Page images
PDF
EPUB

friends, to whose kind attentions I am much indebted, and for which I feel deeply grateful. The various vicissitudes through which this society has passed, the absorption or diminution of its members by the changing circumstances of life, at different periods of its existence, contrasted with its present condition, forcibly call to mind the inextinguishable vitality of all truthful principles,-like the seed that is thrown where the animating influences of nature cannot reach it, and even when it has been trodden under foot of men, yet still preserves its hidden life, and becomes at length a noble tree,-so may we look forward hopefully from this day to a steady but certain increase in this society, which seems now to enjoy the influences necessary for its growth and future development. In every human mind, the ground is prepared by the Lord, and it is by man's cooperation with Divine grace that the true church, that heaven itself is built up in the soul. Let this, then, be a fresh starting-point for every member of the society to look anxiously and narrowly into the principles and affections of his own mind, with the intent to discover whether he has secured the true foundation-stone, and obtained for it a permanent resting-place. I could not but think, during this afternoon's ceremony, that in this island, where the vine and the fig-tree flourish so abundantly, it would be well to plant near this first stone a young cutting of each; for the vine corresponds to and represents spiritual truth, and the fig corresponds to and represents its accompanying good, and as the pure wine expressed from the grape refreshes and cheers the heart, so spiritual truth animates and invigorates the soul-in like manner the sweet and nutritious properties of the fig bear an exact relation to the affection of good which nourishes and sustains the inner man. Then, on each succeeding Sabbath, as you watch the growth of these natural emblems, you will be reminded of that necessary and useful selfexamination in your souls of the growth of that truth and goodness which they represent.

"After various other appropriate and interesting remarks from Mr. Hughes, Mr. Le Cras, and Mr. Brown, the meeting separated. Several anthems were sung in the course of the evening, which reflected great credit on the choir."

LONDON PRINTING SOCIETY.

This eminently useful Society held its annual meeting on the 20th June last, in the Church at Argyle-square. Dr. Spurgin in the chair.

We regret to find from the following extract from the Annual Report, that for want of pecuniary means, the Society is obliged to contract the sphere of its operations. "During the past year, the utmost vigilance has been exercised by your Committee over the expenditure of the Society, and many reductions of outlay have been made which will tell with good effect upon its future prosperity. This has been rendered absolutely necessary, from the state of the Society's funds. Among the measures of economy which have been carried out, there are some which may cause a regret to the New Church public; we allude to the fact, that, for want of means, we have felt ourselves obliged to retreat from our engagement to publish Mr. Dodd's Index, mentioned in the last Report; also to decline taking any more French translations from M. le Boys de Guays; and lastly, to inform Dr. Tafel that the London Printing Society is totally unable to support him any further in his publication of Swedenborg's Adversaria, and other theological MSS. These steps of retrenchment were, we believe, absolutely required, to save the Society in existence. They must be enforced until our coffers are filled in a very different manner from what they are at present."

We hope that, under the divine blessing upon the resources of the Society, it will be enabled soon to retrace these muchto-be-lamented " steps of retrenchment," however unavoidable they may be under present circumstances. We respectfully refer the case to such of our friends as are more abundantly endowed "with the sinews of war," a holy war, be it remembered, against the enemies of man,-the evil and the false. The Report closes with the following exceedingly striking remarks:

"The duty of this present hour appears to be expectancy and preservation; the time is clearly unfavourable for very active work. If we look through all history, we shall find no epoch distinguished by such events as those which have come to pass in the first half of the year 1848. Never were men so small, and never was Providence so great. Never was the hope of good so detached from the wisdom of the wise, and so rivetted to the throne of the Omniscient. Never was there in mortal

minds a less clear insight into the future, and yet never was there in the heart of man such a vision of new heavens, and such a promise of a new earth. At present, however, it is the work of destruction alone which appears to be in progress, and while this is the case, we may scarcely hope that our peaceful voice will be listened to, summoning the restless generations upwards to the heavenly serenities of the New Jerusalem. But the Lord is on our side, and let us bide our time. There is no force in the heaving waters of continental revolution; there is no destruction of theological antiquity, whether Papal or Protestant; there is no fever abroad, and no agitation at home, which can disturb the peace, or impair the power, of those great principles and truths of the new order of things, which have been providentially communicated to man in the doctrines of Swedenborg. Nay, there is no overthrow, however awful, but is simply a preparation of the human soul for the seeds of love and truth which the Lord has already planted in the world, and which are to expand through all its climates, until the wilderness shall blossom as the rose. Again then we say, let us bide our time, and possess our souls in peace; always alive to the vast responsibility we lie under, of applying the truths and goods of the New Jerusalem to practice, in that sphere of life and action in which it has pleased our Sovereign Master to place us.'

