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which would otherwise have hung very heavily upon my hands. I made some very pleasant acquaintances, and had an opportunity to practise my profession. I preached once at the request of the captain, and a second time at the urgent solicitation of the passengers. We did not reach New York until nine o'clock on Monday morning. My mind has not yet become sufficiently settled to take a calm survey of the work which lies before me; but I must begin to-morrow to write

sermons.

"I feel that my visit and journey have been of great use to me, and that I can do better work than ever before. But this feeling may be due to some effervescence of mind, and I cannot tell so well how much I have gained until my mind settles down to its level-gained, I mean, in intellectual force and the ability to set forth the beautiful and glorious truths of the New Church in a more attractive and comprehensible form. I know that I have gained much in many other ways. I have enlarged the horizon of my thoughts and affections, and I feel that I have become greatly enriched by the-I was going to sayfriends I have made, but they must have been made before. It is the exacter truth to say, the friends I discovered. I feel that I have largely increased my world. Its horizon stretches much farther away, and embraces many more interesting objects of thought and affection.

"This discovery is not only interesting in itself, but in the new light it throws upon the future and the glorious prospect it reveals to us of the constant and eternal increase in the number and excellence of our friends. What treasures of friendship, and still more interior affection, we shall acquire in the eternal future! . . .

"I hope the acquaintances I have made may become more intimate and ripen into friendship, and that the friendship may become more interior and heavenly. I will do what I can to keep them up and increase them. But I know how busy I shall be when I get the harness on and begin my work. I know how absorbed I shall be in it-how I shall write to weariness of myself, and others too, perhaps. But I am sure I shall think of the pleasant homes and kind faces and warm hearts in England when I am writing and working, and unless I greatly change, I shall be addressing you as well as others nearer in the body, perhaps not so near in the spirit.

"I feel deeply thankful that I have been permitted to make this visit, and I shall try to profit by it as much as possible.

...

"I intend to take hold of the Messenger with renewed energy, and I wish I could make it so good that it could win a much larger circulation in England, and that every one who did take it would feel that he received a full equivalent for his money. I see now, more clearly than ever before, that it is very useful to us to know more about our New Church friends in England, and I doubt not it would be equally useful to them to know more about the thought and life of the Church in America.-Very truly, your friend and brother, "CHAUNCEY GILES."

587

Reviews.

SWEDENBORG STUDIES. BY RICHARD M'CULLY.

Speirs. London. OUR well-known contributor, who has for many years charmed the readers of the Repository with his bright intelligence on a variety of subjects, has published a selection of his essays, with the addition of some that have not previously appeared. Their re-issue in a separate form was first suggested by an American writer well able to form a just estimate of their value, and who spoke in the highest terms of their excellence. We are glad the author has acted upon the suggestion; for the essays can now be read in their connection, in a handy volume, printed in the best style. The essays have also been carefully revised, so that the reader has the advantage of the Author's last thoughts, and the latest touches of his pen. The subjects of the essays are Descartes and Swedenborg; Swedenborg's conversion; His years of brightening uses; Mary Magdalene; Theories concerning the Christhood of the one God our Father; Kittie Barclay; The Glory and Decline of primitive Quakerism; Lazarus; On the Era of a New Dispensation; The Last Judg ment; The aged Seer and his Lord; Stray Leaves of the New Civilization; Faith and Fact; Emerson. We hope the work will have a deservedly large circulation.

THE ATONEMENT. The Congregational Union Lecture for 1875. By R. W. DALE, M.A. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

We are informed in the preface to this volume that "The Congregational Union Lecture has been established with a view to the promotion of Biblical Science and Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature." The Committee of the Union, in making the foregoing announcement, are careful to add that- "For the opinions advanced in any of the lectures the lecturer alone will be responsible."

The lectures contained in the work before us were delivered in the Congregational Memorial Hall, London, during the months of February, March, and April 1875. Notwithstanding the disclaimer of responsibility, these lectures are generally understood to be given under the auspices of the body mentioned above. Mr. Dale sets before himself the task of defending the popular doctrine of the Atonement. He recognizes the fact that that doctrine is extensively disputed, and frequently refers to the "controversy" thereon, as one which requires, and will continue to require, the ablest intellects of the Christian Church. He says:"In this hour, not of peril, but of fierce struggle, the Church must use all her varied and boundless resources, her science, her learning, her logic, her eloquence; and she must use them with a patience, a courage, and an energy corresponding to the great issues of the strife.

In the first lecture the author lays down the position that "Any complete theory of the Atonement must include a definition of the eternal relations between the Son of God and the Father." "What may be described as the internal and natural relations of the Trinity must contain the ultimate solution of some of the questions suggested by the relation of Christ in His redemptive work to the Father. But the development of the doctrine of the Trinity has been practically arrested for thirteen or fourteen hundred years; and in those early centuries, when that doctrine absorbed the theological thought of the Church, the theory of the Atonement had as yet assumed so rudimentary and imperfect a form that it was impossible for theologians to appreciate the close and profound relations between those two great provinces of Christian speculation. During the Athanasian controversies, the construction of the doctrine of the Trinity suffered very seriously through the absence of a just theory of the Atonement; and until the doctrine of the Trinity has received a much richer and fuller development, there are questions relating to the theory of the Atonement to which we can give no reply.'

