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numerous and strong. It is with such characters that bigotry and superstition chiefly arise in the church. They are consequently represented as settling upon their lees," or dregs, to shew us that they remain in all the impurities, depravities, and fallacies of their fallen nature,—that their motives and springs of action are all grounded in mere selfish and worldly impulse, and that their ends and objects in life are all merely natural and sensual. Hence we see why Moab is said to 'settle on his lees," and why in Psalms lx. and cviii. he is called a "wash-pot," the receptacle of every defilement. O ye youth of the New Church, see what it is to settle upon your dregs like Moab, to be at ease from your youth, and never to strive, as you advance in years, after superior or spiritual attainments in the regenerate and spiritual life! For the end of Moab, if he remain in this state, is dreadful. “Fear, and the pit, and the snare shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the Lord!" (Jer. xlviii. 43.)

It should be well observed, that there is natural good, what the world calls "good nature," as in the phrase "a good-natured man," &c., and there is spiritual or Christian good. These two kinds of good are essentially different; the one is saving, but the other is not. The world. always confounds them, or rather it ignores spiritual good, and acknowledges only natural good. This latter may be connate with a man, he may be naturally disposed to be amiable, and to shew many acts of kindness to his fellow-men, and act honestly and uprightly, but all from a merely natural disposition and impulse. But spiritual or Christian good does not proceed from the stock of nature, but from the "tree of life;" divine truth is the principle from which it springs, and it is the precious fruit of a religious and spiritual life. Now the Moabite in the church is often distinguished for his natural good, for his amiable and courteous conduct, and for his benevolent feelings and sympathies, which, however, often evaporate in mere sighs and wishes, and seldom come out in substantial deeds for the neighbour's good. The seed of divine Truth, or the Word, is the great principle of all genuine good; unless we are actuated and governed by this, all our amiable conduct and our good nature will be merely external and spurious; we shall be unprincipled in all we do, because not principled upon the rock of truth, the Lord Himself. Hence Moab, who is at ease from his youth, and doth not confirm himself in principles of truth, is an easy victim to every temptation. He yields without a struggle and without a sigh. So soon as the syren pleasure spreads her charms, he is an easy captive. How different is Moab from Joseph, who, as the man of

religious principle, combats and conquers in temptations, and says, How can "I do this great wickedness, and sin against God!"

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How, then, is the Moabite in the church to be elevated from his lees, and brought to a spiritual state of wisdom and happiness? The answer is given by the prophet,-" Give wings to Moab, that he may flee and get away." These wings are the truths which Moab should acquire from a deeply-felt interest in their inestimable value as the medium of salvation. By these wings, employed for the purpose of spiritual elevation, he can flee away from the "lees" and dregs of the merely sensual state, and become truly spiritual and blessed. "He will then be emptied from vessel to vessel:" the process of purification and refinement will be carried on. Fallacies and falsities will be dispersed, the spell of worldly persuasion and enchantment will be broken; divine realities relating to the Lord and his kingdom will be seen in a clearer light, and enjoyed with a keener appetite, and a more exquisite pleasure. He will then experience what spiritual captivity is, which all must experience before they can become truly sensible of their own evils, and desire to be delivered from the bondage of sin and the yoke of the oppressor. We never sigh for deliverance from evil until we feel its captivity and its sting. When this is felt, the time of deliverance draweth nigh. He "that feeleth the plague of his own heart, and the sin which doth easily beset him," will soon be prepared to escape from the captivity of sin, and to be led captive by the Prince of Peace.

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In this way the "taste of Moab will not remain ;" it will be entirely changed. Heretofore it was a taste for earthly things only, and the character was conformable to the taste. But now, when elevated by the wings" of truth from the "lees of sensual defilements, he will have quite a different taste. Spiritual and heavenly realities will now be relished, the affections will be fixed on the things that are above; the internal man will be opened into heaven, and "his conversation will be there." The scent or sphere of Moab will also be changed;" every thing has its sphere, by which it way be scented-the rose, the lily, the violet, has each a sphere peculiar to itself-every mineral and every animal has its sphere, by which it manifests its inherent activities. But this is eminently the case with every man who has a spiritual and moral sphere emanating from the activities of his life. This sphere, or scent, indicates his true nature, or the real quality of his life. The Moabite in the church, when settled upon his lees, or in an unregenerate state, has a polluting sphere; like the deadly vapour of the vault, every thing pure,

innocent, and good from heaven, withers and dies at its approach; but when the character of Moab is changed, by being elevated above the lees of the merely natural state, his sphere is like the fragrance of incense, the odours of which are said to be the prayers of the saints.

(Rev. v. 8.) FIDELIS.

THE CORRESPONDENCE OF ADAM AND EVE IN THE NARRATIVE OF THE FALL OF MAN.

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THERE probably is no part of the Word that a New Churchman, in his generous zeal to communicate of his newly-acquired light to his friends, is more forward to explain than the allegory of the "Fall of Man.” It is desirable, therefore, that no mistaken explanation, in any particular, should be thrown in his way. Now it appears from a recent paper of very useful tendency, that every able expositor has not made a sufficiently accurate discrimination in explaining the representation of Adam and Eve, which, however, is absolutely necessary, in order to render the explanation equally in agreement with reason, and the exposition given by Swedenborg.

