in things of wisdom and in the ability to teach the Church, and there had arisen a condition of paternalism which had then had its use; but we have now come to a time when we must think for ourselves. It is a movement of our whole Church. There is a state of confidence ultimated now as never before. We shall have trials and temptations, but the speaker thought that the Church had come into a strength in which the temptations will be more individual. The Church itself ought to be stable, just as the country ought to be. We may look, therefore, for greater individual growth, involving, of course, individual temptations also.
     Rev. J. F. Potts spoke of his great pleasure in attending both the General Convention and the General Assembly this year. Two ideas that had struck him most were, first, that these two bodies are both excellent and promising bodies, and that they are distinctly different in genius, so much so as to make it evident that neither could perform the use of the other. From the spiritual aspect especially Church organization is to be regarded as a grand man-all the individuals being as organs in their proper places. The two bodies ought not to be amalgamated-it would destroy the uses of both; it would be like amalgamating the heart and lungs, which would destroy the uses of both organs. The other idea that had impressed him was this, that in a proper order there is no spirit of rivalry between such bodies. And it was his observation in his contact with members of Convention that hostile and unkind feelings had totally disappeared.
     Bishop Pendleton was reminded here of a point that he had made to the committee which had approached him in Canada with a view to uniting. To love the neighbor is to love his use. The Canada Association had sought to draw the Academy societies away from their distinctive use-by the proposed amalgamation-and thereby practically to break them up. We on our part ought not to wish to draw away one single member of Convention to weaken the use of that body.
     Mr. Potts added that he had had a conversation with two representative ministers of the Convention on the subject of amalgamation, and he had told them that it was impossible. When pressed for reasons he had told them that for one thing the "General Church" would never submit their episcopal order of the priesthood to a general vote of both clergy and laity, such as exists in Convention. They had asked, Was that certain? He had positively assured them that it was. Then, said they, it will be a long time before the General Church ever becomes part of Convention.
     On Monday evening, July 25th, the "Principia Club of Philadelphia" was formed by members of the Huntingdon Valley and Philadelphia congregations, having for its objects, first, to study New Church science, and, second, to assist in the general uses of the Swedenborg Scientific Association. Membership in that association makes any one resident in Philadelphia or vicinity eligible as member of the Principia Club, or, residents of she vicinity may become members of the Club by payment of an annual fee of fifty cents.
     The officers consist of President, Secretary, and Treasurer, constituting a Business Committee. There is also to be a Committee of Scientific Research.
     The meetings are appointed to be held monthly, on the evening of the third Monday in the month.
     The officers elected at this meeting were: President, Rev. J. F. Potts; Secretary, Dr. Harvey Farrington; Treasurer, Prof. Camille Vinet.
     The latter part of the meeting was occupied with listening to Morning Light's account of that part of the proceedings of the Swedenborg Society in London relative to publishing the scientific writings of Swedenborg, noted below.
     Maryland.-THE Rev. F. E. Waelchli, pastor of the Baltimore German Society, through July conducted a summer-school for children of the congregation. The school was held three mornings each week, instructions being given in the Letter of the Word and in the Doctrines of the Church.

     LETTER PROM MR. BOWERS.

     Michigan.-My evangelistic labors were resumed after the Assembly at Glenview, an occasion which will be memorable in the minds of those who enjoyed the privilege of being p resent, because it was an event of some Importance in the history of the Church. Taking a steamer at Chicago, I was in a few hours transported to my missionary field in this State; and on Sunday, July 3d preached in a school-house, morning and evening, near Moline, Allegan County. A united New Church family, with whom it is always a pleasure to visit, is a "light" in that community. On Tuesday evening, July 5th, the sacrament of the LORD'S Supper was administered at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Webster, In Gorand Rapids. The communicants were five elderly persons, all of whom are well
grounded in the Heavenly Doctrines, and have a strong affection for the things of the Church. All of them have learned to love the Church by passing through "affliction," by which the human mind is purified. Our service on the occasion was enjoyed by all present. My tour is to last till about August 1st, and will be of nearly six months' duration.     J. B. BOWERS.
IN MEMORIAM 1898

IN MEMORIAM       Editor       1898

[The following verses commemorate the unexpected passing away of a young lady in the church In England, under pathetic circumstances. She was shortly to have been married to a gentleman In the Brixton Road Society, London -EDITOR.]

     IN MEMORIAM.

     MABEL H. SUMMERHAYES.

     Died 1st June, 1898.

Taken from earth ere life's great joy began-
     Mabel we mourn the spirit flown from here;
Comfort those left ones, feeling, man to man,
     Sorrow for him who sheds a lover's tear.

Taken in youth to that great Home above;
     Taken for reasons Providence doth know;
Living in spheres of pure conjugial love;
     Guiding her lover's heart on earth below.

Come that great time when hearts shall meet again,
     When earth is left and scenes of earthly strife;
Welcome that day-earth's vigil not in vain-
     Joined the fond hearts in one eternal life.
FROM THE PERIDOICALS 1898

FROM THE PERIDOICALS       Various       1898

     CANADA.

     Berlin-THE twenty-sixth annual meeting of the German Missionary Union was held in Berlin, Out., Canada, on June 16th. In the absence of the President, Mr.
F. W. Tuerk, the Vice-President, Rev. Wm. Diehl, of New York, opened the meeting; Rev. L. H. Tafel acted as Secretary pro tem.
     Besides finance reports a report was read from Rev. Bussman, stating that his work during the past year has been confined to St. Louis and Quincy, as lack of means prevented him from making any more extended tours.
     Rev. L. H. Tafel reported to the meeting that he had finished the revision of the first two Books of Moses, and pointed out to the Union its duty to publish as complete an edition of the Bible as present means will allow, especially since the plates of the first edition have now come into the possession of the Missionary Union and Swiss Union. Mr. Tafel believed he could complete the revision within two years, having been more or less on this work for the past twenty-eight years.
     Missionary work also was discussed, and it was agreed that in time a German missionary should be constantly employed. At present the circles are visited as often as possible by the various ministers.
     A letter of greeting was received from Karl Albrecht, Budapest, Hungary, in which he makes the statement that The Heavenly Doctrines were first made known in Hungary in 1869, and by Mathias Rienck, and that meetings were held in private houses until 1891, since which time they have had public meetings. They have services every Sunday and Thursday, which are advertised in the daily papers, and often visitors attend. Every four weeks they have services in the Hungarian tongue, led by Mr. Julius Spada, who also with much labor translates the sermons into that language. Rev. Mr. Gorwitz is their pastoral leader, but can only visit them once a year. Besides a complete German New Church Library, they have but only one of the Writings in Hungarian tongue-the Doctrine of Life. They speak of the great need for The True Christian Religion in their tongue.
     Neukirchenblatt.

     GRELT BRITIAN.

     THE SWEDENBORG SOCIETY.

     THE annual meeting of the Swedenborg Society was held at No. 1 Bloomsbury Street, London, on June 14th, with Mr. J. Howard Spalding in the chair. The chairman's address was upon she Value of Swedenborg's Scientific Works; and he mentioned three general ways in which science may be regarded. First, where science is studied apart from religion, as is done by even some religious persons; second, where science is made the supreme and exclusive test of truth; third, where science is ignored, being set aside for religion, as a thing of no account.

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To these classes however, the speaker added a fourth, that of profound religions belief united to a profound minute and wide study of natural phenomena. In this class stands Swedenborg alone. As a scientist he occupies a position as unique as he does as a theologian. Works written by such a mind cannot fail to have lessons for the men of this time so soon as they will receive them; and so the speaker urged the importance of the Scientific Works as a potent means in influencing the thought of the day, which is confessedly scientific.
     Mr. James Speirs, on behalf of the Committee, gave a significant and, interesting report of the year's work of the Society. Of the 38,294 volumes, parts, and leaflets distributed, 2,964 were of the theological writings, 29 of which were in Latin, 1 each in French, German, Welsh, and Magyar, 73 in Arabic, and 17 in Hindi. Decidedly interesting are some of the applications received by the distributing committee. Several ministers desired the Works for the purpose of circulation among their people and others.
     One recommendation of the Revision Board was to issue all the smaller Works published by Swedenborg in one volume, and all the similar posthumous ones in another volume, Instead of separately in pamphlets, as in the past.
     The Ellis legacy, after deducting Estate duty and legal expenses, amounted to L4461, 19s. 9d.
     A Welsh translation of Heaven and Hell is about to be printed and placed in the hands of colporteurs.
     The Arabic translation of Heaven and Hell, and of the Doctrine of Charity has been sent for review to eighteen of the native newspapers and journals published in Egypt, in some of which short notices have appeared. Copies have been presented to Arabic scholars and Orientalists.
     Mr. U. S. Misra, Senior Judge of the civil court in Nagpore, India, has undertaken the distribution of the Hindi translation of Heaven and Hell. An offer of both these translations is being made to the libraries of 26 colleges and similar institutions in India.
     Dr. Calleja, of Mexico, has applied to the Swedenborg Society also, as well as to the English Conference, for assistance in his missionary efforts in that country. It seems that he is an ordained Methodist minister, and was formerly a pastor in the City of Mexico, but now earns his living practicing medicine, acting also as local preacher.
     Mr. M. R. Bhatt, writing from Baroda, India, after expressing thanks for a parcel of books and tracts, says: "I have since had the good fortune of reading many of the wonderful works of Swedenborg, and I have got them together with all the available works of the venerable Dr. Wilkinson. Other works I shall order from time to time from my Bombay bookseller. . . . Will you now be good enough to recommend me to some New Church leader or teacher with whom I can correspond as a pupil? I am a Brahimin by birth, but already I am a follower of the Heavenly Doctrine revealed by Swedenborg; and I hope I shall be able in due time even to appropriate his doctrine of the LORD. That the historical Jesus is one with God the Creator is a truth for which I am not yet prepared, but I feel that it must be true, since I have felt that almost everything said by Swedenborg is true." Later the same gentleman wrote: "In continuation of my last letter I am happy to inform you that since I sent it our LORD has graciously blessed me with the faith I longed for, and I am made a missionary of the New Church. . . . Already the new light has been hailed in various quarters with more or less delight. I have been reading the Word and translating Heaven and Hell. My wife follows me in the new faith, my mother and sister alternately hope and fear, and my friends and pupils wish to believe. . . "
     Mr. E. J. Moore, who is engaged in constructing a Latin version of the Word from the Writings, reported lately that he had extracted every Scripture passage from all except this Apocalypse Explained and a portion of the Apocalypse Revealed; and that he had written out a fair copy up to Psalm lxix.
     The Booksellers' Reference Catalogue is about to be issued again, and 4,000 copies of a catalogue of the New Church Writings in all the languages in which they are obtainable have been supplied to, be included in it.
     Mr. Backhouse, in moving the adoption of the report, spoke of the powerful effect upon the religious mind of the country made by the work of the Society, which had distributed about 250,000 volumes since 1810. He cited the remark of one of the "highest church dignitaries," that "it was really surprising to find, as he had done, so many men adopting the views of Swedenborg without knowing where they came from."
     After some alterations of the rules which were passed without much discussion, the Rev. J. R. Rendell offered a resolution instructing the committee to put aside a sum equaling about L300, "to form a nucleus for a fund to be employed for the purpose of printing and publishing the Philosophical and Scientific Writings of Swedenborg." Subsequently Mr. Clowes Bayley offered an amendment-which passed-authorizing the committee to proceed with the publication of the said works without prescribing any amount, and instructing them to co-operate, if possible, with the friends of the New Church in America. This action, and the appreciative discussion which accompanied it, showed that the awakening interest in Swedenborg's science is a movement of no small proportions. Besides the gentlemen mentioned those who spoke were: Rev. W. A. Presland, Rev. James Hyde, Messrs. Gardiner, Backhouse, Jobson, Gilbey, Higham, Deans, and Rabone.
     The committee for the coming year are: Messrs. Backhouse, Bayley, Bevington, Deans, Elliott, Gardiner, Gilbey, Higham, James Hyde, Jobson, Spalding, and Stocker.
     Extract from Morning Light.
WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENT 1898

WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENT       Editor       1898

     Mrs. M. M. Cowley desires to announce to the members of the New Church the coming marriage of her daughter, L1die, to the Rev. Ernest J. Stebbing, on Wednesday, the 10th day of August, 1898, at Belsano, Cambria Co., Pa.
ANNALS OF THE NEW CHURCH 1898

ANNALS OF THE NEW CHURCH       Editor       1898

     NUMBER four (July) now ready. Covers the period-important, both historically and ecclesiaaically-1770 to 1775. Portraits of Rev. A. Ferelius, Jacob Duche, Gustavus III, Augustus Nordensjold, and Robert Hindmarsh.
     ACADEMY BOOK ROOM.
NOTES 1898

NOTES       Editor       1898


NEW CHURCH LIFE.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH.

TERMS:-One Dollar per annum, payable in advance.
FOUR SHILLINGS IN GREAT BRITIAN.

     Address all communications for publication to the Editor, the Rev. George G. Starkey, Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery Co., Pa.
     Address all business communications to Academy Book Boom, Carl Hj. Asplundh, Manager, No. 1821 Wallace Street, Philadelphia. Pa.
     Subscriptions also received through the following agents:
UNITED STATES.
     Chicago, Ill., Mr. H. S. Maynard, Chicago Agent of Academy Book Boom No 545 West Superior Street.
     Denver, Col., Mr. Geo. W. Tyler, Denver Agent of Academy Book Boom, No. 644 South Thirteenth Street.
CANADA.
     Toronto, Ont., Mr. B. Carswell, No. 47 Elm Grove.
     Waterloo, Mr. Rudolf Roschman.
GREAT BRITIAN.
     Mr. Wiebe Posthuma, Agent for Greet Britain, of Academy Book Boom, Burton Road, Brixton, London. S. W.

PHILADELPHIA, AUGUST, 1898=129.
     CONTENTS               PAGE
EDITORIAL: Notes; War Spirit     113

THE SERMON: Let the Dead bury their Dead,          114
     Fruits     117
     Diseases of the Fibres (XI-continued),     119
     Teachers' Institute (General Meeting)     120
     Impressions of the Assembly               123
     Life's Uses (couplet)                    123
     Fear Not (a hymn)                         124
COMMUNICATED: Compulsory Education               124
     Some Corrections of the Latin "Diary,"     125
     An Appeal to Patriotism                    125
CHURCH NEWS                                   126
     Reports and Letters: Huntingdon Valley, 121;
Baltimore, 127; Letter from Mr. Bowers, 127;
In memoriam, 127; From the Periodicals:
Berlin, 127; The Swedenborg Society, 127.
BIRTHS; MARRIAGE; DEATH,                    128
WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENT                         128
ACADEMY BOOK ROOM                              128


129




     ATTENTION is called to the earlier opening of the Academy Schools in Huntingdon Valley, as announced in the news departments.


     IT would seem as though the war with Spain might have tended to crystallize in the mind of the Russian Czar his noble conception of general disarmament. Whether or not that conception can as yet be carried out, its very announcement from such a source constitutes a precedent which should have great influence on the progress of the Peace idea.



     THE two sons who in the parable (Matthew xxi, 30) were told by their father to go work in the vineyard, acted each in a manner just the opposite of what their' respective replies to him indicated. This, in the spiritual sense, applies to a decadent Church, but in one aspect it also has a special significance for the Newchurchman of this day. The son who said, "I go sir, and went not," represented the Jews, who were in the formalities of the law and in its literal observances, but who made nothing of the good of life. The Christian Church, which had the truth in a higher form, in course of time-seduced by the proprium-likewise came to disregard the essence of the truth, which is good of life, and receded into the formal things of faith. At this day the Newchurchman is subject to the fearful sphere of this inherited, intensified state of "faith without life," and because he has truth in more interior form his danger and responsibility are so much the greater. The Doctrines prescribe charity to the neighbor, and the subjugation of all conceits and prides, hatreds, malice, insincerity, voluptuousness, covetousness, envy, sloth, and all the many forms of self-love and love of the world. He who is instructed knows that he inherits tendencies to all these, and he who examines himself may see evidences of those tendencies, some of them become more than mere tendencies. And the teachings which expose and reprobate them he may see and affirm with a certain zest and intellectual delight, exalting in his mind the heavenly life, and determining to lead it and to obey those heavenly truths. And yet how apt is he at the first practical opportunity to obey the truth and shun his old delights, to fall back into old courses of self-seeking, self-elevation, animosities, and contempt toward the neighbor, backbiting, vindictiveness, neglect of duty for pleasure, insincerity, etc., etc. How often do we recognize the force and application of some teaching which bears upon our besetting sin, bidding us turn our feet from the broad and easy way and set them in, the strait and narrow one, and after noting the command, say mentally, "I go sir," and go not! So long as this state prevails in the New Church we shall remain in the sphere of the Old; and, conversely, so long as we willingly remain in the sphere of the life and worship of the Old, so long will that prevailing state of faith without works continue to infest the New.



     "THE Word cannot be profaned by those who do not know its mysteries, but by those who do know them; and more by those who appear to themselves learned than by those who appear to themselves unlearned. But the interiors of the Word are now opened because the Church at this day is so vastated-that is, so devoid of faith and love, that although men know and understand still they do not acknowledge, still less believe, except the few who are in the life of good, and are called the Elect, who may now be instructed, and among whom the New Church is about to be established: but where these are the LORD alone knows. There will be few within the Church; the New Churches established in former times were established among the Gentiles" (A. C. 3898).



     THE statement in the foregoing passage-which is matched by many others-that at this day there are but few who are in the life of good, is calculated to discourage a Newchurchman who is interested in the doings of the world with reference to social and political affairs as bearing upon the welfare of the race and the establishment of the Church. He may tend thereby to lose interest in the policy and administration of even the most enlightened nations, saying to himself that all is dictated by selfishness, and that so soon as the blindness which characterizes self-love shall have at last obscured the perception of what constitutes the external semblance of good, equity, and justice the higher policy will be thrown aside for one more in accordance with the selfish internal. Thus he may lose all zeal in national or international affairs, and all faith in the prevalence of justice. But this attitude is not at all useful, and indicates activity of something of the proprium-something of self-intelligence and lack of trust in Providence. It may be helped by taking a broader view of mundane happenings.
     There are two aspects to human affairs, one concerned with the intentions and efforts of men, and the other with the ends and operations of Providence. Be these ever so antagonistic, yet so super-human is the Wisdom and Power of the Divine that a final harmony is ultimately worked out, without in the least invalidating the free will of man.
     Every nation represents some affection, and plays some especial part-performs some particular use-in the grand economy of the universe. The performance of the use may be gradually limited and restricted by the increase of evil in that nation, but we may be assured that by means of good affections with the few, and by the means of merely natural loves with the unregenerate-by fears and rewards-the LORD ever provides for the advancement of His own ends. ("Few" must be taken as meaning relatively few. The aggregate of those who are in falsities from ignorance in which is good, are many.-A. C. 9192.)

130


If a nation becomes too wholly corrupt to perform its use, it comes to an end and disintegrates. But until then the nation stands for a good principle, and though there is always an opposite to every good-making a dual representation-we are justified in making the nation stand in our own mind for its highest ideals, and not primarily for the perversion. Thus in our own country not all the mercenariness, extravagance, corruption, and self-assertion which can be found among us should close our eyes to its mission in promoting the cause of freedom and of advanced civilization. So, too, in the case of England's policy, though we may recognize the selfish motives which may enter with many of those who dictate it, we should none the less recognize that in the main that policy stands for the extension of liberal government, of commerce and enlightened civilization, and thereby the dissemination of the Word; and these are goods, irrespective of whether or not they have an internal with those who are made use of, and are most active, in promoting them.



     THE ability to see-or, not seeing, to trust-the omnipresence and omnipotence of Divine ends among human affairs, unhampered by the finite operations of the latter, has an important and exceedingly wide bearing upon our earthly life and its higher fruition. It tends to preserve a serenity otherwise unattainable, and a balance which no disorders can long or seriously disturb. Take an illustration from the civil plane, where so many disorders exist, but where the Divine power to conserve and protect the works of its Providence manifests itself so wonderfully to the eye of him who is willing to see. The country has been profoundly disturbed by recent revelations as to the apparent incompetency, or worse, in certain quarters of the medical, sanitary, and commissary departments of the army, and by consequent disasters to health and life in the home camps. To many it has all seemed so needless, so inexcusable, that some very well-meaning and loyal citizens have, been led to forget our recent achievements and to attack' the conduct of the war with a severity and unreserve not always discriminating or just. Without going into the inherent merits of the case, we desire just to suggest that in such cases self-restraint and balance are most important, both for the sake of subordination and loyalty in the country, and for the self discipline to the individual. Freedom of speech is a great safeguard to the nation, but for its best results it should be accompanied by that self-government which is a counter-guard against abuse.
     No fair man can fail to recognize that for a peaceful nation to meet such an emergency as war, overcome tremendous obstacles and achieve a speedy and splendid victory, implies great abilities and faithfulness on the part of some one. Is it reasonable, however, to expect perfection, or even uniform excellence in all branches of administration? Ought we not to be in the affirmative attitude toward the Divine Providence even in the things of its permission? Things of permission are said to be evils, but in the hands of Providence they are as it were transformed into goods, for they are the best that is possible, conditions being what they are.
     To keep the mind serene and steadfast it is needful to recognize not only that Providence is unerring, but also, on the other hand, that all human administration is, and of necessity must be, most fallible and defective; and this acknowledgment should be not merely theoretical and general, like confessing one's sins without scrutinizing to discover the particular sins which are to be removed, but it should make us modest and reasonable in our expectations from given conditions. Knowing that human efforts are necessarily attended by errors and evils, should make us ready to accept the inevitable and seek to meet it wisely, moderately, justly, and above all humbly, not condoning incompetency nor corruption; rather employing our judgment to discover the remedy and to determine our own jurisdiction in the premises and observe it, than giving free rein to outraged feeling. We should remember that the worst things that can occur are of Divine permission and under the Divine control. If some occurrence reveals a state in the body politic worse than was supposed possible, remember that something similar might be said of our own spiritual state if this were to be revealed in its nakedness. Humility as to our own state need not indeed prevent us from suitably characterizing evils that appear outside of self, for the sake of their amendment, but it should dictate moderation, and the effort to be discriminating, just, patient, and charitable toward our finite fellow mortals and toward human institutions. In an age when there are few who are in good the wonder is that so much of order can prevail as is the case; yet that order is growing greater all the time. This is in Providence, in order that the Church may be made secure and stable, an ultimate condition which, though with many it be an external without an internal, is nevertheless an external indispensable for the sake of those with whom it can be made also internal. So it is well to remember that the LORD is with the State and on the side of good government; and that He will secure just as much of this as is best for the governed-that is, as much good as the state of the people will allow them to appropriate. Not pessimism, but a rational optimism seems to be the true attitude of the Newchurchman-one which does not ignore conditions, but which, while neglecting nothing of an orderly human prudence called for by the conditions, regards the outcome, whether fortunate or the reverse, as being of Divine Providence. Such an optimism looks for the best in human nature and yet is prepared for the worst when that appears. In all things it regards the Divine end and its fulfilment as the only reality there is.
HOLY SUPPER 1898

HOLY SUPPER       Rev. C. TH ODHNER       1898

IN ORDER to gain a true understanding of the nature and uses of the most holy sacrament of the Supper, it is first necessary to divest the mind of the idea that this sacred communion is a mere ceremonial belonging to the external worship of some or any particular church. For we will find that there is nothing artificial in it, but, instead, what is essentially Divine, and at the same time human, inseparable from the religious life of humanity, in whatever age it has existed.
     The eating of bread, and the drinking of wine, as a religious act, may be traced back even to the days of the golden and silver ages, when men first began to assemble together as brothers in feasts of charity, to be consociated and conjoined in mutual love, instructing and strengthening one another in the things of charity and faith, and in the worship of the LORD from a sincere heart. Thus mind and body were simultaneously and correspondingly nourished, and from this the celestial and spiritual men of those ages derived intelligence and wisdom and communication with Heaven (A. C. 7996).

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     Thus the associate, as well as the individual life of these men, was truly a holy communion, and they had no need of any special ceremony to commemorate the Love of the LORD toward His children, and their reciprocal and mutual love toward Him and toward one another. But as those happy days of peace and innocence, of wisdom and intelligence, vanished from our earth, the LORD in His Mercy provided that the memory and the form, at least, of this holy communion should remain among men, in order that some plane should be preserved in this world for the redeeming operation of the Divine, and for the future establishment of a new spiritual and celestial Church.
     Such was the use of the representative forms of the worship of the Israelitish Church, chief of which were the sacrifices and the holy feasts, and especially the feast of the Passover. This solemn annual convocation was instituted, naturally, as a commemoration of the great deliverance from the Egyptian bondage, but was, spiritually, a prophetic celebration of the great deliverance from Hell and from damnation which the LORD would effect by the Redemption. The Pasehal lamb, which was sacrificed, represented the LORD Himself in the innocence and holiness of His Divine Human, and the blood of the lamb, which was put upon the doorposts, represented the Divine Truth proceeding from the Divine Human, which will protect the LORD S redeemed from the destructive fury of the infernals. The eating of the flesh of the lamb, after the sacrifice, typified the conjunction of the Church with the LORD, as the result of the Redemption. It was to be eaten with unleavened bread to represent the good of regeneration, in which evil is absent; and it was to be eaten as a supper in the night, to represent the first state of the regenerate, which is a state of obscurity and ignorance. But of these spiritual things the Israelites were utterly ignorant.
     The Advent of the LORD in the flesh was the realization and fulfilment of these prophetical representations, which were now abrogated, after they had fulfilled their uses. And yet the LORD Himself, while in the world, instituted two new representatives-Baptism and the Holy Supper-which, as a focus, included all of the former Jewish representatives, such as circumcision, washings, purifications, sacrifices, offerings, libations, and feasts.
     Why these new externals, now that an internal Church had been established? Because men on this earth had become, and will for the most part ever remain, of such a gross, sensual, and external genius that they cannot perceive any internal things, or anything holy of worship, without the medium of sensuous ultimates. Yet these new representatives were not mere representatives, such as the Jewish, but real and genuine representatives, in which something of the internal was perceived from the teaching of the LORD Himself.
     The Doctrine concerning the Holy Supper, as revealed in the Letter of the Word, is general, indeed, yet plain and unmistakable. This is my Body, which is given for you: this do, in Remembrance of Me. This cup is the New Testament in my Blood, which is shed for you, for the remission of sins. He that eateth my Flesh, and drinketh my Blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him.
     This teaching was sufficient for the simple faith of the primitive Christians, who were, indeed, in ignorance; but at the same time in innocence and in love to their Divine Master and to one another. This love itself shed a heavenly light upon their faith, which was not a faith of dogmas or speculations, but a faith of life.
     But this first sweet dawn of innocent love and simple faith soon faded away. Even at the time of the apostles manifold disorders and heresies arose, and Paul found it necessary to exhort the churches against the profane practice of making the LORD'S Supper a common meal for the satisfaction of mere bodily appetites (1 Cor. xii, 26-34). A century later the love-feasts were still common, and the Holy Supper was celebrated at their close; but self-derived intelligence had begun to obscure the meaning of the Sacrament. Some taught that the rite was a mere thank-offering; others, that the elements were only symbols; some held that they were in some mysterious manner pervaded by the Logos, and others, again, that they had reference to the resurrection of the body, whence they were often placed upon the coffins of the dead.
     As the Church became more and more contaminated with the love of the world, so also the holiest of its worship became more and more perverted. The dogma of the tri-personal Godhead destroyed the very life of the Sacrament by removing from it the central idea of the one LORD and Redeemer, and making it only a celebration of a vicarious atonement and an expiatory sacrifice. Next, faith-alone seized upon it, teaching that the mere eating and drinking were sufficient for the remission of sins. With the Eucharist, and by it, men were supposed to be saved; without it, lost forever. Here a perverted priesthood saw the opportunity for power over the souls and possessions of men. Extreme unction was introduced, and men were forbidden or admitted to the LORD'S table at the will of the clergy.
     The wolves who, in sheep's clothing, ruled over the fallen Church, now fell upon the dead Sacrament itself, defiling its substance and tearing its form asunder. First, they established their idolatrous and revolting doctrine of Transubstantiation, teaching that the bread and the wine, by the act of priestly consecration, underwent a material change, and actually became the physical flesh of the Son of Mary, that very human which was put off and ejected as evil itself. And finally they divided the elements, forbidding the cup to the laity, under the pretense that either the bread or the wine represented the whole substance of the Divine flesh and blood. Other reasons were also given, too absurd to be related. Still, even in its grossest perversion, the rite was representative-representative of that adulterous Church which taught that men could live by bread alone, could buy their salvation by mere natural good, whilst they were withheld from the spiritual wine, the truth of the Word of God, which they were not allowed to read.
     Even in the darkest hour of the night protests against this horrible profanation began to be heard, but these feeble voices were drowned in streams of blood, until, in the midst of the abomination," The covenant was confirmed one week" (Dan. ii, 27). "By this is signified the time of the Reformation, when there would again be reading of the Word and an acknowledgment of the LORD" (A. E. 684). The doctrine of transubstantiation and the separation of the elements were, indeed, rejected by the reformers, yet "in the midst of the week the sacrifice and the meat offering ceased," which signifies that "still, interiorly, there would not be truth and good in the worship of the Reformed" (Ibid). Spiritually blind and puffed up with conceit, the reformers could give no genuine doctrine on the subject of the Holy Supper, but instead fell foul of one another, with the result that the whole reformatory movement was split into two irreconcilable parties, the Lutheran and the Reformed. The former cling to the idolatry of Rome, regarding the elements as the material blood and flesh of the Crucified One.

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The latter go to the other extreme by regarding the elements only as symbols or figures of speech. From these positions not one step in advance has been taken since the days of the reformers, a sign, truly, that the old Christian Church, like the wife of Lot, has become lifeless and frozen, a statue of salt.
     At the very institution of the Sacrament of the Supper the LORD foretold the fall of the first Christian Church and the establishment of a New Church at His Second Advent. For He said: "I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day, when I drink it NEW with you in my Father's Kingdom" (Matt. xxvi, 29).
     These words refer not only to the twelve apostles, and their conjunction with the LORD in the spiritual world, but, in a universal sense, to the new Divine Truth which was to be revealed and now has been revealed to His New Kingdom on earth and in Heaven (T. C. R. 708).
     In this new, truly Christian, and crowning Church of the LORD, and in it alone, men may come into the very use and benefit of the Holy Supper; for in this Church, from the light of the internal sense of the Word, men will be able to see with the eyes of the spirit-that is, rationally understand the holiness concealed therein, and then apply it to themselves.
     While this Church is to be an internal Church-the true fulfilment of that Church which the Israelitish merely represented, and which the first Christian realized in name only-the New Church will at the same time be an external and truly representative Church; for otherwise there would be no salvation in it for the external men, who by means of it are to become internal. Hence in the Church of the New Jerusalem, also, there must be external worship, and, as the focus and holiest things thereof, it must have the two Sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Supper, such as these were instituted by the LORD at His first advent, and now again Divinely appointed and revealed in the glory and splendor of heavenly light.
     Being the holiest things of worship the two sacraments, even in the New Church, have been subjected to almost continuous assaults, yet in each onslaught the LORD has been victorious by His omnipotent Truth. The attack upon the distinctiveness of the worship and sacraments of the New Church, as separate from the Old; the assertion of the continued efficacy of Old Church baptism and communion; the disparagement of all forms of external worship; the efforts to establish a "close communion" in the New Church; the disorderly and self-willed administration of the sacraments by laymen; the profane substitution of impure grape-juice for the fermented wine; the worldly notion about "individual cups;" all these heresies and disorders have produced doubts, obscurities, and indifference among many in the Church at large, and caused a non-attendance upon the Sacrament, which in many quarters, is more general than could possibly be believed without the startling reports that have been published.
     With those, however, who have intellectually received the genuine Doctrines of Truth in regard to the Holy Supper, and who consequently are no longer troubled with the external infestations enumerated above, the observance and appreciation of the Sacrament must now become a matter of the life, rather than a point of faith. It is not enough to follow the general practice and sphere of thought of the Church community in which we live, even though these may run in the right direction. There is always a danger of suffering our attendance upon the Holy Supper to become perfunctory and formal, instead of living and loving; a danger of approaching the LORD'S table thoughtlessly and unprepared, instead of going into the Divine presence as earnest men and women, with humble and contrite hearts, fully awake to our need of the heavenly and priceless blessings which the LORD in His bountiful mercy would freely give us out of the inexhaustible treasure-house that He has opened to us in His Holy Supper.
     We are taught that no one can know the uses and benefits of the Holy Supper without the cognition of the correspondence of natural things with spiritual things. But those who have been gifted with this cognition are enabled to behold the two sacraments as two most precious jewels in the crown of the Heavenly King, gems of incomprehensible value, because they are the translucent crystallizations of the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom Itself. They may behold them as the two shining and pearly gates leading into the Church of the New Jerusalem on earth and in Heaven,-as the holiest golden vessels of the New Temple of God, in which there are two apartments, the lower one for the teaching and preaching of the Word, and the upper one for the administration of the Holy Supper, from which an opened passage leads into Heaven itself; and into the presence of the Divine Throne. They may behold and use this holiest Sacrament as the key which will open to them the house in heaven, where they may live to eternity, affording them, even while here on earth, a glimpse of that heavenly home which the LORD hath prepared for His faithful. In such, and in manifold other glorious forms, the two Sacraments are represented to those whose spiritual eyes have been opened to the heavenly arcana of the Word of God.
     From the internal sense of the Word they know that the Flesh of the Holy Supper represents the Divine Life, Substance and Proprium of the LORD in His Divine Human, a proprium which is nothing but love towards the human race, a love which, when received by angels and men, becomes the reciprocal love of the human race towards the LORD. They know, also, that the Blood of the Supper, which is one with the Flesh, represents the Divine Wisdom, which is one with the Divine Love, and from which proceeds the Divine Truth, creating in angelic and human minds Faith in the LORD from the LORD. Bread and Wine, on the spiritual plane, represent the same as Flesh and Blood on the celestial. This duplication of representatives in the Supper is given as a sign that the LORD'S salvation is extended to the universal human race, to men of the spiritual genius, as well. as to those of the celestial. The bread and the wine belong together, as the flesh and the blood, but not so intimately, because charity and faith are only conjoined among spiritual men, and not united, as among the celestial, The bread should be of fine flour, mixed with oil, because the conjoining and life-giving element of love to the neighbor is the celestial good of love to the LORD, and the bread should be unleavened, because good, of whatever degree, undergoes no temptations, whereas the wine should be fermented, because the combats of temptation take place in the consciousness of the human understanding, where the truth of faith resides.
     Nor are the wine and the bread mere symbols or figures of speech, representing these things, but are their actual ultimates and material vehicles to the faith and the love of man. While they are not in themselves holy, or anything but material wine and bread, they become holy in the worship, because they carry to the mind of the communicant the good and the truth, which are the living flesh and blood of Christ.

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     Thus we may understand the Divine instruction, "This is my Body; this is my Blood."
     The eating itself represents and is the communication, appropriation, and conjunction of these holy things with the man who, in a state of love and faith, partakes of the bread and the wine at the supper. For this eating is spiritual-as well as natural-appropriation of heavenly food from the Word of God, at the same time with the taking of the corresponding natural substances. The expanding influences of heat from Heaven then opens a communication between the spiritual and the natural mind, an open passage for Divine influx through all the Heavens, through the soul, the spirit,-the mind, the internal sensories, even to the ultimates of the natural body.
     In this manner the Holy Supper contains all things of Heaven and all things of the Church, universally and singularly, as a focus of all Divine worship, the whole of the Word being acted out in one single ultimate, and thus the most ultimate, the most common and universal act of human life, the act of eating and drinking.
     Hence, also, it is that this sacrifice is the most holy act of external worship. For "holiness," we are taught, resides especially in ultimates. But what is meant by "holiness"? In our own language, as in many other tongues, this term has a similar root-meaning with the words "whole," "hale," "healthy "-that is, sane, sound, entire, perfect. Wholeness, completeness, and perfection reside only in the ultimates which contain within them internal things in their collective fulness, and in which, therefore, nothing is lacking, either in internals or externals. It is on this account that the Divine Truth resides in the Letter of the Word in its fulness and holiness, and that the literal sense is said to be more holy, even though lower than the internal sense, just as a good act is more holy, because more complete and perfect, than a good intention or a good thought. Now, the Holy Supper is not only the Divine Truth in the ultimate of the written Letter of the Word, but it is this Divine Letter on the even more ultimate plane of life in act, and is, therefore, the most holy thing that exists.
     And as the Holy Supper is the moat holy thing of worship, so also is it the most powerful thing of worship, for power as well as holiness resides in ultimates.
     Not only is the LORD omnipresent in this sacrament, with His whole Divine and His whole Human, but He is also omnipotent in it, with all the means of extending to men His love and mercy and salvation, through the Redemption which He has effected and still is effecting for us.
     Redemption was the universal deliverance of mankind from the overwhelming power of Hell; and this deliverance was effected by the LORD in the spiritual world at the time of His first advent, and again at His second advent. Yet the reception of this redemption on the part of man is, and must necessarily be, an individual, gradual, and progressive work; for the fruits of the redemption are ascribed to man, not, indeed, as far as the LORD wills (because from His Divine Love He wills to ascribe all things to man), but so far as man receives; and he who receives is redeemed in the degree of his reception.
     But what has the external act of receiving the Holy Supper to do with our individual redemption? Can a man be saved by any external act of worship? Nay, but by the acts of his life, which correspond to his faith and love; and this act of approaching the LORD'S table, when done from faith and love, is such an act of life, a most important and potent means of spiritual progress.
     For this act is a reciprocation on the part of man to the LORD'S act of presenting Himself to man with His saving love. It is a human act of trust and love and humility in turning to him, and in acknowledging Him as the Redeemer. It is the ultimate act of an affirmative state of mind, an act of free will, which drives away the opposing hells, and opens the mind for the redeeming influx and operation of the Lord in the reception of the sacrament itself. Thus we have the Divine assurance that "all those who go to the Holy Supper worthily become the LORD'S redeemed" (T. 717).
     But who are "the worthy"? Those only approach the Holy Supper worthily who are in the acknowledgment of the LORD, in the life of charity, and in the truths of faith. Thus, who are internally conjoined to the LORD; in a word, who are regenerated. All others, who may, indeed, acknowledge God, intellectually, and possess the truths of faith, but who have not charity, approach the Holy Supper unworthily, and are those, who, at the day of judgment, will say, "LORD, we have eaten and drunk in Thy presence," but who will hear the answer, "I know you not, whence ye are; depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquity" (Luke xiii, 26).
     A terrible doctrine this, to all who have any knowledge of their own corrupt and damnable nature I Who, in the face of this teaching, would dare to profane the LORD'S Table with his filthy presence? But, let us remember that the Sacrament was not given for the damnation of any sinner, but for his comfort, aid, and salvation. Let us recall the words of the LORD'S merciful invitation: "Come to Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. xi, 28).
     Regeneration, and conjunction with the LORD, is a progressive process, and few, if any, attain to their full stature in this world. Contrition and humility is at least the beginning of the acknowledgment of God; self-knowledge, and the longing to be delivered from oneself, ii at least a small, faint beginning of charity; and trust in the LORD'S power to deliver us is at least the beginning of faith. Woe unto that man who is conscious of his worthiness, of his charity, of his advanced degree in the regenerate life! Such a one is, indeed, unworthy of approaching the sacred communion, and had better flee from it, lest he appropriate unto himself damnation instead of redemption. Woe, and again woe, unto him who, with his heart full of conscious malignity and plots against his fellow-men, would deceive his neighbors, nay, God Himself, by an hypocritical covering of piety, and of a religion, the good whereof he has partly grasped and appropriated to himself, but for an evil purpose. For him a truly grievous lot is awaiting, and such a one is especially meant by him who eats and drinks unworthily in the Holy Supper (A. C. 4601).
     But those who every day become more deeply impressed with their own unworthiness; those who, in despair, seem to themselves as if lapsing deeper into the hell of their proprium, instead of advancing in regeneration; those who are continually discovering new evils in themselves, new abysses yawning to receiving them- who seem to themselves as if they had no charity, and but little faith, yet who, with the whole heart, long and pray to be delivered from the yoke of hell, and have made, or are willing to make at least some struggle for their freedom; those are the ones who may freely come to the holy communion for their comfort, aid, and redemption.
     Self-humiliation is the first essential of man's worship of His Creator and Redeemer, and the deeper the humility the more will the man receive in the worship.

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Still, humility is not a natural characteristic of our race in its present condition, and few are those who are even contrite from a thorough knowledge of themselves. Hence, preparation is needed, in order that man may derive the full benefits of the Holy Supper, and this preparation must consist in unflinching self-examination and introspection, the honest confession, before oneself and before the LORD, of one's sins, and especially of some one most cherished and defended, yet most am parent evil. And not enough with this: man must make a firm resolution to fight against this evil, and he must pray for Divine assistance in the combat. No1 matter if afterward he forgets his resolution and falls seventy times seven times, he must not give up the' struggle, and, especially, he must not resolve never again to try. It is by such repentance alone that he can at all prepare himself for the worthy reception of the Holy Supper, and he will then find-if not in this life, yet in the next-that it is not so difficult to acquire charity and faith, for we are told by the LORD that these are given when man, from his own free will, does good to the neighbor naturally, believes truths rationally, and looks to the LORD, doing these three on account of the commandments in the Word. Then the LORD will implant charity and faith in the midst of the man, and make both spiritual.
     When, in this state of mind, a man partakes of the Holy Supper, and in the act is filled with earnest thoughts of repentance and amendment of life, and thus with thoughts of the LORD and His mercy, then in the sacrament heaven will be opened to him, for he will be in like thought and perception with the angels of heaven, who then will draw very near unto him, until at last they can consociate their thoughts, and the human mind be conjoined to heavenly minds (A. C. 2177, 8316).
     Where the angels are, there the LORD is also, for the LORD is the all in all of heaven. The opening of heaven' and conjunction with the angels, means, therefore, essentially the opening to the Divine, and conjunction with1 the LORD in His Divine Human, whose Flesh and Blood-that is, Love and Truth-we are eating or appropriating to ourselves according to our finite receptibilty. For He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him (John vi, 66).
     Thus, in the Sacrament, the LORD becomes one flesh with man, or rather, with what is His own in the man-that is, the Church in him, even as husband and wife become one flesh in conjugial love; and hence the Holy Supper is called "the Marriage Supper of the' Lamb."
     From this Divine marriage represented in the act of worship, spiritual conjugial love and spiritual love to the neighbor will be increased and strengthened in the Church.
     For it is from the Divine Marriage itself that love truly conjugial may exist with men, and the sphere of conjugial love is most strongly present in the celebration of this its corresponding rite. Heaven is present and open in the Holy Supper, and conjugial love is of heaven, nay, is heaven itself. At the sacrament, therefore, this holy love may breathe its own native air, and be refreshed and invigorated thereby. It is therefore a highly beneficial, as well as lovely, practice for married partners to go together to the Holy Supper, hand in hand, bowing down before Him who is the Fountainhead of love truly conjugial, Which He will give as the choicest blessing of life to those who pray and strive for it.
     Communion with heaven and conjunction with the LORD, in this act of worship, will bring with it also increase and confirmation of love toward the neighbor. For as brothers and kinsmen derive the same flesh and blood and soul from their common father or ancestor, and hence a conjunctive inclination toward similar things, so should the Holy Supper be to the men of the New Church a sign and constant reminder that they are all spiritual brothers, being alike the LORD'S redeemed, the children of their one and common Heavenly Father, flesh of His Flesh, and blood of His Blood, all inclining to the same truth of wisdom and to the same good of love.
     Thus the Holy Supper should be a genuine spiritual feast of Charity, where not only profound humility and veneration should reign, but also gratitude and gladness of heart, with peacefulness and good will toward all. Banished from the presence of the holy table be all the profane spirits, who, in the daily life, beset men with anti-fraternal thoughts and feelings, with envies, dislikes, distrusts, contempts, and scandals We can, if we will, hush up these evil voices, and shut them tightly in that prison of the old and evil will where they have their home; for if, in the Holy Supper, men are gifted with that key which will open to them their house in heaven, then that same key will also be able to lock the hellish prison of the proprium, which we hope some time to leave forever.
     The meeting of the LORD with man at the Holy Supper is, essentially, a Covenant, the LORD promising Redemption from Hell and final salvation, and man, on his part, promising trust, effort, and obedience. To this Covenant the partaking of the Holy Supper itself is a Divine signature and seal, or confirmation and evidence, even before the angels, that those who worthily approach it are the sons of God. The ultimate use of this Sacrament is, therefore, a confirmatory use, even as the ultimate use of the Letter of the Word is that of serving as a firmament and fulcrum to the Divine Truth within, or as the wedding ceremony is the confirmation of the marriage. This is what is meant by the words, This is My Blood of the New Testament; for a testament is a Covenant, and thus, to us, the Holy Supper should be the ultimate form of the New Covenant, which the LORD in His Second Advent has made with the men of His New Church.
     Every time, therefore, that we are permitted to enjoy the sacred and inestimable privilege of approaching the LORD at His own table we should look upon it as a renewal and a repeated confirmation of His Covenant with us and of our Covenant with Him. From this we may every time gather new strength to overcome our spiritual enemies, whose power He has broken forever by His new Redemption, new confidence in His love and mercy, new affection for Him and His Church, new hope and assurance of our final salvation.
     These, then, are the precious gifts which the LORD will grant to the men of His New Church in the Sacrament of the Supper. Yet, the appropriation of these gifts takes place afterwards, as men make them truly their own in life.
     Let us, then, with grateful hearts, join in the chorus of the heavenly multitude: "Alleluia, for the LORD God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor unto Him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. Blessed are they who are called to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. These are the true sayings of God." Amen.

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HOLY CITY 1898

HOLY CITY       EVELYN E. PLUMMER       1898

Hallelujah! God reigns in His kingdom above;
To the ends of the earth is His Infinite Love.
To Him is all power; He buildeth alone
The bulwarks of Zion, defence of His throne.

In the midst of her courts He will dwell evermore;
For the reign of the kingdom of darkness is o'er,
From Him out of heaven the City comes down
To earth,-its salvation, its glory and crown.

As a beacon light shining the City doth rest,
To illumine the path to the home of the blest;
Dispersing the shadows and gloom of the night,
Through ages of ages, the City of Light.

In the gates of the City they sing a new song;
And its glad notes resounding loud echoes prolong.
All heaven in praises doth utter its voice,-
Arise, O ye nations of earth, and rejoice!
               EVELYN E. PLUMMER.
WORSHIPING WITH THE OLD CHURCH.* 1898

WORSHIPING WITH THE OLD CHURCH.*       WILLAS L. GLADISH       1898

     * Delivered at the Conference of the Ministers of the General Convention, held in Lakewood (near Cleveland, Ohio), June 7th, 1898. -

     SINCE the practice of several of our ministers and their societies show that they favor embracing opportunities for union services with the sects of the First Christian Church, it may not be out of place to begin this paper by disclaiming all intention to criticise them. We who are met together here are brethren and One is our Master. No one may say to another," What doest thou?" Nor do we wish to do so, for we believe that all, however different may be their interpretation of doctrine, are filled with the same desire to serve the LORD in His second coming.
     Held together, therefore, in the bonds of charity, we can freely and without personal feeling or rancor discuss this question of so much importance to the Church now and in the future.
     Having found in the Word of the LORD and in those Writings which He has given to reveal the internal sense of His Word, what to my best judgment seems to be clear condemnation of worship with all bodies of the consummated Church and warning against it, I claim the right to say so without any equivocation; but I have no desire to force my convictions upon those who are unable to see the teaching as I do.