These are remarkable admissions. Does Mr. Dale see that, in conceding thus much, he concedes the truth that neither the doctrine of the Trinity, nor the doctrine of the Atonement, as now popularly taught, was known to the early Christian Church? The lecturer necessarily grants that both the doctrines in

question are "developments" of a period long subsequent to the Apostolic age. Therefore, in insisting upon them, he is earnestly contending for a faith which never was delivered unto the saints.

It is creditable to the author that he sees so clearly the intimate connection between the doctrine of the Atonement and the doctrine of the Trinity. The fact that "the development of the doctrine of the Trinity has been practically arrested for thirteen or fourteen hundred years," suggests matter for grave reflection, especially when it is considered that "until the doctrine of the Trinity has received a much richer and fuller development, there are questions relating to the theory of the Atonement to which we can give no reply." We commend to Mr. Dale's attention the early portions of the True Christian Religion, where he will find not only the "much richer and fuller development" which he desiderates, but also a flood of light bearing upon all the dark questions on the Atonement to which he can give no reply.

The question of the inspiration of Scripture is incidentally touched upon in the fourth lecture, and our author makes a confession which cannot be regarded otherwise than humiliating, coming as it does from a "master in Israel.' He says

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that "in our times the doctrine of inspiration is in a very unsettled and even chaotic condition, and many devout men are unable to determine to what extent the supernatural illumination of the Holy Ghost protected the Apostles from religious error. This means, in plain English, that there are grave doubts prevalent among devout Christians as to what amount of authority is due to Holy Scripture. How inconsistent men are! The moment any one ventures to impugn the authority of Scripture, as Dr. Colenso did a few years ago, a wild cry of horror is raised among the devout ones, who are confessedly unable to determine the point in question.

A more serious matter, however, remains. In the sentence next to the one quoted in the last paragraph, Mr. Dale goes on to affirm that "the inquiry has considerable speculative interest, but the solution of it is practically unimportant in relation to the chief articles of the Christian faith." What shall we hear next, when we are told by a champion of orthodoxy that the question of inspiration has considerable speculative interest, but is practically unimportant in relation to the chief articles of the Christian faith? If this is belief, what is doubt? Where shall we look for heterodoxy?

Returning to the subject of the Atonement, Mr. Dale makes admissions which a few years ago would have brought upon himself the charge of unsoundness. He says, p. 112, "A penitent heart may rely on Him for forgiveness and for restoration to holiness and to God, without apprehending the relation of His death to human redemption." Again, p. 314, we find the following:-"The faith which is the condition, on our side, of receiving redemption through His blood, is trust in Christ Himself as the Son of God and the Saviour of men; not the acceptance of any doctrine which explains how it is that salvation comes to us through Him. For this trust, it is not necessary that men should acknowledge even the FACT that the death of Christ is the propitiation for the sin of the world; much less is it necessary that they should receive from others, or elaborate for themselves, a THEORY of propitiation." After this admission, the controversy is practically at The old theology, after all, has only a speculative interest.

an end.

Englishmen, when they try a principle at all, generally do so by following it out to its practical results. Some shrink from the trial; but there are manymore, we are persuaded, than Mr. Dale is aware-who do not hesitate to carry out the popular doctrine of the Atonement to its logical consequences, and openly teach that conduct has no necessary connection with salvation. Not long ago, a person declared to the present writer that he could commit sin without suffering harm thereby. The interest which he had secured in the blood of Jesus was such as to cover all sins, past, present, and to come. The man was logical and consistent; Mr. Dale, however, objects to this kind of thing, but he does not furnish us with an argument on the point; he leaves us with the mere statement of his views. The passage, which is a remarkable one, runs thus-" Especially should we learn from St. James that one of our chief duties is to insist that obedience to the law of God is inseparable from real faith in His love. In our own times, in

deed, and in this country, the practical heresies which, from the days of the Apostles, have always arisen wherever the Apostolic theology has been vigorously and earnestly preached, have no considerable strength. They may be found in obscure places, but they shun the light. They often, I fear, exist in a vague form, in the minds of those who have received, without much reflection, the traditional evangelical creed, but they are rarely expressed. Wherever they exist, in however indefinite a shape, they poison the air, they corrupt Christian morality, they enfeeble the fibre and muscle of the Christian life. They must receive no toleration, but must be driven away and smitten down with a relentless hand." How is it that these heresies have always arisen wherever the current theology has been vigorously and earnestly preached? "A tree is known by its fruits," we are told on Divine authority, and Mr. Dale unconsciously bears witness to the truth of our Lord's saying. And if this be so, what results may we not look for after the recent revival, which has consisted almost entirely of the loud and unmistakeable assertion of what our author calls "practical heresies."

