between faith and charity, and, indeed, between prayer and practice. To understand the connection between piety and morality, that doctrine of the New Church must be understood which teaches, that faith without charity is dead, and that charity without faith is natural and not spiritual; and further, that good derives all its quality from truth, and is natural or spiritual good, according as the truth with which it is joined is natural or spiritual; and that truth derives all its life from good, and that the life which makes truth to be living, is of the natural or spiritual degree according to the lucidity of its truth, provided that truth be carried into practice. But good is mentioned here in the sense of all that good of life which corresponds with its truth, and thence brings down from heaven into the mind a corresponding degree of interior good, uniting with the truth in the understanding, and constituting the heavenly marriage. Similar is the relation of practice and prayer to that of good and truth, and charity and faith. Without prayer, which is truth taking a devotional form, practice is natural and not spiritual in its quality, that is, so far as the idea of dutiful obedience to God does not enter into it, or so far as practice springs from some inferior natural motive, such as a sense of fitness, self-respect, or a regard to reputation, for these things enter into the constitution of a merely natural conscience. A spiritual conscience is formed of spiritual truths received, not in a proud and irreligious spirit, but in an humble and devout spirit. It is sometimes the case that persons attached to a religious communion constantly exhibit some lamentable defects, especially of temper, because, instead of seeking improvement through the medium of prayer, they trust to obtain it by the exercise of the power which doctrine tells them is given to them, or which they imagine, even contrary to their doctrine, that they inherently and independently possess. They trust their improvement to their own strength; they seek for victory through their own arm; they forget that God's spiritual gifts are given only to those "who ask Him." The consequence is, they are double minded and unstable in all their ways.' 66 They wish to improve, but they are unwilling to cultivate those consistent habits of piety and devotion which alone can lead to their improvement, by procuring them power from above,-the effectual aid of the Omnipotent arm. Their temper, possibly, is their bane. They are sometimes ashamed of its manifestations. They determine to fight against it; but they are irresolute; their fight is not the "good fight of faith;" it has no foundation in the wrestling "prayer of the righteous which availeth much;" and therefore they fail. They desire to obtain that which only cometh down from heaven by the ministry of angels, but they refuse to make use of that ladder of Jacob which reached up to heaven, and on which the angels of God ascend and descend. How unreasonable is the man who expects the aid of the Holy Spirit, but refuses to provide the needful vessel for its reception, which can only be provided by prayerful and trustful truth, that is, prevailing faith,-consistent, habitual, fervent piety. He is willing to conquer his temper, or at least he thinks he is so, but he will not cultivate that sincere, humble, and believing piety which alone can bring down to him from heaven the power to do so. It is told of one who was describing to a certain bishop an individual as being a person very pious, but of a very bad temper, that he received from the prelate, in answer to this description, the justly corrective remark, that he considered temper to be ninetenths of Christianity. If a man be a Christian indeed, a faithful and courageous soldier of the Cross, he will fight against his temper, if that be his besetting sin, until he has subdued it. But he will not be so unwise as to fight against it in his own strength, because he knows that then he will merely be setting Satan to cast out Satan, which is but labour in vain. He will not be so absurd as to depend on his own strength, when simply by asking, he can have the aid of Omnipotence. A beautifully impressive anecdote is told as follows, of the efficacy of prayer, well calculated to encourage every sincere and stable mind to take the right course, when troubled with irregularity of temper : 66 A woman came to Halle one day, and said to Augustus Hennan Franke, that it was as possible that the steeples should fall prostrate, as that she should lay down her hatred to her mother-in-law, who had so abused and outraged her that she could never be reconciled. Franke replied, I am not surprised that you are not able to reconcile yourself to your mother-in-law. You can be able only if you implore God's grace to do it. And now from my heart I ask you to promise me that you will pray to God for a forgiving temper.' Some days afterwards she returned and said, 'Now I will go and be reconciled to my mother-inlaw.' She did so. Her own pastor asked her why she