     The early chapters of Exodus contain a description of the prodigies or plagues by means of which the Israelites were delivered from Egyptian bondage. The purpose of this deliverance was that there might be instituted among them the representative of a Church, and every least thing here recorded of its processes is representative of the processes by which the spiritual Church is liberated from the bondage of self-intelligence and infesting falses. The judgments upon Egypt are but natural and correspondent pictures of those spiritual judgments which must be executed upon a consummated Church that the good among its members may be freed from its falses and delivered from its impending damnation and finally be led toward the heavenly land of promise.
     Each succeeding plague marks a distinct increase of heavenly light in which the character of those who are content with knowing without doing-i. e., those who are in faith alone-becomes more manifest; in which they gradually throw off their assumed reverence and faith, and finally, in the later stages of this process of judgment, even their morality. As this goes forward the Church which is forming is more and more fully separated. Its members see the hollowness of the professed piety of those who are merely natural men. The "remnant" in the old organizations begin to be alarmed, and are gradually gathered out and led to embrace and follow the divine law.
     In the spiritual world these steps of the judgment proceed rapidly; those who are liberated are, after instruction and preparation, elevated into heaven; those who reject the truths of the Word newly revealed cast themselves into hell. But in the natural world the process is a slow one, and we are now in the midst of it
-at times scarcely able to tell whether we are Israelites or Egyptians.
     During the time of the first four signs done in Egypt Pharaoh shows no indication of relenting, but during the continuance of the fifth he calls for Moses and Aaron and says, "Go, sacrifice to your God in the kind."
     "And Moses said, It is not meet so to do: for we should sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: so shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes and will they not stone us?
     "We will go three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as He shall command us" (Exodus viii, 25-27).
     To gather the full signification of this permission of Pharaoh to worship in the land and its rejection by Moses, it is necessary to review briefly the signification of the preceding signs which lead up to it.
     The first effect of the revelation given by the LORD in His second coming was to make it evident to the thinking world that such doctrines as the resurrection of the material body, together with its associate doctrines concerning heavenly happiness and hell-fire, etc., were of the earth earthy, leading not to spirituality, but to sensuality. This was meant by Moses casting his rod to the earth before Pharaoh and its becoming a serpent. The magicians did the same thing, to represent the fact that those who are most antagonistic toward divine revelation arrive at the same conclusions concerning the sensuality of these doctrines; but they reach their conclusions not from the teachings of revelation, but from the teachings of science.
     When the light grew brighter, and more interior doctrines were considered, it was seen that by the doctrine of the vicarious atonement, and the doctrine that all were saved by faith in the literal blood of the Christ, the Church had turned the pure water of life into blood. Everywhere that there should have been the limpid, cleansing waters of truth there was to be found but blood; for their theology began and ended in blood. The Egyptians of Christendom turned water into blood by seeing and teaching from rationality and common sense-not from new revelation-the utter falsity of so unjust a plan of salvation.
     The third sign, that of the frogs, was fulfilled when the growing brightness of the new truth had sufficiently laid bare their internals for the leaders of Christian thought to be willing to attack the word of God, denying its plenary inspiration and divinity; for such arguments as they can produce must ever sound to the true child of God like the discordant croakings of the frog, as with swelling breast he makes the darkness of night hideous. The magicians made frogs for the reason that it may be shown from science alone without light from above how ridiculous and how lacking in harmony are the criticisms of those who attack the Word; -and each school of critics does show the irrationality and want of harmony in the teachings of all other schools.

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     They make frogs of one another. As the light of the new dispensation becomes still brighter and more penetrating the utter uncleanness of the life Christendom is living stands revealed. Beneath a very thin veneer of profession and respectability it becomes apparent that unclean and filthy lusts everywhere abound. This is the plague of lice. The. Egyptians cannot make lice, because it is the policy of those who in heart deny the LORD to do just the opposite-to exalt the life of man and tell of its grandeur and nobility, and to point with pride to human achievement. He alone whose heart as been touched by the finger of God can accept the teaching that "the world called Christian is almost like the antediluvian one" (S. D. 3598). "As to adulteries and principles about them, Hell is as it were open and received in the Christian world" (S. D. 5832).
     When lusts and their consequent evil deeds cease to be concealed, but come out openly before the world, excuses and falsities are sought to make it appear that these evils are allowable. These cruel, stinging falsities' are meant by the plague of flies, or more correctly, "the noxious flying thing" which now filled Egypt. They are such falsities as these: "What is one man's meat is another man's poison; what a man thinks to be true is true for him, but is not true for one who does not believe it; what a man thinks to be good is good for1 him, though it may not be for others." These things are true in a certain sense if understood correctly, but as often taught they are most vicious falsities, leading to the destruction of all standards of right and wrong, and giving each man license to follow the conceit of his own intelligence to the rejection of revealed truth, or the lusts of his depraved heart to the rejection of the commandments of God.
     Touching the doctrines of the Church, "the noxious flying thing" means the rejection of the miraculous, including the miraculous conception of our LORD. It is taught that He was but a man, having a human father, as well as a human mother. It is believed that the highest destiny of man is included in the cultivation of his intellectual, ethical, and social life, and that if there is a future life he who has been good and generous and moral will fare as well as any. These are the flying stinging falsities, which, alighting upon all things of revealed religion, corrupt and -destroy them. And this plague follows hard upon that of the lice, because he who is not willing to admit that his evils are sins, quickly denies a personal God and all that is supernatural.
     And it is at this time and with these people that this extraordinary appearance of charity and neighborliness manifests itself. They say: "Come and worship with us. Why should you separate yourselves and stand aloof? True, we do not believe alike, but what difference does that make? What a man believes is of small consequence. You believe as you please and I believe as I please; but we both worship the same God; let us be brethren." Just as Pharaoh said during this plague, "Go, worship your God in the land."
     The man who says that the whole Christian religion is founded upon a dream, that an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him that the son which should be born of Mary was of divine origin, and all Christianity is founded upon the acceptance of that dream-that man is perfectly willing that all who wish shall accept this as truth and live and worship accordingly. He will say that there is no need to make any distinction between those who believe this and those who do not. It is only a matter of belief. It makes no difference in the life. "You have as good a right to your belief as I to mine." He would obliterate all distinction, and have those who worship sit side by side with him in the same pew and listen to sermons on ethics, morality, or even, occasionally, on spiritual themes, if others wish; it makes little difference to him. But can he who worships the one God in His Divine Humanity afford to accept this generous offer and admit that it makes no difference what is believed, or whether the true God is worshiped? The Newchurchman knows, or ought to know, that man's thought of God gives quality to every affection of his heart and to every thought of his mind and to every deed of his body. Then how can he think to worship with those who openly profess to deny the God he worships? What can there be in common between them in prayer and praise? He who engages in such union-worship accepts the statement that true faith is not important. He has broken down the hedges of the LORD'S vineyard, "so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her. The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it" (Ps. lxxx, 11, 12).
     Consider the matter also on a lower plane-that of loyalty. We should never be so lacking in loyalty to any earthly friend. If a certain acquaintance had his mind poisoned with cruel slanders against our best earthly friend, we should never think of sitting at his table and eating with him so long as he held to his opinions. We should feel that we must first convince him of his error before there could be any intimate friendship between us. Our loyalty to our friend, who was so misunderstood and wronged, would demand this.
     But knowing that the humanity of the LORD JESUS CHRIST is Divine, and that there is no other God but He, and professing to love Him with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength, can we be so disloyal to Him as to engage in worship with those who teach that He was not what He claimed to be, that He was like any other man?
     Those whose arguments against the divinity of the LORD JESUS CHRIST and against the divinity of His Word are most numerous, stinging, and pestilential, are most liberal. They have shown more kindness than others to the New Church whose faith is founded upon these two essential truths, viz., that the LORD is the only God and that His Word is divine. That fact we can appreciate and be thankful for. But we cannot sit aide by side with them and as societies of the New Church join in their worship so long as we believe that there is any vital difference between acknowledgment of the true God and denial of Him.
     When permission was given to Moses to go worship their God in the land, he answered: "it is not advisable to do so, because we should sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God." And we read in explanation of the internal sense of these words-that is, their meaning as applied to us and to our problems-" That hereby is signified that infernal filthiness and defilement would flow in [if they did not make a total separation. from those who are in falses, n. 7452] appears from the signification of its not being advisable to do so, as denoting that it cannot be so done" (A. C. 7454)-that is, that there could be no worship of the LORD until separation was made from those who by their sphere would infest and defile worship (Ibid); for, "If divine worship was performed in their presence it would be infested with such things" (A. C. 7455).
     "'Will they not stone us?' That hereby is signified that they would thus extinguish the truths of faith which are of worship, appears from the signification of stoning" (A. C. 7456).
     "'We will go a way of three days into the wilderness . . . signifies that they would altogether remove themselves afar off, that they might be in freedom. . . ." 'And will sacrifice to Jehovah our God' . . . signifies that thus there should be worship" (A. C. 7457, 7458).

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Teaching could not well be plainer or more clearly applicable to this very problem, nor could stronger warning be given against trying to worship with those who do not accept the essentials of the Church.
     It is not narrowness nor lack of Christian charity to value at their true worth the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem, and to seek by all means in our power to preserve them in their undefiled purity. These doctrines are not ours. We have not discovered them. They are the LORD'S, and the Church founded upon them is not ours, but the LORD'S. And He has declared that unless those days had been shortened and these Heavenly Doctrines had been revealed and a Church founded upon them had been raised up, no flesh could have been saved, but the human race would have perished. It is only when we mix up ourselves with what has been revealed by the LORD, and are disposed to exalt ourselves because we have learned of it, that we become ashamed to proclaim these truths as entirely new, distinctive, different from all else that is known in the world. It is only when we lose sight of the LORD and what in His mercy He has revealed to men, and begin to think of ourselves and what men will think of us, that we fear to uncover the utter devastation there is in Christendom and proclaim the doctrines given by the LORD in His second coming as the only possible remedy for doubt, the only healing balm for the distempers of sin. -
     But shall we be narrow when others are growing liberal?-when the close communion and the artificial walls formed by creeds are things of the past? New Church people have long prided themselves upon their liberality. While other church organizations had many rules in regard to external conduct the New Church had none excepting the ten commandments. Creed and dogma were wholly rejected. Good was seen in men of any faith or of none, provided only they acknowledged God and lived justly, because He requires it. This was so much more liberal than any other teaching in Christendom a hundred or even fifty years ago that it is little wonder our liberality was regarded with admiration by our own people.
     There was, indeed, no commingling of New and Old Church worship; but this was a matter over which we then could exercise no control. The lines were drawn by others. Now that conditions have so entirely changed, and many of other faiths have overtaken and passed us in liberality, it is not surprising that we should desire to become still more liberal. But let us beware that we become not broader than the divine law given for our liberation and guidance will allow; for broad is the way that leadeth to destruction; but straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
     WILLAS L. GLADISH.
TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.-IV 1898

TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.-IV       Editor       1898

     FOURTH MEETING.

     IN the August Life we published a resume of the principal discussions at the meeting of the Teachers' Institute held in Glenview last June. This month we return to the series as originally begun, and present the fourth meeting, held early in this year.
     The subject of Examinations was continued. Mr. Price said that he had received a syllabus, or curriculum, of the work done in the Philadelphia High School. Examinations there are made the basis of promotion but if a pupil has a good report throughout the term he may, at the discretion of his teacher, be advanced without examination. This is an honor. There are five marks used to indicate the standing-Excellent, Good, Fair, Inferior, and Deficient. A pupil who receives the mark "good "or excellent" may be advanced without examination. Of the rest, all who make a fair average are advanced. Those who are inferior or deficient in examination, are given another trial, and if they fail a second time they are dismissed from the school.
     Mr. Pendleton pointed to the fact that adults, in forming their judgments, examine each other in much the same way. What one man says may be taken without much examination, while what another says will be dismissed without examination; but the opinions of the great majority of men must be weighed and examined before being either accepted or rejected.
     Miss Grant thought it a detriment to the school to try to retain pupils in classes with which they could not keep up. Not only is it discouraging to the slow pupils themselves, but it is a drag on the class. The teachers in our schools had not felt free to put pupils back, for there had been a sentiment in the schools against it, and some of the parents had objected to having their children put back.
     Mr. Synnestvedt said that keeping dull pupils in a class with the bright ones fostered the conceit of the latter.
     The attitude and views of parents were spoken of, and it was a matter of general understanding in the meeting that consultation with them was more for the sake of informing them what the teachers proposed to do than for the purpose of asking their advice. Entire freedom of speech is desirable, but parents' views must not be allowed unduly to influence the formation of the teacher's judgment-they only assist in forming it. If a pupil is clearly behind his class the case hardly needs decision-it decides itself, and the teacher only carries it out. As to putting slow pupils back, it is no disgrace.
     On the subject of reviewing, in order to bring deficient pupils up to the standard of the rest of the class, it was said this end should he effected by extra work on the part of the pupil-not by keeping the class back; that
a teacher should review his own work, so that advancing is really continual reviewing. Each day's lesson may begin with a brief review of that of the previous day's work. We should establish a basis of work-a certain average for each grade.
     Co-Education was adverted to, and it was pointed out that, although in public schools there seems but little difference between the treatment of boys and girls as they advance, yet there is a difference in the formation of their minds, and this should be recognized.
     Mr. Pendleton said that it had been Bishop Benade's idea to have the pupils of the two sexes come together in lectures.
     Mr. Odhner thought that lectures delivered to the whole school, young and old, had not been a success.
     Mr. Price thought that the fault lay in the fact that the professors had not had time properly to prepare their lectures. To make lectures successful, too, he thought they should be followed by quizzes.
     Mr. Pendleton considered it a mistake to use the university method of teaching for children, but he thought that our principal failure had been from lack of time to prepare the lectures. Yet he did not wish to have the idea dropped, but hoped to have it carried out at some future time with a success which should make it permanent.

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     Mr. Price read a paper giving suggestions as to the requirements for pupils desiring to enter the Intermediate Grade. The same subject was brought out, and is dealt with more fully, in the proceedings of the meeting at Glenview, published in the August Life. Incidentally there was considerable said in the discussion, in favor of the vertical system of penmanship.
     Frye's Physical Geography was spoken of with general approval, although Mr. Price thought it attempted too much-dwelt too much on the physical aspect, and did not give enough of the political. Other teachers testified to its general excellence, beginning, as it does, with physical geography as a basis-that of the entire globe, and not merely that of our own country. This shows how the physical aspect of each country, with its natural products, gives rise to certain industries and favors certain types of people. This leads to a more lively and intelligent study of political geography than is given in any other book.
     Mr. Odhner thought it a mistake to begin the study of geography with the physical aspects of the globe, or to pay much attention, with children, to physical geography. It is mechanical and inanimate. Children do not care much for peninsulas, and capes, and longitudes. They do not care so much for the earth as for the people of the earth, their manners and customs; m other words, ethnology. This is living, and will create an affection for geography, and it is the affection that must by all means be excited.
     Mr. Synnestvedt thought that provision should be made for pupils of local schools who did not expect to enter the Intermediate School and College. Their instruction in the former school should be such as to fit them to go out into the world. He suggested adding to the common branches of the local school curriculum those of drawing, music, and perhaps others.
     Mr. Price considered drawing to be of great importance to teachers, but he thought that the ability to do1 rapid, free-hand, outline sketching would be of much greater use than any amount of training in shading, perspective, and artistic work.
     Miss Jane Potts held that outline work might be artistic, as well as finished shading. The study of forms and perspective is fundamental to all drawing, and should, therefore, come first; then if one preparing to be a teacher wished to become proficient in outline work he could take a special course. In public schools much time is now given to drawing, for it is of use not only to teachers, but also to business men and others.
     Miss Ashley added that in some public schools pupils are required to illustrate their compositions.
     In conclusion, the matter of bringing into ridicule things pertaining to love of country was given some attention. All acquiesced in the view that children1 should be taught to attach a degree of sacredness to love' of country second only to that which belongs to love of the Church or of mankind in general. That which throws ridicule upon prominent persons or leading events of our country's history was to be regarded as a sort of sacrilege.
Title Unspecified 1898

Title Unspecified       Editor       1898

IN the "Corrections of the Latin Diary," published last month, for 932 (1. 2) read 932 (1. 16). Professor Vinet is prosecuting his valuable labors in these verifications and corrections, and we are assured by the Secretary of the Manuscript Committee, that the readers of the Life shall, from time to time, have the benefit of the compiler's skill and zeal.     
OUR EXPERIENCE MEETINGS.-VI. 1898

OUR EXPERIENCE MEETINGS.-VI.       J. E. BOWERS       1898

AN INCIDENT IN THE WORK OF A MISSIONARY.

     ON July 27th, 1897, when en route from Clinton to Brussels, in Ontario, I arrived at the town of Wingham by the 11.10 A. M. train. There I had to change cars, but was surprised to find that the afternoon train had been discontinued, and that no train would leave before the next morning. Not being acquainted with any person in Wingham, it presently came to my recollection that, a year or two before, a New Church friend had mentioned to me that he had a son living in the place, but that he did not take any interest in the Doctrines of the Church. I decided to call upon the young man, nevertheless. On finding him and introducing myself to him, he soon informed me that there was a gentleman in the town who was reading "Swedenborgian" books, and that he understood the gentleman was greatly interested in them. Being informed that he was Mr. J. Horatio Dulmage, the proprietor of the Brunswick House, the leading hotel in Wingham, I called upon him. We had much conversation, in the course of which he related his experience in becoming acquainted with the Writings of the New Church, substantially as follows:
     "My dear wife passed away about four years ago, and it was to me the greatest of all afflictions, for she was a true and a noble woman and a lovely companion. But now I see that it was permitted for good. The LORD certainly cannot do evil to any one, and I am perfectly satisfied with His overrulings, for it has all been for a purpose which the LORD had in view. Some time after my wife's decease, the Rev. Dr. Wild came to Wingham to give a lecture, and stopped here at the hotel. He knew what had happened, and said to me: 'My friend, don't look so glum. You have met with a great loss, indeed; but cheer up, the separation from your wife will not be for very long. When you come to pass over into the other world, you may possibly be reunited with her.' That was-all he said on the subject, but the remark set me a-thinking. It gave me a new idea; it made a powerful impression on my mind, and I wondered whether such a thing as a future reunion could be possible. Not long after that, Mr. James Shields, who lives in the city of Guelph, and travels for a firm in Toronto, stopped with me. Well, we got into conversation, and some remark I made caused him to tell me about the Writings of that wonderful man, Emanuel Swedenborg. I had long before that become dissatisfied with the old, absurd doctrines, although a member of the Episcopal Church. I had for years been decidedly sceptical. On learning something about my state of mind, Mr. Shields gave me some books. The first one I read was Heaven and Hell, and it was so new to me, but I felt convinced that every word of it was true. After that I read the Divine Word Opened, by Dr. Bayley, and some others. But the wore that interested me most was the one on Conjugial Love, and a beautiful and a wonderfully instructive book it is! To my mind, it seems to contain all the information which could be desired, or that could possibly be given, on the subject of man and woman, and of their relations to each other, both here and hereafter. And then to think that Swedenborg himself never was a married man makes it still more remarkable."
     Mr. Dulmage cordially expressed his pleasure at so unexpectedly meeting a minister of the New Church; and he entertained me at his hotel until the next morning.

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He said that he would not exchange what he had learned from the New Church Writings, and the comfort and spiritual help he had received from his perusal of them, for the wealth of the whole world. He also said that every young man ought to read the work on Conjugial Love, because it should prove to be a great blessing to those who would take the trouble to study the subject. And with this idea he said he had told many young men about the book, had advised them to read it, and had given them the address and directions how to obtain copies of it. He also expressed the wish that he could live where there is a society of the Church.
     The unexpected happened to me in my being detained at Wingham, on the date above mentioned. But it soon became evident that the Divine Providence, which leads and guides us, had so arranged matters beforehand that I should find, become acquainted with, and discourse with, this new receiver of the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem.
     On July 19th, this year, I was again at Wingham, and had a pleasant and a useful visit with Mr. Dulmage. He continues to read, and remains firm in the faith. He is well supplied with books, which he appreciates, declaring that the spiritual knowledges contained therein are like an inexhaustible fountain. We sat conversing until near midnight on various points of doctrine, and the subject dwelt upon most particularly was that of the second Advent of the LORD, in the Revelation of the spiritual sense of the Word, given to the world through the instrumentality of the LORD'S servant, Emanuel Swedenborg. And on my departure in the morning, my friend earnestly expressed the hope that we might enjoy several more visits in the future.
     J. E. BOWERS.
ANTIQUITY OF EVIL ANIMALS 1898

ANTIQUITY OF EVIL ANIMALS       Editor       1898

IN the spiritual world men of like character congregate together under the influence of a law which is as universal in its operation as is the law of gravitation in the natural world: hence heaven and hell and their various societies. Hence, also, each individual has congenial associates. Moreover, each society and individual is situated amidst congenial natural surroundings. The animals, plants, and scenery forming the environment of each heavenly society are in perfect correspondence with the character of that society. This correspondence extends to the most minute particulars, and is owing to the fact that the environment receives existence by mediate influx through the angels. Man has three discrete degrees or planes of life, and by means of the higher degrees is linked to the eternal Source of Life, and is immortal. Animals possess the lower degree only, and receive their life mediately. The operation of this law, which produces in heaven all things of beauty, produces in hell an opposite effect. Devilish minds are reflected in malignant and noxious animals and plants and filthy surroundings.
     This important teaching with reference to distribution in the spiritual world (the particulars of which must be studied in Divine Love and Wisdom) necessitates a very distinct attitude towards the current theories of geological distribution. We are taught by revelation that, although the human form could not be created until it had been led up to by an orderly succession of vegetable and animal forms, evil animals were not created in the beginning, but arose together with hell and were consequent on the distortion of the Divine influx by the qualifying media of human minds. In other words, evil animals could not have come into existence until some time after the first appearance of man on the earth. Bearing this in mind, let us briefly consider some of the teachings of Geology.
     The greater part of the solid substance of the globe is composed, probably, of rocks of a crystalline structure, such as granite. These crystalline rocks, however, are mostly hidden away under a pile of sedimentary strata, sometimes several miles in thickness, the impressive monument of a lapse of time we can only symbolize-we cannot comprehend. The sedimentary strata are of varying thickness, and varying periods of time have been occupied in their deposition. They have in most cases been formed at the bottom of the sea, from whence they have been lifted up by forces in the interior of the earth. Generally speaking, each layer may be looked upon as an old sea-bottom which became dry land and was once more submerged when the next layer above it was formed.
     It may be well to have before us a list of the principal rock systems or larger divisions of the earth's crust, according to the classification adopted by geologists. From the surface downward we find, successively:

     Recent and Pleistocene Deposits     Quaternary.
     Pliocene,                         Tertiary.
     Miocene,                         Tertiary.
     Eocene,                         Tertiary.
     Cretaceous                         Secondary.
     Jurassic,                          Secondary.
     Triassic,                         Secondary.
     Permian,                         Primary.
     Carboniferous,                    Primary.
     Devonian,                         Primary.
     Silurian,                         Primary.
     Cambrian,                         Primary.
     Pre-Cambrian,                    Primary.
     Goranite and other Igneous Rocks.

     Though originally laid down horizontally, the strata as we see them, are almost always bent, tilted or otherwise distorted by those gigantic operations of Nature resulting in the upheaval of lands from the sea and the formation of mountain ranges. By reason of this tilting it comes that a horizontal line across a tract of country will often pass over the edges of several distinct formations, so that, although we can nowhere see the whole series in one vertical section, we are enabled to judge of the order in which the various deposits have been laid down, and that judgment is confirmed by the limited vertical sections shown in quarries, cliffs by the seashore, etc.
     It is found (and this is the important point) that all the world over the sedimentary rocks are arranged in the same order. There may sometimes be gaps in the series, but there is never any reversal in the order of superposition-cretaceous rocks are never found underlying Jurassic, or Silurian above Devonian.
     Speaking in very general terms, the material for those deposits which are laid down at the bottom of the sea is obtained from the worn surface of the shore and from the debris brought down by rivers. The inhabitants of the ocean contribute vast quantities of lime and silica, shells, etc., to the formation of the submarine deposits, and some rocks are almost entirely formed of marine organic remains. Where, owing to subsidence, the dry ground becomes submerged, the remains of the vegetable and animal inhabitants of the land are often preserved as fossils.
     Each deposit, besides having, as a rule, mineral characteristics of its own, contains embedded in itself certain characteristic fossil remains, and if we arrange these remains according to the order of the strata in which they are found, we shall have a gradually-ascending series representing all grades of the zoological and botanical scales and culminating in the forms now living.

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Thus, although many types, even of the lowliest, have persisted from the earliest geological times and others have become altogether extinct, the general tendency is that of increasing complexity of form. The strata near the surface contain remains of higher organisms than the strata underneath.
     Now, if we take any one of the principal rock formations we shall find that all over the world, wherever that formation occurs, the fossil remains embedded therein are pretty much the same in character. Mainly from this circumstance it was formerly the universal belief that each formation represented a particular chronological epoch in the history of the globe. This opinion is still the generally received one, and it is customary to speak of the Jurassic Period, the Devonian Period, and the Cambrian Period, which expressions do not so much bring to mind the particular rocks of the Jura Mountains, of Devon, or of Wales as a particular period of time characterized by the formation all over the world of similar deposits to those found in the places named. The Cambrian deposits all over the world are supposed to have been contemporaneous or practically so; that period was succeeded by the one marked by the deposition of the Silurian system of rocks, formed everywhere simultaneously, or, at any rate, within a certain limit of time; and so on with the succeeding strata.
     One of the most interesting problems of geology is that of the antiquity of the human race. The lowest strata, however, claimed to contain traces of the existence of man, are those of the upper tertiary, and it is doubted by many whether there is any trustworthy evidence of his appearance before the quaternary period. Of course, the mere absence of remains does not prove that man did not exist even before the tertiary deposits, but such a supposition would present considerable difficulty. In all theories of creation the highest organisms are assumed to be the latest to appear, and we can hardly suppose that man could have been created before the highest dicotyledons and mammals.
     The seeming impossibility of the human race having existed prior to the tertiary period has often been urged as an objection to the teaching in n. 336 in Angelic Wisdom Concerning the Divine Love and Wisdom, that evil animals were not created at the beginning, but arose together with hell; for, looking at some of the uncouth monsters depicted from remains found in the secondary rocks, it is not easy to regard them otherwise than as embodiments of evil. It must be remembered, however, that we are in most cases too ignorant to say definitely whether any particular animal should be considered as evil or not. It has been suggested that predatory animals are not necessarily evil; that what to us are hideous animals of past ages, need not be forms of evil, and that we look upon these latter as "fatal forms"-not meant to be gazed upon by human eyes. These suggestions are valuable and clear the ground considerably, but they do not touch the real difficulty; for in the secondary rocks are found remains of crocodiles, and crocodiles are expressly mentioned in the Writings as being embodiments of evil. It cannot be contended that this characterization applies only to the modern species, for in the cretaceous rocks crocodiles have been found very similar in structure to those of the present day. Again, scorpions are distinctly mentioned as being evil forms, and scorpion-like remains have been found, so low down in the geological scale as the Silurian rocks. It is true that these remains indicate considerable divergence from the present forms, but higher up in the scale, in the Carboniferous system, are found remains of scorpions in vast numbers which present a remarkably close resemblance to their modern representatives. Yet geologists would unhesitatingly assert that these creatures must have existed thousands (perhaps millions) of years before the first appearance of man on the earth.
     It will be profitable to consider the reasons for such an assertion. As mentioned, it was formerly the universal opinion that similar rocks containing similar organic remains, wherever they occurred, were contemporaneous. The acceptance of the Darwinian theory, however, led to a modification of this view, for it would be totally opposed to that theory to imagine that similar forms could have sprung into existence simultaneously in widely separated districts. The existence of similar species in two different regions has, according to the supporters of evolution, arisen either by migration from one place to the other or by migration in different directions from a central point. But when we consider the low character of most of the organisms typical of, say, the Silurian system, and the enormous number of generations and the great lapse of time involved in the journey of such species over, perhaps, half the circumference of the globe, the question naturally arises, Would not the Silurian chapter in the earth's history be closed in the hemisphere toward which these creatures were traveling before they arrived there?
     Such considerations induced a large section of geologists (chief among whom was the late Professor Huxley) to advocate the view known as "homotaxis," or similarity of arrangement, as opposed to the currently received theory of contemporaneity of similar formations. For example, if we eliminate man and his importations, the present-day fauna and flora of Australia, with its coral reefs, bear a very strong resemblance to the state of things chronicled in the Jurassic rocks of Europe. If, now, Australia should become submerged and be followed by similar physical and organic conditions to those recorded in the Cretaceous system of Europe, we should have an instance of "homotaxis," or similarity of arrangement between the strata of Europe and Australia, but the similar conditions would not be contemporaneous.
     (To be Concluded.)
Notes and Reviews 1898

Notes and Reviews       Editor       1898

SWEDENBORG AND MODERN THOUGHT.

     To the missionary use, which confines itself to announcing the teachings of the Writings to those who are receptive, has been added one allied but distinct, and, of course, subordinate-that of keeping the New Church in evidence before the world at large, correcting misapprehensions, refuting misrepresentations, and generally operating to secure a fair hearing for the Doctrines. In England especially this use has received attention, the "New Church Evidence Society" being a body of long standing and of zealous, and often effectively directed labors. In line with this work may be classed Mr. George Trobridge's recent articles on "Swedenborg and Modern Thought," in the New Century Review, January and March of this year. Mr. Trobridge cites and quotes from many of English-speaking thinkers and `men of letters to show how much Swedenborg's teachings have influenced their thought-in some cases unconsciously to themselves, and without their remembering of having received any ideas from the Revelator.

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     The anecdotes which enrich the article are calculated to be of interest to New Church readers generally. For instance, that of the poet-artist, William Blake, who

     "informed Tulk that he had two different states; one in which he liked Swedenborg's Writings and one in which he disliked them. The second was a state of pride in himself, and then they were distasteful to him, but afterward he knew that he had not been wise and sane. The first was a state of humility, in which he received and accepted Swedenborg."

     A letter from Coleridge, dated 1820, fourteen years before his death, is quoted as follows to show his attitude toward Swedenborg:

     "Of the too limited time which my ill health and the exigencies of the to-day leave in my power, I have given the larger portion to the works of Swedenborg, particularly to the Universal Theology of the New Church. I find very few, and even those but doubtful, instances of tenets in which I am conscious of any substantial difference of opinion with the enlightened author."

     We may remark in passing that this quite agrees with all the references of Coleridge to Swedenborg which we have ever met with, in its patronizing quality. The man who patronizes Swedenborg has no conception of his mission or of the essential quality of what he wrote. Such an intellect as Coleridge is only a snare to the man who clings to the empty honor of his own poor "opinions" as comparable to revealed Truth.
     Ruskin's letter, also, to our mind, shows the self-satisfied man of great natural gifts, whose mind is not open to see or to acknowledge the source of his best thoughts. He writes to Mr. Trobridge:

     "I am much interested in what you tell me of Swedenborg, whom I have never read-tried to read again and again, five times at least, but always give in, finding him lengthy, moony, vaporous, full of goodness and truth-and possibly inspired truth-but I always felt too doubtful to go on." And further:
     "What I meant to have said yesterday when interrupted was that I much believe in the truth of a great deal of what Swedenborg taught, but it never seems to me quite clear or healthy, and it is wholly destitute of the brilliancy or pathos which make the thoughts of Blake, even if vague, so delightful or so appealing. That we interpret Scripture alike [!] is, I hope, not wonderful, if the Scriptures have definite meaning discoverable by honest attention." . . . [Further criticism.] "But so many of my best friends are Swedenborgians that every day I am more and more respectful to the memory of him."

     Is there a touch of gentle satire in his friend Mr. Trobridge's comment, alluding to the inevitable effect of such intercourse, " There can be no question that Mr. Ruskin has learnt much from his Swedenborgian friends." Note that Mr. Ruskin is more impressed with the personal and finite character of men than with the Divine Truth.
     The names of authors given whose indebtedness to Swedenborg, directly or indirectly, is unmistakable, include Coleridge, Blake, Emerson, Carlyle, Ruskin, Tennyson (whose brother was a Newchurchman), the Brownings, Professor Drummond, Thoreau, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Henry James, Sr., Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, George Macdonald, and Coventry Patmore. In his second paper Mr. Trobridge institutes comparisons between the published thoughts of various poets and authors and certain of Swedenborg's teachings, to show how the former were more or less traceable to the latter.
NEW CHURCH REVIEW 1898

NEW CHURCH REVIEW       G.G.S       1898

JULY.

     THE July number of the Ness Church Review begins with a series of three papers on the general subject, "The Lord." The first, by the Rev. John Worcester, on "The Lord Our God," presents the LORD as Creator, Teacher, and as the Divine Type of Humanity. In "Our Saviour and Companion" the Rev. Oliver Dyer lays stress upon the importance of walking with God- of seeking H is company in His Word, as we seek that of the great ones of earth by studying their lives, their deeds, and sayings. "The Lord Our Healer," by Dr. E. A. Whiston, treats of the laws of natural health as ruled by spiritual laws, and of man's co-operation therewith.
     The Rev. J. K. Smyth contributes a paper, the purpose of which is stated to be "to consider war from its moral or spiritual aspect rather than from the point of view of history or politics . . . as an expression of states of human life, and from this standpoint to make some general observations as regards the conflict in which our country is now engaged." The writer says: "We doubt if it is given to the most sagacious man to know with any certainty the real causes which has brought us into war."
     This we hold to be true. Many causes operated, some of them of opposite quality. Which predominated we know not positively, but we are entitled to look past them all to the causes operating from a higher plane. It seems well often to recall to mind that human intentions and plans have less to do with effects produced than is commonly conceived of; that although each one of us is the arbiter of his own spiritual fate, the course events are allowed to take depends upon forces from the world of causes, overruled for the greatest good by an all-wise and an all-powerful Providence. The paper animadverts rather too strongly, we think, on the eagerness of the people-especially the young-in following the course of the war, the exultation over defeat of the enemy, and the zeal for fighting on the part of the soldiers and sailors; but this subject has already been discussed in our pages. It may be added, however, that the very point just mentioned bears here; for the state of the people depends upon the state of the spiritual world and upon the LORD'S ends of Providence or permission. (See Spiritual Diary, n. 5093, for an account of a sedition on earth which was quieted by the removal of the spirits in the other world who were exciting the sedition. The analogy is obvious.) In the last part of the magazine the Editor himself controverts the writer's extreme position as to war being an unmitigated evil, to which the term" glorious" is said to be absolutely inapplicable. The Editor points out the glorious aspect of a just and patriotic war.
     The Rev. James Reed presents a paper on the "New Church Law of the Sabbath," and Mr. Frank W. Very, his address on "The Instruction of Children," made to the Massachusetts Sunday-school Conference at its last annual meeting. The writer bases a readable and suggestive treatment of the theme on the description of the education of children in Heaven (S. D. 5668).
     "The Origin of Our Thoughts," by Mr. J. B. Keene, deals with the operation of the spiritual world upon man in the natural world to produce ideation, and discusses the difference of man from animals, namely, that the latter have no rational mind, and hence no intellectual control of the affections which derive life from the outer world.
     The Rev. Albert Bjorck's paper, "The Bible as the Word of God," was read by him at the Parliament of Religions held in connection with the Stockholm International Exposition of 1897.

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     "The New Church and the World," by Mr. Warren Goddard, fails signally to meet the opportunities of the theme. In trying to show why, in the face of modern progress the New Church is nevertheless needed, thus it speaks:

     "How simple it all is! The New Christian Church is eternal because it is the outbirth and completion of all the Christian religions that have preceded it, affording the means of rational development of all the good and truth heretofore given to men. The New Christian Church is built upon all the old foundations; and the foundations of all the churches heretofore existent em- brace and embody all natural revelations and experiences of life divine, including the divine incarnation, in the flesh, which, are necessary or requisite in sustaining the spiritual and eternal superstructure."

     This sounds as though all the Churches had a true foundation. Now, the various Christian religions (sects) are the products of human perversions of the Truth; how then can the New Church be said to be their "outbirth"? Mr. Goddard thinks that the Church has passed through its first and external state and is entering upon the ministry of love. This is vague and decidedly calculated to mislead. We fear the Church has reached only obscure principles of truth, much tinged with fallacies that could never be healed except by other means than mere intellectual advancement. The "love" stage is far-off. But what is particularly objectionable in the doctrinal position of the paper is the teaching that man feeds others out of the good of his own heart.

     "But the heart, like the animals who typify its affections, does not deal out undigested chunks of food, but the prepared, assimilated, digested product of its own life-the warm milk of human kindness."

     This fallacy is old but none the less dangerous. Conceit of good-which it fosters-is more inimical to spiritual life than conceit of intelligence. No man can transmit good. Good flows in immediately from the LORD, of a quality determined by man's receptions of truth and application thereof to life. We may impart truth to the neighbor, but never our own limited, defiled good. Our own illustration in truth will indeed be affected by our state of life as to good; but the truth, as its external statement goes forth from us, is at once under the sole operation of the LORD, and they who receive it do so from their own state of reciprocation' with the LORD.
     In a paper entitled "Predestination, Determinism, and Karma," Mr. T. M. Martin traces in these apparently diverse religious beliefs an identical origin, namely, self-intelligence and its denial of the Divine Humanity of God. In one minor point Mr. Martin builds upon a misunderstanding of the text of Divine Providence, n. 208, where he discusses the significance of the expression, Proprium of Nature. The passage reads: "These, if primates of the Church, desire to have dominion in all things; if men of learning, they apply scientifics to confirm the proprium of man and nature." The writer reads the concluding phrase as if "of" preceded the word "nature"-the "proprium of nature." Reference to the Latin shows that "nature" is in the accusative, making it simply the direct object of "confirm." The primates referred to "confirm the proprium and nature."
     An article on "Representative Worship," by Rev. A. F. Frost, deals with the nature of representatives in the worship of the Jews, and is an argument against their use in worship by the New Church. The contention that because the LORD has now appeared in His own Divine Form and Type, in place of the representatives and types of former churches, all representatives of Him are abolished, if logically carried out would do away with the Literal Sense of the Word, on the ground that the Spiritual Essence thereof has now been laid bare. The whole subject of representatives, and their two kinds-those which have been abrogated and those which were not, and in the very nature of things could not be-has been fully treated in the Report on the Priesthood, published in the Convention Journal for 1875 (especially pages 56-58), and we see nothing in the article mentioned to invalidate the position taken in the report-that in the New Church there will be externals of the Church in true forms, which will represent truths and goods because they correspond to them. Similar to the trend of the paper just mentioned is the one following it, on "Christian Worship," by the Editor.
     G.G.S.
PEACE MOVEMENT 1898

PEACE MOVEMENT       Editor       1898

As we go to press, the world of international politics is absorbed with the Russian Czar's proposition for universal disarmament. This in itself is a noble idea, whatever self-interested motives enter into its advancement. It is fraught with great possibilities for the relief of the masses and for the unfettering of the legitimate industries of peace. For years the peace idea has been gaining its victories, and now that one of the greatest of the Powers, in the moment of signal diplomatic triumph, champions the cause, we have grounds for the strong hope that universal disarmament is not to remain a chimerical dream, but that it is to be the culmination of the onward march of a movement in which the various international Courts of Arbitration may be regarded as so many mile-stones. It is cheering to think of the many thousands of men who, by disarmament, would be freed for the more practical performance of uses; of the sparing of soldiers groans and widows' and orphans' tears; of the vast saving of fruits of peace from pillage and waste. But there is another side to the picture. In the present state of the world, there is weight in the idea that some thinkers have advanced, that one great use of standing armies is to supply the lack of discipline so prevalent in the world. The root of the trouble is in the home. As the love of offspring declines, together with conjugial love, ignorance of true principles of education increases, until thoughtful men stand aghast at the prospective future of the thousands of ungoverned and, consequently, self-willed children whose numbers are swelling every year.
     The practical difficulties of disarmament are, of course, vast, and outside of our province to discuss. Time must show what is feasible; but we still hope that a relatively general peace may be within the scope of the conditions which seem working round to make more and more staple and secure the earthly habitacle of the Church. But Swedenborg says that wars will continue. It has been suggested to us that temptations will always exist, and if so, will there not always be occasional natural ultimations?
Title Unspecified 1898

Title Unspecified       Editor       1898

IT is a serious matter when professed Newchurchmen succumb so completely to the sphere of modern scientific thought that they can publish such utterances as the following, on "The Higher Criticism":
     "Now let us step from the sacred history of an alien faith to our own Old Testament. However deeply we may believe in a Divine supervision of its writings, we are confronted on the very face of it by the fact that the writers acted like men, and like Oriental men, and copied each other's accounts, when necessary, without acknowledgment. . . . In separating these accounts into earlier and later we are simply searching after truth, in an endeavor to distinguish between the ancient witness and the more modern compiler, and, it may be, between two ancient witnesses who looked at things differently." (Albert J. Edmonds in The New Christianity.)
     This is as if one would say that the LORD has given to man a revelation of Divine Truth, but has not so cared for its preservation but that man, by his finite intelligence, is constrained to investigate and decide upon what is really the Divine Word.

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CHURCH NEWS 1898

CHURCH NEWS       Editor       1898

THE ACADEMY SCHOOLS.

     THE schools of the Academy of the New Church, in Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery County, Pa., including the Intermediate Grade, College, Theological School, and Girls' Seminary, will re-open on Thursday, September 15th.

     REPORTS AND LETTERS.

     Huntingdon Valley.-DURING the summer, Pastor Synnestvedt has been conducting services rather shorter in form than those In winter.
     ON August 15th, the Principia Club of Philadelphia held its first meeting, at Huntingdon Valley. After opening remarks by the Rev. J. F. Potts, President, explanatory of the purposes of the Club and of the means whereby they are to be furthered, the evening was devoted to reading and informally discussing the Introductory Remarks of Dr. J. G. J. Wilkinson in his translation of the Animal Kingdom. Professor Odhner thought that Dr. Wilkinson claimed too much in saying that Swedenborg was impelled to enter the field of nature in order to make It a means to spiritual truths. At that period his motives were those of a natural scientist.-Mr. Polls wondered at the opposition of religion and science at this day, saying that it was not so in the Ancient Church, only in the modern Christian Church. Science has had to fight for      its very life, otherwise it would have been throttled by the Papacy long ago. Now, however, for the first time the Church is not afraid of science, but welcomes it.
     The burden of the discussion fell on the subject of Synthesis and Analysis. Swedenborg's condemnation of the Synthetic method was read.-Bishop Pendleton said that Swedenborg, there, was condemning a false system of synthesis, that of the schoolmen. Bacon had done this before him. Science would never have made any progress until there was a change. But he could not have meant to condemn a true synthesis. In the Principia he appears to have thrown away his own principles as here announced, and proceeded on the synthetic plan. He has not given us the steps of the analysis by which he arrived at his principles. Throughout the Writings the synthetic method is employed.-Rev. N. D. Pendleton, who was present as a visitor, said that the world has a false synthesis, for it has adopted the theory of evolution and reasons from it in all things.-Bishop Pendleton added that a man must proceed by analysis until he has illustration.-Professor Price said that there was no evolution to be-found in the branches of chemistry and physics. Why not, if evolution is the foundation stone of all science?-Bishop Pendleton called attention to the true evolution, which is the endeavor to ascend from the ultimate of creation, as witnessed in crystallization and the effort of minerals to take on higher forms. There is a reaction of the Divine influx into creation and its return, and crystallization is the first step of the return. The true evolution is thus more universal than the false.-Mr. Potts explained for the benefit of some of the listeners that synthesis, as used in the Prologue, is to invent a theory and then to go out and find facts to support it. Analysis is to wait to find out all the facts about the subject of investigation, and then find a theory to fit it.
     These are only a few of the remarks of this elementary but suggestive conversation.
     Greenford, Ohio.-About 67 miles from Pittsburgh is a little village called Greenford. About the year 1875, a New Churchman, Mr. John Stahl, Jr., noticed in the Messenger that a New Church minister, the Rev. S. H. Spencer, was in the vicinity. He wrote to him, and as a result he ministered to the New Church people in Greenford. Shortly after, at the suggestion of Mr. Spencer, the New Church people in Greenford and Columbiana decided to erect a church building. The timber for the building was donated by Mr. John Stahl, Sr., from his own farm. The building was dedicated in 1876, by the Rev. Messrs. Burnham and Brickman. The Society has never been able to have a resident pastor for any length of time. It has been ministered to either in Greenford or Columbiana by the Revs. S. H. Spencer, H. C. Vetterling, W. H. Benade, J. E. Bowers, Dr. Burnham, W. H. Acton, A. O. Brickman, A. Czerney, and O. H. Synnestvedt, and for the last two summers it has been my pleasure to minister to the Society for some weeks during my vacation. The Society numbers about 25. At the time the -church was built, most of the members Lived in Greenford, but after the split, a number of those resident in Greenford withdrew (indeed, there are only lye living in Greenford), so that now most of the members of the Society live in Columbiana, which is seven miles from Greenford. With this in mind, it does not seem necessary to speak of the interest shown in the services of the Church, but merely to mention that the average attendance, on the four Sundays in July that I ministered to the Society, was 22. Only those who have driven this distance through the rain or on a hot, dusty day can appreciate the discomforts endured. The members spare no pains to make the visits of their ministers most pleasant. I have just concluded a most delightful visit of three weeks spent on the farms of Messrs. Jacob and Solomon Renkenberger. In this way summer services are made possible for the Society. During my visit I have conducted singing practice for the Sunday's service two evenings in the week at different farms. Owing to distance and other obstacles, it is not practicable to hold a weekly doctrinal class, which is much to be regretted. Similar circumstances also prevent general gatherings for social life, the want of which, I very much fear, threatens the life of the Society. I do not wish to give social life undue prominence, but it is a necessity on its own plane. It may be that something more interior manifests itself in the lack of social life.
     There is social life among families to a limited extent. One of these occasions lingers so pleasantly in my mind that I feel I must record it here. It was during my stay with Mr. Jacob Renkenberger. On the evening of July 18th we "hitched up" (a party of nine) and drove to Columbiana town and called on Mr. Renkenberger's son, where we spent the time with music and singing. Later we adjourned next door and called on the genial Mayor of Columbiana, Mr. Bertram Renkenberger, and his wife. Here a bountiful repast was partaken of and the remainder of the evening spent in social discourse. The drive home rounded off a very pleasant occasion.
     It is to be hoped that the General Church may see its way at some time to provide more regular ministrations for this society.

