diluvian History;" and "The Postdiluvian History," have been admitted into the public library, and have been eagerly read. Although the beginning is small, the seed is sown, and the Lord will provide the rain and the sunshine. An unpleasant circumstance occurred at the last lecture, when there was a larger audience than at the preceding ones. As the Rev. Mr. Woodman was leaving the room, he felt himself much obstructed in his efforts to pass through the crowd around the door, and suddenly missed his gold watch. The police shortly afterwards apprehended six persons in the neighbourhood, who were recognised as known members of the Manchester gang, but the parties having possession of the watch had decamped. The event is the more to be regretted, the watch being a memento presented to Mr. Woodman by his Society.

CONSECRATION OF CHURCHES. To the Editor.

Sir,-As some readers of the New Church writings seem to entertain loose notions respecting the externals of worship, and consequently think little of consecrating places of worship, will you allow me to inform them what Emanuel Swedenborg says on the subject?

"A temple must be built with the hands of men, and afterwards consecrated, and lastly sanctified by prayer that God would make it the abode of his presence, and unite himself with his church assembled there." [U. T. No. 126.] Let no one after this object to orderly because useful ceremonials.

AN OLD MEMBER.

SUBSCRIPTIONS TO THE NEW BUILDING OF THE LIMEKILN LANE SOCIETY. To the Editor.

My dear Sir, The Building Committee of the Limekiln Lane Society of the New Church (Liverpool), beg to express their warmest thanks to those friends who have so liberally assisted them in their present undertaking.

The numerous expressions of goodfeeling, and the promised future assist ance from many New Church friends, have given great encouragement to the Committee, and they have every reason to believe that by the aid of Divine Providence their efforts to erect a building, dedicated to the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the instruction of the

young in the glorious truths of the New Dispensation, will shortly be crowned with success.

The exact site of the intended building has not yet been determined upon, but the Committee have several localities under consideration, and intend to settle this point as soon as possible.

At a general meeting of the Church Members, held a few days ago, the Trustees were appointed, and other measures adopted to facilitate the good work in which we are at present engaged.

The amount subscribed by 72 friends is £152. 15s. Od. Further donations will be thankfully received. E. M. SHELDON,

MISSIONARY AND TRACT SOCIETY OF THE NEW CHURCH.

As there is reason to believe that the nature and extent of the operations of this society are not so generally known as they should be, in order to be duly appreciated, we will briefly state, for the information of the Church at large, and especially of those friends who do not get the Annual Report, some of its recent proceedings, and also what it has undertaken in the confident expectation of receiving such an amount of support as will enable it to carry out its intentions.

It will be recollected that a High Church periodical,. "The Old Church Porch," during eight consecutive months had an article on "The Swedenborgians, or Church of the New Jerusalem." The Committee, impressed with the necessity of this being efficiently answered, applied to, and obtained the services of a zealous friend fully competent to the task. The result was the publication of 5000 copies of a pamphlet, entitled, Swedenborg's Writings and Catholic Teaching; or, A Voice from the New Church Porch, in answer to a series of articles on the Swedenborgians by the Vicar of Froome-Selwood, in the Old Church Porch." Of these, a large number were sent through the post to the parties it was most desirable should see them-the clergy of the High Church party. They were also extensively advertised in clerical papers. But few copies are left; and there cannot be a doubt that a vast amount of permanent good will result from this effort. The liberal friend who wrote it, contributed largely

towards the expense; besides which, the cost to the society was £102. The returns have been, from sales £40. 15s. 6d., and subscriptions £21. 18s. 6d.; thus leaving £10. on that account yet to be made up. It is to be presumed that many societies and individuals may still wish to contribute to this valuable effort; and it should be borne in mind, that it could not have been accomplished except by means of this society, it not being within the province of any other institution.

The famous and long-to-be-remembered Leamington controversy, which has done so much towards making the New Church and her doctrines known, will doubtless, ere long, lead to the formation of a respectable society there. Including the cost of a letter, by the Rev. W. Woodman, to Mr. Muddeman, on the part he had taken in the ejection of Swedenborg's works from the Free (?) Library-including this, the expense to the society was upwards of £20. Leamington has since been visited by the Rev. W. Woodman, and will require further attention.