had not done so before. She replied, 'You admonished me to be reconciled, but did not tell me how to get a forgiving spirit by praying to God.'" From this example we may learn that, whenever we would consistently and effectually remonstrate with another on his exhibition of temper, we must not only advise him to try to amend it, but also advise him to pray to the Lord for grace to do so. The Lord gives his Holy Spirit to them that ask Him, and in the effectual, spiritual degree-to them only. DISCIPULUS Poetry. TO HAPPINESS. (By the late Frederick Abbott, aged 16.) Hail happiness! sweet, lovely sound! "I'm not to earthly spot confined; I own no hermit's lone retreat; I have my centre in the mind, "Tis there I ever hold my seat; And he who does not seek me there, Can never to my courts repair. "Who seeks me must become possest Of Godly reverence and fear; Kind love to man must swell his breast, He must be honest and sincere : Sweet happiness! beyond all count! That leads unto thy blest abode ! N. S. No. 96.-VOL. VIII. 2 N MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. SWEDENBORG'S CLAIMS ADVOCATED BY To the Editor of the Intellectual Repository. DEAR SIR,- It will be gratifying to many of your readers to know, from the various sources (out of the New Church externally considered) now presenting to the world the name of Swedenborg and his claims, that, in some cases at least, that presentation is not only without prejudice, but with positive commendation. mended all his hearers, who had time and opportunity, to read them for themselves. He stated that we had a Liturgy of our own, and that he had collected eight articles of belief from many others, the following being some of those he mentioned. "The Trinity in the Divine Person of Jesus Christ.” "That all angels were once men ;" remarking here that this view was quite in accordance with his own belief. "That the first chapters of Genesis were an allegory;" thus relieving us, he The writer of this article, with many said, from the severe embarrassments surother New Church friends in London, was rounding those who adhere to the literal attracted by a public announcement that sense. "Our repudiation of the doctrine one of a series of lectures to be delivered of justification by faith alone." That the in the Baptist Chapel, Worship-street, Word contains three senses; stating that Finsbury, would involve a consideration if we admitted the supernatural commuof the Swedenborgians, and we accord- nication of Swedenborg, (which he did not ingly attended on Sunday evening, No- feel himself justified in denying,) we might vember 14th, and were much gratified to easily see how he could know that there hear a straight-forward, unostentatious, were three or four or any other number of but necessarily brief notice of Swedenborg senses. He mentioned that Dr. Priestly and the members of the New Church, wrote letters to the members of the New stating, amongst other things, the follow- Church, recommending his hearers to read ing observations:-First, The high esti- them, and offering the loan of the work to mation in which his adherents, a very any one desirous of perusing it. Having respectable body, held his writings, view- omitted to mention that these letters were ing them as an undoubted authority, fol- answered by Mr. Hindmarsh, one of our lowed by the mention of Swedenborg's friends, after the lecture, before the minisillumination in his own words, "That ter had offered up the concluding prayer, he had been called to a holy office by the reminded him that such was the case, and Lord," and also of his statement that the that any one, desirous of seeing the reply, Last Judgment was accomplished in the could obtain the loan of it from him. year 1757. The lecturer said that no one could doubt the sincerity and goodness of heart of that distinguished man, and his devoted attachment to the Word of God. He also stated that he had been much delighted, during the last week, with the perusal of a book (the Appeal, &c.) written by Mr. Noble, the very talented minister of the New Church in London, alluding particularly to Mr. Noble's remarks on the wonderful changes and improvements that have taken place in the world since the accomplishment of the Last Judgment, as stated by Swedenborg, and the successful manner in which Mr. Noble repudiates the charge of insanity brought against Swedenborg, by shewing that there was the strongest probability of the whole story respecting his fever, attended with delirium, being a wilful and false fabrication. So favourable were the lecturer's own impressions respecting the writings of Swedenborg, that he unequivocally recom These observations the minister received with Christian feeling, and explained that the omission was unintentional on his part, for that he had noted down the name of Mr. Hindmarsh for the purpose. After the lecture, several of our friends had an interview with the minister, who seemed highly gratified when it was mentioned that the three senses of Scripture were most lucidly and satisfactorily proved