     THE LATE GEORGE HACHBORN

     WITH the departure of Mr. George Hachborn the Carmel Church of Berlin, Ontario, lost one of its oldest and most appreciative members. He was a German by birth, and came to Canada when a youth of some twenty years. The Providence of the LORD led him to seek employment with a Newchurchman, Mr. Ahrens, in whose employ he learnt a carpenter's trade, and, what was more, through whom he became acquainted with the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Church. These he eagerly embraced, and through reading and conversation with another intelligent fellow-employee, the late Mr. Henry Doering, he soon became thoroughly grounded in the Doctrine and delighted with the practice of the same in his every-day life. His early marriage to the faithful wife who preceded him into life eternal by but a few months, and who throughout life, supported and strengthened him in both his natural and spiritual struggles, was blest with five sons and five daughters. Many were the adversities of life which he had to face, but by dint of true prudence, frugality, and incessant industry, he conquered them all, and was able to spend his last years together with his wife in constant repose with the family of one of his many children. The last year of his earthly life was indeed a moat trying one, as both he and his wife were confined by sickness to their room, if not always to their bed. And when at last the wife was released, the husband seemed to have but one thought from the one burning desire to be with his wife again. On May 3d, this year he was permitted to join her. Long will memory of this pious Newchurchman live among those who knew him. J. E. R.

     FROM THE PERIODICALS.

     THE ENGLISH CONFERENCE.

     THE General Conference of the New Church in England met this year in Blackpool, June 20th, the Rev. J. J. Thornton in the chair. The address was delivered be the incoming President, Rev. R. R. Rodgers. In the report of the outgoing President we note an interesting feature in the account of the Church In Wales-Ynysmeudy and Llechryd. Messrs. Thomas James and t)avid Griffith labor among what seems to be an earnest, religiously-inclined people; the transition by which the Tabernacle at the latter place passed from the Congregational fold to that of the New Church is a rather unique occurrence in Church history. The report urges the needs of some of the poorer ministers for the Writings in Latin. Mention is made of the neglect of the Sacrament by many of the English societies.
     The Committee on Isolated Receivers present a not very encouraging report as to the interest and co-operation of those whom the labors of this committee are designed to benefit.
     Professor Scocia reports from Italy that considerations of health have necessitated relaxing somewhat his labors in translating the Writings, which he has varied by more of evangelistic efforts. His efforts to attract the attention of the high schools and universities in Italy to the New Church elicited 45 letters of inquiry, and the replies to these brought forth further letters. "Several of the students, all holding high degrees for proficiency in Italian, Greek, and Latin literature, and in philosophy even, expressed their strong desire to co-operate with the Professor in his labors, being astounded and delighted at the beauty and glory of the new light revealed."

144


One of these gives promise of proving a suitable successor to the Professor in his translation work. The hope is expressed by the Conference that some man of means in the Church may feel interested in making this feasible.
     The work of indexing the early New Church magazines continues to progress steadily.
     The report of the Committee of the Ministry indicates that the dearth of applications for theological studentship is broken, several applications having been received.
     The motion to alter the Roles so as to make the nomination to the Presidency involve nomination to the Council ex officio, passed, after considerable debate.
     It is encouraging to note that the Board of Examiners recommend raising this standard in examining candidates for the ministry.
     The Conference moved to draw up a resolution in memory of the late Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, a copy of which was ordered sent to Mrs. Gladstone. This was made the occasion of numerous eulogistic remarks.
     Appropriate recognition was made of the loss of the Church in the passing away of the late James Spilling and of his coadjutor, Mr. John Harcourt; also the late Mr. John Bragg (Birmingham), and Mr. John Nicoll.
     Mr. H. G. Drummond's ordination was passed, although he had not yet completed the two years' service at the Bath Society, which the Rules require. The Rule was suspended for the purpose.
     The Kidderminster and Plaistow societies were formally received into connection with the General Conference.
     The students formally adopted this year are: Mr. Harry Deans, son of the Rev. Joseph Deans, and Mr. Albert J. Wright.
     From the Missionary Ministry Report we quote concerning: "Large attendance at the lectures in Aberdeen, where unusual interest is being felt in theological subjects, owing to the conflicting views held by the Professors and Doctors of Divinity on such subjects as "The Inspiration of the Word," and on the "Confession of Faith."
     The Rev. J. F. Buss brought with him from New Zealand, where he has been recuperating, an address from the Auckland Society, probably the first to come from that island to the New Church.
     The address from the American Convention, written by the Rev. T. F. Wright, was read.
     A minute came from the ministers and leaders in favor of the issue or re-issue of the Scientific Writings, but in virtue of the action of the Swedenborg Society it was not thought necessary to do anything further.
     The Rev. R. R. Rodgers was re-appointed Editor of the New Church Magazine, with the Rev. L. A. Slight as assistant.
     Mr. Gerrit Barger of Holland, once resident in Manchester, England, and honorably mentioned in the Swedenborg Society's report in connection with the Dutch translation of Heaven and Hell, was present at the Conference meeting, and invited to take a I seat
     To meet possible cases of dissension arising in any society on matters affecting the welfare of the society, a motion was passed, That the Council shall appoint a Board of Conciliation, of which, the President of Conference shall be one, for the current year, to whom such matters shall be referred, and who shall propose conciliatory action when, from information supplied to them, they deem it necessary so to do. Rules are to be passed for the guidance of this Board.
     The Rev. J. F. Buss gave an account of the New Church in Auckland, where he baptized twelve persons. Services there are attended by about forty, and an afternoon Sunday-school with about thirty children, but they sadly need a shepherd.
     The Committee on Order in the Ministry reported that their report was too long-involving twenty-four resolutions-to be considered this year, but it was voted to refer to the ministers and leaders, postponing discussion until next year.
     Quite a number of resolutions were passed prescribing requirements and restrictions as to students of Conference for the ministry. An effort made by Rev. T. Child to have a committee appointed to consider socialism in the light of the New Church, failed to pass. In advocating his motion, Mr. Child is reported to have made the rather remarkable statement that "We exist, not for the Church's sake, but for the world's." This Writings say that the Church is the LORD'S kingdom on earth. The question is, for what else than this do we "exist" on earth? For what else does the world itself exist?
     DURING Conference week a meeting was held at Stanley Road church to consider, "How best to induce our Sunday-school scholars to become junior members of the Church?" The opening speech by the Rev. W. H. Claxton, a minister who has been especially active in connection with the young people-is one of those not infrequent confessions of inability to retain the young people which are so sad. It is remarkable that those who thus lament are so slow to realize the true significance of their utterances and the truth of the teachings on distinctiveness in New Church education, an issue so long kept before the Church by the Academy. He said that, "The children of Newchurchmen . . . were undeniably drifting away from the Church. Only a small proportion of the Sunday-school scholars were ultimately retained." The speaker urged the opportunities and the responsibilities of parents and teachers for interesting and enlisting the love of the young for the Church. He advocated a Young People's Society, membership in which should include not only Junior Members, but all who were sufficiently interested to pay a small subscription and attend Church. It should not neglect the social side, as does the Christian Endeavor Society, but should combine the social and secular side with that of spiritual improvement. Another speaker, the Rev. G. Meek, asked, "Did the Sunday-school show the results that the Church, as a mother, had the right to expect? In a few cases, yes; in the majority of cases, no. . . . This he judged looking at the general condition and character of the Sunday-school-that in a great degree it was a failure. . . . Most of our scholars, when they were nearing adult life, rushed from the school, evidently glad to escape, and though they might allow their names to be retained upon the books, forsook the Church and sank into a worldly life with sad rapidity. They had been very lightly educated to meet the great trine of evil-drink, impurity, and gambling. When the full weights were placed in the balances of the sanctuary, and the Sunday-school weighed, he recorded his deliberate conviction that she was found terribly wanting.... In proof, look at our congregations. Where were our young men?. . . During the twenty years he had named, thousands had passed through our schools. Where were they now?" Among the other suggestions made were, that the young people should not be left to themselves without the assistance of their elders; that teachers could have great influence in inducing the young to join the Junior Members; and that the work of voluntary Sunday-school teachers should be supplemented by that of paid teachers.
     Mr. John Johnson advocated releasing some efficient and really interested man from other work, so as to devote his whole time to re-organize the various schools.
     The foregoing gleanings concerning Conference are based on the reports in Morning Light.
NOTES 1898

NOTES       Editor       1898


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PHILADELPHIA, SEPTEMBER, 1898=129.
     CONTENTS     PAGE
EDITORIAL: Notes,                         129
THE SERMON: The Holy Supper               130
     Holy City                         135
     Worshiping With the Old Church     135
     Teachers Institute-IV,               137
COMMUNICATED: Our Experience Meeting-VI,     138
      The Antiquity of Evil Animals     139
NEWS AND REVIEWS:
      Swedenborg and Modern Thought     140
      "The New Church Review,"          141
      The Peace Movement               142
CHURCH NEWS                              145
     The Academy Schools, 143; Reports and Letters: Huntingdon Valley, 143; Letter from E. J. Stebbing, 143; The late George Hachborn, 143; From the Periodicals: The English Conference, 143.
BIRTH; MARRIAGE; DEATHS,               144


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THE movement now arising in the New Church in favor of the reformation of the sciences and the development of a true philosophy of science, is one which appeals to a wider range of interests than perhaps is realized by many. Science is knowledge, and, as generally used, means the knowledge of natural things. Are not the interests of all of us, from the cradle up, natural? Are we not willing and eager to know all that we Gun of the things which most interest us? Philosophy may be said to be a systematic understanding of the causes of things; and does not a knowledge and comprehension of the causes of those things which interest us exalt our ability to enjoy and profit by them? "Knowledge is power." Do we not wish power over the things which hold our interest and our affections? No matter how low in the scale of natural things our affections begin, nor how high they may ascend, they still come within the range of science and philosophy, for these cover the whole realm of nature; if genuine, they serve also in connecting nature with spirit, with Heaven, and with God.



     TRUE it is that science and philosophy each has its technical terms and processes, which seem dry enough and even unintelligible to those whose bent is not in that direction; but these technicalities and abstractions are not essential to a grasp either of fundamental principles and facts, or of many practical and comprehensible aspects of these fields of thought. In many cases the learned language and abstruse ratiocination which overawe the uninitiated are really only covers or props for vague and inadequate thinking. The most universal and interior principles are the simplest, as is evidenced in the simplicity and directness of the wisest angels, who are in universals; but where there is a lack of such universal and interior principles,-to order, by the multitude of particulars and details of science, direct, and illume our thoughts,-we are overwhelmed by the multitude of particulars and details of science amid which we wander confused, picking up now this; now that fact or principle as a centre around which to group and arrange our ideas. Nevertheless, it is not to be expected that simplification and system will ever come until we have passed through the obscurity and labor of preparatory and relatively obscure stages.



     ONE thing we hold to be most important in the rehabilitation of natural fields of thought and investigation: that there be no premature effort to develop distinctively New Church applications of science, or competing with developed branches of the old science, before we have a true philosophy of science, before new principles are developed and correlated into a consistent and harmonious system, which will at once agree in all its parts, and which also-and especially-will agree with the principles which we have received through revelation.



     Whatever of natural light may be contained within the science of the present day, and whatever the beneficial results which have come from it, are due to successful generalization. The following from the Writings explains: "That scientifics and truths may be something they must have a form induced in which they may mutually respect each other, which cannot be effected unless they be consociated under a general; wherefore the general is what keeps them together in a form and causes that each therein may have its quality. The general itself also must be referred, together with other generals, under the more general, and the more general again under the most general; otherwise the generals also, and likewise the more general, would be dissipated" (A. C. 6115).



     THE first result of the fundamental error of modern science in not starting from the affirmative,-that is, from affirmation of a Divine-is that there is no recognition of one Universal Science of the Sciences to shed light and establish order in all the rest. Scientists could not acknowledge or grasp the Law of Correspondence, because they do not know or acknowledge the spiritual world as the world of causes which the world of effects-of Nature-serves by and from Correspondence. Hence there is, of course, no knowledge of discrete degrees, no proper conception of the laws of causation nor of ends, therefore not of uses either. "Without this knowledge [of degrees] scarcely anything of cause can be known" (D. L. W. 184). With these fundamental defects in first principles, this lack of true co-ordination and subordination of laws-what can be expected better than the grotesque monstrosities which scientists produce for hypotheses and principles so soon as they attempt to penetrate into the real secrets of nature; still more so, those of mind. Their successes are limited to the fields covered by sensual observation and the laws legitimately deducible therefrom. But to this restriction, despite their professions, they are not really willing to submit, recognizing how sadly does it contract the range of the human understanding.



     A NOTABLE contribution, we believe, toward a true generalization in the philosophy of natural science, has recently been made by Bishop Pendleton in his remarks made at the opening of' the Academy Schools. These in substance have been reproduced in the present number of this paper (page 149). In his presentation, following up the idea that there is one universal science under which all other sciences must be reduced into order, for the attainment of a genuine system of knowledge-that universal science is shown to be the Science of Correspondences; and this is set forth with breadth of treatment and convincing force and clearness of application. For ourselves we are free to say that never before hearing those remarks have we had so full a conception of the scope of this regal "science of sciences," and of its power to enlighten the human understanding and shed light on every branch of human knowledge.

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     ONE very interesting feature of the presentation referred to is the light it throws on the attitude we should assume toward modern science. As said before, it is only in so far as scientists have discovered some general truth and have followed that out consistently and conscientiously, that we have any science worthy of the name; and it is where they have departed from or violated the general laws under which they have engaged to work, and have invaded the domain of some other generals not yet understood-and still more when they have tried to subject more general to less general laws-that the scientists have fallen into error. Pursuit of the line of thought indicated by Bishop Pendleton will not only safeguard the New Church scientists from falling into the errors of modern methods, but will also show him where they have diverged and become untrustworthy. Thus he will be free to avail himself of modern achievements-which means to him great economy of labor, mental and physical-without unduly exposing himself to danger from the seductive and persuasive sphere of thought which the Writings clearly teach, is peculiar to the sensual thought of to-day. This feeling of security will leave him free, too, to acknowledge what is true and commendable in existing systems and schools-an attitude very desirable, not only on grounds of 1 common justice, but for the sake of the reactive effect upon his own charity and appreciation of truth wherever met. Thus the line of thought indicated last month in regard to the study of history and political science, may he extended in all directions, preparing the mind to see through all the errors, incongruousness, and obstructiveness to spiritual progress, which are manifested, in human efforts and deeds-the underlying current of Providence working out wise and beneficent ends for the ultimate elevation and salvation of the human race. This will bring us into line with Bishop Pendleton's suggestions in regard to the science of the world, and save us from allowing zeal for the LORD'S revelation concerning the state of the consummated Church to carry us to the point of negation towards the natural goods and uses which the LORD has provided by means of the members of that Church.
     But we would emphasize the points we set out to make-that the first thing in the remodeling of scientific thought in the New Church is the recognition of the universal principles and laws upon which that remodeling must be based; that the establishment of those principles has been made easy for us by Swedenborg's researches and rational deductions, supplemented and illuminated by the revealed truths of his theological I works; that these plainly indicate one universal science which includes, illuminates, and harmonizes all other sciences-the science of correspondences; and that by no other means can there be effected between spiritual and natural science a complete connection, unlimited in its promise of fruitfulness.
JUDGMENT 1898

JUDGMENT        PENDLETON       1898

     "Judge not, that ye be not judged; for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete it shall be measured unto you."

     JUDGMENT is of the LORD, and not of man: For the LORD alone is Omniscient, has all knowledge; He alone I knows the life of the human race from beginning to end; He alone knows the life of every man from his inmosts to his ultimates, from his birth to the end of life in the world, and afterwards to eternity. And the LORD alone is Omnipotent: He alone is able to provide for man throughout the whole course of his life in the world, and lead him after death to his own place, and provide for him there forever-the good to their place in heaven, and the evil to their place in hell. This can be done by the All-knowing, the All-wise, the All-powerful, and by Him alone; not even the angels of heaven are able to execute judgment, much less man upon the earth. Still, to the angels of heaven, it is given in a finite measure to see and know the judgment of the LORD, and also to labor as His servants in His work of judgment; but to men in the natural it cannot be given,-men who see from the light of the world, who attempt to judge of the internal from the external, to conclude from the things of the world concerning the things of heaven; naught but spiritual disaster follows such an attempt-the closing of the spiritual mind, the shutting out of the light of heaven, and the reacting upon them of the judgment or condemnation which they have wished and labored to bring upon others. "Judge not, that ye be not judged; for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you."
     It should be noted that so far as the term judgment has in it the idea of condemnation to hell, it cannot be said that the LORD judges; for the Divine Love cannot judge or condemn any one to hell. A Divine Command expresses in itself the quality of the Divine Love; or, what is forbidden to man is a revelation to him that the thing forbidden is contrary to the Divine Love; but because of the appearance that the LORD judges and condemns to hell, that appearance is permitted, in some passages of the letter of the Word. Still, the truth itself stands forth even in the letter. "If any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world" (John xii, 47). The appearance still remains that the Divine Truth judges, for the LORD says in the next verse, "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him on the last day." The teaching here is that though the Divine Love does not judge, still the Divine Truth judges and condemns; the same teaching is contained in John v. 22: "The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." But since the Divine Truth is the Divine Love in form and quality, we learn from the Doctrine that this also is an appearance; for the Divine Truth, since it is the form of the Divine Love, and the operation of the Divine Mercy, can no more judge and condemn to hell than the Divine Love itself.
     The Divine Truth is said to judge, because it inflows and makes itself present, both with the good and with the evil; the good turn themselves to it, receive it in heart and life, and permit themselves to be led by it into heaven; but the "man who is in falses from evil, by reason of contempt and rejection of Divine Truth, is in hatred against it, burns to destroy it with every one who is principled in it from the LORD; when he attempts this, he is like the person who casts himself into the fire, or dashes his face against a rock, the cause of which is not in the fire, nor in the rock, but in the man himself who does it" (A. E. 907). The consequence of this assault upon the Divine Truth which the evil man makes is, that he thinks the truth has assaulted him, and, being filled with terror, rushes away into hell.

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Still, judgment is of the LORD alone, for He provides by means of His Divine Truth that the good may be led into Heaven, and thus provides for their separation from the evil; and He, therefore, must provide that the evil be left to themselves, separated from the good; and being left to themselves, no longer under restraint, they rush into their own evils-that is, into hell. This the LORD permits, because it cannot be prevented according to Divine Order, which order is that a Heaven be formed from the human race. To effect this formation, the Divine Truth must become present where the evil and good are together. The good receive it, and are led by it into Heaven; the evil reject it, and rush away into hell; nor can they be prevented from doing so. it is thus that the LORD judges, or that the Divine Truth judges. "He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My words, hath one that judgeth him; the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."
     It is evident, therefore, that judgment must take place not in the natural, but in the spiritual world; not in the natural, but in the spiritual man; and, therefore, it must take place after the death of the body, when man enters into the spiritual world-enters into the life of his spiritual man. For it is the spiritual man that is judged, not the natural; or, it is that which lives in man after death that is judged, not that with which he clothes himself for the sake of accommodating himself to life in the world; for this is merely instrumental, and is laid aside at death, or shortly afterward. It is not that which man appears to be while in the world that is judged, but that which he really is in what he appears to be. This real life within, which is for the most part concealed from the world, is the spiritual in him that lives after death, whether evil or good, and which is judged, the spiritual internal then appearing in the external when the worldly external is laid aside. This is the judgment; namely, the internal coming forth and showing itself in the external, causing separations, or unions, according to the states which so appear. But since the internal state of life with most men does not reveal itself till after death, but is covered and concealed within, a man in the world, or a man in the natural, cannot form a judgment of the internal spiritual life of another, who is also in the natural world, or clothed with a natural; for he sees only the appearance-does not see the internal within.
     The law of order, therefore, is that the internal cannot be judged from the external, but the external may be judged from the internal; and the law of order is expressed in the words of the LORD: "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge just judgment." A judgment according to the appearance is a judging of what is internal and spiritual from appearances in the external or natural: but a just judgment is a judging of the external or natural from the internal or spiritual. Judgment of the external or natural from the internal or spiritual is a judgment of the LORD from the LORD; for, while judgment is of the LORD alone, He also reveals His judgments to those who are in the internal, and enables them from the internal to see and know the external, and judge its quality. And so the evil cannot judge of the good, for the evil man or spirit, being only in the external, sees only the external of another; but the good man, spirit, or angel, can, according to the degree of his interior illustration, judge of the evil, not from himself, but from the LORD; according to the general doctrine, that evil can be seen from good, but not good from evil, and that the false can be seen from the true, but not the true from the false; or that the real quality of the world can be seen from heaven, but the real quality of heaven cannot be seen from the world or natural thought of the world.
     The real ground and reason, therefore, why man in the world, and from the world, cannot judge of the internal spiritual life of another, is because the LORD does not perform judgment in the world, since he does not reveal the internal states of men; and this, as we have seen, is essential to judgment. It is of Divine Order that the good and the evil should be together in the natural world, and that they should not be separated until they enter the spiritual world; the tares cannot be separated from the wheat until the harvest; if it were attempted before, the wheat would be rooted up with the tares, and all would be destroyed together. The LORD provides that the interior life of the good, while in the world, should be covered over and concealed, sometimes even by the appearance of evil; and that the interior life of the evil should be covered over and concealed, sometimes even by the appearance of good. This is done for the sake of the preservation and growth of liberty, and at the same time of rationality, which is for the preservation and growth of spiritual life among men. If the interiors of the good were made known in the world, they could not be protected, for the forces of hell would be excited to assail and destroy; this is also the reason why the New Church is not known in the world, as to its inner quality and life, for if it were it would soon be wiped out of existence. And if the interiors of the evil were made known, brought out in the external, not only would liberty and rationality be destroyed, but the human race itself would cease to exist. The internal can only be seen and known from the internal-that is, from the LORD, who is in the internal; it cannot be seen from the external, or from self and the world. This is the law of order revealed in the words, Judge not.
     The external may be seen and known, or judged, from the external in some measure; but even this is according to the light which flows in from heaven into the light of the world, giving man the ability to judge of the external life of his neighbor; and it is necessary that such a judgment be made, or there could be no civil or social order. The civil law, and the officers of the law, must pass judgment upon those who offend against the law; but this judgment affects only the civil life of those who are judged; it is not a judgment to heaven or to hell. Every man in business life must form a judgment of those with whom he deals, as to their external efficiency and skill, as to their intellectual capability, and as to their moral purpose, else he would become a prey to incompetent or evil men. In social life there must be a judgment formed of the morals of another, and a standard of judgment must be raised, or there would be no bond by which society could be held together. The Church must judge of its membership, and the officials of the Church must judge of the character of men according to the standards of the Church, in order that the uses of the Church may be done efficiently and well. No business could be carried on in the world, no human society could exist, no government, civil or ecclesiastical, could be formed and perpetuated, without the ability to judge of the natural character and integrity of men. A judgment may thus be formed of the internal natural with another, but not of the internal spiritual; and men are to beware lest they conclude, from what they see in the natural of the neighbor, concerning his internal spiritual life, involving a judgment of his lot after death, or a judgment of his state as a spirit in the, spiritual world, and not merely of his state as a man in the natural world. If a man is seen to be in evil, it may indeed be said of him that if he confirms himself in it, remaining in it without repentance to the end of life, he will not be saved. This, however, is not a judgment; it is rather a consideration of the possibilities or probabilities of the future, a future that is known to the LORD alone, and not even judged by Him until the state is ripe.

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     It is important to remember that the LORD was addressing those who had come to him from the Jewish Church, bringing with them the Jewish conceit of their own good, and the Jewish contempt of other nations. The Jews believed that they were the chosen people of God, chosen on account of their own merit and goodness; that all others were despised of God, and therefore to be eternally condemned and reprobated, deserving only their hatred and scorn; to be persecuted, made slaves, or put to death, as occasion offered. And as the LORD was preparing to establish the Christian Church with the Gentiles, it was necessary that His followers among the Jews, by whose instrumentality the Christian Church was to be taken to the Gentiles, should remove the Jewish idea and `the Jewish hatred of other nations. Hence, the teaching of time text, in the internal historical sense is, that the disciples of the LORD, who had been reared in the Jewish faith, should not judge as evil, or condemn to hell, those of other nations, because they were of a false religion, or worshiped idols, or false gods; and thus, by removing the attitude and state of contempt and hatred, and putting on that of charity and love, they could become efficient instruments in establishing the new religion among the nations of the earth. Hence, the disciples were instructed to judge not according to the appearance of a false religion, but to judge a just judgment; which is, that men, although they be in false ideas of God and eternal life, still may be in good, and be saved; and even though they be in evil practices, still it does not follow that there may not be a reserve of - good in the internal man, which will become the means of salvation. That there was then, and is now, such a reserve of good with the Gentiles, the LORD teaches; they are, therefore, not to be treated with contempt and disdain, because they are not in the light of the Word, and are in falses and evils, but are to be regarded from love and mercy; for it is thus the LORD regards all of every religion.
     The Divine instruction therefore is that he who would be saved must explore and judge himself, not others, and, shun as a sin the tendency to see only evil in the neighbor. For when it becomes a habit of the mind to see only evil in others, even that which is done by them from a state of sincerity and justice, from a love of truth I and good, is ascribed to natural and selfish motives; and so injury is done, not only to the neighbor, but to truth and good, to faith and charity, to the Church, and to the LORD'S kingdom. These are the neighbor spiritually understood, these are the neighbor we are not to judge, or condemn as evil; for in that judgment and condemnation man rejects what is of the LORD and heaven, and judges and condemns himself, which will be a judgment and condemnation to hell, if persisted in to the end of life in the world. "Judge not, that ye be not judged; for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged, and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you."
     The lust of judging others is very common in the, world; and there is in this lust a delight at finding evil in others, in order that they may be accused and condemned; it is the delight of punishing, which, analyzed to its inmost, is a delight of casting into hell. But this reacts on him who exercises it; for he who is in that delight is himself in hell, and sinks himself deeper into hell with every exercise of it. "Judge not, that ye be not judged; for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged, and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you."
     We read in Arcana Coelestia n. 1079, that "where there is no charity, there is the love of self, consequently hatred toward all who do not favor themselves; hence it is, that they see nothing in the neighbor but his evil, and if they see anything, they either regard it as nothing, or interpret it as evil; it is altogether otherwise with those who are in charity. By this are these two kinds of men distinguished, especially when they come into the other life; for then, with those who are not in charity, their animus of hatred shines forth in every thing; they wish to examine every one, yea to judge, and they desire nothing more than to find evil, continually purposing in mind to condemn, punish, and torment. But they who are in charity scarcely see the evil of another; they observe all his goods and truths, and his evils and falses they interpret for good. Such are all the angels,- which they have from the LORD, who bends all evil into good."
     The spiritual law, the leading idea of the text, is the law of action and reaction; that reaction is according to action; or, as a man acts, so is the reaction upon him; as he gives, so does he receive; as is the quality of the love, whether evil or good, so is the quality of the return or rebound upon him that loves; as a man blesses, so is he blessed; as a man curses, so is he cursed. This law is expressed three times in the text:
     1. Judge not, that ye be not judged.
     2. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged.
     3. And with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you.
     The same law is given in the twelfth verse of this chapter, in what is called the Golden Rule: " Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets." We learn here, that this is the universal law of spiritual life, and it is therefore the universal law of life in the spiritual world, and hence fully operative in man's spirit while he is still in the natural world,-namely, that what a man wills to bring upon the neighbor, whether evil or good, returns again to him, or reacts upon him, either to curse or to bless. In every heavenly love is stored its own blessing, or happiness, or reward, and in every infernal love is stored its own curse, or misery, or punishment; and that which is interiorly in a love returns upon the man who exercises it. The same law is expressed in the Word, where it speaks of rendering to every man according to his works; and in the opposite, or in the evil, it becomes the law of retaliation. Hence the Jews, who were not in charity, mercy, or any spiritual love whatsoever, were allowed to exercise the law of retaliation, "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, stripe for stripe" (Exod. xxi, 24,25). This is the law of action and reaction as it is in hell; but to the Christian Church was given the law as it is in heaven, in the words of the Golden Rule, "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."
     This rebound, this reaction, this return of good upon the good and of evil upon the evil, is the judgment. It was said that the judgment is the coming forth of the internal into the external, and taking possession of it. But it is the same law, for there is always reaction toward interiors from every work and deed of man. There is, first; action, a giving forth, from the love in the interiors of man, and then reaction in the deed done to another and return to the love, and in the return a more interior entering into the things that are stored or contained in the love; and as the love is opened and entered into, so do the things that are in it come forth from the internal into the external and occupy it.

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Hence, it maybe said that the rebound is the judgment, or that the coming forth of the internal into the external is the judgment, for it is the same thing, or a part of the same process. We see, therefore, the force of the words, " With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged."
     Let us apply this law to the evil; for this is the application of it in the text, and the regenerating man is shown the operation of the law in the evil, in order that he may see and know that such is the operation of it in his own natural man, and, seeing, shun it as sin against God. Judging the neighbor, in the sense in which the word is used in the text, has in it a spirit of ill will, a spirit of accusation, a spirit of condemnation, a spirit of hatred, thus a will to torment and punish, and which finds delight in so doing. Every man wills to bring upon another that which is interiorly contained in his own love; nor can he will anything else, or will to bring anything else upon another; no one can will to give, and thus give aught but that which is of his own love, of his own life, to another; and what is remarkable, every one strives with all his soul to give to the neighbor in every deed done unto him, that which is the inmost of his own love and life. Inwardly stored in every heavenly love is its own heavenly blessedness and reward, which the angels strive to bring upon others in every act they do; and inwardly stored in every infernal love is its own infernal misery and punishment, which the devils strive to bring upon others in every act they do. Inwardly stored in every evil love is the punishment of evil, that is to say, the undelight of evil, for evil essentially considered has in it no delight, but has that which is the opposite of delight, called the punishment of evil. Every evil spirit, therefore, and every evil man in his spirit, strives to inscribe upon others that which is the inmost of his own life, the punishment of evil; in other words, he strives to take away from others all delight of life, and thus to eternally damn and destroy; for, take away delight from life, there is no life, and hence in hell there is no life which is life, because there is no delight which is delight. Since the punishment and torment of hell is interiorly contained in every evil love, and since every evil man wills and strives to impose and inflict this upon others, he in every deed enters more and more interiorly into his own love, more and more into the punishment of his own evil, deeper and deeper into his own Hell, until finally the very punishment of his own evil so fills him with abject fear that he restrains himself from going farther, becoming thus almost a nonentity forever. This is the mercy of the LORD to him.
     "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he that is filthy let him be filthy still; and he that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." -Amen.
NEW CHURCH SCIENCE 1898

NEW CHURCH SCIENCE       Editor       1898

     FROM PARTIAL NOTES ON AN INFORMAL ADDRESS DELIVERED BY
     BISHOP PENDLETON AT THE OPENING OF THE ACADEMY
     SCHOOLS, SEPTEMBER 15th, 1898.

     Bishop Pendleton said in substance:
     Of late there has been a marked revival of interest in the subject of science viewed in the light of the New Church. An association has been formed with the purpose of studying the science contained in the philosophical writings of Swedenborg, and of publishing the works in which his philosophy is enounced.
     We can have no doubt that there is to be a rational New Church science. This will be developed in several ways; from the ideas advanced in the philosophical works of Swedenborg; from the scientific statements contained in the Writings; from the science of today, and finally from deductions drawn from the revealed spiritual truths of the Writings. Out of these will grow a New Church science.
     In order to attain a genuine science it must come into order, and for this it is necessary that there should be a universal science which shall embrace all the sciences and gather them under one view. This was seen by Swedenborg before his illumination, while he was writing his scientific works. He saw that there should be one science running through all sciences. This idea was perhaps first conceived by Christian Wolf. Swedenborg took it up, calling the proposed universal science a "universal mathesis." He thought that the universal science would be based on mathematics. We now know, in the light of Divine Revelation, that the universal science is not mathematics, but-

     The Science of Correspondences.

     The necessity for a universal science which shall pervade and animate all the others, is in part seen in the world at this time; but the men of modern science have imagined that universal science to be Evolution, which pervades all the science of to-day.
     We have a full and complete revelation concerning the Science of Correspondence. This was the science of sciences with the Ancient Church, and so it will be in the New Church. It is taught that the men of ancient times excelled those of the present day in intelligence and wisdom. This is because they had the science of correspondences. To them correspondences and representatives were but the external forms of heavenly things, and when they saw worldly objects they thought spiritually of heavenly realities to which those things corresponded.
     The Most Ancient Church was not in the science of correspondences, but they were in the perception of it. Conversely, the Ancient Church was in the science of correspondence, but not in the perception of it. The New Church is to be in both the science and the perception of correspondences-first in the science, and then in the perception.
     All the sciences have had their origin in the science of correspondences; -for the origin of the modern arts and sciences can be traced back to the Ancient Church, especially to Egypt, where that science flourished more than elsewhere. The science of correspondences is thus historically, as well as essentially, the first of the sciences.
     It is of supreme importance-in the study of nature-to know of the presence of the spiritual world in the world of nature; but that it is altogether distinct from the natural world, and communicates with it only by correspondence. And it is likewise supremely important to know that that world is not only continually present, but also continually acting upon the natural world; it is thus the source of all activity, motion, life in nature, without which nature is dead. This refers not only to the earth we live on, but to the whole solar universe. It is the spiritual world which gives to nature life and existence; and this activity, universally and particularly, is by correspondence; and hence the importance of the science of correspondences. It teaches us the presence of the spiritual in the natural, its action upon it, and how it acts.

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     Although the spiritual world is present, and acting in the natural, it is distinct from it, not continuous with it, but contiguous to it. The innumerable things of the spiritual world act upon the things of the natural world by contiguity. This is the cause of all manifestations of life.
     The spiritual world is the active, the natural world the passive. Thus correspondence is the relation of the active and the passive. Therefore, wherever in nature there is an active and a passive, a representation and image of correspondences is seen. This shows how universal the law of correspondence is. Swedenborg saw-and this is the key-note of the Principia-that action and reaction are universal. Hence, in creation we have first an I active, then a passive, or reactive, and then the two conjoined, and thence all things were produced. A complete understanding of this law, together with related laws, unfolds the secrets of nature.
     The spiritual world is the cause, the natural world is the effect. Correspondence thus is the relation of cause and effect. The effect must correspond with its own cause. This is true wherever an effect-that is, a use- is produced. Wherever cause and effect are seen in nature there a representative of correspondence is seen. The cause is re-presented in the effect.
     The spiritual world is not continuous but contiguous with the natural world. Correspondence is thus relation and conjunction by contiguity. Wherever in nature conjunction by contiguity is seen an image or representative of correspondence is seen. Two things to be conjoined must correspond with each other. Conjunction by contiguity is-universal in nature. This is illustrated by sight and the eye, hearing and the ear, the principal; with the instrumental. Light is not continuous with the eye, yet it is contiguous and so conjoined with it, and produces sight; so with the relation of the air with the ear.
     Correspondences are natural truths in which spiritual truths are represented-they are the truths of nature. Truths of nature are the -uses of nature; thus correspondences in nature are the uses of nature. All influx of the spiritual world into the natural is by correspondence, and the influx of the spiritual world into the natural is into the uses which are in nature-heaven in- flowing into good uses, and hell into evil uses. Thus the study of correspondences is the study of uses, whether in nature or in the human body, or in the products of human industry-the study of uses as the natural effects of spiritual causes to which they correspond, and of which they are the natural forms.
     Conversely, the study of the uses of nature is the study of correspondences, even if as yet we do not know the spiritual causes to which the natural effect corresponds-for the more particular study of the spiritual causes corresponding with the natural effects, is a study by itself. The uses of nature may therefore be studied - as uses, with merely a general knowledge that they correspond, or with a general knowledge of correspondences. The general uses of nature, or the general laws, or general doctrines of nature, must first be known.
     Here appears the necessity of having doctrine in order to enter interiorly into nature. Without doctrine the Word is not understood; so it is with nature. Swedenborg, in his philosophical studies, found it necessary to formulate certain general doctrines of nature before he could proceed further, and by them he entered more interiorly into nature than any one else has done. These general doctrines or laws-which are uses-are also correspondences. Without the ship of doctrine man is in a boundless ocean, with nothing to bear him to a haven. The science of to-day is such a sea in which men are drowned. They have not general laws, universal and true laws, which would enlighten and guide them to true wisdom. It is necessary to have general correspondences first, before the particulars can be known. Newchurchmen have made the mistake of trying to enter into particular correspondences before general ones were understood.
     That general doctrines, or laws, or uses in nature are also correspondences may be illustrated by what Swedenborg called the Doctrine of Society, known in the world as the Law of Segregation. It may also be called the law of grouping. Each group in the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, and in the human body, is made up of similars, all having a common use. There is a correspondence here with the provinces and societies of heaven. Each society of heaven is made up of similars held together by a common use. It may be illustrated by various other general doctrines; as the doctrine of variety, that of equilibrium, of modification, and of motion; they are all general correspondences. I would impress upon you the importance of knowing general correspondences first, before going to particulars.
     The uses of nature must be treated in an historical manner. On another occasion I have spoken of the importance of the historical method in education. In this method uses are fully set forth: It is in general the history of the origin of each use, its growth, development, and progress to its complete formation and application to that for which it exists. This is the evolution of the use.
     Evolution is an unrolling. The term has its use and its abuse. The modern evolutionists have taken a certain truth of nature and have perverted it by setting it out of its place-exalting it to be more universal than it really is. Modern evolution includes in its scope the physical development of the mineral kingdom: biology, or the science of vegetable and animal life, and sociology, or the science of society and its development. The historical method has been followed, and thus the study of evolution has performed an important use to the world and to the New Church. For the historical method, as has been said, involves the study of uses, and modern scientists have very carefully studied out and described the history of the development of each individual plant and animal; also of man and society. They have done this in order to confirm their theory of evolution, but thus under Providence a great use has been performed to true science and true education.

     Evolution and Involution.

     But there must be involution before there can be evolution. A thing must be infolded before it can be unfolded; but the involution is unseen, is invisible to the senses, and hence has not been seen or acknowledged by the sensual scientist, and evolution has been exalted out of its place.
     The involution of nature is described in the Principia. But the true involution is the involution of spirit in matter, or spirit clothing itself with the things of nature, according to a law-the law of correspondences.
     Involution is the process of creation of the universe; evolution is the process of its preservation and perpetuation.
     In what is called the science of evolution certain general laws appear-that is, they are more or less seen in their ultimate manifestation, by the expounders of evolution; as, for instance, The Law of Series, or, as it is called, The Law of Serial Development; The Law of Continuity; the Law of Conservation, or perpetual creation;

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The law that nature is the same in greatest and in least things, called the Law of Similarity. Swedenborg saw that this last was a law of nature, but by the revelation to the New Church we know-from the Divine Love and Wisdom-that it is also a Divine Law,-that the Divine is the same in the greatest and least things.
     There is a true evolution, which is described in the Writings,-namely, ascent by contiguity, or according to discrete degrees, a laying aside of the body and the spirit rising; but how far this is from modern evolution may be seen from the fact that modern science knows nothing of discrete degrees. The type of this true evolution is the evolution of the Spirit out of the Letter of the Word. Swedenborg uses the term evolution applied to the unfolding or rising up of the spiritual sense out of the letter to the angels when the Word is read by man. The operation of this law is seen everywhere in nature. It is an unfolding, evolving; it is an ascent according to the law of contiguity. This law of contiguity is not recognized in the modern science of evolution. Continuity only is seen; and the law of continuity is of necessity falsified and abused when the law of contiguity is excluded from it.
     But introduce this law into its proper place, together with other universal laws, all under the most universal, the Law of Correspondences, then evolution appears as a great fact of nature, one of the most useful of the sciences, and will play its part-a great part, indeed-in the revolution of science and education. The way will thus be prepared for a new science and a new education in the New Church, such as has never been dreamed of in the philosophy of the world.
TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.-V 1898

TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.-V       Editor       1898

AT the fifth meeting of the Teachers' Institute, held in the latter part of March of this year, the first subject taken under consideration was that of the requirements as to Grammar for entering the Intermediate Grade.
     Mr. Price stated that what was particularly wanted was technical grammar, knowledge of the parts of speech, and of their mutual relations in a sentence. This is especially necessary to one who wishes to study a foreign language.
     Miss Ashley explained Miss Hyde's course in grammar, which is used in the local schools, and also in the Seminary. It is in three books, the first, quite elementary, adapted for the age of eight to ten. The second gives a very useful drill in punctuation, capitalization, the making of sentences, and other common branches of grammar, of indispensable importance. The third book goes over some of the same ground, and then goes on to more advanced study of grammar. In this book there are some things which might very well have been included in the second. It is advanced enough to be taken up in the Seminary. She much preferred that this book be not taken up before entering the Seminary, there being much in it that younger girls could not appreciate; but, on the other hand, there is not much in it of a kind necessary for practical use in life which is not also to be found included in the second book. The latter book, with the supplement, gives a thorough drill in things most needed in practical work. After finishing the second book in the local school it would be more useful to spend any extra time that might remain on the literature suitable to that grade.
     Mr. Price, in answer to a question, said that the Seminary and Intermediate Grade are an adaptation of the public High School, taking in also the last part of the Grammar-school work. But according to the syllabus of the course in the Philadelphia High School, our local school would include not only the Primary, but also all the Grammar-school grade.
Mr. Synnestvedt asked that consideration be given to a question placed on the Docket by Mr. Pendleton,- "The Historical `Basis of Education."
     Mr. Pendleton said, in the Writings it is stated that the historicals of the Word are for children and with the simple. They are thus the introduction to the Word. The story comes first; with this there is included also something of doctrine. What is true of' the Word is of universal application; hence it would seem that history is introductory to all education. Before a man can enter into spiritual truths he must have the historicals of the spiritual world. It was necessary for Swedenborg, therefore, to see the spiritual world, to be introduced into the arcana of heaven, before he could receive the abstract, internal sense of the Word. What was necessary to Swedenborg is necessary also to other men. The speaker cited, from Arcana Coelestia, n. 67, and, The Sacred Scripture, n. 6, the teaching that the historicals of the spiritual world are necessary to the understanding of the Internal Sense of the Word. (See also L. J. 42, and H. H. 1, where two kinds of revelation are spoken of-the revelation of the Internal Sense of the Word and the revelation of the arcana of heaven, of hell, and of the world of spirits, which are the historicals of the other world.) We see from these teachings that man first enters into the Word historically, whether into the Internal Sense or into the Letter.
     But we must get a universal view of the meaning of "historical." It does not refer exclusively to the political history of nations, but is of much wider application. There is not any department of human life which does not have its history. Take arithmetic, grammar, geography, or any other science-they all have their history. In the study of the Word, beginning with the historicals, we have a type or mode to go by. The tendency of the education of the world is in this direction-of making history a basis. The science of sociology, which is a comparatively recent development, threatens to revolutionize education, for it includes history in its universal aspect. Starting with the primitive man it goes through the various stages of barbarism and of civilization, and includes every department of human life. The same method is adopted in what is called biology.
     Mr. Synnestvedt spoke of the three states of life treated of in the historicals of the Word, in the three Churches, the Most Ancient, the Ancient, and the Jewish; and also in the account of the three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
     Mr. Pendleton again pointed out that, being thus true of the Word it must be a principle of universal application.
     Asked if this would be illustrated, for instance, in arithmetic by showing the pupil first the method of counting in most ancient times, on fingers or on pebbles,-the latter accounting for the word "calculate," from calculus, "a pebble"-he said that some such method would be used. It can be seen at once how interesting to the pupil such a method would make the lessons. If we could carry it out well it would bring us to an education such as the world has never seen. The speaker said that he had got the idea years ago, from the Writings, but it had come up to him with new force lately in reading a work on sociology. The method is used by the scientists to confirm their theory of evolution, but that need not affect us.

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Their facts we can use; their theories we need not take.
     As an illustration of how sociology shows in what way education may be taught on an historical basis, take the settlement of our own country. A man with his family moves into the backwoods, clears a patch of land, builds a house, plows the ground, and begins to raise crops. Another settles in the vicinity, and another; a road is made; gradually a little town springs up, with post-office, store, and other evidences of civilization. Families settle across the river, a ferry is started, and in time a bridge built. And so we might follow out the steps of civilization until we included the whole circle of human activity. We thereby get a basis in sensual facts for the study of higher truth. This is exemplified in Swedenborg's Doctrine of Society, which is the doctrine of grouping. It can be applied also to the animal and vegetable kingdoms (biology) and the mineral kingdom.
     Mr. Synnestvedt remarked that education in the world is improving on the external plane.
     Mr. Pendleton in return said that the Old Church is improving on the plane they are conscious of-the plane of the sensual. Influx from the Divine descends into the ultimates and then ascends; but man is conscious only of the ascent, and only to the degree to which his mind is opened. Things of nature may be used to confirm either an acknowledgment of' the Divine or a denial of it. In the Church our tendency has been to leave the science of the Old Church; but it is necessary to take their facts-we must use the vessels of the Egyptians. Even their theories are perversions of truths, and it is useful for us to examine them also, to see of what truths they are the perversions.
     Mr. Price, in illustration of the bearing of science upon life, called attention to the effect the invention of the chimney had upon domestic life, especially with the Anglo-Saxon race.
     Mr. Pendleton again cautioned against thinking of history as merely the political history of nations, since it is of universal application. There is history of government, of language, of every branch of human knowledge and life. Once we see this idea we can bring it in in such a way as to make the studies most interesting. At the same time proper proportions should be kept in view, and history not be taught to the exclusion of the sciences. When we get a new idea our first duty is to find its proper place. Education on a historical basis in the world is called education on the basis of evolution.
     The speaker added that with regard to the Word it is remarkable that as historicals are necessary to an under- standing of the interior senses of the Letter, called the internal historical, so the historicals of the spiritual world are necessary to an understanding of the Internal Sense.
     Mr. Synnestvedt asked if this suggestion in regard to educational methods were suitable to primary work, I since history is said to be of the rational.
     Mr. Pendleton replied that history is not of the rational in so far as it is a relation of facts, but it does develop the rational in distinguishing between right and wrong, as in the history of mankind, which is the acme of all history. The moral plane of history is what is called the internal historical, and the spiritual moral plane is internal history. Every nation has an internal historical. That which is in the Letter of the Word is the internal historical of the Jews. This is a type of all nations. The first of the Word is history.
     The latter part of the meeting was devoted to considering the arguments for and against vertical penmanship, in which Mr. R. M. Glenn, who happened into the building, was asked to take part, which he did, and as a practical penman argued strongly against the new system as not practical and as not being what it professes, as in practice it is almost sure to degenerate into a backhand. His views were weighed but not wholly accepted.
DISEASES OF THE FIBRES 1898

DISEASES OF THE FIBRES       Editor       1898

     (Chapter XI, continued.)

     (TRANSLATED FROM THE LATIN OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.)

     CANINE MADNESS-HYDROPHOBIA.

