"marring enthusiasm" whensoever any man "dares to claim the title and the honours of a divine and apostolic messenger;" in other words, there have been no divine and apostolic messengers in the world! We might feel tempted to ask, What, then, becomes of Revelation? Mr. Morell seems also well satisfied, that it is impossible there should be "a special revelation, to usher in the purified church, and the latter day glory." Is he, then, a prophet, or has an a priori Revelation of a new kind been vouchsafed to himself? 8. Our greatest fault with Mr. Morell is, that he has derived his account of Swedenborg's philosophy from his early, and not from his theological works. There could not be a heavier mistake than this. To judge of a palace from its scaffolding, of a tree by its leaves, or of a man by his professions and not his actions, is not more misleading than to judge of Swedenborg by his preparatory labours, and to take no pains to procure acquaintance with his realized ends. In the sincerest respect for Mr. Morell's head and heart, in affectionate admiration of these masterly labours of his own, we conjure him to dismiss the chimera that he can judge of the theology of the New Church without previously studying it, or that his view of Swedenborg's claims can be worth consideration, until he comes charged with a knowledge of the detailed support of these claims gathered from a humble perusal of the theological writings of Swedenborg. This account, then, of Swedenborg which he has given, excellent though it be in many parts, is still susceptible of great correction, and as it now stands, is one of the poorest things in the book. We say this, to warn the reader that what we have quoted is no specimen of the rich and manifold excellence of this Historical and Critical Review of Philosophy." In the foregoing remarks we have, it is true, confined ourselves almost entirely to finding fault, in order that our strictures, wherever Mr. Morell can conscientiously, after reconsideration, admit their justice, may furnish him with the means of inserting, in his third edition, a still more accurate and worthy account of the illustrious and ill-used Swedenborg. And we freely confess that we have felt extremely anxious that one so gifted as the author of these volumes-one so honest and wellintentioned, and clear-sighted—should not, with the common herd of vulgar and unprincipled writers We have also felt a great motive to insinuate to him the fruitlessness N. S. NO. 92.-VOL. VIII. 2 A of all the old methods of judging to the prejudice of one who comes before every sufficiently instructed mind with new claims to study and regard; and above all, the fruitlessness, in this unusual inquiry, of those metaphysical methods, with their sensationalism, idealism, mysticism, scepticism, and eclecticism, which, through so long a course of human history, have been the obvious intellectual means of counteracting the plainness of the blessed Gospel, and, in a word, of "bringing life and immortality to"-darkness. MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. INTELLIGENCE FROM LONDON. To the Editor of the Intellectual Repository. MY DEAR SIR,-Now that the busy season of the New Church in London is well nigh over, a few general observations may not be uninteresting to your readers; for the members of the New Church, like a scattered but united family, enjoy a community of feeling, and rejoice in occasional correspondence with each other. It is impossible to overlook the importance of continuing the missionary exertions which have been made during the past year, and yet it would seem hopeless to expect this without an immediate supply of funds. We know that our zeal must be kept in check, and that we must wait on Providence, if we would do the church real service; but we know also that our very appeals are providential, and that we may frequently act as the agents of the Great Ruler of events, in disposing our wealthier brethren to contribute largely to the cause. Sometimes a deeper insight into the mechanism of society, and its relation to the religious sentiment, is all that is necessary as an incentive to immediate action. People too often despair of their efforts, and seeing that the present result is inadequate to the means which have been used in producing it, imagine that society is not prepared, and that they are sowing seed in stony ground, or casting pearls before swine. Were it properly considered that the church is really as the heart and lungs of the general body, which exhibit their healthy action in the elasticity of the limbs and other remote parts, it would never be supposed that we are then only promoting the good cause when we see all the links which connect our labours with some part of the general movement of society. The proofs that the active interference of the New Church was never more necessary than at the present moment, would cover the whole ground occupied by the religious question, and lead to a contrast between the law of "development" and our own cry of ". nunc licet," which is designed to evoke a NEW CATHOLIC CHURCH from the ruins of Protestantism. It is singular enough that the Tractarians should have confessed to the incompatibility of their principle with a divided church, and have consequently gone over to Rome, at the very time that a similar principle has been identified with a new religious unity in "the crown of all churches;" yet this is now undeniably the case, and the Church of Rome, to regain its lost ascendancy, seems to have determined upon the policy of receiving all with open arms on the one condition of apostasy; so that the gathering of Armageddon may take place on the seven hills of Babylon. A bishop of the Romish communion, writing in the Dublin Review, thus speaks of Mr. Newman and his essay on development : "The reader must peruse this volume as the description of the process of reasoning by which the author's powerful and weil-stored mind was brought to a full accordance with Catholic truth.