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And we have no doubt that every sincere worshipper, who has some knowledge of New Church doctrine, feels, under similar circumstances (without being in open communication with spirits), a similar state of uneasiness in his mind, which deprives him of all the rich blessings of a holy worship, and this, especially, when he hears in the sermon, as is frequently the case, the most loathsome and repulsive falsities.

In confirmation of what we have here stated, we will adduce the following declaration from Swedenborg's "Brief Exposition of the Doctrine of the New Church :"-" The faith of the New Church cannot by any means be together with the faith of the former Church, and that, in case they be together, such a collision and conflict will ensue as to destroy everything relating to the Church in man." (n. 102.) We have not space to adduce what is said in the following number, in confirmation and illustration of this declaration, but we earnestly recommend it to the perusal of our correspondent.

As to what is said respecting debts contracted in building places of worship, our correspondent should remember that many of the churches and chapels built in the Church of England, and among the Nonconformists, are liable to a similar occurrence. It is, therefore, not peculiar to places of worship in the New Church, most of which, we believe, are exempt from debt. Nor ought any complaint on this ground to be alleged, when the debt is justly and honourably contracted, and its conditions faithfully observed. EDITOR.

Poetry.

THE MESSAGE.

I cried aloud-" There is no God for me!"
Dark doubts and dull despair had poisoned life,
And all within was anarchy and gloom,-
Ill-omened forms of night held council there,
And shrieked in clanging discord. Shadows grim,
Offspring of night, eclipsed the mid-day sun,
And bound the spirit's eyes with blackest bands
Of falsehood, woven in the lowest hells!
Vain every effort! Vain alike all prayer!
Heaven saw fit to leave me to myself,
And thus I stood alone in my despair!

But oft, at times, was heard a still small voice-
"Obedience." Yet unwilling, unconvinced,

told us he had no peace in the church, on account of spirits, who contradicted what the preacher said, especially when he spoke of three Persons in the Godhead, which amounted, in reality, to three Gods."

With sullen lip and lowering brow, in prayer
I knelt me down. Sheer mockery it seemed,
And yet, despite myself, I would obey.

Jealous, I watched each thought,-each task performed
With promptest diligence, but with a proud,
Defiant heart, that would in question call

E'en the Most High, and felt itself aggrieved:
But still each day I bent me down in prayer,—
No sound, not e'en a sentiment was there
But the unbaring of my soul's despair!

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At length a sob-a piteous stream of tears
Burst from my frozen heart-impatient still.
'Lord, if thou canst, why wilt thou not relieve?
Oh, give me but some token for my peace-
Not, as in bye-gone days, to mortal eye
Made visible; no dew-besprinkled fleece
I ask, as Gideon; nor that heav'n-sent fire
That burned the altars at Elijah's call;-
But let me feel thy presence and thy care,
That I am not alone in my despair!"

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A youth

Of kindred blood to one most near to me-
An exile from the dearer ties of home,
In foreign lands had laid him down to die.
Alas! I thought it hard that he should close
His eyes with stranger faces all around,
Or, worse, far worse to me, perchance alone!
I pictured him through livelong sleepless nights
Of fevered pain; I heard his feeble plaint-
"Oh, mother, mother, 'tis too hard to die!"
Her, too, I pictured, but what words can paint
The desolation of that broken heart!

Scarce had she raised her head from off the grave
Of her fair lily-her sweet garden flower-
Her Gracey-her delight! Poor mother!
And this but gave another shade of gloom
To my repinings. More rebellious still,
And with a heart on fire, I questioned now
The right to take what had been freely given.
"Obedience," still the whisper in my ear;
Doing and praying-ever in the act,
But lacking warmth of love and charity.

This lad had grievous faults, nor few nor light;
And some, who thought they knew him best,-

Whose coarser minds-whose sensual eye could see

Only the outer actions of his life

These, in their charitable wisdom said

""Twere best the lad's career were thus cut short."

But he had virtues many, great, and rare

These were the man-the faults but the defects

That riper wisdom would have cast aside.
Turn to his better self, and here behold
His never-failing kindness-his warm love-
Remembering ever those whose care for him

In childhood had been shown. His poor old nurse-
How often has he cheered her heart, and brought

The happy tears into her honest eyes;

No pride, nor that false shame of youth were his,
And he would take her out to walk or drive,

[Enl. Series.-No. 62, vol. vi.]