     540.     THEY who are bitten by mad dogs, sometimes in turn become affected with a similar madness. The disease is severer or milder, agreeing with the nature of' the blood, or with the inclination of the animus. It is a certain species of delirium and of vague mania, which they exhale into the life and blood in certain ways, and they are eager to lay the hands on everything within their reach; this desire also remains after the lapse of many years. It is said that the same symptoms will occur from the bite of other animals, yea, from the rage of excited men.
     541.     It is not now possible for me to give the inmost causes of such phenomena, for we ought to know not only the genuine nature and composition of the blood, but also of the poisons,- and the varieties of these. For there are poisons both of the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, and the genera of these are many, and the species infinite. There are poisons which do not agree with our red blood, or with our purer blood or animal spirit. All those things do not concord, which, if compounded, cannot be dissolved, and, if more simple, cannot be united; and still they penetrate the vessels and fibres. They cannot be dissolved if they ale too hard and compact; nor can they be united if they are not yielding, hollow, and applicable to the convexity of the globules, as all saline, sulphurous, and urinous parts, primitive as well as derivative. If the poisons are sharp-pointed, they cannot but wound, tear, and disrupt the constituent globules of the blood in the gyre of its circulation; similarly will they conglutinate and cause them to become cold, and impede both the solution and the composition, and thus destroy the whole mass, and at the same time the capillary arteries and the fibres. There are also compound poisons, which at first are innocuous, but presently, when they break forth from their mass or congeries, they become very subtile poisons, and thus everywhere infest the bloodstream; for, if they be not cast out, it follows that their small amount will irritate the whole blood-stream in its passage through the vessels and fibres, for the poisons invade one blood globule after another. But the nature of poisons is not known except from the effect-that is to say, whether they inspissate the blood into a cold and glutinous mass, or destroy the regular mode of the circulation, or separate the globules themselves, or whether they remain fixed in the vessels themselves, in the fibres, and in the cortex itself, whence arise madness and rage.
     542.     But as concerns the venom (aconita) of furious or Cerberean dogs, it is permitted to predict that there are poisonous globules of foam or salivas,-as it were, little eggs,-endued with a prickly tunic, in which lies a mixture of such poisons. If these oviform vesicles are forced into the fleshy com pages by a bite, they permeate the whole in a short time; nor do they mingle, except by heat and when their solution in the blood is hindered, and then they bring about a terrible destruction; one successively follows the other, or many come at the same time, which may be the cause of the madness returning at intervals. It is not permitted to augur the proximate causes.

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     TARENTISM-ST. VITUS' OR ST. GUY'S DANCE.

     543.     Tarentism arises from the bite of the tarantula. They sometimes lie with benumbed limbs, and, wonderful to relate, they are incited to dance by hearing certain melodies. Distracted, they leap like pantomimes, and throw out the limbs, nor do they come to themselves nor are they healed except by a profuse sweating. The state in St. Vitus' dance is not dissimilar, for those affected twist the arms and body wonderfully, and a similar dance returns at the stated time.
     544.     It is clear that the cause of this phenomenon is the insertion of the virus by the bite, but what its quality is is not easily divined; for there are different kinds of poisons and innumerable species. Who knows the forms of one kind or species, the disagreements with the blood and other humors, with the purer and grosser bloods, and with the vessels and fibres? Who knows the analogy of spines pricking lightly and titillating? We are ignorant of those properties in foods which prickle or soothe the pappillae of the tongue, whence is flavor, and of those inodorous exhalations which likewise affect the glands of the membrane of the nostrils, whence is smell-why not of those things which are received by no sense? - For whatever touches the organs of the senses in the least, whether it be the sight, hearing, taste, or smell,-that, as also its different singulars, immediately affects the cortex and the common sensory, and induces a similar state upon it; for the cortex without variation of state would be unmanageable, and without power of sensing; consequently those glands, as so many internal sensories, are affected according to every cause and variety of influent forces and forms-that is, they undergo changes of state in agreement (see above, n. 479). Such as is the state of sensation or perception, such becomes the state of thought, and that also of the will; for sensation or perception, thought and will, are in one series, because in the mind they mutually succeed each other. Now if the forms inflowing from the organs of the senses so suddenly change the state of the cortex, why not the similar analogous forms in the very fibres or in the cortex itself-that is, forms analogous to those things in which the state of the cortex itself is, when it receives those modulations by the ear, and conformably begins the dance or in leaping hurls about the limbs. As soon as the sensory, now dull and sluggish, is excited into this state, a similar and analogous active force is also excited, just as one string from another concording. Yea, we also are sometimes excited into dancing by certain harmonies. I have seen a hare listening with pricked-up ears to melodies, that always began to leap about at a certain one. But let us present these things; it is necessary that the poisonous corpuscles of time tarantula cling to the fibres or besiege time cortex, which poisons do not exert their strength before the sensory is excited into a corresponding and harmonious state; then at the least they cause the excited cortex to variously jerk and fluctuate, whence comes the gesticulation and jactation of the members, as of one leaping about. Then also the effect teaches that those poisons harmonize with the blood of the tarantula, but by no means with human blood; for those bitten by tarantulas or scorpions are cured by oil commixed with the blood of those animals, for that absorbs things homogeneous, and intimately conceals [takes in] those things which cannot in any manner be united with the blood of another.
TREASURER'S STATEMENT 1898

TREASURER'S STATEMENT       CARL Hj. ASPLUNDH       1898

The General Church.

     THE TREASURER'S STATEMENT.

     A CIRCULAR was mailed by the Treasurer on August 31st to all the members of the General Church, stating the condition of the treasury at the beginning of the current year, July 1st. The members were also requested to inform the Treasurer what support they [would be able to give the General Church during the ensuing year to enable the Executive Committee to form an idea what the approximate income would be. The responses have not been very prompt, and unless [they are now on the way the quarterly statement, which [will be furnished to the members within a few days, will show that the treasury lacks funds to meet the amounts now due. It is sincerely to be hoped that all who are members of the General Church will take cognizance of this fact, and that all who have not done anything towards defraying the expenses for the year begun July 1st will please assist as promptly as possible. Our collectors in the various places will be glad to receive the contributions, an arrangement which we hope will be a convenience to the members who desire to make small but frequent contributions.
     The Journal of the Assembly held in June this year will probably be issued within a few days. It comprises over two hundred pages, and contains a full account of the five days' meeting at Glenview, including also the Academy Assembly, giving a verbatim report of the discussions on the questions of the organization of time House of the Laity, the name of the General Church, the relation of the Academy to the General Church, and other interesting and important subjects.
     Besides statistical tables, giving the number of members in each place, a list of the various places where Societies or Circles exist, and a carefully prepared index,-there is appended a complete directory, containing the names and addresses of all the members of the General Church.
     It will thus be seen that the Journal will be well worth procuring, by all the members of the body, as well as by other friends who may be interested to learn about the movements of our body.
     The price is fifty cents, and it may be ordered through any of our collectors or direct from the Treasurer's office.
     CARL Hj. ASPLUNDH.
          Treasurer.

HUNTINGDON VALLEY, PA., September 30th, 1898.
CORRECTIONS IN THE TAFEL EDITION OF THE "DIARY" BY THE PHOTOTYPED MANUSCRIPT 1898

CORRECTIONS IN THE TAFEL EDITION OF THE "DIARY" BY THE PHOTOTYPED MANUSCRIPT       T. F. WRIGHT       1898

SECOND LIST.

     IN the Life for August, 1898, I published on behalf of the Committee on the Manuscripts of Swedenborg, a list of corrections for which we were indebted to Professor C. Vinet. He has now kindly furnished us with a second and longer list, which, after somewhat careful revision, I offer for publication, in order that the value of the present work may be seen and that these corrections may at once be made useful to those who have the Tafel edition. It is already evident that a new Latin edition must in time be published and then translated.

154


The references which follow are to the Tafel edition:

211 (line 2), for ultimo judicio read ultimi judicii.
214 (1. 7), for fiat read fiet.
216 (title), for imprimis read cumprimis.
218 (1. 8), for vies read vices.
221 (1. 3), for ducenie read (probably) durante.
222 (1. 4), for nimbi read mirabiles.
223 (title), for in intimo read ex intimo.
241 (line next last), for habet read trahit.
243 (1. 2), for dein read demi.
243 (1. 10), for ex fovea read in fovea.
269 (1. 3), for divinum read divina.
276 (1. 4), for curant read currant.
278 (1. 3), for spectaret read spectarent.
278 (1. 8,9), for in glandula read glandularum; remove colon after cerebri; substitute a comma after posse for the semi-colon; for eoram read earum.
315 (1. 13), for queant read queat.
315 (1. 15), for existebat read existabat.
317 (1. 9), for ii read iis.
334 (1. 2), for sermocinatus sum read sermocinarentur.
335 (1. 8), for quae read qui.
335 (1. 9), for erant read erat.
404 (1. 10), for non read vix.
419 (1. 10), for crinibus read coracibus.
424 (1. 4), after autumant insert omnes.
427 (1. 4) for ut read et.
427 (1. 6), for quae read quas.
433 (1. 8), for ablatae read ablati.
458 (1. 27), for et read ac.
458 (1. 31), after cor, comma instead of period.
462 (1. 3), for dicantur read dicitur.
466 (title), for ceciderit read ceciderint.
466 (1. 7), for quovis read gravi.
466 (1. 12), for blanditur read blanditer.
466 (1. 15), for periculum read periculis; for timorem read timore.
468 (1. 5), before persuasionibus insert a.
479 (1. 3), for movet read movit.
485 (1. 11), for haec read hoc.
496 (1. 5), after angelici remove sunt.
497 (1. 4), for quod rend quia.
501 (1. 1), for ejectus read dejectus.
507 (1. 7), for seo read sui.
515 (1. 6), for quia read qui.
544 (1. 6), for scirent read sciant.
549 (1. 2), after sanctissimi insert qui.
556 (1. 14), for veri read vere.
559 (1. 2), for porrectam read directam.
565 (1. 4, 5), for ac sic pereant read eoe sic pereunt.
576 (1. 2), for obveniunt read obviant.
576 (1. 7), for requirant read acquirant.
589 (1. 12), before in remove non.
592 (1. 3), for cum read dum.
608 (1. 5), for ut viderer read quod viderer.
609 (1. 2), for orta read acta.
610 (1. 7), for dein read etiam.
612 (1. 17), for vocem read oerem.
623 (1. 3), for recidissent read cecidissent.
623 (1. 4), for qui read quin; 1. 5, remove [adoptant]; for entirpantur read extirpentur.
624 (1. 11), for manus read manum.
645 (1. 5), for potati read palati.
651 (l. 14), for non read nec.
669 (1. 10), after erat insert an asterisk and insert below, as a note, dicebat enim quod nummum non potuisset recondere.
677 (1. 2), for noverit read novit.
683 (1. 4), after myriadibus remove comma.
692 (line next to last), for pro statu read vastatio.
698 (last line), for constituunt read constituerunt.
702 (1. 5), for sic read jam.
703 (1. 2), for admittantur read admitterentur.
708 (1. 6), for et read ex.
714 (1. 31, for nobilissima read mobilissima.
722 (1. 5), before mundo remove in.
729 (1. 3), for congerat read congeret.
730 (1. 8), remove [non]; 1. 9, after ac insert non..
732 (1. 5), for eorum read ejus.
742 (1. 8), for thoracica read thoracem.
749 (1. 2), for non read nec.
749 (1. 3), for guod read quare.
751 (1. 2), for ubi rend ibi.
754 (1. 2), for ii read iis.
755 (1. 1), for persentirem read persentiscerem.
764 (1. 2), for etiam read alia.
767 (1. 8), for alias read ideas.
781 (1. 4), for ut [ne] unus [quidem] ex, read absque unus ex.
784 (1. 2), for ibi read ubi.
798 (1. 4), for finium illorum read serierum illa.
803 (1. 3), for nocendi read mundi.
805 (1. 19), for cogitationis read cogitatione.
805 (1. 22), for sculptum read sculptile.
821 (1. 3), after continua insert jam.
826 (1. 5), for transportatos read horizontali.
831 (1. 14), for obvia read obviam.
831 (1. 16), for per read in.
845 (1. 5), for sicut read tum.
850 (1. 21, for urbium read urbis.
857 (1. 19), for voluit probably read noluit.
871 (1. 2). for ratiacinationum read ratiociniorum.
879 (1. 7), for infra read intro.
883 (1. 5), for quad read quoad; a comma after propria; for sancta read sancti.

     While some of these corrections do not seriously affect the sense, although they perfect the grammar, it will be seen that such changes as from nimbi to mirabile, from dein to demi, from crinibus to coracibus, from quovis to gravi, from pro statu to vastatio, and the insertion of words omitted and the rejection of words inserted by the Editor,-make such changes of meaning that, in many instances, the Latin and English editions now existing do not give the meaning at all.
     T. F. WRIGHT,
          Secretary MSS. Committee.
ANTIQUITY OF EVIL ANIMALS.-II.* 1898

ANTIQUITY OF EVIL ANIMALS.-II.*       GEO. E. HOLMAN       1898

* The first installment of this paper, published last month, set out to reconcile the teaching of the Writings, as to evil animals originating from evils of mankind, with the geological facts that seem to indicate the existence of evil animals before that of man. The theory of "homotaxis"-"similarity of arrangement"-advocated by Professor Huxley and others, assumes that the various geological strata were formed progressively, and not all over the earth at the same time, and this the writer uses in solving the problem.-EDITOR.

     THE following extract from Professor Huxley's address to the Geological Society of London, in 1862, will make the matter clearer:

     "The Lias of England and the Lias of Germany, the cretaceous rocks of Britain and the cretaceous rocks of Southern India, are termed by geologists 'contemporaneous formations;' but whenever any thoughtful geologist is asked whether he means to say that they were deposited synchronously, he says, 'No-only within the same great epoch.' And if, in pursuing the inquiry, he is asked what may be the approximate value in time of a 'great epoch'-whether it means one hundred years, or a thousand, or a million, or ten million years-his reply is, 'I cannot tell.'
     "And if the further question be put, whether physical geology is in possession of any method by which the actual synchrony (or the reverse) of any two distant deposits can be ascertained, no such method can be heard of, it being admitted by all the best authorities that neither similarity of mineral composition, nor of physical character, nor even direct continuity of stratum are absolute proofs of synchronism of even approximate sedimentary strata; while for distant deposits there seems to be no kind of physical evidence attainable of a nature competent to decide whether such deposits were formed simultaneously or whether they possess any given difference of antiquity. To return to an example already given, all competent authorities will probably assent to the proposition that physical geology does not enable us in any way to reply to this question, 'Were the British cretaceous rocks deposited at the same time as those of India, or are they a million of years younger or a million of years older?'"

     As far as physical geology is concerned, it requires but little consideration of the mode of formation of the aqueous rocks to enable us to entirely acquiesce in this theory, and, following the eminent physicist, we may say that if the cretaceous rocks of India are a million of years older than those of Britain, the latter may have been contemporary with tertiary rocks in India.

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We may go further and say that tertiary forms in one part of the world were contemporaneous with carboniferous in another part-tertiary man may have been living at the same time as the carboniferous scorpions
     The importance of Huxley's theory, however, to most scientists, laid in the fact that it allows time for those extended migrations which Darwinism demands. But, as applied to migrations, the theory breaks down.
     Let us put the clock back a million years or so, and in imagination regard a map of the world as it might then have been portrayed. Let us suppose with Professor Huxley that at the time our map was drawn there may have existed where America now stands, creatures of the Silurian type; that Europe was inhabited by animals characteristic of the Devonian formation, and that Africa was peopled by carboniferous species. What would be the effect of those extensive migrations alleged to have taken place? If we assume (as all evolutionists would under such circumstances assume) that America received its Devonian fauna from Europe, and that Europe received its carboniferous fauna from Africa-in other words, that a large and representative number of the inhabitants of Europe migrated in one certain direction, namely, to America, and the inhabitants of Africa migrated also in one certain direction, namely, to Europe, then the results would be in perfect consonance with the facts presented by geology. But is such an assumption warranted? Why should the migrations be always so as to place the higher organisms over the lower? Why should not the Silurian fauna of America migrate to Europe, and thereby impose a Silurian fauna upon a Devonian? Or even to Africa, imposing Silunan types upon carboniferous? The absence of evidence of any such reversal in the order of superposition has discredited Huxley's theory, and it is thought that, although there is nothing in physical geology antagonistic to the theory of non-contemporaneity of equivalent formation, the constancy in the order of the embedded organic remains renders such a hypothesis untenable.
     It will be seen that whichever way he looks at this question, the follower of Darwin finds a decided difficulty. Professor Heilprin, in summing up his discussion of this point, practically admits this difficulty when he says:

     "The migrations, for such must undoubtedly have been the means of the distant propagation of identical or very closely related life forms (unless we admit the seemingly untenable hypothesis that equivalent life forms may have been very largely developed from independent and very dissimilar lines of ancestry), must have been much more rapidly performed than has generally been admitted by naturalists."-Distribution of Animals.

     But, supposing that the whole theory of evolution or transmutation of the species is erroneous, and that the extensive and wholesale migrations which that theory demands are entirely imaginary-supposing that the fauna typical of any given formation was created where that formation occurs, and did not migrate hither from the other half of the globe. In that case, we are perfectly at liberty to accept Huxley's theory of "homotaxis," and our acceptance of that theory removes any difficulty as to the supposed occurrence of evil animals before men. We are quite justified in assuming that in the most ancient times the earth's surface presented as well-marked zoological areas as it does at the present day. For there is no doubt that if Africa and Australia were submerged, and their present animal inhabitants presented to us in a fossilized condition, geologists would assign the two faunas to two periods of the earth's history, separated by an enormous interval of time. Yet these two very different faunas are contemporaneous. The present day fauna and flora of the Australian continent presents a close similarity to the Jurassic fauna and flora of Europe, although the similar conditions are anything but contemporaneous. Professor Heilprin remarks that though the present terrestrial fauna of Africa and Australia might, under geological conditions, be allotted to different periods of time, an examination of the marine forms would show that the two deposits were contemporaneous. But Professor Heilprin himself draws attention to a striking instance of marine formations separated by a vast interval of time, which yet are almost identical in their faunal characteristics, viz.: the chalk of the Cretaceous system, and the deposit now forming at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
     If then, in opposition to the teaching that "Evil animals were not created by the LORD, but arose together with hell" (D. L. W. 336), it be urged that no traces of man have been found below the upper tertiary rocks, and that scorpions existed as low down in the geological scale as the carboniferous formations,-the reply is that there is no need to confound chronological with geological time, or rather sequence. The scorpions found in the carboniferous rocks of Scotland were contemporaneous with man and tertiary forms in another part of the world. No one can assert that evil animals existed before man until he has first found out on what portion of the globe man was originally created and then discovered evil forms immediately beneath him.
     The New Church position toward geology accepts Huxley's theory of homotaxis minus the evolutionist theory of migrations.
     It is not, of course, denied that migrations do and have taken place on a small scale; but we deny altogether the vastly extensive migrations necessitated by the teaching of Darwin.
     The admission of these restricted migrations, accompanied by the acceptance of the non-contemporaneity of similar geological formations, would lead us to expect that there would be exceptions over small areas in that order of superposition of organic remains which is generally so constant; and it is a fact that such exceptions do occur. These slight evidences of "homotaxial perversity" and the absence of such occurrences on any extended scale, only confirm our position.
     From the form of the earth and the inclination of its axis, we might infer that in the very remote past, when the globe was gradually cooling and preparing for the reception of living beings, there must have been some particular latitude (and perhaps some particular area in that latitude) in a more advanced state of preparation than the rest of the earth's surface. There the lowest living creatures (possibly of the Cambrian type) first appeared and were succeeded in that same area by gradually higher forms in their order up to man. But round this nucleus of life zones of successively later development would appear, so that by the time the central area had advanced to the carboniferous stage, it would be encircled by several distinct geographical areas-Devonian, Silurian, Cambrian, and an outermost uninhabited area of pre-Cambrian character. When, finally, man appeared, amidst a paradise of the highest organized forms in the central area, it is conceivable that in the furthermost portions of the globe Cambrian types might still exist.

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In all the then geographical regions development was going on, so that in the orderly course every district would ultimately have presented similar conditions to the central area; but after the Fall, when the spiritual world was peopled with evil affections, evil forms would occur in all parts of the material world, and subsequent geological action would entomb them in strata of different grades; and the further from the central nucleus of life such evil creatures appeared, the lower in the geological scale would the entombments occur. At first the degrees of development were graduated outward from a central area of highest forms; the principal features of the successive order, which we now sec in a vertical section of the earth's crust, existed in the beginning in simultaneous order. But though development would go on in all parts of the world, and tertiary forms would ultimately appear almost everywhere, yet the permeation of all areas and times by human influences would prevent those orderly conditions preparatory for man from ever again recurring.
     It must be admitted that this is a not unreasonable assumption, and it is an assumption which does not ask much greater diversity of the earth's surface than exists at the present day. Australia is an instance of a portion of the globe belated in its development; South America has reached a higher stage, but both have been outstripped in the race by Africa and Asia.
     The belief in graded geographical areas and in restricted migrations is confirmed by the recorded instances of "homotaxial perversity," such as cretaceous animals being found in a district inhabited by eocene plants. These instances are not as yet very numerous, but it must be borne in mind that the separate migrations of single species into adjacent arena may sometimes have been misinterpreted as an extension of its range in time.
     It will be objected that on the above hypothesis (of restricted migrations) we ought to find instances of human remains in secondary rocks. But the fact that no such evidence has hitherto been forthcoming is no proof that it never will be. It is, moreover, doubtful whether primeval man was possessed of those wandering propensities which characterize modern races; and, again, it is quite possible that physical barriers might have precluded such migrations.
     Other objections will occur to many (such as gaps in the geological record), but they are not, I think, serious, and space does not allow of their consideration here
     It is curious how the statement quoted from D. L. W. 336, when applied to a science of which Swedenborg must have known next to nothing, so strongly upholds his teaching of the separate creation of each species, and renders any theory of transmutation inadmissible, although at first sight it may not appear to have any very direct bearing on the subject.
     GEO. E. HOLMAN.
PSEUDO-CELESTIALISM IN SWEDEN 1898

PSEUDO-CELESTIALISM IN SWEDEN       C. T. O       1898

     THE NEW Church in Sweden, as is well known, has had its fair share of "troubles" in the past, but of late years more peaceful and prosperous conditions have seemed to prevail: four ordained ministers laboring successfully, each in his own sphere; new and improved editions of the Writings appearing, one after the other; the doctrinal light increasing in strength and purity, and the congregations growing in quality and numbers. But the peace and prospects of the Church in Swedenborg's fatherland have now received a severe shock by the promulgation, early this year, of a "new" doctrine, discovered by the Rev. Alfred Bjorck, the accredited missionary of the General Convention in America, and actively propagated by him, by mouth and pen, throughout the New Church in Sweden and Norway. Great excitement, confusion, and scandal have been caused hereby, and it seems but right that the many Swedish readers of the Life should be warned against the insidious heresy which lately has been published in the columns of the popular (and hitherto excellent) New Church journal, Nya Kyrkans Tidning, in its issues for April, May, June, and August of the present year. The editor of this journal, Rev. C. J. N. Manby, has, indeed, expressed himself as differing from the "new views" presented by Mr. Bjorck, but thus far the promised refutation has not appeared.
     Mr. Bjorck, in a public lecture in Stockholm, on March 14th, announced that he, by a deeper study of the Word and the Writings, had been led to revise his former opinions respecting the eternal damnation of the evil ones in hell, and that he now held it to be his duty to promulgate the doctrine that the hells are but states of vastation or `institutes for the reformation of all satans and devils, who will finally be prepared for the eternal blessedness of Heaven. This proposition, against which Rev. Joseph E. Boycaca at once entered a vigorous protest in his own journal, Den Nya Kyrkan, is further explained in many and long articles by Mr. Bjorck, who in this series of astounding and grievous perversions virtually bids farewell to every doctrine of the New Church.
     This may seem a harsh judgment, in view of Mr. Bjorck's very liberal admission that acceptance or rejection of his new doctrine need not interfere with the Newchurchmanship of any one, and in view of the five "particulars of faith on time part of man" (T. C. R. 3), which he declares "contain all that is necessary to believe in order to belong to the LORD'S New Church." But if this were the case, it would not be necessary for a New Churchman to believe in any of the distinctive doctrines of the New Church as revealed through Swedenborg, since these "five particulars" may be found in the very letter of die Word; nay, a "Newchurchman" need not believe in the existence of Heaven or of Hell, or in the Word of God itself, as these are not specially mentioned in the short summary quoted? Why, indeed, need he believe that "a saving faith is a faith in the LORD JESUS CHRIST" when he need not believe that without His Advent and Redemption "no one of mortals could have been saved?" If there is no such thing as damnation, there is no need of salvation!
     The idea of a "final restoration of all things," and a compulsory salvation of the devils, is "as old as the hills" (probably as old as the hells), and even in the New Church there have been many who have allowed the always unjust sentimentality of natural feelings to sit in judgment upon the eternal justice and mercy of God. It is peculiar that this heresy has always been found in company with appeals to the conceit of celestialism and to open intercourse with the spiritual world. As in the case of the late, exploded "Pseudo-celestialism" of Dr. Holcombe and G. W. Christie, so now with Mr. Bjorck. "As one of the consequences of the second advent of the LORD, the men of the New Church will gradually develop a state so similar to the innocence of infancy that they will again [like the men of the Most Ancient Church], come into conscious intercourse with spirits and angels." These " celestial " people will then "seek direct connection with those whose evil states they can understand, both while they still live in the world and after they have left the material, in order to instruct and help them" (N. K. T. June, p. 97).

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For this purpose there are now in operation in the spiritual world certain "new laws and changes, of which Swedenborg and the angels of the highest heavens had no idea," and these "are found described in the celestial sense of the Word, and will stand forth more and more clearly to such men as live according to what they understand of the spiritual sense" (Ibid, August, p. 127).
     Poor Swedenborg! In the beginning of his career as "revelator" (sic I) he had, according to the latest corrector, certain glimmerings of the actual truth on the subject of Hell, as may appear from certain passages from the first volume of Arcana Coelestia and the earlier portions of the Spiritual Diary. These passages, indeed, do not treat of redemption out of Hell, but out of the "lower earth," as may appear from the context, and as Mr. Bjorck states he once believed, but they are now dragged forth out of their connection to show bow Swedenborg retrogressed in his career as "revelator," since he afterwards, throughout the Writings, "clearly and unmistakably" announced as the general Doctrine of the Church that the evil ones would remain in Hell to all eternity
     Nevertheless, it would appear that there is in the Writings some sort of an internal sense which Swedenborg himself was not aware of, according to which these clear and unmistakable doctrines will be seen teaching something totally opposite from what Swedenborg understood. In order to gain this new and superior light we need only place ourselves in an affirmative attitude-not toward the Writings but toward Mr. Bjorck. "As soon as one admits in one's thought the possibility of such a promise, [i. e., of the compulsory salvation of the devils], and as one then reads the Word and the Writings, not to find arguments against it, but with an open mind, to see if one may not find confirmations for it, then it is my conviction and personal experience that one will observe more and more expressions in favor of such a thought, and that which before seemed to speak decidedly against it, will appear in a different light" (Ibid, May, p. 81). That is, before one should endeavor to find the LORD'S own teachings in His Word, one should read with it Mr. Bjorck's teachings, and thus become convinced!
     His "personal belief is that that law which was revealed to Swedenborg [according to which the infernals remained in Hell forever], now, in consequence of the F continuous operations of the Second Advent of the LORD, is no longer as active as it had been in the spiritual world, but that, in consequence of changes there, another law has begun to reveal itself, a law which, through the general influx from the spiritual world is becoming more and more strongly effective upon the thoughts of men" (Ibid. p. 80).
     And how does Mr. Bjorck know of the existence of such a new law? Why, it is revealed in its effects, in the fact that "this thought, especially during the last fifty years, has found its greatest adherence and made its influence more and more noticeable within nearly all churches." So in all other cases may we reason from effects to their causes! Mormonism, Christian polygamy, arose after the Second Advent had taken place. Ergo, there is now operating in the spiritual world a "new" law, establishing' polygamy in Heaven and superseding the law of marriage which the antiquated Swedenborg declares as the law of Heaven,- Q. E. D
     And thus the readers of Swedenborg, the members of the New Church, are found to be sadly "behind the procession;" for Mr. Bjorck declares, "that those who openly acknowledge themselves as belonging to the New Church have been less generally affected by this influx, is simply because they, on account of Swedenborg's express declarations to the contrary, in general have not been receptive of the new influx." Consequently, if the men of the New Church are to receive any influx from the New Heaven, they will first have to throw overboard their faith in the Writings of the New Church!
     What, then, is this wonderful "new law" which Mr. Bjorck has found operative in the spiritual world? Divested of all handsome phrases it is simply salvation by compulsion, salvation by external punishments, which, continuing for ages, finally reduce the evil proprium of the devils into a "quiescent state," after which their "internal man," their "heavenly proprium," or the "remains within them," are awakened into conscious life, and bring them into Heaven. This, we are told, "is the general law which governs life, not only here on earth and in the so-called states of vastation [the lower earth], but also in the hells; and according to this law the hells themselves are nothing but states of vastation, out of which those who are in them are not yet willing to be liberated, but where, nevertheless, they are gradually being prepared for the possibility some time to will it" (Ibid. p. 94).
     This is, indeed, a very different law from that which has been revealed in the Writings of the New Church, the law according to which man is saved neither by vastations or external punishments or sufferings of any kind whatever, but solely by the free shunning of evils in a life of temptations. Henceforth, however, this law of salvation will have to be laid on the shelf, together with the whole doctrine of human freedom and responsibility, which is rejected by Mr. Bjorck, not only in effect, but openly, in so many words. Combatting the general doctrine of the Church, as expressed in Conjugial Love, n. 524, Mr. Bjorck states that according to this passage "it becomes altogether evident that no evil spirit can will to become good, and that the freedom which he possesses to leave hell and come into heaven, if he wills to do so, is no freedom at all. The freedom to choose between good and evil is thereby limited to the earthly life, and this at once opens the door to the doubt in the absolute justice and love of the Creator." "The otherwise clear and satisfactory answer, that a man cannot freely do what is good without the possibility of doing what is evil, and that without freedom of choice he becomes an automaton instead of a free man, this will not suffice any longer, when the consequences of his free choice of evil here forever deprive him of the freedom to choose what is good" (ibid. p. 93-Italics ours).
     Here, then, Mr. Bjorck renounces even that simplest summary of faith which is contained in T. C. R. 3, where man is instructed not to do evils, and to do goods "as from himself"
     The folly and hypocrisy of the whole heresy, is finally unmasked in the closing paragraphs of Mr. Bjorck's last article in the August number of Nya Kyrkans Tidning, where he states that, when one has to do with people who are more or less indifferent to their salvation, and who do not show a decided effort to turn from the evil, then one should speak of the nature of evil and of Hell as the inevitable consequence of sin, and this without saying anything about the eternity or duration of Hell, except what is plainly manifest from the literal sense of the Word. But a great number of people are not thus indifferent, but are prevented from taking any interest in the Church, because they hold, feel, and perceive that that doctrine, which announces that those who here, during this short earthly life have abused their free will and have chosen the evil, have thereby to all eternity lost the possibility to will what is good-that such a doctrine controverts the doctrine of God as love and justice itself."

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     One doctrine, therefore, for publicans and sinners; another doctrine for the just! C. T. O.
Notes and Reviews 1898

Notes and Reviews       Editor       1898

THE New Church Messenger' makes mild protest against the Rev. J. F. Buss's rating of the New Church Conference as "the greatest body of the New Church in the world" (Morning Light, July 16th, p. 283). The Messenger points out that the statistical tables of the Minutes of Conference of 1897 show a membership of only 6,053, as against the Convention's 6,496.



     SECTION 100 of the Swedenborg Concordance completes the fifth volume, which includes the letters O to Sq., the last entry being the word "Squinting." One volume more is required to complete the entire work, which, at the present rate of issuance, should take about three years to accomplish. Both the Church and the Rev. J. F. Potts, the compiler, are to be congratulated on what has been accomplished, and on the approach of the end.



     OF the late Mr. John Bragg the Manuat of the Society at Wretham Road, Birmingham, thus speaks: "Above all, having" put his hand to the plow, he never left his appointed duty. He might be coaxed, he might be tempted, he might be persuaded, but all the same, as the appointed hour returned he was at his post. Others might oppose him, others might leave him, others might neglect their obligations, but with unshaken fidelity he never excused his own neglect of any duty because some one else had neglected his." -



     THE Eighty-eighth Report of the Swedenborg Society, of London (54 pp.), presents among its contents the interesting address of the President, Mr. J. Howard Spalding, on the" Value of Swedenborg's Philosophical Works," and the discussion on the motion to proceed with the publication of those works. The excellent abstract of the foregoing which appeared in Morning Light, has been republished in substance in the August Life, together with other features of the transactions likely to prove interesting to American readers.



     PR0MPTED by the recent letters of Dr. Calleja, of Mexico, to the English Conference and to the Swedenborg Society, and to the New Church Messenger, Mr. J. Stuart Bogg communicates to that journal the fact that in 1864 his elder brother, Edward B. Bogg, Assistant Surgeon, H. M. S. "Devastation," while stationed on the Pacific Ocean and visiting Mexican ports, translated into Spanish the The Faith of the New Church. Copies of this were printed at Mazatlan and distributed in Mexico. Dr. Bogg afterward translated also the Doctrine of Life, but the manuscript was declined by the then Committee of the Swedenborg Society, and has since been lost trace of.



     THE report of the Committee of the General Convention, on New Church Education, this year, while disclaiming any jurisdiction in the settlement of the controversy for and against New Church schools, made a strong presentation of the arguments of the affirmative side. In behalf of instruction by Newchurchmen the report says: "Though it be true that scientific men, totally ignorant of the laws of the spiritual world, may discover the facts upon which a true science is based, they cannot without a knowledge of spiritual laws combine fact and principle in such a manner as to produce a true science."
     There is here, obviously, a double bearing upon New Church education and upon the evolvement of a science which should enter into that education. The report, which appears in the New Church Messenger of July 13th, should be read by parents' and educators of the Church.



     IN the Messenger for August 3d appears a letter from the Rev. George S. Wheeler, expressing such discriminating appreciation of the New Church school at Waltham as we are glad to hear of any New Church institution. Each of Mr. Wheeler's two sons were taken from the Bridgewater High School (reputed the first in the country) and placed at Waltham, with some confessed misgivings that the latter Was "a little slow." Each boy had had a weak place, a backward study, at the former school, owing to high pressure methods, but at Waltham, the confusion of mind-in regard to "numbers" and "Latin"-was removed, leaving complete comprehension of the branches named.
     More important than this is the testimony to the deepening of the character of the boys themselves, in what Mr. Wheeler calls the thoroughly home-sphere of New Church influence at the school. Especially gratifying is it to know that there exists a New Church boarding school of which the following can be said. The elder boy, speaking to his mother, said "Mamma, that is the best school I ever heard of for little children, there is such care taken of them that they are kept from learning anything bad, and if anything should ever happen to you I wish the boys could be brought up there."
     To deserve such spontaneous tributes should be matter of emulation among New Church schools.



     THE part which environment plays in the determination of human conduct has been illustrated by a German writer on economics by the contrast of the tables of first and second-class passengers on an ocean steamer. At the one all is order, decorum, and consideration toward each other; at the other, scramble, to get the best and to escape the worst-which is often pretty bad. In the one case is plenty and security, in the other scant supply and "every one for himself.' "Reverse the conditions with the same people," says the writer, "and you would find the conduct reversed." The New Christianity draws a parallel in the Ship of State, and bases a plea for social reform on the necessity for "more equal and just conditions-conditions that favor the development of sympathy, self-restraint, good-will, and mutual helpfulness."
     A brief way to put it-though it might not satisfy The New Christianity-would be: "Let every one in his own business put in practice the Golden Rule and we shall have an ideal environment." If the "other fellow," however, will not do this, we come to the adoption of rewards and punishments, administered by functionaries very much as at present; but here again we fear that so simple a proposition would hardly content our socialistically-inclined contemporary.



     NUMBER 5 of the Annals of the New Church (September) is an especially interesting one. The period covered is from 1786 to 1791, this being indicated on the cover-a new and convenient feature. The illustrations include portraits of the Rev. John Clowes, Charles XIII (before his accession a member of the Swedenborgian "Exegetic-Philanthropic Society "), Rev. John Proud, Hon. John Young (of America), and a cut of the first New Church temple in the world (Birmingham, England). Among the notable events recorded in this number are the formation of the Exegetic-Philanthropic Society, for the purpose of publishing the Writings (1786); the publication and free distribution of a Summary View of the Heavenly Doctrines, the first New Church work published in America; the organization of the "Society for Promoting the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem Church" in London (Separatist, 1787); the first known meeting for worship according to the doctrines of the New Church (London, 1787); the publication of a remarkable work, Jesus Christ the true God and the only object of Supreme Adoption, by James Hodson, M. D., whose attention being called to the similarity of his work and the teachings of the New Church led to his receiving the Doctrines; the first public worship of the LORD in His Second Coming, in London (January 27th, 1788); the publication in the year 1789, in part, of the first edition of the True Christian Religion to be published in America, to which Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, and other distinguished men were subscribers; the first General Conference of the New Church in England (1789), at which "a sphere of great harmony, peace, and gladness" prevailed; the survey and planning of the site of Pittsburgh, Pa., by Mr. James Vickroy, of Johnstown, Pa., a Newchurchman, whose name, it may be added, is borne by a granddaughter, now a member of the "General Church ;" the reception of the Doctrines by "Old Parson Schlatter," organizer of the German Reformed Churches in Pennsylvania; the exhuming of Swedenborg's body, in London, to convince the "Swedish Philosopher" (Thomas Thorild?) who insisted that Swedenborg had not died, or that his body had been taken up into Heaven; and the dedication, in Birmingham, of the first New Church house of worship (1791).
     It is hoped that another edition will be cleansed of the few typographical errors which somewhat mar this otherwise admirably printed work.

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REPORTS AND LETTERS 1898

REPORTS AND LETTERS       Various       1898

     Huntingdon Valley, Pa.-THE Local School of the Society here opened the fall session on September 16th with simple exercises. The Pastor, Rev. Homer Synnestvedt, addressed the school on a subject taken from the work on The Divine Love (in Apocalypse Explained), section xii: "No idle person is tolerated [in the spiritual world], no idle vagabond; nor idle glorier from the studies and works of others; but every one must be energetic, busy, industrious, and diligent in his duty or business...."
     The Pastor said that those who are lazy infest others; it is necessary to have something that we must do, if we will not busy ourselves cheerfully. Industry is the law in the other world. Those who are lazy there are separated from other societies, and wander about until they come to societies of those who, like themselves, seek no good but their own, and abhor work. But even then they are finally obliged to work for food and clothing. There are none in that world who can be idle from inherited wealth, as happens to some here. And even here no one can have anything without giving something for it, for they cannot be really happy without some use.
     If pupils find themselves coming into a discontented and unhappy state they will often find that it is because they are not loving their work, but wish to shirk it and be idle. The only cure is to force themselves to be industrious in what they are given to do, sad then those idle spirits will be driven away, and they will enjoy their work, and learn things useful and desirable to know.
     Addressing the parents and friends of the school, the Pastor said that the work would go on as heretofore. There was greater need for system in the work. In the past some fundamental things had been neglected, things which were important as necessary tools. This had been a reaction against over-cramming and cultivation of mere memory. But it is needful to provide these fundamental things also, as it is necessary to have trained servants. But we are not going to neglect the important things which have been the glory of our schools. We have more to do than others, because we not only take up the branches that are taught elsewhere, but, in addition, recognize things which are ignored by others; so that we must take a longer time to complete our courses. We will try to supply the rudiments as fully as we are able; but this will require more home study than before.
     The Pastor said that the practice of visiting the parents will continue as last year. There will be no dancing class, but there will be some instruction in dancing and some drill. It is important to learn to act together, as in choirs. The power of combined action is seen in the way in which a few policemen or soldiers can overcome a much larger body of men who are not organized, but are just a crowd.
     He spoke also of the need for systematic instruction in singing, but said that this could not be provided this year.
     The Principia Club held its second meeting on September 26th. The reading of the Introductory Remarks in the Animal Kingdom, was continued, taking up the consideration of the Doctrine of Forms, as enounced by Swedenborg. This subject is difficult, for although it is easy to grasp the angular and circular forms, the spiral, and still more the vortical form, which is the universal of all,-are very far removed from the range of ordinary concrete ideas. Bishop Pendleton said that Swedenborg means more by the spiral than is ordinarily understood by that term. We can understand that the circular form measures the angular, but the proposition that the spiral measures the circular, is hard to understand; it is unknown to modern science. It was his experience that be had to give up trying to understand it scientifically; but when he tried to see it in some rational light he had found more satisfaction. For instance, the vortical form is that of the more interior human fluids. By the spiral is meant motion; the mechanical spiral will not give us an adequate idea of what Swedenborg meant.
To understand it mathematically probably would require a student more profoundly versed in mathematics than now lives. The vortical form means action and reaction, illustrated by the first active and the first finite. It is seen also in the heart; also in the sun. Its highest type is in the LORD Himself. We must remember that Swedenborg was thinking of living things. Nature as mechanical is dead; it must be thought of from living forces.
     ON the 28th the visit of the Rev. Phillip B. Cabell to Bishop Pendleton, and to the settlement, was the occasion of a pleasant informal reception at the latter's house.
     ON the evening of the 30th the first general social of the season was held at the Club House, devoted largely to dancing.
     ANNOUNCEMENT has been given of the administration of the Holy Supper on Sunday, October 9th, at the usual hour of service-11 A. M.

     Glenview.-THE school of the Immanuel Church at Glenview opened September 19th, with twenty pupils. There were twenty-one pupils on the roll last year but one was graduated in June, and he now is attending the college at Huntingdon Valley. Pastor Rev. N. D. Pendleton is assisted in the school work by the Rev. David H. Klein and Miss Jessie Carpenter. Mr. George Blackman will continue to instruct in singing.
     On September 2d a meeting of the members of the Society was held to discuss matters pertaining to the school and plans for continuing the work. Much appreciation was expressed for the satisfactory way in which the school had been conducted during the past year. It was with real regret that the society heard that Miss Augusta Pendleton would be unable to resume in our school this year the work she has been performing so well.
     PUBLIC worship has been held through the summer in Glenview. The city church was reopened the first Sunday in September. Mr. Pendleton and Mr. Klein will preach on alternate Sundays at both places.
     The annual meeting of the Immanuel Church was held September 16th. The meeting was to hear the reports of the officers of the church and to discuss church matters.
     The secretary's report showed the average attendance at church for the year to be 49 at Glenview and 31 in Chicago. There had been one marriage in the church in the past twelve months. Two infants had been born into the society and one member had passed into the other world.
     The treasurer's report called attention to an ominous deficit which has been steadily growing, and recounted the retrenchments that have been made in the hope of meeting the reduced income of the society. It was encouraging to note that none of the uses undertaken have been abandoned during the hard times, from which the society, together with the whole country, has been suffering. It was hoped that returning prosperity would place the finances of the Church in better shape.
     The social life of the society during the summer has been extremely quiet, a reaction, no doubt, from the stirring days of the Assembly and the preparation for that event. It has not, however, been without results of a most important nature. No less than six engaged couples show by their undisguised happiness that to them, at least, the summer has been a memorable one, but by contrast the forlorn members in undisturbed single blessedness look lonelier than ever. At the present writing it appears as if these twelve were going to monopolize the social life of the society, for the dinners given lately have been given to these six couples, and these only. But a wedding is announced for October, which it is hoped will break the spell.     A. E. N.

     GREAT BRITAIN.

     Colchester.-THE annual meeting of the Colchester Society took place on. August 3lst, It being the anniversary of the Rev. W. H. Acton's advent to the society. The pastor presided, and at the outset gave a brief resume of the work accomplished during the past twelve months. He referred to the provisional bond which was made between him and the society twelve months ago, which bond had been faithfully kept and strengthened. He congratulated the people upon the sustained efforts which had been made, pointing out that it was a fitting occasion for gratitude to the LORD, and earnestly advising them to face the future with renewed endeavor, each trying to do his part in the establishment of the Church. The various officers of the society were then called upon for their reports, which were found to be most encouraging. Mr. W. Gill, the treasurer, announced a substantial balance in hand. Mr. J. Pryke, the school secretary and treasurer, said that the amount originally promised towards school uses had not only been subscribed but augmented; there were eleven scholars at present in the school, and others waiting admission when it reopened. Mr. A. Godfrey, the society's secretary, recalled the fact that it was just sixty years ago that the first New Church Society was established in Colchester. His report, which was a most gratifying one, stated that the average attendance at the Sunday services was 52; singing practices, 26; doctrinal classes, week evening, 17. The Holy Supper had been administered three times, and socials, picnics, and excursions had taken place. Notable amongst these was the 19th of June celebration, when 53 persons journeyed to the seaside. Mr. F. D. Balls, book-room steward also followed with a good account of his stewardship, and said that during the past year he had collected over ?26 for music, books, and general literature. During the proceedings, which took a social as well as a business form, the following toasts were proposed: The Church, responded to by the Rev. R. J. Tilson, of London, who was on a short visit to Colchester. The Society in Colchester, responded to by Mr. Gill. The School, responded to by Mr. J. Pryke. Social Life of the Church and its Development, responded to by Mr. J. Bedwell. At the conclusion of the toast list the pastor rose and thanked the various officers for the work they had so willingly performed and with such marked success, and he had special pleasure in naming Mr. Cooper, who had charge of the music, Miss J. Bateman, organist, and Mr. W. Appleton, the custodian of the furniture.

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The meeting, which was well attended, will be long remembered for the sphere of mutual Charity and Love which prevailed; and the members of the Church here are united in the desire and effort to build up the Church amongst them, looking forward to further development and progress in the future.     J P.

     Ohio.-ON my way to Ohio I stopped at Erie, Pa., and vicinity three days, and met Mr. Emil Cronlund, student in the Academy Theological School. He was cheerful and happy in his work with the people there, who evidently appreciated his services, and made it a pleasant summer for him. My tenth semi-annual tour in Ohio has been well begun, as I came into the State on August 27th. Eight places have so far been visited in Ohio, and two in West Virginia. At St. Clairsville, O., I learned, from a record made in an old family Bible, that the Rev. John H. Williams organized a little society there on February 21st, 1847. There are now half a dozen persons in that vicinity who have some knowledge of the New Church Doctrines. In nearly all places where small societies, once organized, have ceased to exist, there are some remains, though in most cases very few.
     J. E. BOWERS.
FROM THE PERIODICALS 1898

FROM THE PERIODICALS       Editor       1898

     Martha's Vineyard.-REV. A. F. FROST spent his fourth summer season of evangelization on the Island of Martha's Vineyard, this year, as provided for by the will of the late Dr. Lucas, of Edgartown. Mr. Frost says, in the Messenger, The existence of the New Jerusalem Church, and its public services, and books for distribution free to all, were widely made known. The rain, fog, and heat made work difficult, and at times impossible. . . . The number of summer visitors on the island was much below the average, yet the missionary felt abundantly rewarded and encouraged for all his efforts. He had many personal interviews with people of all classes, both those living on the island and those there for a season. Not a man or woman he met but what had some question to ask, some error to remove, some difficulty in regard to the Bible, the other life, or matter of doctrine, which they sought help for, and in nearly every case the teachings of the New Church found a - favorable response, and afforded the relief desired."

     Michigan.-FRIENDS of the Rev. E. J. E. Schreck will be interested in the account furnished the Messenger (September 21st) of that gentleman's work in Almont and vicinity during the summer.
     THE Michigan Association has called a meeting for October 1st and 2d, the special reason for anticipating by a month the date chosen for last year's meeting being the necessity of consultation as to the financial situation between the members of the Association at large and those of the Detroit Society, the only active organization in the general body. Circulars of invitation have been sent out to alt members and to New Church friends generally, accompanied by a statement from the treasurer, showing a deficit.