— Never did convert come to the church with mind, soul, and heart, more thoroughly made over to her cause,-with more complete, hearty, and filial allegiance, than this work shews him to have done." Another prelate of the Roman Church in this kingdom, namely, Dr. Gillis, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Edinburgh, has delivered a series of lectures on the same work, and the author has received public favours both from the late Pope and his successor. If this should not be enough to convince the reader that the highest hopes of Rome at present tend hitherward, let him remember that the whole month of March, last year, was devoted by a religious society in Rome to prayers for the conversion of England. In earnest of that conversion Mr. Newman has been received with distinguished consideration in the course of his journey to Italy, by the Roman Catholic authorities, and among others, by the Pope's Nuncio. Add to this the leading journalist of France, in the interest of the Papacy, expresses an earnest hope "that after having saluted the tombs of the apostles, he will return, strong in the graces he will have received, and in the benediction of the vicar of Jesus Christ, to evangelise his country." 66 All this, as a writer in one of the London Magazines observes, shews the disposition of Rome towards Neologianism and infidelity—if so be she can make a position against the English Church." But does it not show, also, the weakness of the English Church? Why not retain her own sons? Why present them with no alternative but the high road to infidelity or to Rome? Only last year she proposed to meet all these difficultiesso did one of her principal organs at least by enforcing the subscription of the clergy to more rigid articles of faith, and thus bring the understanding once more under subjection. Her present determination shows a better spirit, for even if she resolve to have no worse heretics than the Wesleyan Methodists in connexion with her, they are to go hand and glove in the work of education; and though it may be proposed to limit the development of mind to their Own standard, the people will take the education for what it is worth, and no more. While, however, this is the only influence which the Church of England can yet oppose to the disorganization which threatens her existence, a more intellectual party has looked deeper into the evil; and if we may take the editor of the Eclectic Review as its representative, that party has a clear perception of the right remedy. After adverting to the dissensions and other disorders which exist in the religious world, this clear-sighted reviewer finishes with the emphatic declaration, that the only radical cure is the unity of the church in the acknowledgment of its ONE LORD, and its ONE FOUNDATION. Alas, to say! that the only preachers of this unity are the members of the New Church, who alone acknowledge Jehovah in the Humanity and the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures. 66 66 Intimately connected with this subject, is the lecture delivered to the members of the Swedenborg Association by Mr. R. N. Wornum, on the rise and progress of image-worship, though it carries our thoughts in another direction, namely, to an inquiry into the philosophy of history, and what may be the meaning of development and progress." Why,' we are disposed to inquire, "has man never been satisfied with his position? Why did he always change at last all he had done, and pull down the work of his own hands? Because he felt himself stifled in each of those forms as in a sect, and he incessantly aspired to emerge from the sect to enter into that vast orthodoxy which is to unite every thing. He has ever aspired to something more grand, to a more general, a more universal church; he has ever felt that he was capable of a more complete belief, of a more vivid light. But, from ruins to ruins, and from church to church, he has not ceased for a single day to draw nearer to God." Leaving, for the present, this fruitful theme, and trusting that the missionary efforts of the New Church will yet receive tenfold support, I have the pleasure of communicating the gratifying intelligence from France, that M. Chevrien, a young man in the medical profession, has resolved upon commencing a translation of Swebenborg's Regnum Animale into his native tongue. He commences this work in the right spirit of thankfulness to Divine Providence for having delivered him from the fatal errors into which he had previously fallen. He mentions that he had been formerly led away by the materialism of the French medical schools and the doctrines of CHARLES FOURIER. All these fallacies he has now abandoned, and professes himself devoted, for the whole of his future life, to the cause of the New Church. It is to the labours of our friend, M. Le Boys des Guays, that we owe this accession to our good cause. Another item from France worthy of recording, is the preparation by our brethren there of a complete Latin Index to Swedenborg's works on the foundation of Dr. Beyer's-the best we at present possess. Should this be accomplished, "This is a Swedenborgian periodical. Swedenborg, according to Menzel, was the Protestant Mahommed of the north. He has disciples in all Protestant countries. They call their church the New Church; but it has the divisions and imperfections of the old, and wants a head, or living court of appeal; so that the books of Swedenborg are also subject to various interpretations, according to the fancy of the interpreter. There are some excellent ideas bound up with the visions of this modern seer, and these preserve his works from oblivion. They contain many of the elementary principles of analogy, and the student of analogy can never fail to reap instruction and assistance in his progress from them. As an occasional helpmate or prompter, Swedenborg must ever be highly respected by every man of earnest and deep thought; but as a guide to the Temple of Truth, or an interpreter of Scripture, or a metaphysical or theological seer, he is sure to bewilder. Allowing all that he himself professes to have seen and heard to be true, it follows necessarily, from his own testimony, that we have no right to trust it. In the first place, it was not a unitary revelation, but a revelation by spirits, whom he saw and conversed with. It was not from the undivided ONE, but from the divided MANY. In the second place, it is not confirmed. A revelation given to one must be confirmed by others. 