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Had this poor boy, nor where to lay his head;
So, like the good Samaritan of old,

Our lost one poured the oil into his wounds,
Cheered his sad heart, and bade him journey on.
Deeds like to these I could recount enough,

For many such were of his daily life,

That never reached beyond the sphere wherein
They were enacted. Surely these are they

Whose left hand knows not what the right hand does.
That easy charity the rich man boasts,

Who gives of his abundance, costs no pain
Of self-denial. This did the Pharisees,
And verily they had their own reward.
And I was pondering still upon his fate
And all its sad belongings, when there came
Fresh tidings, telling of the lad's last hour,—
They told of peace-of his last-uttered words-
"Gracey, I come!" Oh, why e'en now again
Does the quick blood rush back upon my heart!
Oh God! Oh God! how wondrous are thy ways!
Not all the learning of the priest could shew
The teaching of those simple words to me:
My prayer is answered-Thou hast willed it so.
"Gracey, I come!" And the poor boy stretched out
His feeble hand, and thus was led away,
Gazing on those well-remembered features,
Once so familiar, now so glorified!

They journeyed on together, hand in hand,
Into those realms of light where angels dwell.

And now the scales have fallen from off his eyes,
And he beholds the greater joys of heaven,-
The joys of angels never wearied-
Ministering ever in their charity!

Poor boy! and thus he stands before the pure,
With downcast eyes, apart, but not alone;
His sister is still with him, and her hand
Clasps his; her loving lips breathe out anon-
"I am thy guardian angel; fear not thou,
Thy sins were never in thee. Tempters dark

Worked through thy senses, but ne'er reached thy heart.

And thus in mercy, for thou wast so weak,

The Lord hath snatched thee from their power,-thou'rt free!

And for a time 'tis mine, oh, happy task!

To teach thee wisdom, and to make thee strong!"

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MISCELLANEOUS

RETROSPECT OF THE YEAR 1858. (Concluded from page 38.)

In the last number we cast a cursory glance at the general religious features of the past year. The length to which our remarks extended precluded any specific notice of the New Church; indeed, one or two features, of more than ordinary significance, relating to the Old were, from the same cause, passed over unnoticed. These, however, we propose to take up at some future opportunity.

The year 1857 was memorable in the annals of the New Church as the completion of the first centenary since the last judgment, preparatory to the coming of the Lord, in the mighty power of his saving truth in his Divine Word. This epoch was, however, unnoted, except within the small circle of those who profess New Church doctrines; and the series of delightful réunions, devoted to mutual recognition and greeting of previously unknown friends, and their mutual congratulations, which marked the era, excited neither sympathy nor attention in the public at large. Whilst turmoil reigned without -the Russian war just ended, and the Indian rebellion at its climax,-peace reigned within, and apathy, apparently, prevailed with out. Signs of excitement had indeed begun to exhibit themselves among the leaders of the Old; efforts to reach the working classes by special services had been inaugurated; and, among the lesser lights, a Spurgeon or a Mursell shone out with the glare of a meteor. On the other hand, an attempt to unite the scattered and discordant elements of popular Protestantism into an alliance of mutual defence against Papal aggression had been made, under the auspices of the Evangelical Alliance; but the New Church was left to pursue her course unmolested, being, apparently, deemed too insignificant to demand attention.

Since then, however, a new phase has characterized our experience. The year 1858 has been marked by the renewal of a conflict we had believed to be at an end. After years of quiet from molestation, the past year witnessed a series of

INFORMATION.

attacks upon us, which, for virulence and want of principle, equal, if they do not exceed, any to which we have at any previous time been subjected. The religious bodies (or rather some of them) in Middleton and Rhodes, villages near Manchester, led the attack. Next, we were assailed by John Bowes, at Bolton. Leamington followed, in which town the somewhat notorious John Brindley made an onslaught on our doctrines; and, being virtually foiled, subsequently attempted to remove the seat of war to Birmingham, where he disgusted, not only the public, but, apparently, the more judicious of his own friends. Subsequently, at the instigation of a Mr. George Porter, a Plymouth brother, an attack was made in Carlisle, by Mr. Bowes; and, lastly, we have had to submit to one from a somewhat noted Gathercall, at Chatteris, where he is the vicar.