in the Arcana Coelestia. He also expressed his desire to read Hindmarsh's reply to Dr. Priestly, which was to be handed to him for that purpose. The knowledge of such a manifestation of feeling, and such statements from a Baptist minister to a Baptist congregation, we think will be gratifying to every member of the New Church, evincing that bitterness of feeling, and proneness to ignorant declamations from groundless prejudices, are, to a great extent, subsiding. London. G. DONATION FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE NEW CHURCH. To the Editor of the Intellectual Repository. SIR, I last month sent you a hastilywritten notice of the fact, that I had received a sum of £100., to be applied to the benefit of the New Church. Permit me now to state my views as to its appropriation; which, however, I shall be quite ready to modify upon sufficient grounds. My present intention, then, is, to reserve this sum as the nucleus of a fund to be raised for the purpose of Ministerial Endowment. The great benefits and advantages of such a measure, could it be accomplished, have been very generally admitted; and its desirableness and possibility of attainment have been matter of conversation from the earliest period of my connexion with the public business of the church. The want of suitably educated persons for the ministry has been grievously felt; and the impossibility of providing sufficient means to induce such persons to enter into the ministerial service of the church has been as often lamented. How often has the observation been made, when the missionaries have visited provincial towns-that an excellent congregation might be raised, if a suitable minister could be found! A slight effort in the right direction was made in the endeavour to form a Congregational Aid Fund; but the proposition was not well founded-one society, which very inadequately pays its minister, was called upon to contribute towards the salary of a minister who was still more inadequately paid. If the first-named society could raise money to give to the minister of another society, it is clear that it did not pay what it ought, and did not treat its minister as a religious teacher ought to be treated, but merely as a hired servant whose services are to be got at as low a rate as possible. The Congregational Aid Fund failed; it was not based on a rock. But the subject is still of the first importance, and I hope this donation, and the proposition for its appropriation, may revive the matter in the minds of the members of the church, many of whom may be able to offer suggestions that may be practicable and acceptable. That the sum in question is exceedingly small, in comparison with the purpose contemplated, is not any objection. If it is ever to be accomplished, it must have a beginning, however small, which may be the means of drawing forth more ample and efficient aid. One source of increase to such a fund, and, as it appears to me, a most legitimate one, would be the profits arising from the sale of the Intellectual Repository. Such an appropriation has been frequently suggested, but the smallness of its amount seemed to give an air of bombast to the proposition. The produce appears now to be likely to amount to £10. or £12, a year; therefore it would be worthy of the consideration of the Conference whether they would not so dispose of it. When the magazine was handed over to the Conference, it was given for the benefit of the church, and its profits were to be devoted to some special object having that end in view. The losses having, however, hitherto predominated, a heavy debt accrued. This having been paid off by a special subscription, and the Conference having ample means in its hands for providing for all its expenditure, if judiciously managed, the profit arising from the sale of the Intellectual Repository might be applied in aid of this proposed fund. The money is now invested in the three per cent. consols, and the interest of it will from time to time be deposited in the Savings Bank, and when sufficient, added to the principal. The £100. produced £118. 2s. 8d. stock. I shall be happy to receive suggestions on the subject, which I hope will lead to the formation of such a fund in less time than is at present imagined. Yours obediently, JAS. S. HODSON. MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE. To the Editor of the Intellectual Repository. MY DEAR SIR,-Having recently returned from a missionary tour, I herewith send you an account of the same, in order to your making what use of it you please in your next number. I left Chalford on Monday, the 20th of September, and arrived in Norwich the same evening, where I remained until the 29th. During my stay in Norwich we had several interesting meetings of the friends of the church, and I preached on Sunday the 26th to a good congregation. sincerely hope that as Mr. Abbott is now settled there, the society will go on prosperously and happily. During my stay I baptized two adults. May the Lord prosper Jerusalem in that city, I returned to |