     Wisconsin.-ON August 7th, Garth, the fifteen-year-old son of Rev. S. C. Eby, while bathing at Bayfield, Wisconsin, was taken with cramps and drowned.
     Ohio.-THE Commencement of Urbana University took place on June 16th. The annual address was delivered by the Rev. J. K. Smyth, on "The Christian ideal." The orator drew a comparison between the ancient classic and the Christian conception of the perfect man viewed as the type and measure of the universe. Aristotle's conception of the microcosm could not be defined and realized until in Jesus Christ the ideal Man was revealed from on high. At the close of the address the pastor of one of the largest churches in Urbana rose and proposed a vote of thanks and the request that Mr. Smyth give his address to the city paper for publication, characterizing it as the best college address he had ever heard. The whole audience arose in affirmative response. The same pastor next day invited Mr. Smyth to fill his pulpit on Sunday evening.
GREAT BRITAIN 1898

GREAT BRITAIN       Editor       1898

     Keighley.-AT the formal welcoming of the Rev. A. Stone as pastor at Keighley, a refreshing incident was a part of the remarks of the Rev. Canon Cremer,- who was one of the party on the platform on the occasion. He said to the society that though he thought they were wrong in their separating themselves from the Mother Church he felt bound to respond to their invitation. He had tried to get some good from Swedenborg's Writings. He had studied philosophy and theology to his little best all his life and he had made an honest struggle to understand Emanuel Swedenborg, but had failed.

He felt that though some people read their Bible and got a different idea upon it from what he did, yet be could love and respect them, and work with them, but he most feel that their mental apparatus was differently constituted!

     ANOTHER meeting held in connection with Conference, was that of the New Church Temperance Society. The Rev. W. Heald, who presided, stated that looking at the drink question all around, it is dawning slowly but surely upon the minds of many that the truest temperance, so far as intoxicants are concerned, is total abstinence. Strong drink was described as "poison with a fish-hook barb" Once in the system it must do harm. Rev. H. S. Cole was for total abstinence. "Temperance was neither here nor there. It meant a thimbleful to some and a bucketful to others, and anything with such a wide margin was unreasonable.' Rev. J. S. Palmer speaking of those whom drink keeps from attending worship, challenged any man to say that it was not better for him to have total abstinence in one hand and religion in the other than to have religion in one hand and drink in the other. By another speaker authorities were said to have shown that while barley was a food malt liquor contained nothing that is beneficial.
     In fact, New Church total abstainers seem apt to show just about as much lack of rational statement and as much venturesomeness of assertion as do old Church adherents of the cause.
NOTES 1898

NOTES       Editor       1898


NEW CHURCH LIFE.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH.

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     Address all communications for publication to the Editor, the Rev. George G. Starkey, Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery Co., Pa.
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     PHILADELPHIA, OCTOBER, 1898=129.
     CONTENTS.               PAGE
EDITORIAL: Notes               145
THE SERMON: Judgment          146
     New church Science     149     
     Teachers' Institute-V,     151               
     Disease, of the Fibres (XI continued)     152
THE GENERAL CHURCH: Treasurer's Report,     153
COMMUNICATED: Corrections in the Latin Edition
          of the "Diary,"     153
     The Antiquity of Evil Animals-II     154
     Pseudo-Celestialiem in Sweden          156
NOTES AND REVIEWS                    158
CHURCH NEWS: Reports and Letters, 159; From the Periodicals, 160.
BIRTHS; BAPTISMS; MARRIAGES,          160


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Editorial.


     SUBSCRIBERS to New Church Life when changing their address, should notify Mr. C. Hj. Asplundh, Manager of the Academy Book Room, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.



     FROM various bodies of the New Church come reports of papers and addresses on subjects more or less connected with the revival of interest in the movement for a new and distinctively New Church science and philosophy of science. This is encouraging, and if it were to result in nothing more, for the immediate future, than to show that scientific and philosophical subjects are not so far removed from the interests of ordinary, every-day people as some have supposed, and thus operate to remove the prevalent attitude of distaste or awe for those subjects, the movement will have been worth while; it will certainly prepare the way for some more permanent revival of the kind.



     IN the proposed regeneration of philosophy and science, interest having been awakened, it behooves us to start right-with well-defined ideas of their most general aims and ends and hence of the fields which they cover. We ought to consider in general, What is it that we wish to know, How much is it possible to know, and Why we wish to know it. We can then proceed effectively to the consideration of the means of knowing, and so to the acquisition of knowledge.



     IN this first generalization, by the very nature of our undertaking, we can have hope of aid or light not from the systems to be superseded thereby, but only from the Doctrines of the Church whence comes our light. These teach us that to the questions propounded above there can be no satisfactory answers without certain preliminary knowledges, which they themselves alone can furnish-namely, as to the two worlds, the natural and the spiritual, with their attributes, relations, and radical distinctions, involving the doctrines of Correspondence, Degrees, and Influx, and of the LORD as Love and Wisdom, the Life and Soul of all. Little reflection is needed to show that such knowledges could not come to man but by revelation; that they include and unite in one universal end, natural and spiritual science, absolutely removing the ancient conflict between the two. But if that conflict is to be removed it can only be by a clear definition of the respective nature and scope of these two fields of human thought and affection, and by a faithful observance of the relation and of the distinctions between the two. The light of the world must be seen to be different from the light of heaven, and must be subordinated thereto; else there can be no genuine enlightenment of the natural mind, which sees in the light of the world. Affirmation of revealed laws must dominate all else, or else science will come to dominate revealed law; and affirmation must be applied.



     "IT is in every one's power to see that the principles assumed, even the most false, govern the man, and that all his science and reasoning favor his principles; for innumerable assenting considerations flow in, and thus he is confirmed in things false; wherefore he to whom it is a principle to believe nothing before he sees and understands, can never believe, inasmuch as spiritual and celestial things he neither sees with the eye nor conceives with the imagination. But the true order is that man he wise from the LORD-that is, from His Word-in which case all things follow in succession, and he is also enlightened in things rational and scientific; for man is never forbid to learn the sciences, inasmuch as they are useful to life, and delightful; nor is he, who is in faith, forbidden to speak as the learned in the world, but from this principle, to believe the Word of the LORD, and to and celestial truths by natural truths, to the learned world, as far as lies in his power; wherefore his principle must be from the LORD, not from himself; the former is life, the latter death (A. C. 129).



     To him who has not learned to discriminate between the earth of his natural mind and the heaven of his spiritual mind (or its rudiment called remains) the foregoing is a hard saying-paradoxical indeed, on account of the prohibition in the first part of the passage and the concession of its latter part; for he cannot conceive of any third course beside the alternative of making the reason the arbiter and criterion of truth, or, wholly surrendering it to what is miscalled "faith." But when he is instructed as to the two worlds, and as to the internal and external minds, he may recognize-if he does not close his mind-that the truths of faith and obedience to Divine commands, and practice of a good life, are not to be subjected to the uncertain light of natural reason, but are altogether to be accepted and lived; yet that he is permitted and enjoined to confirm these things by his understanding to the fullest extent.



     ". . . WISDOM is from no other source than from Divine truths analytically divided into forms by means of the light flowing in from the LORD. Human intelligence which is truly intelligence, is also from no other source"
(T. C. R. 350). "Intelligence is to be procured by the Word . . . and not by scientifics from man's own intellectual" (A. C. 6125). "He who reads the Word with the end to . . . do what is good and to understand what is true, is instructed" (A. C. 3436). The Word, here, means the OPENED Word. The man in whom the eye of faith hath been opened to that extent that he sees the truth of the teaching as to the foregoing knowledges, more and more comes to see their paramount importance in the ordering and illuminating of all possible acquisitions of natural scientifics and all operations of natural reason; he is prepared to be "instructed" and to become "intelligent" not from merely natural lumen but from true rational light.

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But he who assumes as true the principles of a science based on merely natural lumen and human authority, and thence passes judgment upon Swedenborg's principles, answers for himself the questions, What do I wish to know, and, How much is it possible to know, and, Why do I wish to know it, in a manner tragic from its infatuation, lack of humility, and aversion from the tender warmth and invitation of the Divine sun-light.



     THE following extract from a letter written by a Newchurchman of distinctly scientific bent and qualifications, merits quotation because it recognizes so clearly what should be the attitude of New Church scientific progressiveness, as to the source of enlightenment, even in science:

     I have only just received the August number of the Life but when I get the October number I shall read Bishop Pendleton's remarks with interest. I hope that he and all ministers will (while, of course, never leaving their own high sphere of use) keep a jealous eye on the New Science. While specialism is so necessary, it is apt to engender short-sightedness. In studying the myriad facts brought forward by scientists in support of their own theories, it is difficult to resist the almost mesmeric influence of so many giant intellects opposed to one's own views, and a very firm footing in the truths of Revelation, and a constant reference to those truths is needed to prevent giving way. I have felt this very much; and if an individual mind feels it, I societies of minds will feel it. I was therefore glad to see so many clergymen associated in the Scientific Association.



     WITH the men of the ideal Golden Age scientific and rational sight made one with the sight of faith and love. To them everything around them served not only natural uses, but also told them each its story-reflected some phase-of the spiritual world. In nature everywhere they saw Heaven, and the LORD Who is the life of Heaven. All the details of natural uses of their external lives corresponded to spiritual uses being performed in the angel-like lives they were leading internally; and since Heaven thus flowed in with them without obstruction from any perverted loves in their natural, they came spontaneous y into all the knowledge or science needful for natural life.
     Nowadays, however, men's internals and externals are separated, and because of the non-correspondence light does not flow down into the external as of old, at least not until the external has been brought into some degree of correspondence -first, as to the understanding, and then as to the will. Heavenly loves have grown cold, so that nature reflects to us not heaven, but our earthly desires and appetites. But a way of escape from mere naturalism has been mercifully provided. Though our natural mind has become opaque1 to truth descending from within, yet by science (the science of cognitions drawn from the Word) truth may be acquired from without-that is, scientifically; and once acquired may be understood, obeyed, and finally loved, restoring a certain degree of correspondence and of consequent enlightenment called conscience: and, if man suffers the LORD to lead him so far, he may even become as the Most Ancients, and enjoy perception. (See the sermon in this number).



     THE part which science and philosophy play in man's reformation and liberation from falsity, then, is to form natural intelligence, the indispensable receptacle of spiritual truth, which is to be received later. A subsidiary but harmonious use is the providing of all natural necessities of life. It follows that science and philosophy were born for the sake of forming the spiritual mind, which mind things scientific and rational support, clothe, and serve; and also for developing and perfecting natural uses. Science and philosophy are not in themselves wisdom, but means to wisdom; as natural truth is not wisdom -except as it is illuminated by spiritual truth-but is so much mental fog, which becomes falsity if applied to confirm self-intelligence and self-love. So much for pride of learning and of reasoning, with their abstractions and metaphysics, when the source of intellectual light - spiritual truth - is excluded. We cannot hope to reach the threshold of Wisdom's palace except by aid of the gentle guide appointed by the LORD-Humility.



     THIS, however, is an age of science, and it is no part of humility to despise the means which the LORD has ordained, in accommodation to the state of mankind - to undervalue or look down on the scientific phase of man's gradual elevation or spiritual restoration.
     "If the foundations are destroyed what shall the just do?" It should not be forgot, too, that within science and philosophy, however coldly intellectual may seem to be their light, there is the end of use, which betokens a celestial origin; for the essence of the celestial is -Use; and therefore it ever tends to the fullest and lowest ultimation. Wherefore the present movement is to be regarded as one more step in the LORD'S preparation for the final unfolding of the quality of the New Church as it is destined to be-a Church eminent in use as being the expression of the Divine Will-a Church which is celestial at core.
SPHERES 1898

SPHERES       Editor       1898

THE doctrines of the New Church teach man to look above appearance to reality, above matter to spirit, above temporal to eternal things. The accomplishment of this high end in any full measure requires among other things a grasp of one doctrine which is as yet understood only in a very general way, but which is capable of an indefinite expansion and application-that is, the doctrine of Spheres.
     Spheres are not detected by the sense-except material exhalations, such as odor, which is indeed a crude sphere; but though they are unseen they contain the real life of things; for it is in its proceeding sphere that the life of anything in its activity goes forth and affects all things of its use and affects those of its environment. Even the lowest mineral has its quality, derived from its designed use in creation, and that quality is impressed upon the substances which are ever exhaling from it and imparting of its being to creation in its own way and degree, In this is an image of the Divine Life of the LORD, Whose Infinite Sphere is the Divine Proceeding, which creates and animates all things that are, and provides all things of their preservation or subsistence. Since an image of the Divine is impressed upon everything of creation, every recipient of life -of being -has its own substance, form, and quality, and its resulting sphere. So that everywhere that we see life or activity we see the operation of spheres. These therefore initiate us into the reality of things. Without them created things would be lifeless, motionless forms-nay, they would not even remain forms, but would disintegrate and pass away for lack of a medium whereby they might perform their use; and we know that a thing without a use would have no existence because no origin, and impulse of existence, no raison d'etre.
     So that whether we study man or study nature we are contemplating simply the operation of spheres. From the glorious orb of the heavens, whose life-giving sphere embraces every activity and being in its universe, down to the tiniest grain of sand whose sphere amid its myriad fellow-grains is lost from observation-all objects which we know or know of, are, in themselves, so many inert, lifeless non-entities, if separated from the sphere of activity which flows through them and by them from the spiritual world of causes-yea, from the great First Cause, the Sun of Heaven Himself -flows down to the foundations of creation, the plane of matter, of material forms and of natural uses.

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The life of them all is the life of spheres, all derived from the Divine Sphere.
     How sweet is the rose, how radiant of beauty, how full of individuality. Yet let it but fall into the miry gutter and vanished is its charm, its beauty, all that to us makes it a rose. Yet what is it that has gone? Its material shape is there, but its sphere is cut off, its beauty, its odor gone, choked by the mire. We gaze on the corpse of him who this morning was our friend, but though the form is there the sphere of his life so familiar to us, comes no longer thence: there is no channel of communication between him and us. The clay that was his body has a corporeal sphere of its own, which, however, will soon vanish since its use is gone. There is also a sphere of life still going forth from our friend, but not in this world where we have known him. It is merged in countless other spheres in the spiritual world, a unit in the grand general sphere which prevails there. But the friend we have known, in the sense in which we employ the term ordinarily, is no more. His sphere no more is perceptible as a part of this life we are living. He is living a more real life and giving out a more full real sphere. These illustrations are cited merely to suggest confirmation of the idea that the subtle and intangible is the more real thing.
     How vain then to expect to steer our course through this worldly existence with any degree of knowledge and self-government and direction, if we do not reckon with spheres as a potent factor of our lives. If we would know ourselves and the mysteries of our being, our mission on earth and the relations, duties, and opportunities that belong to our life below, we must study the nature of spheres and apply the knowledge thus gained to our actions and relations with our fellow-beings; we must shun those spheres which are of evil and cultivate those which are good.
     There are two most general or universal spheres, one of life from heaven, and one of perverted life from hell; and these include innumerable lesser spheres, some more universal and some more particular, some on the various spiritual planes and some on the natural. We cannot possibly escape the responsibility of choice in regard to the spheres which we would cultivate and those which we would shun. Those two universal spheres not only press in directly from the spiritual world, by influx, but they also approach us from without, by afflux, by human intermediation. Between the two spheres man is providentially preserved in equilibrium, able to turn himself to receive and co-operate with the one or the other. Hence is his free-will. But it is in the exercise of his will that he makes his free choice, and indeed by what he does. And, if he would choose aright, one of the things which he must do is to weigh and consider the spheres to which he subjects himself; and from the judgment thus formed he is to surround himself-so far as possible-with only those spheres which make for spiritual freedom, and avoid those which he knows from doctrine are able to overcome his resistance and take away his spiritual equilibrium.
     Spheres, however, we are abundantly taught; are capable of putting on appearances foreign to their true character. Hence our judgment as to those with which we come in contact, especially the more general ones, must be based in great part on the spiritual teachings and principles revealed in the Writings, as to the states of men and the operations of spheres. The application of these teachings, in the light of our own minds, is the means whereby our rationality and conscience are to be formed. Our attitude to the world is involved, in regard to its social, its scientific, and its religious life; for the aggregate sphere is a force which must be reckoned with, which will not be ignored. We need to approach the task in an humble attitude, recognizing our tendencies to prejudice, our preconceived ideas, and the powerful persuasiveness of our concupiscences which give rise to fallacies. Should the contest with these result in victory for the truth and for conscience, we may be sure of coming within the safe stream of Providence, the very sphere of life itself, and our discipline and submission will be followed inevitably by the attainment of fruitful and peaceful life at last.
REFORMATION OF THE SPIRITUAL MAN 1898

REFORMATION OF THE SPIRITUAL MAN       Rev. EDWARD C. BOSTOCK       1898

Make to thee an ark of gopher wood, mansions, thou shalt make the ark, and thou shalt bitumen it within and without with bitumen. And thus shalt thou make it; three hundred cubits the length of the ark; fifty cubits its breadth; and thirty cubits its height. A window thou shalt make to the ark, and to a cubit thou shalt finish it above, and thou shalt put a door to the ark in its side:
lowests, seconds, and thirds thou shalt make it." -Gen. vi, 14-16.

     The story of the flood represents the end of the first or Most Ancient Church, and the beginning of a New Church, called the Ancient Church.
     The posterity of the Most Ancient Church ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and from generation to generation entered deeper and deeper into the evils of the love of self, until their last posterity, called Nephilim, thought themselves gods. When they reached this state they immersed the truths of faith in lusts and cupidities to such an extent that they destroyed all remains of good and truth in themselves. Then, because there was nothing in them by which the LORD could protect them, they were destroyed by an inundation of lusts, represented by the waters of the flood.
     But during all the time of the decline of the Most Ancient Church, the LORD preserved a remnant, from which to begin the restoration of the Church. From age to age this remnant became more and more external, and at the same time, fewer and fewer, until at the end of the Church they were very few, and the remains with them were only states of integrity. This remnant is represented by Noach, and his quality is described by the Ark. The establishment of a New Church beginning with the remnant of the former Church, and spreading from them to many people, is represented by the salvation of Noah, with Schem, Ham, and Japheth, in the Ark.
     Since the consummation of the Most Ancient Church several Churches have been established and come to an end, but in none of these events have' such great changes taken place in the spiritual and physical constitution of man as took place at the end of the Most Ancient Church. The whole order of man's spiritual life was changed and with it the character of his physical life.

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The man of the Most Ancient Church was celestial; he was instructed by internal revelation, and was gifted with a perception of good and truth according to the quality of his will. In order that he might enjoy this perception and internal revelation, he was gifted with what is called internal respiration. This internal breathing acted as one with the respiration of heaven, and enabled the men of this Church to have open and full intercourse with the angels of heaven.
     But when man immersed the truths of his perception in cupidities, then this state could no longer continue, and therefore the LORD provided a great change in the very constitution of man, in order that the Church might not perish from off the earth, and with it the human race.
     Because the will of man was destroyed the LORD miraculously separated the will and the understanding, and at the same time provided that man might be instructed, by an external way, viz.: through books and teaching, as is done at this day. By this means he gave to man a new will in his understanding, and instead of perception, conscience, similar to conscience as it exists at this day.
     At the same time that man's spiritual nature was so, changed, internal respiration ceased and external respiration, such as exists at this day, took its place and with it came articulate speech.
     The man of this New Church is called spiritual, and the Age, the Silver Age because he was regenerated through the affection of truth.
     Since this time, the Ancient Church, the Israelitish Church, and the Christian Church have lived and come to their end, but in none of them have there been such an utter overturning of the whole order of the life of man as at the time of the flood. All the Churches since the flood have been taught by an external revelation or written Word, and the changes that have taken place at the end of one and the beginning of another have related to the life and understanding of this Word.
     But great as are the differences between the Most Ancient Church and all those which have succeeded it, yet the destruction and end of the Most Ancient Church is a type of the end and destruction of all the others; and the same process by which the Ancient Church was built up is the process by which the succeeding Churches have been established; and the same process must establish the New Church.
     The same evils which destroyed the Most Ancient Church have destroyed the First Christian Church: the same truths by which the Ancient Church was established must establish the New Church. We must also expect to pass through similar states.
     In a word, it is the same conflict from the beginning to the present day. Shall man trust the LORD and be guided by Him? Or shall he trust himself and his own intelligence? The same choice has been given to man from the most ancient times, and upon the answer depends the rise or fall of the Church.
     "Now, therefore, fear the LORD, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.
     "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the' gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Ammorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house we will serve the LORD" (Josh. xxiv, 14, 15).
     Unless we form a clear idea of the general principle involved in the consummation of one Church and the establishment of a New Church in its place, we cannot have a distinct understanding of the reason for the existence of the New Church, nor of its relation to the former Christian Church, in the midst of which it is now beginning. Yet it is of the greatest importance for us to see clearly why there is a New Church slowly growing up; and at the same time to know why we belong to it, and what relation our Church has to the Churches about us.
     This general principle is brought out clearly in the internal sense of the story of Noah and the flood.
     Make to thee an ark of gopher wood; mansions thou shalt make the ark, and thou shalt bitumen it with bitumen.
     The ark represents the man of this Church, and his quality is set forth in the description of the ark. The description of the ark, therefore, is the description of a man.
     The gopher wood of which the ark was made signifies the cupidities of the man of this Church. By mansions are meant both voluntaries and intellectuals. By to "bitumen it" within and without, with bitumen, is signified that the man of this Church had to be protected from an inundation of lusts, and only his intellectual could be opened.
     These words bring out two very important points, viz.: First, the fact that the man of this Church, before regeneration, was like the men of the Most Ancient Church who perished, only distinguished from them by the fact that he had remains by which he could be regenerated. Second, the fact is brought, out that the cupidities which possessed him in common with those who perished, had to be covered-as it were-by the LORD, lest he also be destroyed by an inundation of lusts, as were the Nephilim.
     It is very important for us to see that the character of the men called Noach and represented by the ark, was very similar to that of the Most Ancients who perished, for it is similar at this day. The remnant, among whom the New Church is beginning at this day, are of a similar quality as the men of the former Church, who refuse to receive the doctrines of the New Church. That state is described in these words:
     And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, because all flesh corrupted its way upon the earth.
     Concerning this we have the following: "The internal sense here is, that every man whatever who was in the land, where was the Church, had corrupted his way, so that he could not understand truth, because every man was made corporeal; not only those concerning whom (it treated] in the former verse, but also those who are called Noach, concerning whom it treats here and in the following verses in special. For, before they were regenerated, they were such. These things precede because it treats concerning their regeneration in what follows; and because little of the Church remained, it is now said God, not JEHOVAH. In this verse it is signified that there was nothing of truth; in what now follows that there was nothing of good, only in remains which were with those who are called Noach, -for without remains regeneration is not given; then, in the doctrinals which they knew. But there was not an understanding of truth, which is never given except where there is a will of good; where there is no will there is no understanding, and such as is the will such is the understanding. With the Most Ancients there was a will of good, because love to the LORD, and thence the understanding of truth but here the understanding had altogether perished, with the will.

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A certain rational truth and natural good remained with those who are called Noach, wherefore also they could be regenerated" (A. C. 628).
     Since the men among whom this New Church was to begin were of such a nature, it was not to be expected that the Church would grow rapidly and easily, but on the contrary that there would be a slow growth accompanied with many temptations and much fluctuations. This was the actual state of the case, as we shall see. It is very similar at the present day.
     The gopher wood out of which the ark was made is said by Swedenborg to be similar to the fir-tree, which he says is full of sulphur, and signifies concupiscences, because like them it easily takes fire. For this reason the gopher wood signifies the cupidities which constituted the depraved will and at the same time the depraved intellectual of the man of this Church. That both voluntary and intellectual were of this character is signified by "mansions." These cupidities or lusts had to be covered over, and kept down by the LORD, lest they be excited by evil spirits, and man be overwhelmed as with a flood. This Divine protection is represented by "and thou shalt bitumen it within and without with bitumen."
     This is usually translated "pitch it within and without with pitch." Swedenborg translates it as above, but at the same time says that in the original it does not say bitumen, but that a word is used which denotes protection, derived from to expiate or propitiate - "expiation or propitiation of the LORD is protection from an inundation of evil" (A. C. 645). The Hebrew word is [ ] (cophdr), which means a village, pitch, and a ransom, and is derived from [ ] (caphar) to cover, to hide, to purge, and to expiate. It is not the ordinary word for bitumen, though evidently that is the nearest Swedenborg could come to translating it.
     And thus shalt thou make it; three hundred cubits the length of the ark, fifty cubits its breadth; and thirty cubits its height.
     In the verse just explained it treated of the cupidities of the man of this Church, and of his preservation from them. Now his remains and their quality are treated of, by the dimensions of the ark.
     By the length is signified their sanctity; by the breadth, remains of truth; and by the bight, remains of good. By the numbers are signified the quality of the remains, viz.: that they are few. It is said in the Writings that these numbers signify that the remains with them were few, because "five," which signifies few, prevails in the numbers.
     At first sight this does not thereby appear, but if we divide the numbers into their factors, we find that 300 = 5 X 12 X 5; 50 = 5 X 5 X 2 or 5 X 10; and 30 = 2 X 3 X 5. So that they all may be regarded as multiples of 5. The remains with the men of this Church were few, and there were comparatively few men who constituted the Church called Noach. That there were few was represented to Swedenborg by the appearance of a tall, thin man clothed in white. But with these few, and based upon their few remains, began the Church which afterwards spread through many nations.
     A window thou shalt make to the ark, and to a cubit thou shalt finish it above, and thou shalt put a door to the ark in its side; lowests, seconds, and thirds thou shalt make it.
     By the window is signified the intellectual of this man; by the door hearing or obedience; and by firsts, seconds, and thirds are signified scientifics, rationals, and intellectuals.     
     In this verse is described the, spiritual character of the man of the Ancient Church, viz., that his spiritual life was in the understanding or in intellectuals. As has been said, his voluntary was destroyed and from this he had to be guarded by the LORD. But he could be reformed as to the understanding, and in this a new will could be formed by the LORD. When man is thus reformed by the LORD only such spirits are allowed to approach as excite intellectual things, and he is altogether guarded from those who excite cupidities; if he were not he would perish. He then enters into temptations as to truth, in which evil spirits endeavor to persuade him that falses are true and that truths are false. By victories in such temptations man is reformed and introduced into the affection of truth, which forms a new will in the understanding. That by a window is signified the understanding, or the intellectual, is evident from its use, which is to let in light,-which corresponds to truth. It is said to be "perfected above," because when man is reformed he receives truth from above -i. e., from the LORD.
     By the door in the side is signified "hearing," because the door in the side is related to the window above, as the hearing to the sight. Man's understanding is perfected both by sight and by hearing; but those things which enter by the hearing enter with an affection of obedience.
     It is said, lowests, seconds, and thirds thou shalt make it, because the mind of man, and therefore both his will and understanding, are of three degrees. In describing the things of the understanding of this man, then, it is necessary to represent three degrees of truth. These are scientific, rational, and intellectual truth.
     Scientific truth is truth in the memory. Whatever we learn and store up in the memory, as a thing known, is a scientific, and if it is true it is a scientific truth. This forms the lowest mansion of the ark.
     Above the natural mind,-where the memory resides,-is an intermediate degree called the rational. Truth enters this degree when it is called forth from the memory, where it rests as a scientific, and is then reflected upon and apprehended rationally. Intellectual truth is still above this, and is pure spiritual truth, as it exists in the spiritual degree of the mind. Thus the intellectual of the man of this Church is lowests, seconds, and thirds, which together make a one.
     Thus in the description of the ark, which forms our text, we have a description of the man of the Ancient Church.
     In the first verse is described his cupidities and his preservation from them by the LORD.
     In the second, the quality of the remains with him which render him capable of salvation, and -
     In the third verse, his intellectuals, scientific, rational, and intellectual, which constitute him a spiritual man. With this in the mind consult the words of the text:
     Make to thee an ark of gopher wood, mansions, thou shalt make the ark, and thou shalt bitumen it within and without with bitumen. And thus shalt thou make it; three hundred cubits the length of the ark; fifty cubits its breadth; and thirty cubits its height. A window thou shalt make to the ark, and to a cubit thou shalt finish it above, and thou shalt put a door to the ark in its side:
lowest, seconds, and thirds thou shalt make it.
HOW TO ENJOY PEACE OF MIND 1898

HOW TO ENJOY PEACE OF MIND       H. S       1898

He prepareth a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Ps. xxiii.
     THE fruition of peace with man is impossible except as a result of war. The very sensation of the delight of peace palls and fades away into indifference and aversion, without the presence and contrast of combat.

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Who can appreciate peace that has never known war? Who can rest that has not labored? It is the weary who rest-the hungry and thirsty who long for food and drink; and in each case the delight is proportioned to the degree of the contrast. And so, in the intervals of the battle, it is "over against our enemies" that the LORD sets a table for us, whereon He may spread His bounty and His refreshing good. It is like the Sabbath state, a state of rest and recreation after the six days of labor.
     There are intervals, now and then, with every one, when the tide of battle is stayed for a while, when the in-pressing and down-treading of our master passions is mercifully removed, when the infernal crew are compelled by the angels to quit the field for a time to retire within their gates, and give to poor man a little respite from his struggles.
     How much more of this blessedness we could have if we would! But no, it is hard for us to let our task-masters go, or, rather, it is hard to go away from them, even for a short time. Perhaps if we realized more fully that our ambitions, our greeds, our anxieties were for the most part put upon us by real task-masters, who look upon us as their slaves, and take their delight in the mere cruelty of it, and in our very unhappiness, we should he more apt to throw off the yoke from time to time.
     The appearance that their lusts are our own is too strong for most of us, in this early, obscure state of the Church, to penetrate. There is a certain point, up to which our ambitions and desires to do, or to have, certain things, certain conditions, certain external results-are all legitimate; but the natural man it is who of himself is always rigid and thus irrational, who is apt to fix this point and say, "So much must be done, so much accomplished," without regard to conditions, when, nevertheless, these conditions are so many indications of Divine Providence-so many gentle, patient admonitions from the All-wise and All-loving Father. It is when we overstep our indicated limits -when we reach after what is beyond our actual necessities, or beyond what our opportunities grant us, that the mischief begins; and instead of retaining the control of our uses they obtain control over us, and carry us beyond where we should go. Our very sense of duty becomes blinded, and, instead of being the means of bringing us into order, becomes a spurious bond, to drive us to do what we ought not to do. It is so in the Church, in the State, in schools, in business affairs, in domestic affairs, and in the social life. A certain idea of what we ought to do' is laid down, born, perhaps, of our desires (we are very prone to see a duty in what we strongly desire), and being of such an origin, it is not, perhaps, to be wondered at that if at some time we happen to reach the' mark so set, we immediately set it further ahead, and keep on straining as before.
     The fact is that desires of this kind are lusts, and are incapable of being satisfied. Lust carries in its bosom discontent, which grows as room is given to it-ever more greedy, more insatiate. He who cannot be satisfied with little is lacking in the element or state of contentment, and will be even less satisfied with more. Contentment is a heaven-given gift which is entirely apart from degree or quantity, It is attained only by shunning the evil of discontent or avarice, and this can be done just as effectually in one state or degree of life as another.
     For the man who does this the LORD can set in order a table in the presence of his enemies. He is of equal mind. If fortune smiles upon him he is not unduly elated, for he knows that the success is not his own, if adversity frowns upon him he is not hopelessly cast down, for he knows that all will come out in the end for his eternal welfare. Such a one is well-balanced. Such should all of the Church be and will be, when the external or natural man with its ambitions and its oft-times spurious idea of "duty," is ruled by the internal or rational man, born of humility and a desire to be guided by the will of God, and who is therefore able to see and heed the indications thereof as in His wisdom He shows them to us. In man's necessities, we are taught, is' he shown the will of Providence. But as to his necessities he must form the most careful conclusions. They change so. What our duty is at any given time is really the subject of our best judgment at the time. It is never twice the same, and it cannot be decided except by weighing one thing with another.
     It is true, for instance, that our business duties require certain things of us, but it is equally true that our social and domestic duties, our duties as parents and married partners? must not be left for a moment out of the balance. Order is such that it cannot be fixed-it is determinable by relation, and it can be tested by this: In true order each thing contributes to every other thing. So if we find that one duty destroys another, something is out of order; we are assuming something to be a duty which is of human desire and human prudence only.
     But these are matters for individual consideration. The truth is constant, that duty is ever a variable term, and that by allowing the natural man to impose it, instead of the rational, we become subject to all the lusts of the natural man which are inspired by evil spirits. Thus we become subject to them, and all peace, together with all freedom, flees away. Our bondage is the more complete and hopeless when our very sense of duty is thus perverted and misapplied-when conscience itself is made spurious by the injection of false values and the distortion of true proportion, so that by its bonds the evil may the more surely hold us down to the enemy - our lusts and selfish desires - and all peace and contentment vanish.
     The bonds of duty must, indeed, exert a constant pressure, else man cannot be contained in order; but if the rational imposes the obligation it will be immensely strengthened, because it will press equally at all points, and as conditions change will be capable of complete and prompt adaptation. In this way effectiveness, as well as peace, will be greatly promoted.
     H. S.
SLOW GROWTH OF THE CHURCH 1898

SLOW GROWTH OF THE CHURCH       J. E. BOWERS       1898

THE question has often been asked: "Why is it that the New Church grows so slowly?" But those who read the Writings of the Church, and meditate upon what they read, do not lack for comprehensive answers to the question. And in view of what is revealed in the Writings concerning the spiritual state of the world, and especially concerning the so-called Christian world, in "the consummation of the age," it is indeed wonderful that a New Church, in the true sense of the word, can exist at all. Yet it is a grand fact that a New Church actually does exist; that the Holy City, New Jerusalem, is descending from God out of Heaven; that the LORD'S kingdom is being established on the earth; and that the Divine predictions and promises enunciated to the apostles are being fulfilled.

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     It is the grandest of all verities that the LORD has effected His Second Advent; that He has revealed anew His glory in the opening of His Word; that He has come in the spirit and power of the Divine Truth from the Divine Good; that He has manifested Himself as to His Divine Human in a new Revelation; and thus has come as THE WORD, in and by means of the Writings of His New Church. That the LORD JESUS CHRIST is God with us; that the Saviour of the world, glorified, transformed by the unition of the Human with the Divine, is the God of the universe, is the fundamental Divine doctrine, the "Rock's upon which the Church is built.
     This is essentially a new doctrine, the Divine doctrine of the internal sense of the Word; and this same had never been revealed before since the Word was first given in the sense of the letter, until it was revealed by the LORD Himself, through Emanuel Swedenborg, His servant, in the Writings of the New Church.
     This doctrine, as such, is not known and acknowledged by any body of Christians, nor by any body of people whatever; `on the face of the whole earth, except by those who learn it and receive it from the Writings, in and by means of which the LORD has effected His Second Coming. Trinitarians and Unitarians alike reject the fundamental doctrine of the Word -namely, the doctrine of the supreme divinity of our LORD. Consequently, they reject the LORD in His Second Coming, and as to His Divine Human. They worship the God who has been devised by the imaginations of men many centuries ago -a tri-personal God -instead of the LORD, in whom, according to Paul "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. ii, 9). Or they worship an invisible God, the Father, instead of the LORD JESUS CHRIST, who declares that "no man cometh unto the Father except through Me" (John xiv, 6); which means that no one can acknowledge the Divine of the LORD except be acknowledges the Human to be Divine, and this latter is the faith that JESUS CHRIST, in His Divine Human, is the one God, who alone is to be worshiped by the angels of heaven and by the men of the Church.
     A man is such as his education, and especially his religious education, makes him. The quality of a man s conscience is also the product of his religious education. Thus, if a man has from his childhood been taught the faith of the Old Church, that JESUS CHRIST is the second person in the Godhead, it is against his conscience to believe the doctrine of the New Church, namely, that JESUS CHRIST is Very God, in whom is the Divine Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If a man has from his childhood been taught that he is saved by faith alone -a doctrine which is agreeable to the natural man-he will have an aversion to the idea that it is necessary for him to keep the Divine Commandments in order to be saved. It is the same with regard to every point of doctrine.
     The falsity of the tri-personality of God, and that of salvation by faith alone, are deeply inrooted and fixed in the minds of the men of Christendom. And so it is easy to see the reason why the New Church grows so slowly. We are taught that truths cannot be received until, or excepting in so far as, falses are eradicated. The faith of the Old Church and the faith of the New Church cannot be together in the same mind. Falsity will fight against the truth and reject it, or truth will overcome and eradicate falsity. Hence, those who are in falses, when they receive the truth of the Word from affection for it, come into spiritual temptation-combats. In these states there is a severe conflict in the interiors of the mind, and the LORD fights for man against the hells, and enables him to conquer his spiritual foes, "the foes of his own household," his evils and falses, which would finally destroy him by casting him into eternal perdition.
     We, who profess to be of the New Church, we ourselves, who profess to believe in the LORD in His Second Coming, who ought to follow implicitly end faithfully the glorious doctrines given from heaven in the Divine Revelation, which "surpasses all the revelations that have hitherto been made since the creation of the world" (Inv. to the N. C., n. 44) -we are ourselves largely responsible for the slow growth of the Church! For, do we read the Writings daily, from an affection of learning the grand spiritual truths which the LORD in His mercy has communicated to us, to the end that our minds may be formed, and that we may come into states of heavenly good? Do we go to the Fountain of the water of life, that we may be spiritually refreshed and strengthened to do our duty as living members of the LORD'S New Church? Do we see to it that our children are educated according to the Doctrines and principles of our beloved Church, and thereby protected from the deadly falsities of the Old Church, and from the stupefying spheres of agnosticism which are now so largely in fused into the minds of men? Are we faithful stewards in the household of the blessed faith of the New Jerusalem? Have we been ever mindful to show our faith by our works? Do we "freely give" of the means at our disposal, in order that the use of evangelization, and other uses of the Church, may be carried forward, and that we may receive of heavenly gifts in greater measure?
     Brethren of the Church, these are practical questions, the earnest consideration of which is important for us at this time. And if we put ourselves into an attitude of applying to life the heavenly Doctrines there will not be lacking ways for us to respond to the questions in a practical manner; and if we do this the Church will grow faster and prosper better in ourselves individually, in our families, in the Societies, and iii the world at large. The Church will grow as, in the nature of things, it only can grow, according to Divine order -that is to say, from within. And if there is growth and increase from within, the externals of the Church as to organization and forms of worship, as to temples and the order of the priesthood and suitable robes or vestments worn by the priests when performing the functions of their sacred office, will gradually come into correspondence with the internals.
     There will then he no need of anxiety because the Church grows slowly; for it will be known that the seed of truth must have its states of growth in the mind of man, as the seed of a plant or tree must have its stages of growth after it is planted in the earth. "What advantage, besides, is it that man should know how the seed grows, provided he knows how to plough the earth, to harrow it, to sow the seed, and when he reaps the harvest to bless and praise God?" (Ath. Creed. n. 51).
     J. E. BOWERS.
TEACHERS' INSTITUTE 1898

TEACHERS' INSTITUTE       Editor       1898

SIXTH MEETING.

     AT the sixth meeting of the Teachers' Institute Mr. Price read from the Spiritual Diary, Nos. 767-773. "On Various Sciences-How they occupy the mind and qualify it." A short discussion of the numbers led to the mention of vivisection, which Mr. Price said is strongly condemned by Dr. J. G. J. Wilkinson, one of his points against it being that those who practice it do not find out what they are seeking, because the state of the victim is not a natural one, but one of agony from pain.

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     Although the general sentiment of the teachers was unfavorable to vivisection, -
     Mr. Pendleton pointed out that Swedenborg, in the Animal Kingdom, used the facts obtained by vivisection.
     Mr. Price considered that the practice was not therefore necessarily a good one.
     Mr. Starkey mentioned the theory that animals, like babies, being unconscious of their own existence, cannot be said to suffer pain in the ordinary sense; but Mr. Pendleton rejoined that babies, and also animals, do have consciousness and therefore do suffer, but it is not so acute as with adult man. The degree of suffering us according to the degree of self-consciousness.
     Miss Grant said that she had been much interested in Mr. Pendleton's remarks at the dedication of the new Academy school building, to the effect that the work of teachers in education is complementary to that of the parents, not paramount. This was thought by some to be new -different from the idea formerly held.
     Mr. Pendleton replied that it was new in this respect, that the school work has been looked upon too much only as the means of keeping children in the Church
     Mr. Odhner was glad to see this idea brought out; it would make the Church free from being subordinated to the school.
     Cases in point were adduced to show that children might be kept within the Church by the home influence, without training in New Church schools; particularly if the mothers were earnest receivers of the Doctrines.
     Mr. Pendleton remarked that it is difficult to keep children in the Church if the mother is not interested. The idea that school training is not dominant over that of the home relieves the school of heavy responsibility - a responsibility which it should not have had, because it does not belong to `it, and which had kept us on the defensive. The responsibility of the teacher has been seen, but not that of the parents. It is necessary to emphasize the importance of the school work, but it has been carried too far.
     Miss Jessie Moir spoke of the usefulness of interesting pupils, especially the younger ones, in the study of birds, their habits, their nests and eggs. It is useful not only for the knowledge in natural history afforded, but also to arouse a love for the birds and forestall the cruel habit of wantonly killing birds or robbing their nests.



     SEVENTH MEETING.

     At this meeting the name of Professor Vinet, teacher of chemistry in the Academy Schools, was presented for membership in the Institute, and accepted.

     The Training School.

     In the course of discussion of the proposed Training School, Professor Odhner thought that it should he more theological than scientific, for young men and women, in order to be teachers, should be given instruction in spiritual truths as they relate to life. This we can give, as schools in the world cannot.
     Mr. Synnestvedt said, on the other hand, that, in addition to theological science as the soul and spirit of our instruction, we need also the vessels of the Egyptians-not only their science, but also their practical knowledge of methods; it is a question of saving years of time.
     Mr. Price agreed to this. Mr. Odhner's idea might be carried out thoroughly and yet the men so instructed not be teachers at all. He thought it a fallacy that teachers are "born, not made." In a training school there is danger of teaching mere technicalities, instead `of giving a broader culture to those preparing to be teachers. It is because of the lack of general culture -a writer in a current magazine has stated -that the teaching profession in England is ostracized socially, and the same is true to a less degree in this country. The writer referred to, demands for teachers a liberal education before entrance into the normal school, in order that they may be able not only to teach, but also to take the social position which they ought to have, for it is the teacher who molds the thought of the succeeding generation.
     Miss Grant remarked that in normal schools the majority of teachers and students are not persons of high culture.
     Mr. Odhner said that it is so the world over, for second grade teachers do not receive the salary to enable them to take a social position.
     Mr. Price thought that this country will take the lead in that respect, because there is a movement here in that direction.
     Mr. Pendleton said that he had known a teacher in a Southern town who was a man of culture and refinement, and who by his influence had changed the whole social standing of the place. Those wishing to be teachers should lay the basis of their training in a liberal education, but after that they should be introduced into the particulars of their use, which is the purpose of a training school. Teachers should be in the particulam of what they teach, even though their instruction be general. The case is similar to that of priests, who must be in the particulars of doctrine in order to instruct the laity, who are in generals.
DISEASES OF THE FIBRES.* 1898

DISEASES OF THE FIBRES.*       Editor       1898

DISEASES OF THE FIBRES.*

     * From the Latin of Emanuel Swedenborg.

     CHAPTER XII.

     VERTIGO AND FAINTING.

     I.

     VERTIGO, SCOTOMIA, LIPOTHYMY.

     545.     VERTIGO takes its name from vertere [turning]. It is called simple vertigo or giddiness when objects are rotated and turned round before the eyes, but in a moment disappear. It is called vertigo tenebrosa when many colors are seen, and the sight becomes darkened; this is also called scotomia. For a similar reason, just as the sight and sense, so also the will and force of the muscles are debilitated, thence giving rise to a faintness called lipothymy. In these diseases not the eyes are obscured, but the common sensory, thus not the muscles, but the common motor enfeebled. The sensory and motory organs of the body are only the instrumental causes or instruments by means of which the brain sees and acts. Anesthesia is the loss of the faculty of perceiving the actions of objects upon the organs of the senses.
     546. While this vertiginous darkness invades the cerebrum the arterioles lose color, the fibres close themselves with the cortex, the cerebrum does not reciprocate the animations, and live, for the corporeal life of the cerebrum consists in its animatory motion, hence there is vertigo, but in simple vertigo it soon raises itself and draws back its spirits, while in vertigo tenebrosa or scotomia it remains quiescent for a longer time.

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It is similar with the muscles, which depend upon the will of the cerebrum; for such as is the state of the cortex such also is the state of the senses, of the will, and of the actions; for the fibre in them is the all, and in every fibre the cortex [gray matter] is present. There is also a kind of vertigo when the cortex disposes itself for the reception of the purer blood only, and keeps the red aloof from itself, which immediately discharges itself into the veins by the larger commissary vessels. In this state the cortex is pale, the pia mater inflamed the sinuses of the dura mater constipated with effete blood, and the more this is so the more supine the head is held or hangs, wherefore the situation demands a lateral and prone posture, otherwise the patient easily falls into a deadly fainting-fit.
     547. Every-cause of the diminution, exclusion, and defect of the spirits is a cause of vertigo. There are spirits which traverse the cortex and the fibre, and which execute a perennial circle from the fibres into the blood, from the blood into the fibre in the midst of the cortex. There are also emulous vessels of the fibres, as well as venous or upturning fibres, which carry the purest serum of the cortex. The causes of a defect of spirits come from the body and the brain; the causes in the body are almost all those which are causes of hypochondriacal disease -that is to say, grief, debility, yea, too great a fullness of the stomach and intestines, by which the mesenteric and thoracic ducts are compressed or closed; consequently it arises from ulcers, abcesses, coarse and irritating foods, and poisons; for the, stomach with its vessels and pores of circulation constringes itself to similar influences. Constriction, closure, and occlusion of the meatus of the lymphatics in the pancreas, spleen, and in the womb with women, effects the same; for the purest liquid of the lymphatic vessels, when instilled into the veins of the body, is immediately withdrawn toward the cerebrum, for it is the lightest, it serves as a vehicle for the better blood, it performs its own circle; there is a perpetual spring of similar lymph in the cerebrum; it trickles out between the arachnoid tunic and the pia mater, between the convolutions and cortical folds, between the plexuses and the medullary lamellm, wherefore it is proved chemically that the lymph of the cerebrum and the lymph of the thoracic duct are of the same nature; when the cerebrum is deprived of this lymph it immediately swoons, and the cortex is rendered incapable of acting. Such an atrophy and drying up of the cerebrum is the cause of vertigo, for a blood that is too dry cannot be approximated to the cortex. Vertigo and fainting, or lipothymy and swooning, also arise from too great a loss of blood from cutting a vein, hemorrhages of the nose, and wounds; also from too profuse sweating, as in bathing; from too much exercise of venery; equally also from a sudden occlusion of the minute pores of the cuticle, stoppage of the Sanctorian perspiration, from cold, etc. But the causes in the brain are almost as many as are the sicknesses of the animus, which suddenly constringe the cerebrum and cortex and perturb the mind; as grief, sadness, fear -in certain ones also, wrath -consequently all those things which produce those changes. Too great intentness of the mind, especially when sickness of the animus penetrates deeply into the sphere of operations of the mind, is equally a cause; thus, the cortex is closed, and the cerebrum compresses itself and the transit is intercepted; nor does it resuscitate itself, except after a long time on account of the great indigence of the body. The more prone the animus is to undergo changes, and the greater the sensibility of the mind, so that change deeply penetrates the mind itself, the greater the proclivity for vertigo and fainting, wherefore this obtains more frequently in the female than in the male; for men fall into a faint from causes in the body for the most part, but women -being more delicate and sensitive -from some causes in the body and in the animus, and from almost every sickness and grief; to these the cause of hysteria and other womb diseases is added. This disease is in certain ones as hereditary and in certain ones as adscititious, for the cerebrum, by a very frequent return to it, easily becomes accustomed, and finally, from a slight stimulating cause, falls and swoons.