[ocr errors]

IMPORTANT DISCUSSION Between the Rev. T. Goyder, Minister of the New Jerusalem Church. and Mr. Ross, late of America, and Elder of the Latter Day Saints, or Mormonites, on the following subjects, viz :

1. The Materiality of the Resurrection. 2. The Second Advent and Personal Reign of Christ on the earth.

3. Are the Prophecies of the New and Old Testaments to be understood literally or spiritually?

The discussion, agreeably to public advertisement, took place at Burslem, Staffordshire, in the Temperance Hall, Pitt-street, on the evenings of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, September 26th, 27th, and 28th, 1848. The ball, which contains nearly 500 persons, was filled every night.

To give an account of this discussion as it took place is impossible, as this would require a pamphlet instead of a short notice. On the Resurrection of

Man, Mr. Goyder, of course, advocated the doctrine of the New Church, and showed from Scripture that the resurrec tion of dead bodies from the grave at some future distant day was not promised in any prophecy of the Word of God, and therefore was a groundless expectation, and would never take place. Mr. Ross, in advocating a material resurrection, among other passages, mentioned 1 Cor. xv. and made much use of the whole chapter, except verse 50. Mr. Goyder, in reply, said he was sorry and rather surprised that Mr. Ross should name 1 Cor. xv., as this was the very chapter that he, Mr Goyder, generally took to prove the opposite doctrine. In verse 50, the apostle says, "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." If then, said Mr. Goyder, the same material body is to rise, then flesh and blood could inherit the kingdom, and the apostle taught a false doctrine. Mr. Ross met this by saying, that although flesh and blood could not inherit the kingdom, yet flesh and bones could! for that, he observed, Adam, by eating the forbidden fruit, had completely corrupted his blood, and that his corrupted blood passed to all his posterity, so that the blood could not inherit the kingdom, but only flesh and bones! To this Mr. Goyder replied, that as Mr. Ross had struck out the blood from the inheritance, he, Mr. Goyder, must, by the authority of St. Paul, strike out the word flesh, and therefore could leave nothing for his material resurrection but bones! What the general feeling of the people was in this night's discussion can hardly be known, but we know of many who were convinced that the advocacy of the doctrine of the resurrection of flesh and bones was a complete failure.

The second night's discussion, "On the Second Advent, and Personal Reign of Christ on the Earth," was an exceedingly interesting one, carried on with considerable spirit, but with true Christian feeling, and perfect good will. The usual arguments were made by Mr. Ross in favour of Christ's personal appearance on the earth, and his descent upon clouds. These were replied to by Mr. Goyder, shewing that clouds, in the common acceptation of the term, were nothing but the misty exhalations of the earth, and that it could not be supposed the Lord would come personally in the midst of such vapours. The Lord's

glorious coming is in the clouds of heaven, and these are the Literal Truths of His Word. The Lord's coming in these clouds, is the presence of the Lord in His Word, opening the truths in their literal sense, and shewing clearly to the minds of men the divine glory within the cloud, and thus preparing the way for the establishing of a New Church on earth, in which God himself would be divinely present, opening the wonders of His Word, its spiritual sense and meaning, and pointing the souls of men to the world of realities beyond the grave. This New Church, with all its attendant glories, being shadowed forth by the New Jerusalem descending from God out of heaven, Mr. Goyder illustrated the doctrine advanced by an explanation of those passages of Scripture where clouds are named; such as the Lord's faithfulness reaching to the clouds-His truth reacheth to the clouds-His strength is in the clouds the clouds are his chariot,-and observed that the Lord's faithfulness, truth, and strength, were in His Word, reaching to the very letter, and that these literal truths or clouds were called the chariots of Jehovah. (Psal. civ. 3.) Many other arguments, both for and against the Personal Advent, were offered to the meeting by Mr. Ross and Mr. Goyder.

The third night was equally as interesting as the two preceding, and conducted with a similar good feeling. Mr. Goyder contended that the prophecies of the Word of God were to be understood literally and spiritually, but that some prophecies would receive a spiritual fulfilment only. In proof of this, many prophecies were named and explained, such as Isa. ix. 20, xlix. 26. After the discussion each night, a number of New Church tracts were given away, and from the ardent desire the people manifested to receive these little treasures, it is hoped some good will in due time arise to our good and increasing cause.

INTELLIGENCE FROM WIVENHOE.

To the Editor.

SIR,-Considering that the sympathies of the members of the New Church are interested in the well-being of the infant societies thereof struggling into existence, permit me to inform your readers that the society assembling in this village for the promulgation of the doctrines of the Lord's New Church, has been lately

favoured with a visit by the Rev. J. Bailey, of Accrington, who, in a lecture "On the Atonement, Intercession, and Mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, founded on the true Scripture basis," delivered by him in August last to a crowded audience, delighted his hearers by the lucid manner in which he explained that most important subject, convincing them by the force of his arguments of the truth of that doctrine hitherto considered by many as involved in inexplicable mystery.