What makes these attacks the more striking and significant is, that they were entirely unprovoked. At Middleton, or rather Rhodes, the conflict was excited by an announcement from the pulpit, of the library belonging to the society being open to the public, which resulted in some four teachers of another school reading and being convinced of the truth of the New Church doctrines; and Middleton, from its contiguity, became involved. At Bolton the attack apparently arose out of the "chapter of accidents," Mr. Bowes having confessed to being drawn into it against his better judgment. The Leamington controversy arose from the works being received into the Free Library of that town; and it was out of this that the Birmingham attack sprang. The attack at Carlisle originated in the progress of the cause in that city, which, though consisting of a mere handful of persons, was sufficient to awaken the fears of Mr. Porter. Some few years previous Mr. Bowes had a small band of followers, and Mr. Cartmell, the present leader of the Carlisle society, having recently returned from America, where he had received the doctrines, was requested to preach to them. The result was, that about half became favourable to the doctrines, and the others were scattered to the winds.

Among the latter was, we understand, the gentleman who incited the recent attack; and it is not surprising that neither he nor Mr. Bowes should view us with no friendly eye. Then, as respects Chatteris, the circumstances of the attack, having been so recently detailed, must be familiar to our readers, and need not be repeated.

In the early history of the church it was the custom of many of our preachers to shew little or no mercy on the fallacies of the old dogmas. Had such been the case now-were our pulpit services characterized by the unsparing exposure of error that formerly marked them, it would have furnished some clue to the recent attacks. But, a studious avoidance of aught that might cause unnecessary pain has, for some time past, been the leading feature of New Church preaching, and the object of our preachers has been to build up the truth rather than pull down error. No external incitement will, therefore, supply a solution of the attacks made on us from so many quarters, and we must consequently seek it in some internal.

In the remarks we offered at the commencement of the year 1858, reference was made to the Indian outbreak, in which it was suggested that many of its features indicated the accomplishment of a judgment in the spiritual world. The present, or rather recent, outbreak against our doctrines, arises, we believe, from the same general cause. One of the results of these periodical crises in the invisible world is the increased power of the Divine influx into that world, and thence into the minds of men, with the consequent extension of the Lord's kingdom. But the legions of the Dragon will not yield without a conflict, and the struggle which rages there makes itself felt below. When John beheld the Dragon and his angels expelled from heaven by Michael and his angels, he heard a voice denouncing "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, for the devil is come down to you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."+ By the laws of influx out of that world into the minds of men here, wherever a congenial ground or plane is supplied, there it operates and incites; and no doubt a very wide plane exists. Some, *See vol. v., page 42. + Rev. xii. 7-12.

from prudential considerations, may be restrained from giving public utterance to the opposition they feel; but we infer, with tolerable certainty, that a powerful agitation is going on beneath the surface, and the incidental attacks we have quoted are but a few of the ripples that rise to the top.

The results to the New Church have been the very reverse of what our opponents contemplated and desired. They were not only promptly met, but our enemies have been mortified with defeat. In Middleton, whilst the storm raged, and our foes threatened us with demolition, our friends were engaged in the erection of a new place of worship, of near threefold the size of their previous one, which has hitherto been attended with a proportionately larger congrega tion. The attack in Bolton resulted in a public discussion, the printed report of which, circulated by hundreds, has, it is believed, done good service to the Church. In Leamington, where public attention was first called to our doctrines by the denunciations of an enemy, an increasing number have already avowed themselves firm believers in their truth, and others are examining their claims, where previously there was not one; whilst the opposition in Birmingham raised up a vindicator in the person of Mr. Taylor, before unknown to us, and unacquainted with our doctrines, till his attention was drawn to them by the scurrility and virulence of Dr. Brindley's attacks. Nor must we pass over the Deep Dip of a Charity Boy, which, although intended to vindicate Mr. George Dawson, was highly favourable to us. The onslaught made on us in Carlisle awakened a degree of interest in us which any other means would, probably, have failed to accomplish, and the refutation of the scandals raised against us was listened to by approving hundreds. The results of the Chatteris attacks may be gathered from the last and present number of the Repository.

Another feature by which the past year has been distinguished has been the greater efforts to make the doctrines known by lectures. These have partly, it is true, arisen from the attacks made on us; but, independently of that circumstance, more than an average amount of missionary exertion has been sustained, and with more than average success. Under this head may be

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