     FAINTING, SYNCOPE, ASPHYXIA.

     548. Fainting is also called falling vertigo; vertigo tenebrosa for the most part precedes this. Syncope is a sudden fainting without motion and sensation, a very feeble pulse still remaining. Asphyxia is similar, but with privation of the pulse.
     549. Simple vertigo is the first degree of fainting, vertigo tenebrosa is the second, syncope is the third, asphyxia is the fourth, death is the last. The state of the cerebrum in those suffering from fainting is similar to the state of the vertiginous cerebrum; only that there is a greater or less defect of spirits; closure of the cortical substances or of the fibres for a longer or shorter period of time; the quantity and the quality are known from the effect. When the cerebellum is deprived of its spirits, then the beating of the heart and of the arteries also cease, as in asphyxia. And so it is superfluous to enumerate the causes, for they are the same as were mentioned above of vertigo.
     550. For the proximate cause of the heart's motion is the venous blood flowing into the right auricle of the heart. The more remote cause is the blood from the cerebrum descending through the jugular veins as from a living fountain, which excites the whole circle of the blood to a continuation. A still more remote cause is the spirit of the fibres, or the fibres which flow into the prtecordia; those fibres are solely of the cerebellum. Consequently if either the first, second, or third cause of the motion of the heart should cease to be active, then would the pulse cease to beat; but these things are treated of in Treatise I, on the Motion of the Adult Heart. Hence every cause of the palpitation of the heart may be also a cause of fainting.
     551. But the respiration of the lungs proximately arises from the incumbent and inflowing air in accordance with its gravity. The lung itself expels it from its vesicles by compressing itself by the combined force of the ribs and muscles; more remotely, respiration takes I p lace from the cerebrum, cerebellum, and spinal marrow, for the fibres of these three inflow into the costal, and other thoracic and abdominal muscles. Therefore it appears what are the causes of the cessation of the respiration and of the pulse in fainting.

     ATAXIA.

552. It is to be added, that in all these diseases of the head enumerated, there is an irregular flow of spirits or ataxia, that is to say, in fainting, vertigo, tarentism, mania, delirium, apoplexia, epilepsy, and in the others. There is ataxia not only in all diseases of the body, but also in the sicknesses of the animus, yea also in the desires of the mind, in a word, in every change of state of the cortical substances that especially depends upon an inequality of the respiration; but the ultimate effect alone is called disease. Thus it appears into how many diseases and into how many dangers the cerebrum alone, and its will and sensation, Or rather its inconstancies and changes, lead us. The universal cause of disease, yea of infelicities, as also of death, is that our will becomes adverse and contrary to the order of nature.

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Notes and Reviews 1898

Notes and Reviews       Editor       1898

IN the article on "Pseudo-Celestialism in Sweden," in the October issue of the Life, it was stated that Rev. C. J. N. Manby, the Editor of Nya Kyrkans Tidning, had promised a refutation of the recent teachings of Rev. Albert Bjorck, but that this refutation had not yet appeared. We are now pleased to state that Mr. Manby, in the September number of the Tidning, takes up his able pen in defence of the true Doctrine of the Church, showing, in an earnest, thorough, and dignified manner, the illegitimate character and dangerous tendencies of this heresy.


THE Rev. Chauncey Giles has said that flowers not only teach us that we shall be raised out of the ground or earthly affections of the material body, but they are also an ocular demonstration that the body itself will never be raised. "The seed is not raised into the stalk, the stalk into the leaf, the leaf into the blossom, the blossom into the fruit. The seed dies, gives its life to the stalk, and is never raised up . . . The blossom performs its use and dies. It is never raised up as a blossom." Even so likewise with our progressive states -the good and truth of to-day on the morrow cease to be the nourishment that will meet our needs. Every distinct step is a resurrection.



THE Rev. Louis G. Landenberger's recent tract, Why m I a New Churchman; or, Reasons for the Faith that is in me (Chicago, 1898, 81 pp.), is a very handy little "missionary," giving a general outline of the Heavenly Doctrines in an easy, conversational style, just as any New Churchman would speak when asked to give an off-hand account of the reasons for his faith. While lacking any special, methodical arrangement of subjects, Mr. Landenberger's Reasons may, on that very ground, appeal all the more to a large class of people who might be scared away by the sight of anything systematically didactic.
     Another little tract by the same writer is entitled The Reapers are the Angels; or, The Golden Grain of Life's Harvest (St. Louis, 1897, 12 pp.), tastefully bound in purple and gold. It treats of death, resurrection, and the conditions of angelhood.



     "THE fact that charity in the officer and the common soldier is defined in the doctrines of the New Church ought to convince us that the profession of arms is compatible with the highest virtue. Even our LORD Himself when the soldiers came to Him with the question, 'What shall we do?' did not counsel them to abandon the soldier's life, but only urged them to be better soldiers -'Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be content with your wages;' while the fact that He commanded them to 'Do violence to no man,' though still continuing the soldier's life, is evident that the outward violence against the lives of their fellow men which they are at times forced to commit, is not inconsistent with gentleness of heart." -Rev. S. S. Seward, in the New Church Messenger.
     The principle in the foregoing is not weakened by the fact that it is John the Baptist who thus instructed the soldiers.



     THE following reproduction of an utterance of Prince Bismarck on the subject of religion, taken by Morning Light from a German newspaper, is of interest:
     "If I were not a Christian," said the Prince at Ferrierres in 1871, "I would not serve the state another hour. Why should I worry and kill myself with this incessant toil, anxiety, and drudgery if it were not that I have the feeling that in God's name I must do my duty? I don't know where I should get my sense of duty if it were not from God. Orders and titles have no attractions for me; it is the definite belief in a life after death that makes me a loyalist, who am by nature a Republican. Take away this faith from me and you take away my fatherland. If I were not a thorough going Christian believer you would have never seen me Chancellor. How willingly I would clear; out of it all! My real pleasure is in a country life -in the woods and the open air. Were it not for my relation to God I would pack up to-morrow, and be off to grow oats at Varzin."



     "SAFELY Landed," or "Thoughts on Bereavement and the Other Life," is a booklet which describes in versified form the efforts made by a married p air to find comfort in regard to their loved ones lost from earth -some definite knowledge of their churches and by spiritism, comes the revelation of the New Church concerning the other life and the internal of Word. At least the Newchurchman recognizes the source of the new light pictured in the account, although to the uninitiated there is nothing to indicate whence is the illumination which seems to bring such complete relief to the inquirers. He might easily suppose it to be self-evolved, or a special revelation. This entire omission of reference to the Writings or the Church may be unintentional, but it gives an effect of such utter vagueness is to in large measure destroy what we suppose was intended to be the use of the book-the information of searchers after truth. This, however, is partly atoned for by the excellent spirit and rather affecting language in which at least part of the story" is clothed. The appearance of the book is worthy of the publisher, Mr. James Speirs, of London.



     "MANY parents are so tender with their children as to guard them from every known possibility of suffering. Having forbidden them to get their feet wet, they are ever on the alert to see that they do not. They give them a taste of candy and then put the box out of their reach. Thinking they do not eat enough wholesome food, they compel them to eat this or that. Fearing the influence of bad company they punish them for going with certain other children. One mother would not permit her first born child to turn a somersault lest he break his neck. She had heard of a child who broke his neck in that way. One day the little fellow, yielding at the moment to the impulse of his nature, and before he could think of mamma's warning, did turn a somersault, then got up and shook his head, exclaiming, with triumph and surprise, "I didn't break my neck!" In all such cases the child tastes a new sweetness in disobedience, because it proves to be not so dreadful in its results as he had been taught. He persists in getting his feet wet, in eating candy, in going with forbidden company, and in turning somersaults, and, not experiencing the exaggerated consequences that were predicted, he comes to regard his parents as either ignorant, or unreasonable, or probably as both." -The New Christianity.



     THE department of the New Church Messenger called "The Rome Circle" generally contains stories, which however morel and entertaining present no features of a distinctively New Church character. In the number for July 13th, however, the story of Rev. B. E. Hale, entitled "Doing His Best," has a bearing which though in a general way evident to any one, can speak to the Newchurchman alone with the full depth of meaning involved in it. In Revolutionary times, a lame boy, Luke Varnum, is left behind by the men going to fight in the battle of Bennington. An hour or so later he has an opportunity to set a shoe for the horse of Colonel Warner, who is assisted thereby to lead his regiment up just in time to save the day at Bennington, a battle which had a powerful effect upon the battle of Saratoga, so important to the American cause. The charm of the story is lost by this brief paraphrase of Mr. Hale's felicitous anecdote, but its lesson none the less may come home to any one who learns from Swedenborg that every least particular of our lives has consequences that never cease to eternity, and that therefore before the bar of our own conscience and sense of duty we are held accountable for every least act and moment of our lives. Not that what is called "utility" should press forever on our consciousness, but that we are never entitled, to so lose sight for a moment, of right and orderly and useful things as to spend our moments in a way to make us blush for neglected health, decorousness, honorableness -that is, for deeds which make us less truly worthy of the title of manhood. And the further lesson is, how little we can determine the real value of what to us seem the little things of life.



     THE United Presbyterians of Philadelphia may not be a wholly consistent body, but it is blessed with a sensible Moderator, the Rev. J. H. Webster. At its recent meeting of October 11th, reported in the Philadelphia Public Ledger, the Presbytery declined to adopt either of three "overtures" on tobacco, which would, if passed, make use of the weed (1) a sin, and "inconsistent with the Christian profession;" (2) a bar to ordination; and (3) a bar to licensure -the licentiate being required to promise abstinence from tobacco. Although the advocates of these measures were unable to find a majority of their brethren who desired thus to tyrannize over the judgment, conscience, and private habits of their fellow-Presbyterians, a sop to the defeated side was found in the passing of a resolution or overture characterizing the use of tobacco as "highly objectionable and inconsistent with the Christian profession," exhorting all, especially the young, to set their faces against it, and heartily approving of the rule of the Presbyterian Board of Education which refuses aid to students of theology who are users.

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Of the rejected overtures Moderator Webster said that they had been "handed down by the Assembly in order to kill the movement forever; he was utterly opposed to all such class legislation. If the Church went into this kind of legislation he for one would not want to be a United Presbyterian." Of the overture which passed he said that it "would stultify the Church in the eyes of the world. The question is, Ought tobacco to be put in the Church law?" A sensible query.



     EDITORIALLY, Mornings Light (Sept. 10th) says: "New Church students of current philosophy in general, and of the system of Immanuel Kant in particular (e. g., the Rev. Theodore F. Wright, Ph. D.), should read a new work by Mr. Shadworth H. Hodgson, entitled The Metaphysic of Experience, especially its fourth part, which is thus described by its publishers in the current issue of their "Notes on Books":
     "Finally, in Book IV, occupying the latter half of Vol. IV, and entitled 'The Real Universe,' are set forth (I) the grounds which our previous analyses supply for a speculative conviction of the reality of an unseen world beyond the material or seen world, and (2) the reasons which we derive, according to Kant's profound conception (which forms no necessary part of his a priori system), from our own practical and moral natures for faith in the Divine governance of the universe, thus laying, in the analyses of that practical and moral nature, combined with the speculative conviction of an unseen reality, the foundations of a theology."
     Is this a commendation of the book? According to the Doctrines there is Ito great choice between a system of philosophy which makes human reason the supreme test and guide, and a system of theology evolved from man's own "practical and moral nature" -to use plain terms, from his self-intelligence. "Without revelation from the Divine man cannot know anything about eternal life, nor about God, and still less about love and faith in Him" (A. C. 10,318; H. D. 249). Why will Newchurchmen be so often anxious to force self-intelligence into apparent conformity with New Church truth? When a gentleman announces it as a cardinal principle that the existence of God must be established by the self-sufficient power of human faculties, and by them alone, it seems hardly like considerateness, or even common politeness, to insist upon his saying, or making him appear to say, that his reason for accepting God is the authority of God's spoken Word.
DUST 1898

DUST       F. W. Richardson       1898

"IT Is a peculiar feature of our age that the apparently least things of Nature are proved to be among the most important. The mightiness of the infinitely little is revealed in our knowledge of the germinal origin of disease, and of the incalculably immense and indispensable work which germs of many species perform for the benefit of man in the realms of agriculture and sanitation. But even germs are subsidiary to the vaster subject of dust, and the part it plays in human weal or woe. - Who would have thought thirty years ago that it is to dust that we owe the habitability of our globe? Were there no dust in the air, water could condense only on mountain slopes, whence vast torrents would sweep down to the sea, and except near these the earth would be barren and uninhabitable to a great extent. Who, in beholding the glorious coloring of the clouds at sunrise and sunset, would have dreamed that all the beauty is attributable to the much despised artist-dust? Light itself is invisible; it is only revealed to us as its wave impinges on material objects or particles. After the great earthquake of Kvakatow vast clouds of dust surged three times around our globe, and became the source of magnificent sunsets, etc. Nahum declares that clouds are "the dust of the LORD'S feet" (i, 3). Swedenborg says dust here "denotes the natural and corporeal things which are with man whence come clouds" (A. C. 2162); a remarkable case of prevision as it is only of late that the dust origin of clouds has been established by scientific research.
     Dust has a two-fold natural character, and a corresponding good and evil spiritual significance. In its orderly form it typifies the orderly things of man's lower or more earthly mind. The LORD comprehends this dust in a balance (isa. xl, 12) because He knows its nature and extent, and ever strives to lift man to Himself by its lowly instrumentality. The Sun of Righteousness shining upon this dust fills it with spiritual light, raising the least things of life to dignity and beauty. In considering the evil aspect of dust, we notice first its evil physical characteristics of absolute incoherence and restlessness. Are we not only too familiar with thoughts, words and deeds of a corresponding character? A life which is not lived from truly religious principles is sure to cleave to the dust of trivialities.
     But dust is also an active agent in spreading diseases, notably the Russian influenza. And do not purposeless lives lend themselves readily to imbibing and spreading spiritual disease and death? It is not surprising that to the inhabitants of hell a great source of misery is "damned dust" (D. L. W. 341). Every particle of this dust is the outcome of the lives of those infernals when on earth. Well may we say with the Psalmist, 'My soul cleaveth to the dust: quicken me according to Thy Word' (cxix, 26)." -F. W. Richardson, in Morning Light.
ROTCH EDITION OF THE "ARCANA." -VOLUME TEN 1898

ROTCH EDITION OF THE "ARCANA." -VOLUME TEN       Editor       1898

THE tenth volume of the Rotch edition of the Arcana Coelestia has just been received, bringing the work up to No. 5865, thus completing just about the half of the entire work. This edition, when completed, wilt make a magnificent appearance on the bookshelf, but will hardly be within the reach of any but wealthy members of the Church, and will scarcely be as convenient to the student as the old, more compact editions. The translation, in general, is superior to anything produced heretofore, but is seriously marred by certain efforts to popularize distinctively New Church terms. A glaring instance of this tendency is the treatment of the words "scientificum" and" scientifica" throughout this edition. Instead of retaining the terms "scientific" and "scientifics," which are perfectly familiar to New Church readers (and few others will ever read the Arcana), the translator has resorted to all sorts of expedients and circumlocutions, such as "matters of fact," "knowledges of fact," "outward knowledges," and, most generally, "knowledges." Thus, in the present volume we find scientifica naturalis rendered "outward knowledges belonging to the natural" (No. 5212); scientifica et cognitiones, "outer and inner knowledges" (5326); bonum scientificorum est jucundum ex veris scientificis," the good of such knowledges is the enjoyment from their truths" (5670), here avoiding scientific even in its grammatically legitimate use as an adjective. Especially out of place does this circumlocution appear in No. 5774: Aliud sunt sensualia, aliud scientifica, et aliud vera; . . . a sensualibus enim existunt scientifica, et a scientificis vera; quae enim intrant per sensus, ea in memoria reponunt, et inde concludit homo scientificum, aut exillis percipit scientificum quod discit. Thus is translated: "impressions of sense are one thing, knowledges another, and truths another; . . . knowledges have existence from things of sense, and truths from knowledges. The impressions, which enter by the senses, are laid up in the memory, and from them man concludes something as known, or perceives from them a matter of knowledge, which learns." (The italics are our own.)
     Now for the general, uncritical reader this sort of a translation may possibly do as well as any other not strictly accurate and discriminating rendering, but for any New Churchman who studies the Doctrines at all systematically or scientifically, it certainly becomes very confusing; for the word scientifica does not mean either "matters of fact," or "matters of knowledge," or outward knowledges," or "something known," or even "knowledges" alone, but the innumerable particulars which go to make up one single knowledge, like the innumerable "ideas of thought" which go to make up one single thought. This distinction can be preserved only by retaining the word "scientific"
Translation should not become interpretation.
CIVIL REFORMS AND REGENERATION 1898

CIVIL REFORMS AND REGENERATION       Editor       1898

A SERIES of articles by the Rev. Thomas Child, on the Human Body, has been running for some months in the New Church Magazine. Part II treats of the Body as the exponent of Social Doctrine and Life. In the September number appears a paper by the Rev. J. F. Buss, which is a rejoinder to what Mr. Buss admits may be an imperfect understanding of Mr. Child's position in the following paragraph: "The reorganization of man's civil life is the first step in, means to, and occasion of, the realization in him of moral, spiritual, and Divine life." Mr. Buss's article, which is entitled, "is There Any Intrinsic Relation Between Civil Reforms and Regeneration?" meets what he surmises -correctly we think-to be Mr. Child's position, directly and forcibly. Mr. Child's position-further elaborated in the current instalment of his series-is, that as the order of the opening of the degrees of man's mind is from below upward (building up intermediates from ultimates), so the reorganization, or re-ordering of man's civil life must precede, lead to, and be the occasion of bib spiritual re-birth and development. To this exposition-which remains to be completed by further papers -

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Mr. Buss replies simply with the teaching that "the first step to reformation is to live according to the Commandments of the Decalogue, where those evils are recited which ought not to be done; for he who does them fears not God; but he who does them not, by shunning them because they are against the LORD, the same fears and also loves the LORD, as He Himself teaches in John xiv, 20-24" (A. R. 628). Hence he concludes that "the Church's first duty, therefore, at all times and under alt conditions, must be to preach, not civil reforms, but that men, under whatever civil or other natural conditions they may exist, should "live according to the Commandments us Divine Laws." His conclusion is: "The most perfect state of civil order, even if attained, would not bring man individually and therefore not collectively either, one step nearer the kingdom of heaven, which is 'the realization of spiritual and Divine Life,' than would the most imperfect; for the Civil life, as an external order of things, has, of itself and in itself, no relation to the spiritual life."
     All of which is very cogent if not conclusive. Mr. Child's argument seems to be that the Body, as" the effect," is Heaven itself ("the cause") in ultimate form, and therefore reveals-by correspondence-the heavenly life; whence he infers that from the body, correspondentially studied, may be learned the laws of heavenly life applied to earth -i. e., a true socialism. This would be true if we had the perception of the Most Ancient Church, who in nature perceived heavenly things; but we have lost that perception and must learn from doctrine, rationally and scientifically confirmed, the secrets the body has to reveal. If the Doctrines teach socialism, then socialism will be seen in the body; but we must not make the "body" teach socialism and then read "socialism" into the Doctrines.



     IN the same number of the Magazine the Rev. Isaiah Tansley, in "Notes and Comments," vivisects, with as little cruelty as was feasible, the "Polychrome Bible." We quote the following:
     "The printing of the text in colors serves the very useful purpose of indicating exactly the conclusions to which the critics have come. But the evidence of the colors is at very indifferent agreement with the notes of the editors. There is everywhere a suggestive absence of reasons, and a full and liberal use of conjecture." The writer cites from the comments on Judges and Joshua to show that such phrases abound, as "It has been suspected" (that the text has been mutilated). "This verse is not improbably" -so-and-so; "It may be surmised," "The words as they stand seem to be;" "probably," this and "apparently" that. The amazing thing is that it is the men who thus discredit Holy Writ with their mere conjectures, who claim the adjective scientific," as aptly describing the accuracy and authoritativeness of their criticism. Thus do they degrade also the noble name of science.
FEW-OLD VIEW OF THE LAND OF THIBET 1898

FEW-OLD VIEW OF THE LAND OF THIBET       Editor       1898

THE editor of The Open Court, in the July number of that cultured specimen of Nineteenth Century gentilism, presents an article on The First Christian Missionaries in Thibet, which is of interest in connection with recent New Church papers on the Ancient Word and Great Tartary. Perhaps the most important item in what is a very readable combination of extracts and commentary, is the news that the Open Court Publishing Company are reproducing the valuable book, Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China, by M. Evariste Huc, who, with his fellow- Jesuit, M. Gabet, in 1845, penetrated to Lhasa, the capital of Thibet. This work made a sensation when it first appeared, although anything but sensational in its quaint style and in what is said to be the sober trustworthiness of the narrative. It gives a very different impression of the temperament and habits of the Thibetans, from that afforded by the recent highly-colored accounts of travelers who are supposed to have encountered incredible obstacles and awful tortures at the hands of those people. On the contrary the French missionaries, although they dressed according to the styles of the people among whom they came, proceeded frankly to interview the Launas of the most celebrated Lamaseries, and in every way to inform themselves on the state of Buddhism in Tartary and Thibet. "When reaching a Lamaserie, MM. Huc and Gabet 'expected that the entire population would have their eyes fixed upon them. Nothing of the sort. The Lamas whom we met passed silently on, without even turning their heads or paying the slightest attention to us in any way. The little chabis (pupils), harum-scarum rogues, in common with school-boys all over the world, alone seemed to notice our presence.'" Again, "How potent is the empire of religion over the heart of man, even though that religion be false and ignorant of its true object How great was the difference, for example, between these Lamas, so generous, so hospitable, so fraternal toward strangers, and the Chinese, that thorough nation of shopkeepers, with hearts dry as a ship-biscuit, and grasping as a monkey, who will not give a traveler even a cup of water, except for money or money's worth."
     "At Kan-sou MM. Huc and Gabet met a great dignitary of the Buddhist church, bearing the title of a living Buddha, and had a conversation with him:
     "'. . . Your religion and ours are like this,' and so saying he put the knuckles of his two forefingers together. Yes, said we, you are right; your creed and ours are in a state of hostility, and we do not conceal from you that the object of our journey and of our labors is to substitute our prayers for those which are used in your Lamaseries.' 'I know that,' he replied smilingly; 'I knew that long ago.' Again, a Lama whom they interviewed told them things about religion which "astounded them." Moreover he maintained that the views they advanced largely agreed with that of the Lamas.
     This all sounds very different from the state we have always pictured of the even fierce exclusiveness of the Lamas; and it is singular that so much of the testimony of other travelers has confirmed that impression.
     The reprint is to be sold at the price of two dollars, and will be, we presume, illustrated by cuts, such as embellish the article referred to.
Title Unspecified 1898

Title Unspecified       Editor       1898

THE October New Philosophy publishes the following appointments of the Board of Directors of the Swedenborg Scientific Association:
     Committees:     To prepare a new edition of The Economy of the Animal Kingdom -Drs. Edward Cranch, J. B. S. King, L. C. Ager, J. T. Kent, Prof. Thomas F. Moses, and the Revs. E. J. E. Schreck and John Worcester.
     To transcribe and edit an edition of the Lesser Principia - L. F. Hite, Mr. J. R. Swanton, and Revs. L. H. Tafel and C. E. Doering.
     Committee on Publications and to confer with the London Swedenborg Society -Prof. Riborg Mann, Messrs. G. W. Colton and C. Hj. Asplundh and Dr. T. F. Wright.
     The Board has taken steps to communicate with all persons thought to be in sympathy with the objects of the Association, and to invite them to become members.
     A new edition of The Soul; or, Rational Psychology, Rev. P. Sewall's translation, is announced in course of preparation.
     It is very gratifying to receive in this number of the New Philosophy Professor Mann's carefully-prepared paper on "The Value of Swedenborg's Chemistry," read at the organization meeting of the Association last May. It is also gratifying to have, in the New Philosophy, an authorized receptacle of such and other important pa p era promotive of the objects of the new scientific movement. The November number is to contain Mr. Whitehead's able paper on "The Influence of Science upon Theological Thought," which should be useful as a missionary document among those of a scientific turn of mind.
Title Unspecified 1898

Title Unspecified       Editor       1898

THE closing lines of "Diseases of the Fibres" October instalment, confirm homeopathy, the effecting of cure by presenting a plane lower than that of disease, more ultimate because outside the body, whereby the disorderly influx is diverted. When disorders in the blood are absorbed by a substance homogeneous to themselves, and the vital force is thus set free, this is homeopathy.
PEACE 1898

PEACE       EVELYN E. PLUMMER       1898

O Thou Who hast in grief and pain
     The path of conflict trod,
Teach us to rest our burdened hearts
     On Thee, our Saviour, God.
How strong the loves that cling to earth,
     Yet in Thy sight how weak.
To break their bonds, Thine aid, O LORD,
     The struggling soul would seek.
Send help to conquer, strengths to bear
     This pain of combat sore.
Thou givest heav'nly peace alone,
     When hitter strife is o'er.

Command our passions' mad unrest,
     O bid their raging cease;
That we may walk their conquered waves
     To Thee, Thou Prince of Peace.
               EVELYN E. PLUMMER.

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JOURNAL OF THE SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM. 1898

JOURNAL OF THE SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM.       Editor       1898

     To those unfortunate members of the General Church of the New Jerusalem who were unable to attend the Assembly in Glenview (of whom the writer is one) the just-published journal of that occasion is of great value and consolatory power. Moreover, in addition to the well-reported speeches (reproducing with life-like touches the characteristic styles of the various speakers) and to the report of actions taken in the Assembly itself, the publication is enlarged by the report of the 'Academy' Assembly-held just after that of the General Church; a feature which is especially useful at this time, as defining the relations of the Church and the Academy, and presenting the various shades of opinion on this subject held among the men interested. In addition there are included also reports and communications of ministers and officials, covering the first year of the existence of the "General Church;" a directory of the Church, as well as of the clergy, of the various localities, and of the total individual membership of the body. (Mr. Odhner and the Church are to be congratulated - that at last his labors in the compilation of this directory are availed of.) These features, together with the excellent index, modeled on that of last year, brings the number of pages up to 214, as against 170 in the Journal of last year.
     Previous accounts of the Assembly make it unnecessary to summarize the proceedings here; but some thoughts brought out in the speeches I feel impelled to notice. The spirit of the meeting evidently made it a fit sequel to the first Assembly, being marked by the same fearless yet tolerant advocacy of truth, and at the same time a willingness to be taught and to relinquish untenable positions-when held-in the interest of truth and of use. The sphere of brotherly good feeling was evidently enhanced by the presence of the Rev. Messrs. L. P. Mercer and Thomas F. King, messengers of the brother; Church of Convention, their hearty sympathy with the objects of the meeting, and endorsal of the principles represented by the "General Church," making them, besides being envoys of good-will, peculiarly congenial guests. For instance, it is certainly gratifying to read, in the utterance of a representative of Convention so clear an exposition of the doctrine of the Writings as to the consummation of the Old Church-the good and sufficient reason for the existence of the New Church-as Mr. King's address affords. So long as there are some, men in Convention who, like Mr. King, recognize that' the New Church stands for salvation, and that the Old Church, whether in or around us, stands for consummation and judgment, there must ever remain between the two bodies something of a common interest, of united-f ness against a common foe. What would be the fate of the New Church -speaking humanly-if there were not: some who grasped the situation, and acted accordingly, is indicated in these words of the address:

     This is the position and office of the New Church. If it were possible to destroy it, the world would be absolutely without a Church, and all the great and essential truths of Revelation' would have no organic body on earth to stand for them. While it is true that there is a universal Church which includes the simple good of all religions and of all sects, yet we are distinctly taught by the LORD in the Writings that the salvation of those who are outside of the specific Church depends upon the existence of the Church where the LORD is worshiped and in which the Word is understood.

     In the discussion on "Evangelization" the key-note, I think, was struck by Mr. Odhner when he said "the only way to awaken men to spiritual truth and life is by preaching [not metaphysical abstractions nor beautiful but indefinite generalities on morality and natural good, but] repentance;" for this involves shunning evils as sins against God-not as sins against our own good, nor on altruistic grounds-not against some intangible universal Principle of good (with a large P) but as against the visible, personal LORD and Saviour. As Pastor Pendleton said, "The New Church has been distressingly intellectual, and with this result-that it has served, to a very large degree, to develop the conceit of men, and has caused the frequent observation that New Churchmen are the greatest lot of cranks on earth." He added, "Strangely enough, there are New Churchmen who do not believe in the teaching of that doctrine, the doctrine of the shunning of evils as sins." He might also have mentioned others who show great distaste for the frequent utterance of the unpalatable truth that the proprium of man is nothing but evil.
     In connection with the subject of "Evangelization," Mr. Mercer also pointed out a most important teaching, that "the two witnesses," the LORD and repentance, must be preached to those who will receive and to those who will not receive, for until they have been rejected by those who are such as to do this, the remnant will not be in liberty.
     It might he said that in adopting the resolution requesting the Chairman of the meeting to appoint a Committee on General Evangelization, for the study of principles, the Assembly seems to have gone somewhat beyond the purely deliberative functions prescribed for it in the plan of Organization so unanimously approved. It is not to be wondered at, however, if, in transitional stages, methods and practices become a little mixed at times.
     In the discussion on "Principles of Government," Mr. Hugh Burnham enunciated a truth which we would all do well to consider when tempted to trust to human safeguards against the recurrence of evils in government, the permission of which is part of the Divine Government, for the sake of human freedom:

     If you have a governor who can be trusted, and who has the welfare of the body at his heart, those rules will be used for the welfare of the people. But if the governor has his own selfish ends in view, he will pervert any rules that man may write. It is the man in power who can apply the rules to suit his own convenience. We see that in our State legislatures. Acts are passed to provide against certain things, certain changes, and the very men who were supposed to be shorn of their power by the passage of those acts take them and use them as their own weapons. We find that in history, especially in the history of the English people.

     Admirable, too, was the Rev. Homer Synnestvedt's treatment of the subject (page 55):

     "But the use of this Church [as contrasted with civil institutions, in which the bonds and limitations are more external and partaking of compulsion] is to lead you to love truths and to love to carry them out in your lives, and I would like to know how you are going to pass laws to compel that to be brought about. You can compel a corporation to manufacture something in a certain way, or you can compel a business man to do something on the ultimate plane far more easily than you can compel a priest to feed the truths of the Church and to lead the people to love those things. Those things are rather elusive. I can testify to that. You cannot compel them. It is by the closest study and the greatest thought and solicitude, and by looking to the LORD, that any priest is able to do anything in this line. It is a spiritual matter, a spiritual use pre-eminently, and hence it is to be in the greatest freedom imaginable. There must exist throughout the Church the law of conscience, and the government of conscience, and the obedience from conscience."

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And, "We have a new spirit, which consists mainly in this, the recognition of the law of conscience both ways, between the clergy and the laity and the laity and the clergy, and between all in the Church."

     Speaking of freedom, and of lay confirmation of episcopal nominations, Mr. Paul Synnestvedt, in connection with the subject of Lay Organization, pointed out a real danger, and a fault which has been made use of to obscure the real responsibility for the recently disturbed state of the laity, when he said:

     I have known instances amongst our people where nominations have been made and unanimously confirmed, and the same evening there was criticism on all sides. That is not fair, not an honest, free method of doing things, and I am glad to say I think we have very largely passed that state.

     I am reminded of the reply made to a speaker at an Academy gathering of rather recent years, who charged that there was danger of repression of thought and the taking away of freedom. The reply was to this effect: "The man who allows his freedom to be taken away is not a man, and hardly deserves a freedom of which he can take no better care." As to "lay" freedom, Mr. Glenn voiced the spirit of the laymen when he said:

     The fact is that, whatever we may do about it [lay organization], we ere free. The priests may say all that they please about what we have a right to do, but we will do as we please. That is the plain English of it. Unless the laymen co-operate in freedom they will not co-operate at all. When a man is free to refrain from co-operating, he will be far more likely to co-operate. . . . The very best co-operation is gained when people are told, "You don't hate to do any thing; we don't call on you for anything." And then they will probably say, "But what can I do?" And you will answer, "You can do what you please" and then they will be more likely to come and co-operate.

     The withdrawal of the motion to reaffirm the "principles of the Academy" seems to have been very judicious, in view of the absence of any accompanying statement of those principles, and as there was left no room for doubt that Convention recognized the new organization as based on our fundamental and well- known positions. It would seem eminently appropriate and timely for these principles to be stated or re-stated in the near future, in a form adequate to the newer conditions; but just the occasion for this does not as yet seem to have arisen. In the meantime, Mr. Bostock's words (page 43) apply to all: "What we want is to live according to the principles we hold, and others will very soon find out where we stand." The discussion, however, brought out by the proposed motion was certainly very useful, and it was very flu tingly rounded out by the remarks of the Rev. L. P. Mercer, hearing upon the point of Convention's attitude toward the new body, especially these words:

     But what the body [Convention], as an organic whole, meant in passing its resolutions and sending its messengers to you. I am certain about, and that is that the General Church of the New Jerusalem is organized-reorganized, started upon a new career-to carry out the principles that are known as the principles of the Academy, and those uses to which the individuals composing it have been devoted in the past, and with which their names, lives, and all their activities are associated.
     And this: "The thing we can now do is to believe in one another, and to love one another's work, and not gossip about one soother."

     After reading the Journal, and realizing moreover how much more these occasions involve than what goes into print, I feel very sure that Pastor Pendleton must have had a very sympathetic audience to the last remarks he made at the Assembly:

     I think that in these Assemblies there is a feeling of brotherhQc4, when the very life of the Church comes down and takes the form of mutual love between us as brothers of a common Church, when we come together and live together for a few days, and come to love one another. There is really more in that than there is in the resolutions we pass and the various things we discuss. It is not so much this meeting, but our eating together, our strolling together and talking together, feeling the spheres of each one in his life and love for the things of the Church. I think it is worth all we pay for it. I feel that unless we do have it the Church will suffer; and finally our movement would come to a standstill.

     The resolution of thanks to the Immanuel Church for their hospitality was as spontaneous as it was well-merited. The invitation given by the comparatively small Berlin Society to the Assembly for next year gives still further evidence of the members' appreciation of the use of these meetings and their readiness to make sacrifices therefor.



     IT was a happy thought to call an Academy Assembly to clear up the indefiniteness which in some minds has surrounded the relations of this body to the General Church of the New Jerusalem. Nothing could be more frank, direct, and sincere than the common effort evinced at the meeting of June 28th to arrive at a thoroughly good understanding on the part of all concerned. Surely the old prejudice against the Academy as a "secret" organization should by this time have had its last leg knocked from under it. The object of this meeting seems to have been satisfactorily enough attained when the resolution was announced informally, which has since been formally adopted by the Corporation, recognizing the Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem as ex officio head of the ecclesiastical uses of the Academy. Even those who held that the Academy should hold a larger relation to the Church at large found no practical difficulty in the step taken, which in effect constitutes the Academy corporation an agent and civil arm of the "General Church."
     In this connection Mr. Bostock's words would seem to make an appropriate closing quotation:

     I believe that in every centre of our Church and every part of our Church there ought to be cultivated a warm affection and a rational understanding of the great necessity of the uses which are performed by the Academy of the New Church. Unless those uses are performed, and performed well, and from light and understanding of the doctrines of the Church, our Church cannot progress. We must have our priests educated rightly to perform uses. We must have the right kind of a New Church college where we can send our children-as many as the LORD enables us to send-and not only that, but we must have, going out from that instruction, an understanding of the subject of educating and bringing up our children. We cannot have that unless this is the Corporation of the whole Church, unless we give it our warm affection and support, unless we try to send our children to it and contribute of our means to sustain it. Of course an institution of that kind needs endowment, but it needs also the support coming from the whole Church. That is of the very greatest importance, not only the amount of money that will come and be used for the use, but the affection that will go out with the money. When the money is spent there goes with it an affection for the use, with a belief in its importance and a desire to support it that will make it grow and live, and it cannot grow and live without that support of the Church.

     Friends of Academy uses, please note. G. G. S.
Title Unspecified 1898

Title Unspecified       Editor       1898

THE Secretary of the General Church of the New Jerusalem desires to correct a printer's error on p. 193 of the recently published Journal of the Second General Assembly, where, in the statistical table of the present membership of the General Church, it is stated that there are "twenty-two" children connected with the congregations in Philadelphia and Huntingdon Valley. A number of "young ones" are indignant at thus having been omitted in the census, and Justice to them and to fact demands that "seventy-two" should be substituted for "twenty-two."

175


CHURCH NEWS 1898

CHURCH NEWS       Editor       1898

Huntingdon Valley.-ON October 7th, Pastor Synnestvedt resumed the weekly Doctrinal Class, the subject for the evening being, "Singing in Worship."
     This was treated in connection with the use of kneeling and other forms of worship. It was stated that the sound of the voice proceeds from the heart in the lungs where voice begins-not solely, as commonly taught, from higher up, in the larynx; and from this the doctrine was confirmed that in singing the affection of the whole man is present. Thus, singing contains the quality of the man, and since what goes forth from the man contains his life, it was noted that salvation, or1 remodeling the life of man, is impossible except by' changing the quality of the man; thus, it cannot be instantaneous. Singing sounds to the angels according to the affection that is in it (A. C. 8261), and hence the finest singers on earth could not affect them as the poorest of voices in which, notwithstanding, there was the affection of worship. Each one in worship should do his best, according to ability, and, even though his voice be poor, he should not be deterred, although he might sing softly rather than make decided discord. The important thing is to have agreement or choral effect. This involves self-subordination, as was brought out by a comment of our singing teacher.
     On October 14th the book on The Last Judgment was taken up, although questions on other subjects will receive attention, as they may be brought up by the members. On October 21st the statement in L. J. 6-13 that procreations of men will never cease on this earth led to consideration of A. C. 931, which says, "Hence it may appear that the earth is not to endure forever, but will likewise have its end." Pastor Synnestvedt explained that Swedenborg here is treating of the Church, and he mentioned that in the Letter of the Word the Church itself is hardly mentioned as such, but almost invariably as "earth;" and sometimes the Writings speak according to the figurative language of the Letter.
     On October 28th Pastor Synnestvedt gave some attention to the matter of those scientific statements in Swedenborg which seem to indicate lack of knowledge' (as calling Saturn the farthest of the planets), and he said that the LORD'S revelation is given not to teach natural truths, but spiritual, and so scientific statements therein must be regarded 'from the theological idea' meant to be conveyed, and that for that purpose the' statements are mode in accordance with the scientific ideas of the time in which the revelator wrote. Nevertheless, where needful for the conveyance of spiritual teaching, new scientific-truths and facts also are revealed, as those concerning inhabitants of other planets, spontaneous' generation, the origin of colors, the absence
- of sex in plants, etc. But, in general, the scientific must be free, and not compelled by invasions from the domain of theological authority.
     Together with Doctrinal Class, the weekly suppers and singing-practice have been resumed, and Mr. Glenn also conducts a class in Sight-reading the half-hour that precedes supper. On October 28th he relinquished the hour for singing-practice to allow the members to hear from Miss Emily Schneider an account of a new system of Sight-reading, to be followed by two other lectures on the subject.
     The meetings of the Council of the Clergy and of the Executive Committee of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, the former held on October 15th and 17th, the latter on the 17th, gave occasion for the presence of several visitors in Huntingdon Valley-the Rev. Messrs. E. C. Bostock, of Pittsburgh; Andrew Czerny, of New York, and F. E. Waelchli, of Baltimore; and Messrs. R. Carswell and Richard Roschman, of Canada.
     On the evening of October 2d an informal reception was held at Cairnwood, in order that the members might meet Miss Helen Macbeth, who had been making a short visit.
     On October 21st the Rev. Frank Sewall, of Washington, D. C., enjoyed the hospitalities of Mr. S. H. Hicks, and attended the special meeting of the Principia Club, which was the especial object of his visit. Next morning Rev. C. T. Odhner showed him over the school and other points of interest.
     On October 24th the Rev. J. F. Potts received a visit from Mr. George Broadfield, of Manchester, Eng., accompanied by the Rev. W. L. Worcester, of Philadelphia.
     In the latter part of October Mr. Stacey Bauman, who has been making Huntingdon Valley his temporary residence for the past few months, returned to his farm in Clearfield County. The friends of this veteran New Church pioneer hope to see him back among us.



     On October 21st Bishop Pendleton left here on a ten days' episcopal visit to Berlin, Canada.
     On October 14th the Principia Club, of Philadelphia (which, despite its name, holds its meetings in Huntingdon Valley), assembled for its regular monthly discussion. The subjects of Order, Degrees, Series, and Influx, and Correspondence, and Representation were passed over without much comment, presumably because of fatigue from the Council and Committee meetings; but the question finally came up, "How did Swedenborg, who so strongly advocated the analytic method, arrive at a knowledge of such laws as the above, which require a priori knowledge?" Among other speakers Bishop Pendleton differentiated between the theological and the scientific works by characterizing the Writings themselves as an immediate revelation from God, while the other works are mediate in character like the works of other men. He said that what men write comes from their association with spirits and societies of spirits. Swedenborg was in closer consociation with spirits and angels in his work-mediate conditions were more perfect with him than with other men, even before his illumination. A special meeting of the Club was held one week later, in order to meet the Rev. Frank Sewall President of the Swedenborg Scientific Association, who on that day paid a visit to the settlement. Mr. Sewall favored the Club with his address, "The Relation of Swedenborg's Scientific Works to His Theological Writings," read first at the recent meeting of the Maryland Association. The address was prefaced by some very interesting remarks on various topics more or less related to the work of the Scientific Association, and also of the Principia Club; among other things, he dwelt on the opportunity for exploiting Swedenborg before the scientific world afforded by the present revival of interest in the "mysticism" of Immanuel Kant -among the German metaphysicians -and its relation to Swedenborg's influence. He explained that "mysticism" as used by the metaphysicians is equivalent to "spiritual" -that which transcends natural powers of cognition. In the paper Mr. Sewall's position, as I understood it, is that though the scientific works do bring forth doctrines which seem to involve spiritual science, as those of Correspondence, Degrees, etc., yet those doctrines or laws were not revealed, but that the things of the spiritual world to which those laws apply more eminently than to natural things, these were revealed.

176


The laws themselves were evolved rationally, to serve as tools to Isis rational thought; while in the Theological Works, after his spiritual sight had been opened, those doctrines took on quite a new meaning and quality, derived from revealed knowledge of the spiritual things themselves which were correspondences, were ordinated in discrete degrees, etc.
     By these doctrines in Isis scientific work Swedenborg was carried, as in a ship, as it were to the very shores of the spirit world, but he could not enter without something more. Thus far his was a natural system, having no claim to the term revelation. Citations were made from The Soul, Swedenborg's crowning philosophical work -especially to n. 321 and 522, to show that when he reached the point of speculation on the Unknown Beyond, Swedenborg erred as might any other speculator on the mysteries of spiritual existence. The position of the paper, in brief, was that Swedenborg's science is not theological, and his theology is not scientific; but in the Divine Providence they so agree, correlate, and co-operate that in the man end is made to the old warfare between science and theology.
     The discussion which followed was almost wholly favorable to the positions of the paper. Mr. G. G. Starkey said that in entering into "the scientific" the New Church is exposed to danger from the same serpent whose seductions first led to the fall of the race-the allurements of self-intelligence, which would persuade man that truth is obtainable by mere effort of human reason. By refusing to distinguish between the natural scientific teachings of Swedenborg and the spiritual doctrines revealed through him, we do not elevate the scientific works, but we drag the Theological works down.
     Mr. Synnestvedt said that Swedenborg's system of science is not impeachable. The reason why his philosophy and science were true is because he was in led from infancy he was being prepared to serve as the instrument whereby a rational revelation might be made. His scientific errors even serve to confirm true principles by making us receive them rationally, we supplying what he lacked in external scientifics. Of these we have a vast supply, but the progress of the last century has empirical. We have laws which throw light on all the facts, and arrange and ordinate all, because they are truly universal laws.
     Mr. Odhner held that the scientific writings are on a distinct plane by themselves, not like other scientific writings1 yet not inspired like the theological writings. They resulted not from immediate influx from God, but mediately through the spiritual world. That they were inspired in a sense in which ordinary writings are not was testified to by the signs, lights, dreams, etc., by which he was guided and kept in what was true. Mr. Odhner deprecated ignoring the supernatural guidance in the scientific career of Swedenborg
     The Chairman pointed out that Mr. Odhner's views-in which he concurred- conflicted with the paper, which regards the system as a wholly natural one, having no claim to be anything but a product of human reason. The foregoing gives a very imperfect account of the instructiveness and enjoyableness of the occasion.
     ON Oct. 31st the members of the Church held a "political meeting" for discussion of politics and candidates of the present State campaign. At the close the Rev. J. F. Potts presented to the Academy corporation, two flags, the British Ensign and the Union Jack, at the same time explaining the nature and use of each.
     SEVERAL of the Danish and Norwegian employees on the Cairnwood estates have lately exhibited an increasing interest in the Doctrines of the New Church. At their request Rev. C. Th. Odhner, on October 16th, delivered a lecture in the Swedish language, on the subject of the Trinity, and on Sun a evening, October 23d, conducted regular worship in Danish. The number of hearers on each occasion was twenty persons. It is intended to continue these services twice a month. Most of the friends interested in this movement had, in Denmark, embraced the teachings of the celebrated late Bishop Grundvig, who differed from the established Lutheran Church by his rejection of the personal Trinity and of "faith-alone," maintaining instead, the sole Divinity of the LORD Jesus Christ and the salvation by charity as well as faith.
     Pittsburg, Pa.-THE Rev. John Stephenson has severed his connections with the General Church of the New Jerusalem.
     Berlin, Ontario. -SCHOOL opened on September 6th with the usual exercises. There are thirty-one children on the roll. For some time past, however, an epidemic of measles has prevented the attendance of quite a number of the pupils at various times.
     The Rev. J. E. Rosenqvist having resigned as pastor of the Society, with the intention of returning to Sweden, arrangements are being made to carry on the work of the Society and of the school until his successor can be appointed, probably after the meeting of the Assembly, in June. Mr. Rosenqvist expects to leave Berlin on October 27th. He has labored hard and faithfully, and carries with him the esteem and good-will of all the members who earnestly hope that a way may open in his native land for him to continue to perform the use he has nearest his heart.
     Owing to the early departure of Mr. Rosenqvist the Doctrinal Classes have not as yet been resumed.
     The singing practices on Tuesday evenings have been resumed, but so far have been but thinly attended, a poor recognition of the kindness of Mr. Samuel Roschman, who has undertaken the task of instructing the members in singing, in order that the worship may be more full and enjoyable.
     On Saturday, the 22d inst., Bishop Pendleton arrived among us, but particulars of his visit must be reserved until next month.