We have also been greatly encouraged and strengthened in our fervent desire to cultivate within ourselves the good seed of the Gospel sown in our hearts, and stimulated freely to impart to others those important truths which have been so bountifully bestowed upon us, through the ministry of that zealous and highlygifted labourer in the Lord's vineyard, the Rev. D. G. Goyder, the last of whose cheering and valuable visits to us was on the 1st instant, being the Lord's Day, when he delivered, to as numerous an audience as our limited means of accommodation would permit, a most edifying discourse on Isaiah v. 1-7, with which all expressed themselves highly gratified. Subsequently Mr. Goyder administered the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper to eleven communicants.

Permit me, through the medium of your periodical, to express to each of those gentlemen the deep sense entertained by the church of the obligation due for their important services. Oct. 13th, 1848.

J. TEMPLE.

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

Died August 16th, 1848, Sarah, the beloved wife of John Holt, and youngest daughter of the Rev. James Bradley, Ardwick Cemetery, in her 28th year, after a very severe and lingering illness of nine months' duration. Previously to this sickness she had suffered much from indigestion. She had bad, however, the advantage of kind and affectionate parents, who at an early period of her life imbued her mind, both by example and precept, with the heavenly truths of the New Jerusalem. She was at all times, when her health would permit, present at the public worship of the Lord, under the ministry of the Rev. D. Howarth, of whose society she continued to be a worthy member till her death. She bore up against her infirmities with that fortitude which marks the devout Christian, and looked to the Lord Jesus Christ as her only God. She was greatly delighted with the treatise on "Heaven and Hell," particularly that portion of it which treats of man's passage from this to the eternal world. When her bodily sufferings were very severe, she seemed almost ready to exclaim with the Psalmist, "I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease, and there is no soundness in my flesh; I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquiet ness of my heart." (Psalm xxxviii. 6-8.) There is every reason to believe that she will be numbered amongst that happy multitude who have "washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." J. H.

Died September 17th, 1848, at Rose Hill, near Oxford, Mr. Richard Bolt,

aged 46. He was an ardent admirer of the heavenly doctrines of the New Jerusalem, and delighted in hearing of their reception by others. For several years he had been an active and consistent member of the Wesleyan Methodist Society. About two years ago his classleader was obliged to leave that community, solely on account of his belief in the Supreme Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the divine Trinity as centred in His glorious Person, together with other invaluable truths made known to the church upon earth through the enlightened Swedenborg. He attended divine service at a private room near his house, where the New Church doctrines were preached, as long as his painful disease would permit him to do so, and much enjoyed every means of spiritual improvement. After several months' severe affliction, he left the natural body, to "bear the image of the heavenly," and to be "received into everlasting habitations." Two days before his removal, a member of the New Church said to him, "As you are now about to leave us, let me ask, is there any thing you do not see clearly, and about which you have any difficulty?" He replied, "Nothing at all, all is clear. I am only waiting, I am only waiting." The Wednesday before his death, the writer of this notice read to him the parable of the Samaritan," with its internal sense, by Mr. Clowes, with which he felt much elevated. "It will not," said he, "do for me now to go down from Jerusalem, and hazard spiritual loss." The clergyman of the village likewise visited him, and thought well of his state. "Say ye to the righteous, it shall be well with him."

Cave and Sever, Printers, 18, St. Ann's-street, Manchester.

"Good

W. R.

[blocks in formation]

FIRST GENERAL CONFERENCE OF THE NEW CHURCH IN GERMANY.*

[ocr errors]

...... ཝཱ 35 (Held at Cannstatt, near Stuttgard, October 1st, 1848.)

OUR readers will remember that in our September number we printed the translation of a circular addressed to the brethren of the New Church in Germany and Switzerland, inviting them to attend a General Conference to be held October the 1st, at Cannstatt. We have now the gratification of presenting a view of the proceedings of the said meeting, translated from a document just come to hand, and which may be considered as the "Minutes of the First General Conference of the New Church held in Germany." There were present at this Conference one hundred individuals from different parts of Germany, and one Englishman. We will, however, proceed to the Report itself:

"In consequence of the changes (says the Report) which took place in the days of March this year in the various states and governments of Germany, religious liberty and the right of holding assemblies have been granted by the German National Congress, or Diet, and promised, at least, by the various states of the empire: in consequence of these political >> changes it has been thought by many that something might now be done for the promulgation of the doctrines of Christianity, purified from the traditions of men, and that by a proper organization for usefulness, the development and spread of these doctrines might be promoted and established. It was, therefore, agreed in the month of August, this year, partly by letters and public announcements, and

*

Verhandlungen der ersten General-Versammlung der Neuen Kirche in Deutsch-` land, gehalten Zu Cannstatt bei Stuttgart, October 1st, 1848.

N. S. NO. 108.-VOL. IX.

2 L

« EelmineJätka »