In the Repository for March, there was a highly interesting communication from the Mauritius, for which island Mons. de Chazal was very desirous of engaging a minister competent to proclaim the doctrines of the New Church in French as well as in English. He subsequently forwarded to Mons. Le Boys des Guays some copies, in French, of the two Answers he had sent to the Catholic and Protestant bishops there. As the government would not allow them to be printed in France, Mons. Le Boys requested this society to print them, as they might then be imported into France. The Committee-bearing in mind the liberal donations we have received from an Anonymous Friend at Paris, and as some recognition of his liberality-felt it a duty to comply with this request. They propose to add to it the French Tract which Mons. Le Boys prepared for the great Celebration in 1851; and further to add a translation of the Rev. Mr. Mc. Pherson's Address, giving an account of his reception of the doctrines of the New Church, and of his consequent withdrawal from the ministry of the establishment. This will give much more force to the Answers to the two bishops; and the whole will form an extremely useful pamphlet for

circulation in France. Mr. Mc. Pherson's Narrative is also to be printed as one of the Society's tracts.

It is satisfactory to know that the small society at Deptford, whose rent has hitherto been chiefly paid by this society, has now acquired sufficient strength to bear its own expenses.

As evidence of the continued activity of the society, and of what has been effected under its auspices, it may suffice to refer to the recent numbers of the Repository. September contains an account of the Rev. R. Storry's two lectures on the Word at Sheffield; and October, of the Rev. W. Woodman's visit to Dunstable, and its interesting results; also of the Rev. J. B. Kennerley's important mission to the society at Jersey.

Dr. Bayley has been in Cambridgeshire, visiting the societies at Chatteris and St. Ives, and the Rev. W. Bruce has been to Chatham. It is arranged to have some lectures at Kennington, where, it may be recollected, the late Rev. S. Noble gave a course some thirty years ago.

During the last year the society printed 25,000, and issued 22,500 Tracts. These were distributed not only to various parts of the United Kingdom, but also to the remotest colonies and foreign parts. They often require to be reprinted, and new ones are under consideration.

Enough, perhaps, has been stated to prove that this Society has the strongest claims to the support of every member, as well as of every society of the church, without which, indeed, it will be impossible efficiently to carry out what it contemplates, and what all its friends must desire. Subscriptions towards the funds are therefore earnestly solicited, and may be paid, by Post-office order or otherwise, either to the Treasurer, Mr. E. C. Sandy, 22, Holloway Place, Holloway, London, N., or to me, Minerva H. BUTTER, Secretary. Barnsbury Park, London, N., 17th November, 1858.

Place.

INTERESTING INSTANCE OF

THE RECOGNITION OF THE DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH.

We have recently had the satisfaction of recording the conversion of a missionary in Batavia to the New Church views, and his success among the Ma lays and Chinese. A striking instance

of the tacit recognition of these doctrines occurs in a highly interesting lecture "On China, her People and Institutions," delivered at Belgrave-house Youths' Missionary Association, by Mr. Standish Grove Grady, jun. The Rev. W. C. Milne, recently returned from China, occupied the chair. The whole of the lecture, which appeared in the Atlas of August 8th, is highly interesting as well as instructive; but we must confine ourselves to those portions where we recognise evidences of a direct connection with our views. In the following extract may be traced the New Church doctrine of the Incarnation:-

"Mr. White states that so great is the resemblance between Buddhism and Roman Catholicism that a Roman Catholic missionary, Father Huc, about three years ago, was so struck with their parallelism that, in his work on China, he does not hesitate to own that this parody of the true church was but a device of the Father of Sin to delude the Chinese to their eternal damnation. "Here is a grave subject for reflection. What is the origin of this female figure and the infant in her arms? How did a Pagan nation become familiar with a subject so closely connected with the salvation of man? To whom does this Queen of Heaven or Mercy point? and why the infant in her arms? Can they at any period of their history have been taught the salvation of man by the assumption of humanity by Jehovah through the instrumentality of the Vir. gin Mary? It would lead to the infer ence that at some period of their history, however remote, they could not have been wholly ignorant of this sublime scheme. Mr. Langdon, in his "Ten Thousand Things in China,' says 'Some Nestorians seem to have introduced Christianity into China about the year 365.' It is not improbable that from this source the Chinese first became acquainted with the figure which, in all Christian countries, has been associated with the birth and infancy of our Saviour."