Notwithstanding the admissions quoted above, we find Mr. Dale still entangled in the mazes of some imaginary law. He cannot see how justice can be satisfied with less than "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," or even with so much. In his ninth lecture he maintains that God is not, cannot, and ought not to be satisfied with the infliction of just so much suffering as will deter the offender from repeating his offence and bring him to a sense of his sin. That, he says,, is only discipline. He contends that punishment only begins where discipline ends, and that punishment must go on, even after reclamation is effected, and to an extent equal to the offence; otherwise the "eternal law of righteousness is not satisfied." According to this principle, law was not made for the guidance of man; but man was made for the purpose of satisfying a law. It appears, moreover, to be a matter of no consequence who endures the suffering for any specific sin. The essential point is that it shall be endured by somebody. The following passage embodies both points :-"If the punishment of sin is a Divine act, an act in which the identity between the will of God and the eternal law of righteousness is asserted and expressed, it would appear that if in any case the penalties of sin are remitted, some other Divine act, of at least equal intensity, and in which the ill desert of sin is expressed with at least equal energy, must take its place."

This book is the latest deliverance on the cardinal point of the Christian faith, Amongst Nonconformists it will, no doubt, be read with attention. It contains no new argument in support of the old theology. As a confession of the weakness of the popular doctrine, it will give expression and definiteness to a sense of want which many must have experienced already, without, perhaps, having confessed so much even to themselves. This quickened sense of want will, in due time, prepare the way for the introduction of truths of a higher order. So long as men are satisfied with the old, they will not desire the new. Although avowedly written in the interest of the commonly received creed, we cannot see how the perusal of the work can leave the orthodox reader satisfied with the state of the defences, The possibility of salvation without a belief in the death of Christ as a propitiation for sin is conceded. The doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture is declared to be in an unsettled and even chaotic condition. More light is declared to be needed respecting the doctrine of the Trinity. Surely all this will lead some to be willing to accept the required light; and in this connection we hail the recent extensive distribution of the True Christian Religion as most opportune, and as discharging one of the highest duties of our time. E. W.

Miscellaneous.

GENERAL CONFERENCE. Address not to receive the Lord's Supper, when, from the Society of the New Jerusalem nevertheless, they were in a fit state for Church in Mauritius to the General Conference of that Church in England. Dear Brethren, We received, a short time ago, the address sent to us from you, and signed by the Rev. William Westall on your behalf. On receipt of this document the principal question which our last address discussed, namely, the baptism into the New Church of those who wish to act as their ministers, was again considered, and we see no reason to modify the opinion we then recorded.

We are ready to admit with you that a certain latitude should be left to individual freedom, and therefore, we recognise the right of the Conference to leave this question to the conscience of each; still we cannot help expressing a hope that different views on this matter will soon prevail throughout the Church. However this may be, we wish at the same time to assure you that our feelings of charity and goodwill towards our brethren in England are not in any way affected by a decision which, although on an important point, does not touch the fundamental doctrines of the Church.

We notice in the Minute, No. 185, of the proceedings of the Conference for 1873, that you intend to consider the desirableness of introducing into the New Church a rite analogous to that of Confirmation. We beg to express our hope that the proposal in favour of such a rite will not be accepted. The Old Church to a large extent gave itself up far too much to rites and ceremonies, and we should be very careful to avoid in the New Church any approach to the same error. We consider that the greatest liberty should be left to youth to choose their own time for coming into full membership with the Church. Confirmation is generally considered in the Anglican Church as preceding the reception of the Lord's Supper, and as a sort of entry into full Church membership. If, then, Confirmation or some such rite were brought into the New Church, it might be believed by some that, not being confirmed, they ought

its reception; and, on the other hand, others might be led to think that after being confirmed they were in a condition of mind fitting them for this holy rite, irrespective of their state of mind viewed spiritually. The danger of formalism is so great, and the human mind so apt to cling to it, that our strongest efforts should be used to put it from us as far as possible. As to the necessity that may be supposed to exist for a ceremony to accompany the admission to full Church membership, we fail to see it, for no other doors of entry into the Church are required than those two plainly set forth in No. 721 of the True Christian Religion, viz., Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and we beg respectfully to submit that the New Church should confine itself to these.

With regard to our own progress during the last year we have little to report. Our numbers have remained almost stationary, and one of our oldest and most devoted members has been removed to the spiritual world. remained firm in the faith to the last, expressing almost with his dying breath his fullest conviction of the truths of the doctrines he had received.

He

A providential circumstance has brought the truths of the New Church somewhat prominently into notice here, and we think it is as well to mention it. A Jesuit priest at the end of last year wrote to our President, expressing certain New Year's wishes on his behalf, which, in substance, amounted to a hope that our President would return to the Roman Catholic Communion. A correspondence ensued, which was published and attracted considerable attention, and we believe that on the whole the impression produced has been favourable to our cause. There seems to be a somewhat increased interest taken in our doctrines, and some little inquiry respecting them. With us, indeed, it is "the day of small things," and therefore we are glad to see any sign of a change for the better, however slight.

We are happy to see from the report

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