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Misled by the fact that, in the celestial state, the man (homo) is never considered as a single man, but as a husband, and, therefore, the same as a husband" represents the will, and the wife the understanding, (A. C. 915.) it has apparently been concluded by the writer alluded to, that inasmuch as Adam signifies the celestial church, he has the representation, necessarily, of homo, not of vir; but had he consulted the Arcana Calestia, he would have found that "Adam," in the narrative of the Fall, is translated vir by Swedenborg, in Genesis iii. 6. The ground of this will appear presently.

It is not considered necessary to point out at length the reasonableness of a reverse construction of the spiritual meaning of man and wife, according as man has the signification of the word homo or of vir: it is desired only to shew, that in the narrative of the Fall, Adam, or the man, represents the understanding, and what appertains to it; and that Eve, or the woman, represents the will, and what appertains to it. It is granted that they taken together represent the members of the most ancient church, which was celestial, but from the first moment of Eve being brought into the scene, in consequence of its not being longer good for the man to be alone (which is justly explained in your April number, page 130), they represent the church then existing in a particular respect only, viz., in respect to its beginning to be not celestial, and thus in

respect to a state the very contrary to the celestial. Now, in a moment this is seen, when it is remembered that it was not the celestial will which was tempted by the celestial understanding (as might be implied from the explanation objected to); it was, in fact, nothing of the internal man which was tempted and fell, but only the external. It was the sensual principle, denoted by the serpent, that tempted the self-love of the lower will appertaining to the external man or natural mind, signified by the woman; and this tempted the rational principle of the external, signified by the man (vir), and this having fallen, the whole mind became debased, to the extent described as constituting the fall at its commencement. Thus it appears that the lower will and understanding of the members of the most ancient church were allowed by them, by the abuse of their free-will, to yield to the fallacious suggestions of the sensual principle grounded in mere appearances, and indulge the idea, in an incipient measure and degree, that man lives and is wise from himself. We are able to prove this to be the true representation from reason, by shewing the intellectual character of the male as the ground of his representation, and the affectionate character of the female as the ground of her representation; but while Adam is supposed, in the narrative of the Fall, to represent the will or love, and the woman the understanding, this illustration is impossible. So far from Adam and Eve representing the celestial order (in respect to that in them which is allegorically described as falling, namely, that which could fall, and that could not be the celestial principle of the internal, which, although it could be closed up, could not fall), they represented nothing but what is now represented by man and woman in their natural and unregenerate state, at the present time. The state represented by Adam before it was no longer good for him to be alone, was the pure, unfallen, celestial state; and this also is represented by a "husband (homo) and wife," because the holy celestial state, restored by regeneration, being then represented by their marriage-union, the husband takes on the restored representation of the Lord as to the good of the interior will, and the wife, the representation of the church as to the true of the interior understanding. (See A. C. 287.)

In confirmation of what has been advanced, the following passages are cited:"In this state, [the third of the most ancient church] BECAUSE they began to believe nothing which they could not conceive

* The serpent does not signify self-love, as stated by your correspondent, probably the better and more conveniently to generalize or adapt his explanation. (See A. C. 197.) However useful a judicious generalizing may be sometimes, it is clear that accuracy must never be sacrificed to it. This, I think, every one must admit.

with the senses, by reason of self-love or proprium, the sensual principle is represented by the serpent; self-love or proprium by the woman; and the rational principle by the man. Hence the serpent (or sensual principle) persuaded the woman (or the proprium) to scrutinize into the things respecting faith in the Lord, whether they really were so or not, which is signified by eating of the tree of knowledge; and that the rational principle of man consented, is signified by the man's eating thereof." Gen. iii. 1-6. (4. C. 191, 192.)

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From the literal or historical sense of the description of the life of Adam, it is evident that he was cursed because he believed the serpent, that he should be as God; and he who believes this at length acknowledges no God; and inasmuch as the natural man separate from the spiritual, is under the influence of such faith in his heart, howsoever he may vainly profess the contrary with his mouth, therefore after having become from a spiritual man [even to the celestial or third degree] a natural man, this latter [the natural man] was cursed, and he was cursed as to his sensual principle-his voluntary principle,-and his intellectual principle; for his sensual principle is signified by the serpent, his voluntary by the woman, and his intellectual by the man. These three were cursed because the one follows the other." (Coronis 31.)

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MATERIALS FOR MORAL CULTURE.

[Continued from page 138.]

66 Keep the channel open."-No. CCL.

CCCLXXXIX.

The god of this world is worshiped under three principal forms of idolatry-Fashion, Respectability, and Party, political, literary, religious, or otherwise. The first is set up by the "higher classes;" the second by the mass of "respectable society;" and the third may, or may not, be worshiped along with the two former. Besides the idolators of fashion, respectability, and party, there are the openly reprobate (a very large class), and the sincere lovers of truth on account of its moral influence, who are ready to give up every thing for it; these are a very small body, and are seldom met with by a New Churchman without becoming of his sentiments. Such being the composition of society, how can the New Church flourish? Its universal rejection by the idolators just named, affords a practical illustration of the Lord's question,—“ How