     GREAT BRITAIN.

     Colchester, England.-THE Rev. William H. Acton, pastor of the Society in Colchester, has recently severed his connection with the General Church of the New Jerusalem.
FROM THE PERIODICALS 1898

FROM THE PERIODICALS       Editor       1898

     Michigan.-THE meeting of the Michigan Association, at Detroit, October 1st and 2d, "was most delightful, encouraging, and instructive, and the members of the Association and of the Detroit Society feel as though the darkness and doubts that have been besetting them as to the future of the two bodies were about to pass away." Reports showed that the Association had rallied generously to the support of the Detroit Society, as the nucleus of the larger body. The presiding minister, the Rev. E. J. E. Schreck, reported encouraging results from his work in St. Chair and Lapeer Counties. To this work the General Convention contributed $150. The Revs. John Whitehead, W. L. Gladish, and M. G. Browne were present as visitors. Numerous letters of encouragement and sympathy were read, dated from various points. The officials of last year were re-elected, as follows Presiding Minister, Rev. E. J. E. Schreck Vice-President, Mr. C. H. Meday; Secretary, Mr. J. R. Hamilton; Treasurer, Mr. Henry Wunsch; additional members of the Executive Board, Mr. Mark Norris, Alex. Drysdale, and Jacob Quintus. - The Rev. J. M. Shepherd resigned from the Ohio Association and became a member of the Michigan body.
     The Rev. John Whitehead gave an address On "The Influence of Science on Theological Thought," a very thoughtful and suggestive paper, which appears in the same number of the Messenger, with the Michigan Report, October 19th, from which the foregoing is condensed.
LORD MANIFESTED 1898

LORD MANIFESTED       Editor       1898


NEW CHURCH LIFE.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH.

TERMS:-One Dollar per annum, payable in advance.
FOUR SHILLINGS IN GREAT BRITIAN.

     Address all communications for publication to the Editor, the Rev. George G. Starkey, Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery Co., Pa.
     Address all business communications to Academy Book Boom, Carl Hj. Asplundh, Manager, No. 1821 Wallace Street, Philadelphia. Pa.
     Subscriptions also received through the following agents:
UNITED STATES.
     Chicago, Ill., Mr. H. S. Maynard, Chicago Agent of Academy Book Boom No 545 West Superior Street.
     Denver, Col., Mr. Geo. W. Tyler, Denver Agent of Academy Book Boom, No. 644 South Thirteenth Street.
CANADA.
     Toronto, Ont., Mr. B. Carswell, No. 47 Elm Grove.
     Waterloo, Mr. Rudolf Roschman.
GREAT BRITIAN.
     Mr. Wiebe Posthuma, Agent for Greet Britain, of Academy Book Boom, Burton Road, Brixton, London. S. W.

PHILADELPHIA, NOVEMBER, 1898=129.
     CONTENTS.                    PAGE
EDITORIAL: Notes                    161
     Spheres                    162
THE SERMON: Reformation of the Spiritual Man     163
     How to Enjoy Peace of Mind     165
     Slow Growth of the Church     166
     Teachers' Institute-VI, VII     167
     Diseases of the Fibres (XII)     168
NOTES AND REVIEWS                    170
JOURNAL OF THE SECOND ASSEMBLY     173
CHURCH NEWS                         175
BIRTHS                         176


177




     THE LORD MANIFESTED.

     WRAT distinguishes the New Church and makes it an entirely new dispensation, is the doctrine of the Second Coming of the LORD. Without that doctrine mankind must have wholly lost its God. The progressive aversion of mankind from God, begun by the Fall, has been accompanied by a progressive loss of knowledge of God and of capacity to know Him. To knowledge of God two things are necessary-an objective presentment to man's external consciousness, and an internal presence or influx whereby in that objective appearing the Divine may be perceived. When the internal faculties become closed up--as they do-by evils of life, then the presence of the Divine is no longer perceived in the external appearing; it is as if a man who falls into evil ways begins to suspect his friend, who is good, of being evil, and thus to lose all perception of his quality, although the friend remains the same. From evil good cannot be seen.
     But it is of the Divine Providence that man shall ever be able, if he be willing, to see his God; for without this there is no salvation. The LORD still preserves in mankind an affection capable of being turned to Him, and provides or assumes an objective form to which man's thought and affection can be turned. As the successive degrees of the human mind were closed up by the successive stages of degeneration, the LORD successively accommodated Himself to man's diminished capacity for apprehension, and appeared in new manifestations of Himself. The Most Ancient Church, being in celestial love itself, were inmostly affected by the Divine and in corresponding enlightenment, so that God appeared to them in the full glory of Divine Love and Wisdom, the union of which is the Divine Humanity; and the objective presentment of that Humanity was effected by means of an angel whose interiors were infilled with the Divine, his exteriors being rendered for the time quiescent. But when by the Fall the men of that pristine Church ceased to be receptacles of love and wisdom and forms of perception, a lower accommodation was necessitated; and though the objective presentment of the Divine continued to be effected by an angel, there was no longer the perception of earlier days, but, instead, knowledge; and their enlightenment, instead of being from celestial love, was from spiritual love, or conscience. Indeed, the principal appearing of the Divine, then, was by external types and representatives. But when this Church also fell, there was no other conception of God possible than such as could be formed from the Divine clothed with a human nature and body-and the recognition of the Divine therein depended upon a relatively low and obscure good, the good of obedience, not yet quite destroyed on earth.
     But the obscure Perception of the First Christian Church soon began to fade and to be perverted by fallacies and falses of doctrine, originating in unregenerate loves, and this deterioration steadily increased, until at this day, to most men, the LORD is known only as a wonderful historical figure, around whom cluster traditions of divinity, but of what "divinity" is there is no real understanding. For modern thought is so material that it cannot conceive of Personality apart from time and space, and so it cannot think of a Man as being the omnipresent God of the universe. So the leaders of the churches juggle with the word "divinity," which they distinguish from "deity" or absolute God-head, and so destroy it. " God" they make to be invisible; Christ interprets God, but, though "divine," is not God Himself. Thus, while retaining the name "Christian," for the sake of its power, the churches destroy that which the name stands for-belief in the visible LORD.
     Such is the trend of theology and faith, illustrating the invariable rule that at the end of a consummated church God becomes invisible. There are, it is true, exceptions to such a faith among the men of the Churches, but relatively few, and some of them only apparent exceptions. Practically, the LORD JESUS CHRIST is not known, and, of course, not worshiped.
     How, then, does the LORD reveal Himself anew to His benighted children? Since men can no longer perceive Him from love, as did the Most Ancients, nor see Him in representative types, as did the Ancients, nor know Him in His Divine Natural Humanity, as did the First Christian Church-since the goods of love, of faith, and of obedience have vanished, and along with them, the enlightenment which pertains to good-to what in man can the LORD reveal Himself? and in what form? The reply is, to the natural reason, to the love of mere knowledge, which low affections form the bottom round of the ladder on which man may rise to spiritual life-if he will. By the affections of knowing and understanding-which in themselves are of the earth earthy, but which, like harmless animals, may be made serviceable to higher things-man may receive instruction concerning the Divine, and thus may be vivified as to the remains or rudiments of spiritual life insown in his interiors from his birth.
     The form in which the LORD reveals Himself anew is the Internal Sense of the Word, in scientific form, so that even those who are only in the affection of knowing may have the very truths of heaven in forms of earth; and the truths of heaven all regard the LORD. And because in heaven subjective truths appear also in corresponding objective form, the LORD appears there to the sight as a Man; and thus, too, can the man of the New Church see Him with the internal sensual. And that sensual image of God as Man in Person is receptible of more and more interior spiritual ideas to all eternity.
      Because the love or good to which the LORD comes is so low in the scale, profanation of the purer truths of His Advent is less likely to occur, a thing which the LORD ever guards against most jealously.

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When the Writings tell us, therefore, as they often do, that the present revelation excels all other revelations which the world has ever seen-that it is the LORD'S own revelation of Himself in the spiritual sense of the Word, "from which sense the Word is Divine," and without which "the Word, cannot be called holy, nor even-in many places-apprehended," we are to understand not that mankind are in a commensurate state of elevation and advancement as to things of spiritual life, (the reverse is the case), but that in thus accommodating Himself to the human mind in the state of its extremest separation of understanding from corrupt will, the LORD took to Himself the completed and efficient power of saving men at the lowest spiritual ebb to which they could recede. It should be known and understood and borne in mind that the revelation of heavenly things to the human rational and scientific faculties means that man as to his will was wholly lost, and that likewise the good affections even of his understanding had been successively perverted, until the "last hope"-so to speak-lay in the faculty of knowing and understanding, in which there were merely, as it were, embers of spiritual life; for the understanding itself is cold.
     By the opening of the Word the LORD has disclosed His own Divinely Human quality, of Love and Wisdom united, and by uncovering the hidden goods and truths of that sense He has manifested how the Word is written about Him alone. Thus it can be seen that the Humanity of the LORD is in the Word, and that the Word is Himself. The spiritual realities of the other life are likewise revealed, which are but so many myriad manifestations of the LORD'S life; earth is shown to be instinct with life by its correspondence with heaven, and thus with the LORD there, and the whole universe is unrolled before the mental vision of him who will see, as an image and reflection of the Divine Man thus made known anew to His creatures; and in it is perceived as never before the real meaning and harmony of the out-swelling angel chorus at Bethlehem-"Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men."
     But the New Church is warned not to forget the "Watchman out of Seir." "Watchman, what of the night?" The watchman said, " The morning cometh and also the night." The watchman cried out of Seir, which signifies illumination from the LORD'S Divine Natural, according to what we have been saying. But only those will suffer their natural to be illuminated who are in some affirmation of truth-who are such as to suffer themselves to be led by it. With others the night cometh-the total extinction of spiritual light, and the hatching out of worse falsities than ever. That the number of such at this day is vast is testified to by innumerable passages in the Writings, and by both the confessions of the churches and those manifestations of the state of Christendom which meet one on every hand and in a thousand ways.
     "The LORD'S Advent involves two things, the Last Judgment, and after that a New Church" (A. R. 626).
     "The coming of the LORD signifies the acknowledgment of Truth Divine by those of the New Church and its denial by those of the Old Church" (A. C. 8427).
     What we need to realize as much, perhaps, as anything, as the blessed Christmas time approaches, is that the Coming of the LORD to us is to be seen only in His opened Word-that that Coming necessitates judgment and separation from that which claims to be truth, yet denies the Coming-that the shades of the "Night" which the Watchman predicted, weigh darker and heavier on the vastate Church, and are like a vortex, a "darkness which can be felt," that has power to draw in and overwhelm all who will not submit their understandings and lives to the supreme guidance of the LORD as He now appears in His Second Coming, in His OPENED Word, which is the fulness of His Glorified Humanity.
HOPE OF THE FUTURE 1898

HOPE OF THE FUTURE       Editor       1898

REV. Jabez Fox, who died in Washington, D. C., October 3d, was a peculiarly interesting man from the fact that before his entering the New Church ministry he seems to have realized practically an elevating ideal-a Newchurchman active and influential in politics, yet escaping the taint of his surroundings. His career nourishes the hope that in good time a New Church public man is yet to arise who shall invest civil affairs with new interests and opportunities for Newchurch citizens.
"THE GOLDEN RULE IN ONE'S OWN BUSINESS." 1898

"THE GOLDEN RULE IN ONE'S OWN BUSINESS."       Editor       1898

UNDER the above caption The New Christianity, last month, criticised a note on "conduct and environment" which appeared in our October issue; and further objected to being referred to as "our socialistically-inclined contemporary," on the ground that "socialism"-as expounded by Karl Marx-is diametrically opposed to Henry George's Single Tax theories, to which theories The New Christianity is committed.
     "Socialistic" we understand to be a term which has a wider and less special or technical use that that given to it by the advocates of Karl Marx's theories. It is a word used to cover many and even divergent ideas, all of which, however, have in common something of the feature of governmental assumption of functions usually conceded to the management of individuals. Thus Mr. George's proposition that the government should own and administer land, which existing and time-honored usage has assigned to private ownership, seems to us to bring his system within the scope of the word when used in its wider sense.
     The New Christianity seems to misinterpret our position to be that of excluding political economy from among the legitimate and more important of the branches of human science. This we do not do; and all that we object to in socialistic theorizing is that it usually is not subordinated to truth of a higher degree, and that it assumes to cure by external means what can be reached only, or at least primarily, from within. I Nevertheless we freely concede the self-evident propositions: that internal principles need to be supplemented and supported by external ones; that the Church must have the protection of a well-ordered State; and that this is not attainable without cultivating the science of government and of political economy. The general practice of the Golden Rule would not produce an ideal environment without the application of human thought to the providing of means for the ultimation of charity, among which means governmental and social science would occupy a prominent place. Any system of economy which recognizes (1) its own limitations and dependency upon spiritual principles; (2) the inefficacy of its provisions to more than palliate the evil conditions of society unless those provisions are applied by regenerating individuals, and (3) which recognizes uniformly and consistently the supremacy of free-will in spiritual things and freedom of individual action in all things,-that system would be, we think, entitled to the most earnest and attentive consideration of Newchurchmen.

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ENLIGHTENMENT 1898

ENLIGHTENMENT       Rev. EDWARD C. BOSTOCK       1898

"Jesus answered and said, My Doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. If any man do His will, he shalt know of the doctrine whether it be of God, or if I speak of myself."-John vii, 16, 17.

     Lessons-Arcana Coelestia, n. 6222, John vii.

     THE LORD is present in genuine doctrine and by it reveals Himself to man, makes known to him the way of life, and illuminates the truths of the letter of the Word so that they shine like precious stones in the light of the sun. But there are false doctrines, in the midst of which the LORD is not present, but instead of the LORD the loves of self and of the world. These doctrines lead not to heaven but to hell. In their light the truths of the letter of the Word appear to shine, but it is with the cold and wintry light of imitation gems.
      At the present day it is a very prevalent belief that man cannot know whether there be a heaven and a hell, whether there be a life after death, or even whether there be a God or no. Those who do not like to openly and frankly deny the existence of God and of a life after death, claim that it is impossible to know, and are called agnostics. Internally this doctrine is a denial of God flowing forth from the love of self and of the world.
     Agnosticism, Naturalism, Faith-Alone, all are products of the dogma that the understanding must be kept under obedience to faith, and this has been adopted because evils of life have closed up the Internal Mind of man, and thereby have produced Spiritual-Natural blindness.
     Notwithstanding this widespread doubt and denial, the eternal truth remains, and man can know of the Doctrine if it be of God or of man; and the way to know as taught in our text and fully laid open in the Doctrines of the New Church.
     If man would know whether the Doctrine which is to be the guide of his life is the true doctrine of God, and not the invention of man, he must do the will of God-i. e., he must shun evils as sins against God. This is the only way to see truth in its own light so as to know that it is true.
     This is especially true of the Doctrine of the Divine Human of the LORD. Man can see the truth of this doctrine only as his Internal Man is opened to the light of heaven by doing the will of God. The Jews supposed the LORD to be a mere man, and when be taught in the temple they expressed this by saying: "How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?"
     To this "Jesus answered them and said, my Doctrine is not mine but His that sent me," by which He taught that His Human was Divine, and that the Doctrine which He taught was not the invention of man but the very Divine Truth of God. He then taught that all who receive the Divine Good, by doing the will of God, will be enlightened to see that His Human is Divine and that the Doctrine which He teaches is of God and not of man.
     If any man do His will, he shalt know of the doctrine whether it be of God or if I speak of myself.
     Man cannot be convinced that the Human of the LORD is Divine, nor that the Word is Divinely inspired, by any amount of external evidence. Historical evidence goes for nothing; there are too many chances of error, and objections innumerable fly at once to the mind. Neither do natural reasonings convince, for the natural man finds a flaw in every one. The way to a true faith is not through the external.
     The New Church can never be established in the world by the scientifics and reasonings of the natural man. The LORD teaches in the Canons of the New Church, "That at this day nothing else but the self- evidencing reason of love will institute it [the Church] because they have fallen" (Prologue I). By which is meant that the only reason that will convince men of the truth is that which proceeds from a genuine love of truth; and this since it sees in the light of heaven needs no external evidence; its evidence is in itself.
     It is of the greatest importance for the Church to see the truth in its own light, that there may grow up an interior understanding of the Word; for the quality of the Church is according to the understanding of the Word. We are taught:
     "The Word is the Word according to the understanding of it with man-i. e., as it is understood. If it is not understood, the Word is indeed called the Word, but with man it is not. The Word is truth according to its understanding, for the Word can be not truth, for it can be falsified. The Word is spirit and life according to the understanding of it, for the letter without the understanding of it is dead. Since man has truth and life according to the understanding of the Word, he has also faith and love according to it; for truth is of faith, and love is of life. Now because the Church is by faith and love, and according to it, it follows that the Church is the Church through the understanding of the Word and according to it; a noble Church if it is in genuine truths, ignoble if not in genuine truths, and destroyed if in falsified truths" (S. S. 77).
     Do we not all desire our beloved Church to be a noble Church? We ought to desire it to be a noble Church, not because we wish our Church to be better than others, not that our pride of self-intelligence may be flattered, but that our Church may be a faithful and humble instrument in the hands of the LORD, a source of light to the nations.
     If we would have our Church noble from the light of genuine truth, each one of us must do his part, by striving to become receptacles of genuine truth from the Word; for the quality of the whole is from the quality of all its parts. But let us ever remember that the understanding of the Word-which forms a noble Church-is not a mere intellectual thing, to be acquired by study and reflection; useful and necessary as these are, no amount of effort will enable man to understand the Word by these alone. The Word can be rightly understood only by those who are in enlightenment from the LORD, and the LORD enlightens only those who do His will that they may know of the doctrine whether it be of God or man. The LORD gives illustration to those who diligently study the Word for the sake of truth and for the uses of life, but to those who seek the truth for the sake of gain, honor or reputation the Word is a closed book.
     The LORD gives enlightenment through the Internal man. For when the Internal man is opened and formed it is in the light of heaven, and that light then flows from the Internal man into the external man, and gives a light which enables man to see the truth of the Word in its own light. The truth then shines with a brightness, and brings a certainty of conviction which only those can comprehend who have experienced it.

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     We are all doubtless familiar with the teaching of the Doctrines concerning the Internal man, but do we realize that as man is regenerated, he actually has a new mind opened, that by it he is actually introduced into the light of heaven; and that then there is a new light shed upon all things of his natural mind, of which he before knew nothing and which is utterly unknown to those who live in evil. Yet this is the truth, and the more interiorly this degree of the mind is opened and formed the more clear and full are the enlightenment and the consequent perception of truth from the Word.
     The internal mind is divided into discrete degrees; in general, into the Celestial and Spiritual. There are, therefore, two discretely different lights that may flow down and enlighten the natural mind. The natural mind, in itself considered, is continuous, but it appears discrete because of the discrete degrees of light which flow into it from the Internal mind. Thus, when the Spiritual degree of the Internal mind is opened and sheds its light upon the natural mind, man seems almost to be elevated out of the natural, and all things which before were merely natural are now seen in spiritual-natural light. If man then advances in regeneration till the celestial degree of the Internal man is opened and formed, then the same natural truths are seen in celestial-natural light. Thus, the natural seems discrete from the varied light in which it is seen.
     This may be illustrated by a garden seen in different lights. View it by the light of a lantern, and but little of its beauty is seen; this may be compared to the natural light. View the same garden in the light of a bright moon (the spiritual light), and much more is seen; but view it again in the light of the sun (celestial light), and its flowers and fruits appear in all the perfection of their beauty.
     If, then, the Church would become a noble Church, enlightened by genuine truth from the Word, its members must look to the LORD alone for light and guidance; as He says, "Call no one on earth your father; for one is your Father which is in heaven" (Matt. xxiii, 9).
     Priests stand before the Church as its authorized teachers and leaders; but they must lead to the LORD and teach from Him, and the members of the Church must follow only when they lead to the LORD. This the members can do only as they examine the Word, and the Writings of the Church to see if the doctrine taught by the priests be true or not. This is perfectly consistent with confidence in the priesthood and an affirmative attitude toward their teaching. For the man of the Church ought not to go to the Word to show that the priests' teaching is wrong, nor, in the pride of his own intelligence, to show how wise he is. He should go to the Word from the simple affection of truth for its own sake, and with the end that the LORD alone be interiorly and spiritually his teacher and Father. "To be wise is to see whether a thing is true before it is confirmed" (S. S. 91). Many things taught by the priest can be seen to be true as soon as heard, if man be actually in the light of heaven, and thus in illustration, and this becomes more and more the case as man enters more interiorly into the internal man. But when he does not see, let him not confirm, but go to the LORD in His revelation, and if he is in the genuine affection of truth, the LORD will give him light to see.
     This is taught in the Arcana Coelestia as follows:
     "The doctrinals of the Church are first to be learned, and then, from the Word, it is to be explored as to whether, they are true; for they are not true because the leaders of the Church have so said, and their followers have confirmed . . . from which it is manifest that the Word is to be examined, and then it is to be seen whether they are true. When this is done from the affection of truth, then man is illustrated by the LORD, that he may apperceive-not knowing whence- what is true, and may be confirmed in it according to the good in which he is. If these truths disagree with doctrinals let him take care lest he disturb the Church" (A. C. 6047).
     From this teaching it will appear how necessary it is for the Church to come into a state of enlightenment from the LORD, and to this each one can contribute by diligently seeking to come himself into enlightenment.
     The Doctrines of the New Church as they are revealed by the LORD appear to be plain and clearly explained, yet they cannot be interiorly understood so as to establish the Church, except with those who are enlightened by the LORD.
     It requires a greater degree of enlightenment to discover doctrine in the opened Word than it does to see it to be true when one has been taught; laymen can make doctrine for themselves-i. e., discover the doctrine in the LORD'S revelation, if they are in sufficient illustration, provided they do not study the Word for the sake of teaching. The illustration necessary for teaching the doctrines belongs to the special illustration of the priesthood, of which we are not now treating. When a layman seeks doctrine for his own use-i. e., for application to his own life, then the LORD gives him to see it, but he will see it in relation to his own peculiar state and circumstances.
     Enlightenment from the LORD is interior and exterior. Interior enlightenment is that light which enables the regenerate man to perceive at the first hearing whether what he hears is true or not. Thus he perceives when he hears that God is One, that he is love itself that love is the life of wisdom, and charity of faith, etc. It also gives man to see the truth when he searches the Word for the sake of life.
     Exterior enlightenment is of the thought and flows from internal enlightenment. That is, man is in external enlightenment when he brings his interior enlightenment down into his thought to present it to himself and to others. A very important point to be remembered in this connection is that man has exterior enlightenment just so far as he remains in his interior enlightenment and lets that guide and direct. Man cannot have exterior enlightenment till he first has interior enlightenment. Let him then wait for the interior light before he attempts to bring order out of the confusion of his thought.
     There is an interior and an exterior enlightenment from man. Interior enlightenment from man is the light of confirmation. When a man from his evil love determines upon any course then he gathers together confirmations, and when he has succeeded he persuades himself that what he does is right and true. Then he sees it as it were in light, and this is interior illustration from man. Exterior illustration from man is of the memory only.
     In order then for the Church to come into enlightenment from the LORD, the members of the Church must cultivate the genuine intellectual of the Church; not that which the world calls intellectual, which is formed from mere scientifics and intellectual confirmations of preconceived opinions, but that intellectual which enables man to see that truth is true and that falsity is false, that good is good and evil evil. This intellectual is only given to those who do the will of their Father who is in the heavens, that they may know of the doctrine whether it be of God or of man.

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They diligently study the LORD'S revelation, they compare one part with another that they may know the truth, and when the LORD gives them to see the truth they confirm it by every means in their power, rational, scientific, and sensual.
     By the cultivation of this genuine intellectual of the Church, man learns to know the voice of his LORD and Master and to distinguish it from the voice of strangers. La cultivating this illustrated intellectual the man of the Church must take special care lest he imbibe and confirm any doctrinal which favors evil of life, for such doctrinals destroy the understanding of the Word.
     The only safety of the Church is for both priests and laymen to follow the LORD alone. To do this the Church must learn to know and recognize the voice of the LORD. Priests are leaders and teachers only representatively; they cannot lead and teach from themselves. They are to be honored and followed only as they give forth the LORD'S voice, His genuine truth of good. The people must be enlightened that they may recognize the voice of their LORD and distinguish it from the voice of strangers; upon this depends the salvation of the Church, according to the words of the LORD:
     "Amen, amen, I say to you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But He that entereth in by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep. To Him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear His voice; and He calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him; for they know His voice. And a stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers" (John x, 1-5).
"WAITING FOR FEELING." 1898

"WAITING FOR FEELING."       G. G. S       1898

     AT a certain "revival" meeting years ago, two earnest young people approached a girl who was looking straight ahead into vacancy with an immobile face, and since on being questioned she professed a desire to "be saved," they asked her why she did not take part in the services with the others. She replied, "I am waiting for feeling," and continued to stare ahead of her as before.
     One of those two young persons afterward came into the New Church, and in telling the above incident remarked that she herself often was reminded, by her own mental attitude toward the duties of life, of that girl who was "waiting for feeling." Probably others of us may testify to similar experience. How often does duty, because of not forced upon us by immediate necessity, get set aside, and finally neglected, because we wait for just the right "feeling" to stimulate us to act. We all are able to affirm in a cold, intellectual way, such truths as relate to duty, charity, self-sacrifice, the correction of wrong habits of life, and the giving up of such indulgences as are not sanctified to use, and we suppose that we really intend to let those truths rule our lives; and yet at the same time while waiting for the final impulse to act which is to mark the beginning of change and reformation, we continue the old life in the old way. We are "waiting for feeling," or, as the Writings put it, for influx.
     But the Writings make it very plain that he who waits for the LORD'S immediate influx into his will, without himself providing a plane of reception for that influx, afforded by self-compulsion and acting as of himself in the duties of life, only exposes himself to the perverted influx of those who are in no love of use, but in self- indulgence and filthy lusts, and in hatred of the neighbor. This spiritual inaction is a very serious matter, and its prevalence at the present day is the effect of a deplorable spiritual condition in the world at large, resulting from the Church's deliberate averting herself from the good of the faith which she has professed and which she has separated from its charity and thus profaned. The consequence is that the general sphere of Christendom is fearfully profane, and that this sphere invades and infests the New Church.
     In the Old Church a frequent source of mental disturbance has been the fear of committing, or of having committed, the "unpardonable sin;" and in the New Church the counterpart of this nightmare dread is the fear of committing profanation, which is really the unpardonable sin. Profanation is the closing of the spirit to all saving operation of the Holy Spirit, and its unpardonableness consists simply in the fact that the man who, after having experienced that regenerative operation, through the actual life at faith and charity, recedes from good to evil, with his own hand closes the gates of mercy-that is, of life from the LORD. He loves darkness rather than light. Few are permitted thus to enter spiritual life and then profane. Concerning the peculiarities of genius, in these exceptional cases, which make it impossible to prevent them from becoming such without impairing their freedom of will, we are not given particular teaching, so far as I am aware.
     Nevertheless there is something profane in all evil; for evil of sin consists in abusing an opportunity for good, and entering into its opposite. Every opportunity given by the LORD to turn from a graver to a milder evil, from an inferior to a higher good, if improved, leads nearer to heaven, if rejected leads further toward hell; in the rejection there is a wilful stifling of an affection furnished by the LORD'S Providence, which might have been nourished into spiritual life, or into that which is the precursor of spiritual life.
     Every day of our lives our knowledges of the truth give us opportunities for resisting inclinations to harm or neglect our uses. If we fail to keep the hearing of our spirit alert to hear such summons-if we defer till that indefinite time when we instinctively hope to be able to do what we ought without a real sacrifice of the pleasantness of unregenerate loves-if we wait for just the right feeling-we are callousing our spirits to heavenly influences, habituating ourselves to a sphere of life which is profane: for the presence of that spiritual sphere which accompanies the truth and which urges us to enter into its protection and living power, gives us an opportunity,-to reject which tends to produce spiritual paralysis. And this is the tendency of "waiting for feeling."     G. G. S.
DISEASES OF THE FIBRES 1898

DISEASES OF THE FIBRES       Editor       1898

CATARRH AND RHEUMATISM.

     553.     CATAREK is a disease originating for the most part in the cerebrum; for it is manifestly felt that there takes place a collection and inundation of a certain inclosed humor, sluggish, stagnant, pressing, changing place and, as it were, squirming, especially in the sinciput, and besides that elsewhere between the ethmoid crest and the lateral processes of the dura mater, which I distinguish the cerebrum from the cerebellum. A dull pain, as also a pricking one, is sometimes noticed; insensibility also follows, especially dullness and languidity of taste and smell, uncertain and delayed determination of the will and actions, loss of memory, and many things which are the effects of the keenness of the internal senses being blunted and dulled.

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After a time it is usual that the pituitous matter is thinned and dissipated, and, following the leading of the nerves by many ways, is cast out; then it is customary to call it simple rheumatism.
     554.     Catarrh, properly speaking, is a collection of pituitous and mucous ichor, secreted between the dura and pia meninges of the cerebrum, from the arteries of the former if not from those of both. It is also believed to be between the cortical folds or under the pia meninx, as also in the interstices of the medullary substance; but the catarrhal lymph does not penetrate so far; for, lest the lymph which is collected between the meninges should penetrate, it is held back by the opposing arachnoid tunic and by the pia meninx; besides that this lymph is more sluggish and is, as it were, a mucus. Meanwhile the dura mater, which is an elastic and reactive suspensory, is continually erected and relaxed as often as the cerebrum rises (intumescit) and falls (detuneseit), thus the collected ichor is pressed and driven about, and indeed, the structure directing, towards the cribriform plate; for every motion of the cerebrum tends and is determined thither as to its own fulcrum; wherefore ichorous collections seek this place as their own asylum, which is the cause that it is usual for them to be constantly directed into the cavities of the nostrils. Lest this way should become obstructed, it is quite usual for sneezing to be excited, which is the forerunner of catarrh; for thus wandering liquids are dispersed, and the ways to the exits formed by nature are cleared. For it is known that the innumerable fibrils of the olfactory nerve covered about by the pia as also by the dura meninr, pass through the foramina of the cribriform plate, and insinuate themselves in the cavities of the nostrils, and spread themselves around through the mucous membrane; between these two meninges constantly lie open little interstices in the foramina, which little interstices indeed are observed to be stopped up in collapsed and dead brains, and indeed- as also Vicussens testifies-so that not even a little drop of the injection* could be forced through; but it is otherwise in living and wakeful brains, while all things are expanded, erect, and distinct, and at one and the same time in continual reciprocal motion-the very fibrils also by turns compressing themselves,-then the passage cannot but lie open; which experience not only confirms but demonstrates before the sense. Who does not feel the pituitous collection, from its very weight, pressure and pain, and from its very outflow through the nostrils and fauces. It happens that there is no other passage of unburdening from the brain than into the nostrils or into the nerves; both of these things experience also teaches. The cranium itself is everywhere impervious, nor is it open except by the arteries, veins and nerves; such is also the case with the dura mater; nor are veins which absorb found except in the direction of the sinuses of the contracted (conjectoe**) dura mater. In this catarrhal state of the brain the coarse meninx is for the most part somewhat relaxed, sometimes also it is thickened, and the underlying arachnoid tunic and the pia mater, with their arteries, are pressed by the interjacent fluid (uligine); thus the liquor is driven all about, the cerebrum meanwhile keeping up its sistole and diastole, and, indeed, as was said, naturally towards the cribriform plate, otherwise towards the other angles of the cranium, where the nerves go forth and the fascicles of the fibres unite themselves together under a common sheath, or the dura mater; thus, also, this loosened mucosity can be derived towards the nerves, but it is a deviation; wherefore, as the lot and animus of the cerebrum impels, it is determined into the motor nerves of the eye, or also into the third, fourth, and fifth pair of the head, or into the auditory, or into the gustatory nerves, thus into the ears, tongue, gums, jaws, and face; indeed, also, into the shoulders, arms, hips, and other parts of the thorax, or abdomen, whither, indeed, the nearest or more open way leads; likewise towards the spinal marrow, for at the back part of the great foramen of the head lies open a passage between the dura and pia mater; and successively, according to the connection of the same causes, between the fascicles of the fibres going forth through the spine, and, consequently, a similar wave is derived by the nerves into every region and part of the body. If this derivation is by the great intercostal nerve directly into the contexture of the lungs, suffocating catarrh arises, which is also called cardiac syncope; for the epiglottis and windpipe (arteria aspera) are closed; but if it is into the costal muscles and the others of the thorax, inspiration labors as inparaphrenitis; if it is towards the loins it is called rheumatic lumbago; if into the hip it is called hip,*** or ischiatic rheumatism; the very difficulty of moving one's self is called sciatica; it is, as it were, a formication pricking the senses; thus, according to the places into which this lymph is directed, the disease is named, and turns out more or less dangerous. The glands especially, as the parotids, the sublingual, and others, as also the ganglia into which many nerves flow together, are inundated; whence also there is hoarseness of the voice, or even aphony. Yea, whither such ichor has been two or three times directed, thereafter the same way is pressed, as though opened and cleaned. The quality and quantity of the ichor is especially to be observed, then also the sensibility of the part into which it flows; as, whether it is into the membranes and muscles of the fibre of the cerebrum, or of the fibre of the cerebellum; all of which is very well known from the seat, quality and quantity of the disease, of the pain, of the danger, by benefiting by the knowledge of anatomy.
     * Referring to the fluid which dissectors inject into the vessels and tissues, to exhibit more clearly the structures under examination.
     ** We understand conjecta here to mean drawn together like the mouth of a bag-ED.
     *** The editor would here like to coin the word coxic, of or pertaining to the cora or hip: Coxic rheumatism.
     555.     The causes of the secretions and catarrhal flux between the meninges of the cerebrum are many. The proximate cause is from the arteries of the dura mater, perchance also from the rest of its filaments; for the dura mater when compressed continually distils considerable mucus. It does not appear probable that secretion takes place from the arteries of the pin meninx, for they creep in this duplicature, and moisture (sudor) immediately between the folds of the cerebrum, is drawn forth thence. But the causes of the secretions are obstructions and inflammations; in the body, for instance, obstructions of accustomed evacuations, as by the bowels, the womb, sweats, effluvia, and hemorrhoids; for the retention itself demands that the serosities may be thrown off elsewhere. But the causes of the obstructions are many; they are especially temperature, the animus, changes of the air, cold and heat, food and drink; especially such changes in those members which are approached by many fibres of the cerebrum, as in the soles of the feet and in the muscles of the occiput; even in the skull itself, for cold itself penetratea the pores and sutures of the skull and closes the communicating passages, and the very veins, which in large numbers break through by the sutures and elsewhere; thus the ways of unburdening for the little vessels and cords (funicutis) of the dura mater.

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There also occur causes in the cerebrum itself, as, for instance, too great compression of the arteries of the meninx, their hindered unburdening through the nostrils, too great inclination to sleep, and lack of care, laxness of the animus and mind, as also intentness; for laxness causes the cruder parts to be drawn down towards the cerebrum,-intentness, the exits by the sutures of the skull and into the veins, to be closed.
     556.     There are many species of catarrh, as many, indeed, as are the determinations into the glandules, muscles, sensory organs, members, and viscera of the body; then especially they are as many as are the species of serosity in the blood. The serum itself derives its nature from common food-namely, what is taken through the fauces and carried in the stomach; from atmospheric food which is drawn in with the respiration, and which passes by the cuticles into the veins; from food still purer transpiring by the most subtle pores. The red and the purer blood is impregnated by all of them. There are foods, exhalations, and vapors which agree more or less with the blood-thus dangerous and deadly when they defile the blood, the whole brain and body meanwhile striving and urging, as if enemies were being rejected and expelled; thence arises a conflict, and a battle is fought for the arena-that is, the vessel, or the blood. From this cause also arises the secretion, whence is catarrh or the more malignant rheumatism, and when it breaks forth it is more grievous, whence arises excruciating pain and colic (tormina). This is the reason why the catarrh of one region is more dangerous than that of another; indeed, it is frequently common for a single species to reign for a stated time; and it attacks those with whose blood it disagrees; for there are some very subtle exhalations arising from certain sources in the earth, from the ocean, from the clouds, from pestiferous diseases, I and from the change of the weather, which infect the' air or ether, and thus the above-mentioned atmosphoric food.
CORRECTIONS MADE FROM THE PHOTOTYPED DIARIUM IN THE LATIN TEXT OF DR. TAFEL 1898

CORRECTIONS MADE FROM THE PHOTOTYPED DIARIUM IN THE LATIN TEXT OF DR. TAFEL       T. F. WRIGHT       1898

     III.

     THROUGH the continued kindness of Mr. C. Vinet the following corrections may be made by owners of the Diarium:
     231 (l. next last), for rationanti read aliquantum.
     231 (last line), for spritu et corpore read spirituale et coeleste.
     239 (title), for afficiat read afficit.
     255 (l. 27), for sensibilium read sensitivus.
     289 1/2 (l. 12), for par read pars.
     290 (l. 1), for consociantes read consocientque.
     301 (l. 14), for cogitet read cogitare.
     308 (title), for circumferri read curru ferri.
     323 (l. 2), for possunt read possint.
     323 (l. 3), suppress eum before qui.
     323 (l. 4), suppress ut before e cadavere.
     327 (l. 15), for pracipitationes read palpitationes.
     327 (l. 8), for visum read viscus.
     362 (l. 3), for sibi read se.
     365 (l. 9), for quidam read quidem.
     367 (title), for inde flumen significat read unde flumen si qui sinat.
     371 (l. 1), for fieret read foret.
     379 (title), for quare read quamvis.
     381 (l. 13), semicolon after prius; et before simile.
     386 (l. 10), for daretur read ducitur.
     387 (l. 2), for comites read comitem.
     396 (l. next to last), vuwar is clearly wrong.
     396 (l. 6), for formatur read formatus
     396 (l. 13), for fiunt read simul.
     398 (l. 6), for habent read trahunt.
     436 (l. 7), for recumbant read recumbunt.
     437 (l. 6), after sua insert vel.
     438 (last line), for quaerant read quaerat.
     439 (l. next last), remove comma after infernalis.
     444 (l. 1), for factum read facta.
     843 (l. 3), for altis read alteri.
     895 (l. 12), for testatum est read testata eat.
     909 (l. 9), for habent read habentes.
     927 (l. 8), semicolon after second infra.
     1080 (l. 2), for alba read albe.
     1083 (last line), for cuidam read cuiquam.

     As before, some of these changes simply improve the sense by rendering it more clear, but others give the sense for the first time. In n. 327 Dr. Tafel read praecipitationes cordis, and the English translator has "sensible precipitations [of the motion] of the heart [palpitations]," and now we see at once that Swedenborg wrote palpitationes cordis. In the same number he was made to say " mouth and sight,"-of receiving something into his body; but what he said was "mouth and stomach." In the title of n. 308 the word currus, "a chariot," was written and twice used below. Dr. Tafel made it so in the section, but in the title he put circumferri- "carried about" in the English translation-mistaking curru for circum, although he read curru in the section.
     T. F. WRIGHT,

Secretary Manuscript Committee.
MONOPHYSITES-OLD AND NEW 1898

MONOPHYSITES-OLD AND NEW       C. TH. O       1898

IT has often been remarked that the New Church has been or will be visited by new forms of every ancient heresy that once infested and helped to destroy the primitive Christian Church. The history of the New Church can thus recount visits from various gnostical spirits, Simonians, Docetae, Manichicans, and others of that gentry, Ebionites, Redemptionists, and what not, disguised as respectable "Swedenborgians." Though making a good deal of noise for a while, their visits have fortunately been quite brief, the New Jerusalem not affording a very congenial ground for their operations. Of even briefer duration, we hope, will be the visit of those neo-monophysite spirits who have recently made their bow to the New Church public in the article on "The LORD'S Temptations" in the October issue of The New Church Review.
     The ancient Monophysites were the followers of Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople (x about 440 i. D.), and of Eutyches, a priest in the same city (x about 450 A. D.), both of whom protested against the "orthodox" heresy that the LORD eternally possesses two distinct natures, one human and the other Divine, but who, while thus protesting, fell into the other heresy of teaching that the LORD, even while on earth, possessed but one nature, the Divine, and that, therefore, "God was born ""God was tempted and crucified," and "God died" and rose again. While thus reacting against the adopted tritheism they undermined the whole doctrine of the Redemption, and were therefore branded as "Monophysites" (one-nature-ists) and condemned as rank heretics.

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     It seems to have been some of these ancient Monophysites who have infested the writer of the article in the Review, for his reasonings leave little or nothing of what was "human nature" with the LORD during His life on earth, and similarly leave little or nothing of the same nature with those disciples of the LORD who may have attained to any degree of regeneration in this life. In effect he reduces the number of these to a vanishing point, and only adds to the burdens and discouragements of those who may be struggling with the rebellious old proprium.
     Starting out with the laudable intention of removing some common misconceptions as to the nature of spiritual temptations, the writer, the Rev. W. L. Gladish, first corrects the gross error, prevalent in the world, that the mere allurement to evil constitutes temptation itself, and next proceeds to show that even the conscious battle against gross carnal sins does not by itself constitute any spiritual temptation, but that this battle is on a higher or more interior plane. Thus far no well-read Newt Churchman will differ with him; but he next takes us through a series of more and more questionable statements, until at last he brings us face to face with a totally false and mischievous conclusion. We are told that "the suggestion, half received, to lie, or cheat, or steal," is not temptation-that "there can be temptation-combats without inclination toward evil-doing"-that there is no possibility of spiritual temptations being induced by an incitation and inclination to do a wrong deed"-that "refusing to lie and steal and commit adultery are prerequisites of spiritual life, but are not part of the growth of that life," and that he who should "entertain" (by which, in the light of the context, he means "experience") the desire to do such evils, "has not attained to the threshold of a life where spiritual temptations are possible."
     Surely, this is stretching the true doctrine of the New Jerusalem! Granted that "spiritual temptations sometimes exist without natural temptations," are not the Writings true when teaching that they" sometimes exist with them"? (A. C. 8164). Is not the allurement to evil the beginning and thus a constituent part of every temptation? Mr. Gladish would concede this, we know, but he maintains that these allurements or suggestions can, never, in spiritual temptations, be directed towards actual sins, or evil deeds. He would determine the nature of the temptation by the quality of the tempter, thus from without, by an external measure: the temptation being merely natural (and therefore no real temptation), if excited by some gross devil or affection which tends to lead man into some gross immorality, but internal or spiritual if the tempter insinuates himself upon some more interior plane, exciting some internal affection of evil.
     But the quality of temptations is not to be thus determined, but from within, from the quality of the resistance, from the nature and degree of the conscience from which and by which man fights in the temptation. It is the conscience of man which alone is assaulted by hell. A man who has no conscience whatever cannot be tempted at all. A man who has a merely worldly conscience, formed by nothing but civil and moral truths, cannot undergo spiritual temptations. But if a man has a spiritual conscience, formed by internal truths and affections, then only can he suffer spiritual and real temptations. For "all temptation is severe in proportion to the greatness of the love which is assaulted" (A. C. 1690).
     Thus we learn that "spiritual temptations exist only with those who have received a conscience of truth and good from the LORD; conscience itself being their plane in which they operate" (A. C. 762), and this conscience is qualified entirely by the quality of the truths and goods composing it. (A. C. 2053, 9114; T. C. R. 666; A. E. 376).
     To a man of such a spiritual conscience "whatever assaults his love of the neighbor presents torments of conscience, and this is spiritual temptation" (A. C. 847). Such, then, as his conscience is such will he the torments or anxieties, and such the temptation, "whatever" be the evil assaulting.
     To illustrate: one man may refuse even to think ill of his neighbor, and he may do this merely from inborn good nature, like a tame animal, or in order to preserve his self-respect; even an atheist may do this, but his refusal is not part of any spiritual temptation. Another man may suddenly be tempted to kilt his offending neighbor, but drive away the tempter because he acknowledges that the anger and hatred which lead to murder is a horrible sin against the LORD. When he has shunned this evil from a spiritual conscience, he has conquered in a spiritual temptation, has conquered spiritually and thence also naturally
     To teach that "refusing to lie and steal and commit adultery" are merely "prerequisites of spiritual life, but are not any part of the growth of that life" is virtually to say that the shunning of evils, of whatever kind they be, is not part of the regenerate life, or that regeneration cannot properly begin until the gross body, with its ever.gr6ss cupidities, is laid aside at death. How different such a teaching from the Heavenly Doctrine itself:
     "A man lives a moral life from a spiritual origin, when he lives it from religion; thus when he thinks [when he meets what is evil, insincere, and unjust], that he is not to act thus because it is against the Divine laws. He, because he abstains from doing them on account of the Divine laws, procures for himself spiritual life, and his moral life is then from this origin" (A. E. 195). Compare also the illustration concerning the repentant thief, in Divine Providence, No. 146.
     No man is responsible for the suggestions to evils, of whatever kind they be, which hell may at any time infuse into infirm human nature. Such suggestions and allurements, gross or refined, will come up throughout a man's life and infest him like flies on a summer's day. And such suggestions may stir up affections of the old proprium, even late in the life of the regenerating man, tempting him to actual sins of a grossly carnal nature. But is he to blame himself on account of the evil nature of hell? Is he to sink into despair, confirming himself in the thought that his whole life-struggle has been in vain-that he has not yet attained even to the "prerequisites of spiritual life"-simply because some horrid demon has been permitted to show his face and to stir up some affection of the old proprium? Nay, but he is to resist this evil, from his spiritual conscience, even as he would resist more internal or subtle affections of evil; and especially must he chase away the suggestion to despair, as an infestation from hell (A. C. 8910).
     Mr. Gladish himself quotes the teaching that "the evil spirits frame to themselves an affection out of the falsities and infirmities appertaining to man, and that by this affection they make the assault upon the spiritual love of man" (A. C. 1820). But this affection is of course "framed" out of materials taken from the old proprium, the old will, which, even with the regenerate, remains infernal, though subdued. And in that will there will ever remain not only the tendency to interior evils, but the allurement toward evil deeds of all kinds, for "the will and the deed are not at variance; . . . the deed is in the will, and the will in the deed" (A. C. 8911).