In the extract which follows we have a still more distinct recognition of the New Church view on the signification of the first chapters of Genesis:

"The unsuccessful labours of our missionaries amongst a people whose want of religious feeling has been at

tempted to be described, is not to be wondered at; and it is to be feared their apathetic cold indifference to religion leaves the missionary no ground to work upon. If a Chinaman, after long teaching, is asked if he believes in Jesus Christ as his only God, he replies coldly, 'I do.' 'But why? are you convinced? do you feel that what you have been taught is true?' He replies, I do, because you tell me so.' This is very dispiriting to a missionary whose heart and soul are engaged in the work on which he is employed; but it is what is to be expected from a people whose intellect has been highly cultivated at the expense of the affections. They are a people who are principled in self-derived intelligence and human pride. Why was it that it was not good for Adam to be alone? Because he represented the Intellect or Faith; so God brought unto Adam Eve, who represented the Will or Affections, or Charity, and they two became one flesh; and, being joined or united by God, no man could separate them without bringing punishment on himself. Again, Cain, as the first-born of Adam, represented Faith. He was, therefore, a tiller of the ground-i.e., he was a cultivator of the intellect or faith; whilst Abel, his brother, represented Charity-i.e., faith brought into act in deeds of love; and he was a keeper of sheep, i.e., the good affections of charity. Therefore it was that Abel's offering was accepted, whilst Cain's was rejected; and that Cain was cursed (and no doubt all who represent him), and was told that he should be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth: and are not all those who are living without a knowledge of God manifested in the flesh, fugitives and vagabonds in the sense referred to in the curse on Cain?

"The Chinese are a highly educated and intellectual people. They are misled by human reason or self-derived intelligence. They are followers of Cain, and as such cannot receive the truths of Christianity, which are those of essential love; nor will they until their hearts of stone are replaced by hearts of fleshregenerated flesh, and this will be a work of time, and cannot be anticipated by human means. It must be done through the affections, and although the results may-nay, must be slow, yet they will and must be sure, and in this great work example will do more than

1. Reply to Mr. Dawson's Published Eulogium of Swedenborg and his Writings; a Lecture delivered in the Music Hall, Birmingham, May 24th, 1858. By J. Brindley, LL.D. 2. A Deep Dip into John Brindley's Reply to George Dawson's Lecture on Swedenborg. By a Charity Boy. A brief reference to the former of these two publications was made last month, under the head Birmingham, in the article on General Intelligence; and the estimate of the Daily Post on its merits was given. Some of its strictures on Mr. Dawson are cleverly disposed of by "A Charity Boy." The animus and truthfulness (?) which pervades his reference to Swedenborg will appear from the following enumeration of "the leading tenets of the Swedenborgian or New Jerusalem Church :1. That there is no such thing as original sin, derivable from Adam's transgression; 2. That God never punishes sin. 3. That there will not be a final judgment, when all shall receive according to the deeds done in the body; 4. That Jesus Christ by the shedding of his blood did not take away sins; 5. That Christ's righteousness and meritorious sacrifice of himself are not imputed to man, neither was his an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world; 6. That there is no devil, neither a heaven and a hell, in the eternal world; but that after this life man continues his existence as in this life, with all like conditions, passions, wants, and outward

circumstances; and gradually advances to higher or lower states, denominated heavens and hells; 7. That in the heavens and in the hells sensual enjoyment is the chief pleasure, and is greatly in excess over the like enjoyment in this world; 8. That in this life men are justified, under many excusatory circumstances, in keeping a mistress; 9. That adultery is excusable, and not chargeable as a sin in inexperienced people,— people while in a state of drunkenness, or under extraordinary excitements; 10. That the keeping of a mistress or concubine, as well as a wife, is really just and excusatory where there are faults in the wife, or an internal dissimilitude between the husband and herself; 11. That in this and in the other world man is to be judged, not by his actions, but by his intentions; 12. That the real meaning of the Holy Scriptures was wholly unknown to the world untii Swedenborg received a special Divine mission to unfold the same to mankind, and that he was under Divine instruction, in the world of spirits, for twentyfive years, at the same time that he was also living here upon the earth."

The general character of the latter may be gathered from the following extract, in which this youthful champion demolishes Dr. Brindley's attempted refutation of Mr. Dawson's statement that Swedenborg fell on times when religion was mere morality without any spiritual basis:-" Page 6-Mr. Dawson says that Swedenborg fell on 'extraordinary times, '-when religion was mere formality, without a spiritual basis: and Mr. Brindley forthwith shrieks with horror, and screams with scorn, and, as is usual, we have much fun. For he gives us a most remarkable reason for his screaming: and to show us that men who lived in Swedenborg's days were spiritual men and not the formal religionists that Mr. Dawson seeks to make out, he brandishes before us a list of names,-the funniest part of the entire business-the richest part of the book. These names that are to prove Mr. Dawson a dullard, and the men of Swedenborg's time so pious and so spiritual, are introduced with convulsive screams, and spasmodic shrieks, and foaming insolence, right goodly here to

see.

And here they are. Says he "In literature and polite learning there were Butler, Cowley, Swift, Addison

Steele, Temple, Shaftesbury, Arbuthnot, Fope, Dryden, and the immortal Milton.' -There's a medley! Now look at these men that are to prove the spirituality of those times. First of all, though, strike out four of them, who were dead or retired long before Swedenborg was out of his swaddling clothes. Then we get them down to seven,-and here they are, -these precious spiritual saints that prove how saintly was that age! 1stSwift, His laugh jars on one's ear after seven-score years. He was always alone-alone and gnashing in the darkness-an immense genius: an awful downfall and ruin. We have other great names to mention--none, I think, however, so great or so gloomy.' 2nd Addison-light, airy, genial, bottleloving Addison! 3rd Steele too! 'Poor Dick-deep in debt-in drinkand in all the follies of the town. It is related that all the officers of Lucas', and the gentlemen of the guard laughed at Dick!' Poor unspiritual Dick! 'He says of himself that he was always sinning and repenting. He beat his breast and cried most piteously when he did repent; but as soon as crying had made him thirsty, he fell to sinning again!' 4th-Shaftesbury-the sneering, ridiculing hater of the Christian faith! 5th-Arbuthnot, -which ?-the zealous divine who 100 years before Swedenborg was born; or the cozy, witty, pleasant, chatty fellow, who doctored Queen Anne, and wrote satires, and an interesting (but most unspiritual) set of tables of ancient weights and measures? 6th-Pope too! -Is Pope also among the prophets? The genteel, high-bred, semi-papist, and fast and dear friend of Bolinbroke, the proud and passionate author of some of the fiercest attacks our Christianity has known?

was fairly in his teens, and all you can say of the rest was that they were clever men-having nothing much to do with any spiritualities in religion. But there are still other names. Says he- In natural philosophy and science are found the names of Ray, Pascal, Le Clerc, Boyle, Thomas Burnet, Barrow, and the immortal Newton.' (Mr Brindley is fond of finishing with an "immortal.") Here again 3 out of the 7 are to be struck off as dead before Swedenborg came to life :-as for the rest, who knows anything about their particular spirituality? But the final thunder-peal of names is saved to the last-the fun of it being that when it all bursts it only goes off like a pop-gun, and, at best, showers down a little ginger-bread. 'On the side of religion and morality,' says he,' were Fénélon, Bossuet, Bayle, Bunyan, Pearson, Bull, Burnet, Richard Baxter, Leighton, Usher, Stillingfleet, Tillotson, Sherlock, Isaac Barrow, and (another immortal) the never-to-be-forgotten Jeremy Taylor.' Fairly out of breath I pause before the terrible array; but let me take them one by one. 1st-Fénélon (meriting all the good that could be said of him) was condemned as a heretic by the spiritual church of that age. He had to read his own condemnation from the pulpit, and was repudiated by the court. 2nd-Bossuet, passionate and vindictive, procured the condemnation of Fénélon. (There are two of them at loggerheads already.) 3rd Boyle wrote a big dictionary! 4th-Bunyan died the year before Swedenborg was born!--and died a witness against the irreligion of those times, and for all that Mr. Dawson says about its unspirituality 5th-Pearson also died before Swedenborg was born. He wrote an exposition of the creed. 6th-Bull,-which one? he who wrote God save the King;' or the one who wrote a defence of the Nicene Creed? 7th-Burnet,-which one? -he of whom we only know that he fought against a poor pensioner because he was a Catholic; or the intriguing, officious busy-body, who wrote "The History of his own Times"? 8th-Baxter died before Swedenborg had cut a dozen teeth. 9th-Leighton died before Swedenborg began to live. 10th-So did Usher-30 years before! 11thStillingfleet died before Swedenborg had written a line! 12th-So did Tillotson. 13th-Sherlock was a great controver