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"That which a man wills, he does when he is able; for the deed is nothing but the will acting" (A. E. 440); and though the internal man of the regenerate does not will anything that is evil, yet the old will, where the devil dwells, continues to will nothing but evil deeds. Without the hope of leading man into actual sin, the devil would have no pleasure in tempting him. The man himself may not, indeed, be conscious of any allurement to external sin, yet it is to sin that all evil affections tend as to their sole end and object. Thus, regarding all evil as one in essence, we may see that there can he no temptation-combats without any inclination to evil doing.
     On the foundation of these misconceptions of human temptations, the article in the Review builds up a new and unwarranted theory of the nature of the LORD'S temptations while in the human. "Can we then imagine," it queries, "that the temptations of Him who was born celestial-spiritual were allurements to commit actual sinful deeds of all kinds?" "The LORD, instead of being born into the love of evil and falsity was born into the love which is Jehovah Himself, and evil and falsity were only adjoined to Him. How then could His temptations be the desire to possess or rule over the kingdoms of the world unlawfully, or to commit any actual sin? His love was the love of men, not the love of self. His temptations were never inclinations to favor Himself at the expense of those He came to save."
     Having previously shown the Old Church notion, of the mere allurement to evil being the temptation itself; to be utterly inadmissible, the writer is certainly inconsistent in continuing the above terminology. What he seems to mean to say is that the LORD'S temptations did not consist in combating any allurements to external evil deeds, such desires never arising in the tempted human. He holds, therefore, that the LORD'S temptations were only "such doubts, perplexities, and anxieties as were induced by evil spirits concerning the possibility of so purifying the assumed human nature as to bring the Divine to bear upon men through it with sufficient power to make it possible for all to be saved."
      This remarkable limitation the writer seeks to establish by assuming that the pre-natal influences of the Divine Soul upon the human body which it was" weaving for itself" in the virgin were so potent and active, even before the birth of the human, that, when born, the LORD "began life," as a man on earth, "at a stage that a man reaches only after he is thoroughly confirmed in the regenerate life."
     Here, then, reappear the essential errors of Patripassianism and Monophysitism; for if the maternal human was born regenerate, or so glorified as to be unassailable by ultimate evil,-if this maternal human was not born into the love of evil and falsity like any other son of a human mother, then was He born Divine also as to the human-then was the work of Redemption essentially accomplished before he was born; and then is the whole doctrine of the Glorification a mere chimera.
     The writer seems to misunderstand the teaching that the "LORD was born a celestial-spiritual man," as if this meant that the human, before birth, had been actually regenerated or glorified to that degree by conscious temptation-combats. If that were true, and the writer's chain of reasoning correct, then the maternal human must, while in the womb, have experienced all those allurements to actual evil, all those tendencies to lying and cheating and adultery, which, according to his view, must be put down in order to attain to the mere prerequisites of spiritual life. But this is manifestly absurd, and is quite contrary to the general teaching that the last temptations of the LORD were the most severe, because, while most internal, they were at the same time most ultimate.
     Space forbids our dwelling further on this subject at present. We would merely present the following teachings of the Heavenly Doctrines for the consideration of all concerned:
     "Now, because God descended, and because He is Order itself, in order that he also might become man actually, He could not but be conceived, carried in the womb, be brought forth, educated and successively learn knowledges, and by them he introduced into intelligence and wisdom, wherefore, as to the Human, He was an infant as an infant, a boy as a boy, etc., with this sole difference, that He perfected that progression sooner, more fully, and more perfectly than others" (T. C. R. 89).
     "They who do not know that the Divine Omnipotence proceeds and operates according to order may hatch out of their fancy many things opposite and contradictory to sound reason as why God did not assume the Human immediately, . . . why he did not infuse into the embryo itself, or into Himself as an infant, all His Divine, etc., . . . and thus they may fill the Church with absurdities and trifles, as has also been done" (T. C. R. 90).
     "The LORD was, not born justice as to the human essence, but became justice by temptation-combats and victories. . . . He could not become justice otherwise than by temptations and by victories over all evils, and over all the hells" (A. C. 1813).
     "So long as he was in the human from the mother, He was not Life in itself as to the human" (Ath. Creed. 130).
     "He retained the Infirm while he was in the world, because in no other way could He be tempted, and least of all on the cross; there the whole maternal was expelled" (Ath. Creed. 192).
     "No one can undergo temptations unless evil adheres to him; he who has no evil cannot have the least of temptation, for it is evil which the evil spirits excite. With the LORD there was no actual or proper evil, as there is with all men, but only hereditary evil from the mother" (A. C. 1444).
     "In short from His earliest childhood to the last hour of His life in the world, the LORD was assaulted by all the Hells" (A. C. 1690).
     "His having borne the sins of all signifies that when tempted He admitted into Himself all the Hells; for thence ascend all sins or evils" (A. E. 328-5; compare A. C. 1542 and 1690).
     To sum up, it was the LORD'S Divine love of man that was assaulted, but it was the love of self and the love of the world, inherent in the maternal human, that made the assault. This love was that "mountain," from which the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world, exciting in the human the Jewish love of dominion. It was against this love, not outside of, but within His human nature, that he fought, and which, after the most intense "allurements," He finally expelled (A. C. 1691).
     Paul, therefore, taught the truth when teaching that the LORD "took on Him the seed of Abraham; wherefore in all, things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren . . . for in that He Himself hath suffered, being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. ii, 16-18; iv, 15). C. TH. O.

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ANTIQUITY OF EVIL ANIMALS AND OF MAN 1898

ANTIQUITY OF EVIL ANIMALS AND OF MAN       Editor       1898

     As these notes are a continuation of a paper on the "Antiquity of Evil Animals" which appeared in the September and October numbers of Life, I premise a careful consideration of the arguments adduced in that paper, which arguments may be briefly summarized as follows:
     1. Revelation teaches that "Evil uses have not been created by the LORD but originated together with hell;" and that in the beginning everything was "very good.''
     2. Geology teaches that in Europe and North America scorpions (expressly mentioned in D. L. W. 338, as deriving their existence through hell) are found in carboniferous rocks (the "Coal Period" of popular geology), while not the faintest trace of man has been found below the tertiary strata.
     3. Both Revelation and Science teach that it is impossible man could have been created until the highest point of development in the animal and vegetable kingdoms had been reached, so that we are debarred from assuming man to have been created before the tertiary period.
     4. It follows, therefore, that at the time those localities in which the fossil scorpions are found had attained only to the carboniferous stage, man and the higher, tertiary forms had already appeared in another part of the world; that there was a nucleus of life on the earth and that the degrees in the geological scale, which in a vertical section of the earth's crust appear in successive order, existed in the beginning in simultaneous order, the organic world being, as it were, shaded off from a central area.
     The most obvious objection to this inference is the very great antiquity of the human race which it involves. I am aware that to most minds the theory will appear preposterous and that, even to those Newchurchmen who can appreciate the force of the a priori argument on which it is based, it must appear incredible that man can have witnessed the great geological changes which have occurred since the formation of the carboniferous rocks of some parts of Europe and North America. A few suggestions with a view to the removal of this difficulty will therefore probably be found useful. There are other objections, but I propose at present only to deal with the following questions, which will naturally occur to readers of my previous paper.
     (1) Are we warranted in assuming man to have existed during those millions of years which most geologists would declare have elapsed since the burial of the carboniferous scorpions?
     (2) Where is that nuclear region of tertiary character which witnessed the creation of man?
     (3) Assuming questions 1 and 2 to be satisfactorily answered, ought it not to be expected that the increase in population during long ages would cause a gradual, extension of the human race away from the scene of, creation into other districts of a lower grade character? In other words, granting the synchronism of tertiary and carboniferous formations, ought not human remains to be found in secondary or even primary rocks?
     In answer to the first question, I can only say that1 there is absolutely no means yet known by which past geological processes can be measured in years, thought there have of course been many speculations on the subject. In the early days of geology (owing no doubt to the influence of erroneous traditions) men were per. I haps somewhat parsimonious in their dealings with past time; but more recently and especially since the general acceptance of Darwinism (with its insatiable demands, reaching to a practically illimitable past) the tendency is all in the other direction. Lord Kelvin estimated that the consolidation of the earth's crust can hardly have occurred less than twenty or more than four hundred millions of years ago. These very wide limits show how unreliable are the data on which such calculations are based, but taking the lesser figure as probably the more correct, the greater portion of that period may have been occupied by the formation of the pre-Cambrian rocks. Of the fossil-bearing strata, although no doubt some have been formed very slowly, others have been formed very rapidly indeed, as is evident from the perfect preservation of some of the imbedded organic remains.* Any endeavor to arrive at the age of a formation by geological operations now going on is evidently misdirected, for few would deny that in bygone ages the physical activities of the globe must have been very much greater and more rapid than now.
     In any event, however, we have to assume a very great antiquity, which a million of years probably will not cover, for these carboniferous scorpions, and therefore a greater antiquity for the human race.
     In comparison with such ages, what are the most ancient events of secular history? Six thousand or seven thousand years have elapsed since the building of the Pyramids and the foundation of Thebes, but there are proofs of man's existence at a much earlier date. Says Monsieur Joly (Man before Metals), "What we know with certainty is that European man was contemporaneous with the extinct species of the quaternary epoch, that he witnessed the upheaval of the Alps and the extension of the glaciers-in a word, that he lived for thousands of years before the dawn of the remotest historical traditions."
     M. Joly and many other authorities claim that there are flint implements, proving the existence of man in the tertiary periods of Europe, and Mr. A. R. Wallace (Tropical Nature) thinks we should look low down in the tertiary series and in the tropical East for primeval man.
     As, from the presence of carboniferous scorpions, we are forced to conclude that at the time of the fall some parts of Europe were still in the carboniferous stage, we cannot look upon these European Flint-workers of tertiary times as primitive men. They probably represent the outskirts of humanity in the Second great Epoch of the race, when the centre of civilization was the Ancient or Spiritual Church. For it is to be noted that in the Writings, although that Church is said to have spread over many countries, including the greater part of Asia, yet the Holy Land is the only part of the now habitable world mentioned as being the home of the Most Ancient or Celestial people (Coronis 39; Arcana Coelestia 567).
     If we regard European tertiary man as belonging to the Second Epoch of humanity, we must attribute to that epoch a very much greater duration than to any subsequent Church, and it is, I think, logical to assume a still greater duration for the Most Ancient Church. Revelation deals always with states, never with time, but it is obvious that, from a chronological point of view, the record contained in the first few chapters of Genesis is compressed out of all proportion to the subsequent sacred histories.

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The fall of the Most Ancient people, seeing that evil was then in its infancy, must have been a very slow process, covering probably a greater period of time than the histories of all the following races put together. Any objection raised merely against the great antiquity of man, can have no foundation in fact and may be disposed of as being based simply on preconceived and erroneous ideas.
     But there is a more serious objection to the theory advocated, and that is, that the enormous period allotted to the Most Ancient people involves the existence of a huge population, of which it may be justly said we ought to find some trace. Before, however, considering this point, we must endeavor to arrive at some conclusion as to that central area of the earth before alluded to, the cradle of the human race.
     In answer then, to the second question proposed, it is stated in A. C. 567 that the Most Ancient people inhabited the land of Canaan. It is not stated that man was created in the land of Canaan, but we probably ought to assume that his birthplace was, if not in that land, then in some country not far off and having a continuous land connection therewith. It seems reasonable to suppose (although of course it is only a supposition) that that district which produced man was the most favorable to the development of life generally and witnessed also the creation of the first and lowliest forms. Scientists generally look to the north polar region for the origin of life, considering that that part of the world would be the first to possess a temperature compatible with the existence of living beings. But there are other considerations besides temperature; the degree of light is, at any rate, equally important.
     If, however, we look upon the Holy Land as being part of that nuclear region before mentioned, we necessarily assume that no evil animals have been or will be found there below the tertiary formations. Such a discovery would of course demand considerable modification of the view above expressed, if it did not altogether disprove it; but, so far as I have been able to ascertain, no such remains have been discovered. I would refer those wishing for information on this subject to a paper on the" Geology of Palestine," by Professor W. H. Huddleston, in the Proceedings of the Geological Association (London), 1883, which contains a summary of all that is known up to that date. I cannot find that any- thing of importance has been discovered since then. Of course the physical geography of Canaan was no doubt very different in the Most Ancient times to what it is now. For example, there is a tertiary strip some twenty miles wide bordering the Mediterranean, and we may assume that the whole of this deposit has been recovered from the sea since the close of the Most Ancient era.
     At some future time, when the science of animal physiognomy has been well studied and when geological knowledge has greatly increased, it will be an interesting task to trace out that portion of the earth where the pre-tertiary formations are free from the imprint of evil. I say "pre-tertiary" because, as already pointed out, the highest form could not have been created until it had been led up to by an orderly succession of lower forms. Man, therefore, could not have appeared before the highest vegetable and animal forms, and the appearance of such forms on any plane of the geological scale would stamp it as, at the earliest, tertiary. But the land of Canaan with its extension, forming such a tract of geological purity, would be found to be a comparatively small area, and have therefore to consider the third question proposed at the commencement of this paper.
     It may with good reason be objected that if such a length of time as has been indicated be allotted to the Most Ancient people, they must be assumed to have spread beyond the confines of Palestine, and that we ought to find traces of them (supposing tertiary forms in Palestine to be contemporaneous with secondary and primary areas in Europe) in strata very much lower than the tertiary. That they did not migrate into Europe and Asia was, I assume, because large portions [of those continents were at that period under the ocean. This is a belief for which (as we shall see) there is good geological warranty.
     Not only by the higher forms of life can we distinguish the tertiary strata of any locality but by distinctive forms among the lower organisms. There is a very humble little marine animal (one of the foraminifera) called "Nummulites" from the supposed resemblance of its shell to a coin. A great authority on these little creatures says: "There are few time marks in the geological record that hove been regarded as better established or more definite than the first appearance of the nummulite at or near the commencement of the tertiary epoch."
     Though scarcely anything** is known of them antecedently to the tertiary strata, they occur then in such prodigious numbers that their shells form great masses of limestone several thousand feet thick, and become an important constituent of many of the great mountain ranges. In Western Thibet they are found at an elevation of sixteen thousand five hundred feet above the level of the sea.

     Sir Charles Lyell comments as follows:

     When we have once arrived at the conviction that the nummulitic formation occupies a middle and upper place in the Eocene series we are struck with the comparatively modern date to which some of the greatest revolutions in the physical geography of Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa must be referred. All the mountain chains, such as the Alps, Pyrenees, Carpathians, and Himalayas, into the composition of whose central and loftiest parts the nummuhitic strata enter bodily, could have had no such altitude till after the middle Eocene period. During that period the sea mainly prevailed where these chains now rise, for nummulites were unquestionably inhabitants of salt water.

     It will be seen, therefore, that those who believe in the existence of tertiary man cannot consistently demur to the assumption that the upheaval of the Thibetan plateau from the depths of the ocean to its present great altitude took place subsequent to the creation of the human race.

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     On the principle of homotaxis, however, there is no reason why we should assume that the upheaval of Central Asia and the upheaval of the Alps were conteniporaneous events, or even approximately so, any more than there is for assuming that the chalk of which Palestine mainly consists is of the same age as that of Britain. I look upon the chalk of Palestine to be immeasurably older than that of Britain, as the latter is older than the chalk now forming in the Atlantic; and the upheaval of Central Asia I regard as an event much more ancient than that of the Alps.
     But the upheaval of the great table-land of Asia must have been accompanied by a corresponding depression somewhere else. If we suppose that the nummulites which are found 16,500 feet above the sea lived, like most of their modern relatives, at a depth of about 2,000 feet below the surface of the sea, we have a change of level of over 18,000 feet (3,000 fathoms). Look now at a map giving the depth of the sea, and you will find that a corresponding change of level in the bed of the Indian Ocean would bring to the surface an area of land which would amply suffice for the habitation of the people of the Most Ancient race, notwithstanding the long period during which they existed.
     I again quote from that valuable work, Heilprin's Distribution of Animals:

     The presence of Lemurs on the Island of Madagascar, the continent of Africa and Southern India (with Ceylon) has led some naturalists to the conclusion that at one time direct land connection existed between the several regions, an assumption that is by some naturalists considered to be further borne out by other equally well marked faunal characteristics. To this supposed formerly existing land mass of the Indian Ocean, which, if it ever existed, may or may not be represented by the sunken "Chagos Banks" and the outlying islands, such as the Sey Chelles, Laccadives, and Maldives, the name of "Lemuria" has been given. . . It is here that by some anthropologists has been located the most ancient abode of man.

     It is worthy of note, too, that (according to Mr. A. P. Sinet's Esoteric Buddhism) there is a Buddhist tradition of the former existence of a continent where now is the Indian Ocean.
     May we not, then, look upon the Most Ancient people as inhabiting a great continent, of which the Holy Land was a northerly continuation; that at the end of the first great epoch almost the whole of this continent sunk beneath the sea, its inhabitants being totally destroyed by' a great inundation or flood, and that that subsidence' was accompanied by a corresponding upheaval of the bed of the Northern ocean to form the continent of Asia, the home of the Second or Spiritual race of mankind? Thus, that these gigantic convulsions of nature were correspondent with and the outbirth of that great spiritual change-the transition from the Celestial to the Spiritual-which marked the close of the first chapter in the history of humanity.
     * Speaking of the reptiles of the Lias, Dr. Buckland says "Scarcely a hone or scale has been removed from the place it occupied during life, which could not have happened had the uncovered bodies of these saurians been left even for a few hours exposed to putrefaction and to the attacks of fishes and other, smaller animals at the bottom of the sea."
     ** A few specimens have been found in the Jurassic rocks of Franconia, and the Carboniferous of Belgium. Now, on the theory here advocated-i. e., that these strata were probably contemporaneous with the tertiary nummulites of other countries-there is nothing at all extraordinary in this fact; but on the generally accepted views of geologists it is a very surprising circumstance indeed. Professor Heilprin says: "It is almost inconceivable, whichever way it be considered, that a group of animals so extensively developed as are the nummuhites in the tertiary deposits, should have left practically no traces of' their existence behind them in the deposits next preceding the tertiary, the cretaceous, when their ancestry dates as far back as the carboniferous epoch. It is scarcely possible that at no period of time between the carboniferons and tertiary epochs should the conditions for their development have been favorable; and equally improbable does it appear that if such development actually did take place, we should so thoroughly lose sight of their remains. Granting the absolutely unfavorable conditions, however, can it be readily imagined that a few miserable forms, evolved at an entirely unpropitious moment, should have battled through the struggle for existence to develop after an interval of millions of years? The case is certainly very extraordinary and probably has no parallel in the history of paleontology."
Notes and Reviews 1898

Notes and Reviews       Editor       1898

     THE Annals of the New Church for November (No. 6) covers the period from 1791 to 1799. We note, among other interesting items, a quotation from the letter of Mr. Roger Bernet to the Aurora, on "The two classes of readers which are to be found in all parts of the New Church," the one class holding "that the Writings of the New Church are the very Word of God," the other class maintaining that Swedenborg was not inspired, but only "illuminated."
     The subjects of the illustrations are Rev. Manoah Sibley; the Temple in East Peter Street, Manchester; Rev. William Hill, and Rev. John Hargrove. We notice an improvement in the matter of typographical errors.



     THE November New Philosophy opens with an editorial on the ever-important subject of The Nature of Discrete Degrees, setting forth that of necessity the activities of the sun, and of its derived creations, must be traced to something discretely higher than matter. What we should have been glad to see is a further explanation of the origin of matter from spirit. That it (matter) is "composed or formed by conglobations, aggregations, and compositions of spiritual substances," accords with our authoritative teachings, but we imagine that many-like ourselves- would be glad to have removed, if possible, the appearance of continuity with matter suggested by "conglobations" and "aggregations." Will any one help to throw light on this point?
     The number contains, also, the editor's paper, "The Influence of Science on Theological Thought," read at the recent Michigan Association meeting. This should constitute a very useful New Church Missionary document in the fields of both science and theology.
NEW "PSALMODY." 1898

NEW "PSALMODY."       Editor       1898

"SING UNTO JEHOVAH, SING PSALMS UNTO HIM."

               (From Morning Light.)

     BY the publication of A Psalmody for the New Church the New Church is put into possession, probably for the first time, of a continuous musical work of considerable magnitude. It has been prepared, as stated in the preface, "for the Ness Church," "being based upon a recognition of the fact, that in the Word of God there is an internal sense in the understanding of which the Church is to be." The Sacred Scripture being also a holy plain where man and angel meet for mutual aid, the Psalms may be regarded, both in reading and singing, as the most frequent meeting-place of helpful communion, and therefore should hold a pre-eminent position in Divine Worship. The volume provides a version of the Psalms eminently suitable for singing, and, at the same time, introduces Swedenborg's Summary Exposition of the Internal Sense of the Psalms into public worship. The translators, keeping the exigency of the internal sense ever in mind, have not hesitated to forsake the phraseology with which the present generation is familiar, and to strike out a way of their own, endeavoring to present a more exact rendering of the original text-the basis and containant of the spiritual sense.
     Hitherto, new versions of the Psalms, not having this purpose, have sometimes been coldly received. Nor have improved translations always succeeded in superseding those which have become endeared to the worshipers. Hence the second of St Jerome's versions is still sung by the Roman Catholics, whereas his third translation is much more accurate. A similar example of this persistent clinging to the old form is seen in our National Church, where the smooth diction and evenly balanced phrases of the Prayer-book version of 1539 holds their own against the "Authorized" version of half a century later. The "Revised" version, with its designedly very few alterations, is, as far as the Psalms are concerned, little more than a testimony of England's (and America's) foremost Biblical scholars to the general correctness and grandeur of the version still "Authorized" to be read in churches. It goes without saying that in both versions the Bible is treated as literature only, and consequently is inadequate to the requirements of "Correspondences." In view of Swedenborg's Summary being now introduced into public worship, it is worthy of note that the "Revisers" have discarded the former summaries.

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     The translators of A Psalmody for the New Church have perhaps been wise in their chosen course of complete change. Mere verbal alterations are distressing in public worship-especially when spoken or sung. They are as so many stumbling-blocks in familiar paths. Hence the advantage of a style of composition not only unsuggestive of disturbing comparisons, but making the purpose and power of the work clearly seen and fully felt by the congregations.
     The inverted style of the Hebrew has here been adopted, a style fortunately lending itself well to effective musical treatment.
     This version is not destined for dusty shelves and occasional reference for critical comparison, but, being conjoined with music, should find its way into the affections of those who may have the privilege of becoming familiar with it in public worship and in the home circle.
     Mr. Whittington's many beautiful anthems, hymns, and chants-some of which are used in other sections of the Church-also his doxologies, responses and services for special occasions, raised pleasurable anticipations, which in the present continuous work are, happily amply fulfilled. The devotional spirit, so prominent a feature in his earlier compositions, is here also abundantly prominent.
     As with the translation, so with the musical treatment: it is new. In general effect it suggests a kind of anthem; but, unlike the music with which recent generations have been familiar, no repetitions of the words are indulged in. However ardently a beautiful phrase yearns for musical expression; and inspires a melody equally beautiful, the composer has not repeated it. This is felt at times to be an unfortunate restriction, although consistency of treatment and perhaps, reverent handling of the sacred text may demand it. Choral devices have been freely used for truthful expression and variety. Harmony frequently follows unison in easy sequence, while the alternation of male and female voices often occurs with marked effect. This alternation is especially welcome in the Psalms of greater length. Melodies in the major key occasionally re-enter in the minor with beautiful fitness. Optional solos also are introduced sparingly. Changes of time, so frequently rendered desirable by the varying emotions of the text, are skillfully accommodated with changes of melody.
     The use of various instruments in accompaniment to the singing has been kept in view in this Psalmody, as it was in the Temple at Jerusalem nearly three thousand years ago.
     Music then formed a most important feature in the public worship of the Jews. We read that "four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith" (1 Citron. xxiii, 5). About thirty-six different kinds are supposed to have been possessed by the Hebrews in the time of David and Solomon; about half that number are recorded in the Bible. No specimen, however, has come down to our time except the horn, which is still sounded at the Jewish New Year festivals. Yet, even this "a hophar" varies somewhat in shape in the different synagogues. What the other instruments were is matter for conjecture-which, perhaps, an advancing knowledge of the Science of Correspondences may in some measure assist.
     The "wind" and "stringed" instruments of the past -representing the continuous and non-continuous sounds respectively-have been very generally displaced by the organ, the varied stops of which, together with executive skill, represent in part and are made to suggest both classes. Should the organ alone satisfy the New Church? Present-day culture has prepared numbers of capable performers whose acquirements may he dedicated to Church uses, and those "skilled in music" will find delight in exercising their talents in A Psalmody for the New Church.
     In performance many of the numbers are remarkably easy. The composer has, however, not written down to the supposed requirements of the smallest congregations of the external New Church as we at present know it, but seems rather to have relied upon the increased musical culture of. the future, when the Woman tarrying in the wilderness, in the place prepared of God, shall have the wings of an eagle, and fly to her own place (A. E. 764). It may scarcely be necessary to mention the special musical treatment of individual Psalms, as our readers will be eager to make personal acquaintance with the volume; but Psalm ix may be singled out as illustrating the grand effect of voices in unison. Psalm xviii, presenting considerable variety, may he taken as a typical example with regard to symphony, accompaniment, and diversity of vocal devices. Psalm xxxi is another fine specimen of similar treatment. Psalm xxiii, to which, doubtless, every one would soon turn, is an instance of harmony throughout. The four parts flow peacefully on with happy freedom and abiding affection from beginning to end; the music being twice momentarily interrupted by the spoken lines of the Summary if, or when, read by the minister.
     Besides Psalms i to l, the volume contains thirty-nine Selections from the Word, thirteen being from the Apocalypse. Many of these numbers are of exceptional I beauty, and, when known, should be warmly welcomed by the churches generally.
     The original Hebrew settings of the Psalms must ever remain unknown. But from Christian times "plain song" held its own till now. The Protestants introduced the "double chaunt," which at present is so familiar in the churches, except in those so-called "High." The latter are rapidly going back to the Gregorian tones. Other congregations will, doubtless, also go back. But what will be the next great step forward? And when? Will it not be on the lines of the compositions now before us?
     Translators and composer deserve the heartiest congratulations for their bravery in attempting and successfully carrying out so great an undertaking, especially for an external Church which still appears as if born out of due time, and when the present opportunities for musical performances are so inadequate to the music's merits.
     Vocal and instrumental parts are elaborately marked for indicating the composer's intentions; and a careful examination convinces us that, could an adequate rendering of some of these Psalms be heard, the New Church would be somewhat astonished at its new possession. The volume is very clearly printed on good paper, strongly and suitably bound. Neither care nor expense has been spared to make the contents as perfect as possible.
     In conclusion, it is interesting to know that the Society which is issuing this work of Anglo-American Biblical learning and musical skill has now reverted to the great but more restricted function for which it was established more than twenty years ago-namely, an Educational and Publishing Society.
     We think we may safely predict a hearty welcome, both at home and in America, for the first instalment of what may be termed "The Church Music of the Future," and we warmly recommend it to our readers.

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NEW "PSALMODY." 1898

NEW "PSALMODY."       Various       1898

     REPORTS AND LETTERS.

     Huntingdon Valley, Pa.-AMONG the points brought out in the Doctrinal Class this month may be mentioned that of doubts which are apt to arise as to steps which have been taken. Pastor Synnestvedt dwelt upon the futility of such retrospective questionings, saying that after we have once acted, according to the judgment that is given us, we are in the stream of Providence, and that we should make practical acknowledgment of that Providence in our lives by accepting what comes through our own instrumentality equally as in those things which come without our own action or determination. If the step is irrevocable, we should not discuss whether or not we have done wisely, but look to present use. It is a waste of time (or worse) to look back except for the purpose of getting needed light to go forward. Our duty is to the future rather than the past. Reference was made to the doubts which spirits infuse concerning one's consort, as to mutual suitability, etc. Marriage is an irrevocable step, and it is worse than foolish to entertain such questionings. It is malicious spirits who thus infuse doubts and try to bring in confusion by attacking the holiest of human institutions. So, if a church has taken a step, it is folly for those who do not like it to spend much time in wailing, unless there is so me practicable change in view.
     In n. 15 et seq. of the work on The Last Judgment (which forms the thread of the Friday evening lessons) the reason is shown why men have so erroneous an idea of the last judgment, because they know nothing about the resurrection of man immediately after death, in the human form. In this connection n. 522 of the work on The Soul was read. Swedenborg here says plainly that he does not think that after death we shall put on the human form; for he says that such a form exists solely for use in the lowest world, and he enumerates the more general uses of the body, which he says will not exist in heaven, where all things are immaterial, and where souls will be like birds.
     It was afterward brought out, however, that in the Economy of the Animal Kingdom, n. 351, written before the work on the Soul, Swedenborg states very explicitly that the soul tends always to take the human form and to keep that form, and to be disturbed whenever that form is injured.
     The Pastor explained that the subject of Swedenborg's ideas on the form of the soul had been dwelt upon because it is important to know that without revelation, man-even the wisest of men-could have no sure knowledge of the other world, and of the life after death. He said, further, that to understand well the relation of the soul to its body, of the mortal to the immortal part, will help us to understand the Glorification of the LORD'S body. See, however, L. J. 21.
     ON Thanksgiving evening, November 24th, some of the younger married and unmarried folks of the Church produced Mrs. Burnett's play of "Esmeralda," as abridged by the Century Magazine (February, 1882).
     On Saturday evening, November 12th, a "musicale" was given at the Club House as a testimonial to Mr. Walter Van Horn, our organist,
     On November 14th the regular monthly meeting of the Principia Club took place. Pursuing the former course of reading, the "Doctrine of Series" brought in the consideration of the digestive tract in the human body in that connection allusion was made to the difference between Swedenborg's science of the digestion and that of modern science, in respect especially to the gastric juice, of which Swedenborg makes no mention, so far as its peptic properties are concerned-although science makes it the moat important agent, while he makes the saliva to be the most important of the fluids. Allusion was made to the indication that some modern scientists are rather looking in the same direction-witness a paper by Dr. Kellogg in the Annals of Hygiene (noted by Dr. Harvey Farrington in The New Philosophy for September last). Dr. Farrington illustrated on the blackboard the position of the vermiform appendix, and explained its function as given by Swedenborg-namely, maceration of the almost effete contents of the large intestine, for the extraction of the last elements of nutrition, and for lubrication of the mass.
     Allusion was made, further, to Swedenborg's theory of the lungs as the agent of the brains in the body, causing (1) motion and (2) sensation. The synchronous action of the mugs and brain had been almost wholly lost sight of by science, although once known and easily demonstrated in the operation of trephining.
     Denver, Colorado.-OUR services of worship were begun again on the first LORD'S day in October. The weekly Doctrinal Class for Friday evenings was also taken up, and the study of the True Christian Religion was resumed at the place where we stopped at the close of our church year, June 20th last. We are now about finishing the Chapter on Free Agency. The reception of the newly bound Psalmody has stimulated an Interest in the new music on the part of our members, and we are now holding weekly meetings at the home of one of our members for practice. With a proper diffidence in our musical powers, we have attempted, as yet, only the very short selections at the end of the book. Encouraging progress has bean made, and as fast as learned the music is being incorporated into our services of worship. Our service now is composed entirely of the new music, and it has been greatly improved and rendered more impressive and beautiful as a result of our efforts. At our next meeting we shall commence the practice of the special music for the celebration of the Loan's birth, when more ambitious work will be attempted.
     The school has not yet been started, owing to peculiar difficulties and delays in procuring household help, which, with us, is essential to the carrying on of this work. We hope that the way will open soon for the resumption as well of this important use.
R. DE. CHARMS.

LETTER FROM MR. BOWERS.

     Ohio.-AFTER being prevented by illness, with malaria-which overtook me in Ross County-from pursuing my missionary work during the month of October, I was able to resume my labors, and to preach at Greenford on Sunday, November 6th. The weather was disagreeable, but as there had been no services at Greenford since August, we had a good attendance.
     West Virginia-ON Sunday, November 13th, I preached at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Mortimer Pollock, in Wheeling. The Sacrament of the LORD'S Supper was also administered, in which, including myself, twelve persons participated.
J. E. BOWERS.

GREAT BRITIAN.

     London (Burton Road, Brixton).-THE Rev. R. J. Tilson having issued an invitation to those members of the congregation worshiping in Burton Road, Brixton, who were willing to co-operate with him, as Pastor, in the formation of a definite Society of the New Church, to attend a meeting in the Hall of Worship on Sunday evening, September 25th, a large proportion of the members cordially responded by meeting on that occasion for the purpose of signing the Declaration of Faith and Purpose, given below, and of being received as members of the Society. There was an unanimous manifestation of a desire to go forward in the deeper study and life of the Divine Doctrines of the Church, and to form such an outward organization as might be necessary for the preservation of the uses of the Church, prominent among such uses being the maintenance of the school.
     The proceedings opened with a brief but impressive Service of Divine Worship in which the Pastor was assisted by the Rev. G. C. Ottley. During this service the Pastor gave voice to the Divine Teaching that: "Man Is a Church when he is in good and truth, and a company of such men constitutes the Church in general" (A. C. 6113). "The New Church consists of those who confess and acknowledge from the heart that the LORD is God of Heaven and earth, and that His Humanity is Divine, and who are conjoined with Him by a life according to the Precepts of the Decalogue" (A. R. 490). "Except the LORD build the house they labours vain that build it; except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain" (Psalm cxxvii, 1). A solemn exhortation followed: "to unite in the most ultimate forms and uses of the LORD'S New Church. The following Declaration of Faith and Purpose is offered you as the basis of your co-operation in the uses of the Church, and of your participation in the benefits of the same:
     "I do solemnly declare my belief in the Divine authority of the Doctrines of the New Church contained in the Books written by the LORD through His servant, Emanuel Swedenborg, in which Books the LORD has made His Second Advent, by revealing the Spiritual Sense of the Word. I do further declare my willingness to co-operate faithfully with my fellow-members in this Society, under the direction and government of its Priest in all such uses as may be conducive to the better understanding, the more interior reception, and the wider promulgation of the Heavenly Doctrines of the LORD'S New Church; as well as in such external uses as relate to the welfare and support of this Society."
     Responding to the appeal-"Are ye willing to sign this?"-the members gave an unanimous affirmative. The Pastor was the first to sign the Declaration, being followed by the Rev. G. C. Ottley, after whom as many as sixty-five members added their signatures. Since the meeting this number has been increased to ninety, including eleven non-resident members.
     As the members signed the roll the Pastor addressed to each the following welcome:- "In the name of the LORD JESUS CHRIST I welcome you into the Communion of His Church. As your Pastor I offer you the right hand of fellowship. In the warfare of regeneration, against all the assaults of the loves of self and the world, seek to fulfill the Divine words:-"Be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou I dismayed; for the LORD thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest'" (Josh. i, 9).

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And when all had signed they were exhorted to "fear the LORD and serve Him In truth with all your heart; for consider how great things He hath done for you" (1 Sam. xii, 24).
     It is worthy of note that during the evening the enthusiasm of the members found expression in singing that magnificent hymn of the Church, "Vivat Nova Ecclesia," no less than three times; first, when the pastor had signed the roll, again as a response to the toast to the Church, and finally at the close of the meeting.
     The pastor, rising to propose the toast to the Church, prefaced his remarks with a word to the newly formed society, in which he endeavored to give a spiritual internal to the natural ultimate afforded by the signing of the Declaration of Faith and 1purpose. Reaffirming the position that the Word, in its letter and spirit, is the sole Constitution of the Church, he recommended patience in forming such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the proper conduct of the affairs of the Church on the civil p lane of life, the formation of which rules by the laity should be the result of an orderly reaction of the teaching received by means of the priesthood. So far as the government of the Church by the priesthood was concerned there would be no autocratic ruling, but "the rule of love and not the love of ruling" (A. D. 5000, 5001) should prevail. The civil affairs of the Church would be administered for the pastor by officers appointed by him. As a matter of order it was recommended that the Council formed in November last should still be recognized as existing, and that reasonable time be given its members to wind up their affairs and hand over their trusts to their successors. This recommendation has since been effectively carried out. Mr. Alfred Lee and Mr. Charles Tarelli were appointed as the Secretary and Treasurer respectively, the appointment of Trustees being left for future settlement. One thing only, said the pastor, had been done that evening, namely, the recognition of a distinct priest as pastor and the recognition of a declaration of faith and purpose, involving the acknowledgment of the Divine authority of the Writings. He desired to be released as soon as possible from the responsibility of caring for purely external matters, which release would render more easily obtainable that mutual regard for the freedom of both pastor and people so necessary for the well- being of the Church. Continuing, he announced that during the winter session about to be opened, one evening in each week would be devoted to instruction; first, in theology, using as the text-book the first volume of the Arcana Coelestia, supplemented by the Spiritual Diary, and second, in Anatomy and Physiology, as the science of the Church. The school should be maintained at all cost, and in such a manner as to provide, to the fullest degree possible, a sound
     New Church education. In order to keep this use of the Church distinct from other uses the offices of Secretary and Treasurer to the school have since been committed to Mr. Samuel Blythe and Mr. A. Poulton, respectively.
     The Rev. G. C. Ottley, in proposing the toast to the Priesthood, and coupling there-with the name of the Pastor, referred to the blessed and auspicious circumstances under which the inauguration of the new Society had been accomplished. Proceeding, he said that the Church had every reason to sing a new song, as did the Israelites of old on leaving the land of Egypt. Salvation was the great end of all existence, but without means to this end every human being would be damned. These means are twofold, internal and external, the Internal consisting of remains stored up from conception, and the external being instruction in Divine Truths, the latter being given to meet and. receive the former. The Church is Divine Truth, and where there is no Truth there is no Church, and, therefore, instruction in Divine Truths is the only means of establishing the Church,. The Priesthood, thus, as the only divinely-appointed means for teaching Divine Truths, is the very first of the Church. The Church being the soul the world, when the Church is corrupt the world also is corrupt, and this corruption has ever had its beginning in the Priesthood; but to argue from the fact that as Churches have been destroyed by the Priesthood, therefore there is to be no Priesthood in the New Church, would be as fallacious as to argue that because the Doctrine of the Trinity has been perverted in the Old Church, therefore there shall be no Doctrine of the Trinity in the New Church, which would be equivalent to robbing the Church of its God. The Priesthood in the New Church is to preach doctrine from the Word, and this can only be done by men carefully prepared for the work and having the courage to teach truth. They are also to govern, to take the lead, or to initiate whatever may be required for the good of the Church. But in this there need be no fear of coercion, for the New Church cannot be coerced, because it is a rational Church, and, therefore, can only be led by truth received in perfect freedom. The truth, however, must be proclaimed at all times, whether palatable or not. The Academy was the first to discover that the laity have no part in the government of the Church.
     Reviewing the period of committee rule in the Church and its ultimate rejection by the Academy, Mr. Ottley went on to demonstrate that after ultimating the principle of priestly rule, we find ourselves, at the end of ten years, combating a revival of that very same democratic spirit as before; but even as the regeneration of the individual is one long series of ups and downs, so in the establishment of the. Church we should not look for a continued and unbroken progression towards perfection. There need be no quarrel with those who differ from us, nor any ill-feeling towards them, but there must be no yielding of principle. If it be the intention and purpose of the Church at Burton Road to go on in the light of its declaration, such intention is undoubtedly due, in large measure, to the unceasing efforts of the Pastor, who has done the work of a true priest, which is to lead by truths to the good of life. In these efforts I he has a well merited reward in the knowledge of having done his duty, to which should now be added the loyal and affectionate support of the people committed to his charge.
     The Pastor briefly responded, and after a general conversation a toast to Father Benade was accorded a most enthusiastic reception, the members responding by singing the well-known refrain," Then here's to our Chancellor, Teacher, and Friend."
     A. POULTON.

     Colchester.-ON the evening of Sunday, October 23d, a very important and useful meeting was held by the New Church folk worshiping at Colchester. This was none I other than a service held for the purpose of forming the friends into a Society with a definite membership, and with certain particular ends of use.
     The service, which was led by Pastor W. H. Acton, opened with a recital of the LORD'S Prayer and the singing of "Great and Wonderful," page 380 of the Church Music. Following this came readings from the Word and the Sacred Writings, and the rendering of Psalm xv. Pastor Acton then gave a most instructive address, in the course of which he said:
     "BRETHREN:-We are met together on this occasion to take a definite step toward the establishment of this Society of the LORD'S New Church in a more ultimate form of order. It is well to recall to your minds some few general truths relating to the principles of order which must prevail if there is to be protection against disorder, which is evil and infernal, and that there may he continual progress, which is from the influx of order from heaven.
     "Order is defined as being the quality of the disposition, determination, and activity of the parts and substances of which a thing is composed, and its perfection is produced by wisdom operating from love, or its imperfection from the insanity of reason from cupidity.
     "All order originates and flows from God, Who Is Substance Itself and Form Itself. Hence also, He has introduced most perfect order into the universe, that it may be a complete counterpart and perfect image of the oneness of His Divine Love and Wisdom. Order is oneness, and arises from the conjunction of many parts connected to ether by a common bond, a common use. From these truths rightly perceived it can be seen whence is derived the order and unity, or, more properly, conjunction, of all in the heavens, and the order and conjunction of all in the Church, and, in a most ultimate form or image, in the connection and oneness of the innumerable members, organs, and viscera of the body of man. The human form is the essential form of order, because it is the essential Divine Form of the LORD'S Divine Human, in which Infinite things are infinitely one.
     "There are two essentials of order, which it has from its first derivation-good and truth. Good is the essential, for it is the common end and use for the sake of which all the parts unite; and truth is the form, according to which the common good flows and ultimates itself and also extends itself. It is from these two essentials from the LORD that order causes preservation and progress. So far as man, as an individual or as a society, lives for the sake of effecting some particular good or use, and so far as he lives according to the laws of order relating to that good or use-all which are truths-so far he comes into the truly human form of heaven and of some angelic society there. There is no limit to the perfection of all orderly form and arrangement, especially of the living goods and truths in the minds of the men of the Church and angels of heaven, and in the societies composed of angels and men. Indeed, the influx of life from the LORD effects this unconsciously to the recipients, who are led toward order and into it, continually as of themselves. This is very manifest in the other life; for when a number of spirits or angels assemble together in the other world, they spontaneously, as it were, arrange themselves in a definite order, according to the state and quality of the goods and truths in which they are; and this form is the human form, spiritually regarded.

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     "It was said that the order and form of heaven and the Church flow from good and truth. But this is but another way of saying that Heaven and the Church are from mutual love for this is the complex of all spiritual and celestial loves. 'Mutual love in heaven consists in this, that each loves his neighbor more than himself- hence the whole heaven represents, as it were, one man, by mutual love from the LORD. Hence it is that the felicities of all are communicated to each, and those of each to all. The heavenly form itself is such that every one is, as it were, a kind of centre thins a centre of communication, thus of the felicities proceeding from all; and this according to all the differences of that love, which are innumerable. All who are in mutual love perceive the highest happiness in being able to communicate to others what flows into themselves, which they do from the heart. The communication is thus rendered perpetual and eternal, from which the happiness of each increases in proportion to the increase of the LORD'S Kingdom. The angels, as dwelling in distinct societies and mansions, do not think of this; but the LORD thus disposes all things of his Kingdom, both collectively and individually.
Such is the Kingdom of the LORD in the heavens' (A. C. 2057).
     "The LORD so far as possible, reduces, kingdoms and societies on earth into a similar form. It is undoubtedly from this influx of order from the LORD in our midst that we are led to seek to unite in a definite membership. Every orderly form or society has its own distinctions and signs, into which every one who enters that society is to be initiated. This is the end or purpose of baptism, by which man is admitted in the orderly way into the LORD'S New Church. And so, in a similar manner, within the Church are those who have been already received and initiated into the Church at large, received and initiated into membership and full participation of the uses and privileges of a society within the Church. This full reception and membership is indicated by the reception of the officiating priest and confirmed by the signing of the declaration of the principles and ends for which the society exists.
     "It is unnecessary here to speak of the importance of some close connection with each other for the purpose of ultimating more fully the spiritual ends for which this society is to be established, and particularly to draw us close together in the sphere of the Church by the bonds of mutual love. If we can preserve alive the spiritual fire of the Church, which is affection for the things of heaven and eternal life-if we can be held together by the spiritual bonds of mutual love, which ever regards external differences of opinion as of no real moment,-if anything of the love of the Church is perceived,-if we are not in the sphere of mere natural pleasure and the love of friendship without regard to the spiritual character of another, and in the sphere of mere natural affection which pervades us from the world around and from the proprium within- then the Church will grow in our midst, and our introduction into this society of the LORD'S Church upon earth will serve to Initiate us into the more interior goods and truths of the New Church and into some angelic society after death.
     May the memory of this service, and of the declaration of our solemn belief and purpose, serve to strengthen the bonds of mutual love in our society. And when temptations arise, which are dissensions and combats and assaults of the hells in our proprium-and they will certainly arise just so soon as we cease to regard the good and truth in each other and look at the mere human infirmities and failings of the natural man-when we as a society are thins assailed from within, may the memorial of the purpose which brings us here together, from this time onward serve to reawaken spiritual affection for each other which shall lead us to forgive even as we would be forgiven, remembering with humility our own evils and infirmities rather than condemning our fellow on account of his."
     At the close of his exhortation the pastor then read the following declaration of faith and purpose:
     "I do solemnly declare my belief in the Divine authority of the Doctrines of the New Church contained in the Books written by the LORD through His servant, Emanuel Swedenborg, in which Books the LORD has made His Second Advent by revealing the Spiritual Sense of the Word.
     "I do further declare my willingness to co-operate faithfully with my fellow-members in this Society, under the direction and government of its Priest in all such uses as may be conducive to the better understanding, the more interior reception, and the wider promulgation of the Heavenly Doctrines of the LORD'S New Church; as well as in such external uses as relate to the welfare and support of this Society."
     He then invited all who had put on by baptism the name and sign of the New Church and who were willing to conjoin with each other under the guidance of the Priesthood of the LORD'S New Church in the establishment of this congregation as a Society of the New Church established upon the acknowledgment of the LORD in His Second Coming as made known in the Doctrines of the Church, to come forward and grasp him with the right hand of good-fellowship. This was done by nearly all present, and a most impressive service was concluded with a hymn and the benediction.
FROM THE PERIODICALS 1898

FROM THE PERIODICALS       Editor       1898

New York.-ON Nov. 4th the Rev. Julian K. Smyth was installed as pastor of the New York Society, the Rev. S. S. Seward officiating assisted by Rev. John Worcester, Rev. C. H. Mann, and Rev. J. C. Ager. Mr. Mann delivered the charge to the congregation, Mr. Ager that to the pastor.
     Illinois.-THE formation of the Swedenborg Philosophy Club, in Chicago, is announced in The New Philosophy for November. The officers are: Rev. L. P. Mercer, President; Mr. Rihorg Mann, Vice-President; Dr. J. B. S. King, Secretary-Treasurer. The first regular meeting was held on November 5th, and was considered a gratifying success. Mr. Mercer read a paper, "The Natural Point and the First Aura," and Miss Lilian Beekman illustrated-by wire coiled in spiral and vortical forms-the orbit of the Natural Point and the formation of the First Finite.
PSALMODY FOR THE NEW CHURCH 1898

PSALMODY FOR THE NEW CHURCH       Editor       1898

     A PSALMODY FOR THE NEW CHURCH
has recently been completed in a volume of 887 pages, 10 1/4 x 7 1/4 inches. It contains the First Fifty Psalms of David, and Thirty-nine Short Selections from the Old and New Testaments set to music by Mr. C. J. WHITTINGTON, of London.
Bound in half-leather     $2.50
In full flex. Morocco, round corners, gilt edge     4 00
     Including postage.
     In order to make the whole or part of the Psalmody easily available, we have also published this music in Twelve Separate Parts, which will be sold at 25 cents each. The above music, which has been published in short issues for some years past, is now, after a careful revision, offered to the kindly consideration of the members of the New Church.
     To further its introduction a complete part, worth 25 cents, will be sent as sample to any address on the receipt of ten cents.
     We will be pleased to send circular showing the contents of each part of the entire work.
ACADEMY BOOK ROOM, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.