'At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.' Swedenborg has no witness but himself. In the third place, the spirits, according to his own confession, are not to be believed. Here are his own words-That spirits relate things exceedingly fictitious, and lie. When spirits begin to speak with man, he must beware lest he believe them in any thing; for they say almost any thing. Things are fabricated by them, and they lie; for if they were permitted to relate what heaven is, they would tell Can we believe himself did not But then it may as many lies, and indeed with such solemn asseveration, that man would be astonished; wherefore, when spirits were speaking, I was not permitted to have faith in the things which they related.' In such a world of deception what could the man see? He did not believe the inhabitants that he saw. what he saw, when he believe what he heard? be replied, 'The Lord himself spoke to him, and showed him inwardly all the truth, though it was false outwardly to the ear and the eye.' Well, take it in this sense; go inwardly, get rid of those outward fantasies, as absurd as Mahomet's visions, and take the pure spiritual meaning, and Swedenborg stands on his legsnot otherwise; for nothing can be clearer, from his own writings, than this, that what he saw and heard was a delusion. It is not even certain, from his own writings, that the Lord ever spoke to him; for he says that the deceitful spirits not only personify the Lord, but really believe themselves to be the Lord, so that he was in great danger of being deceived, had he not been guarded by angels-(who are yet great deceivers!!) The logical circle is very droll, but leads to the inevitable conclusion, that Swedenborg is not a rock for any reasonable man to build his faith upon, or a witness whom he can trust. Still, he was a great man, and a good man, and his writings contain many beautiful thoughts. "The periodical before us seems to be well conducted. It contains a clever leading article on the Incarnation; an excellent article on the Social Problem; two lectures of the Rev. Augustus Clissold, written in a mild and temperate spirit, and displaying much research and labour; and also Statistics of the Swedenborgian Church-deficient, however, in respect to numbers, which are not specified; Reviews, &c. What obvious or self-evident truth the book contains, we receive with thankfulness; but nothing upon the authority of Swedenborg, whom we treat just as he treated the spirits whom he saw and heard. Such treatment he cannot find fault with. The spirit told him not to believe them, for they were fantasies— liars all." The flippancy of this notice is unfortunately not its worst fault-and it is one, perhaps, which we can hardly lodge a very severe complaint against in an unbeliever. We ourselves reverence Swedenborg, and deal seriously with all his "That man was created not only to be the recipient of the Divine Mercies, but also the instrument and channel for their diffusion; and that happiness is attainable in the ratio in which this two-fold design of existence is accomplished." The following is an attempted summary of the sentiments expressed by the various speakers :-That man is by creation a recipient of the Divine Mercies is quite obvious, since his creation alone is a great mercy. And every one sees that the greatest boon which can be conferred upon him is happiness. But the merely natural man limits his idea of bliss to the enjoyments of this world alone, not seeing that to create in man a state receptive of eternal happiness is alone worthy of infinite love. That the operations of the Divine Providence have this object constantly in view, is beautifully and clearly shown in the works of Swedenborg. If man does not reject the Divine Mercies by leading an evil life, he will keep in the stream of the Divine Providence, which will ultimately land him in heaven. Our being placed in the relation in which we find ourselves, shows that we are intended to operate the behests of our Creator. He imparts to all, and he graciously permits us to be his imitators by our imparting to all within the limits of our finite sphere. That Divine Love must intend the happiness of all is evident; and as man is by creation the image and likeness of Him who is love itself, it follows that to constitute him such a likeness, he must will to promote the happiness of all who are within his influence. He who acts contrary to his order, acts as if he were not a part of the whole, but somewhat like a leg without a body to support-a head unconnected with a body-a brain dissevered from its nerves. That man was created to be an instrument and channel for the diffusion of the Divine Mercies, may be illustrated from the innocent gambols of children, who are no sooner introduced to each other than there arises a communication of delights in their reciprocal activities and sports, all of which are demonstrative proofs of the truth, that man was created to communicate as well as to receive. That happiness results from the communicating to others the mercies and blessings we ourselves receive, arises from the law that happiness is inherent in the love of uses; and it necessarily follows, that as this love is brought into ultimate activity, in such proportion will be the quality and quantity of the happiness received. For the Divine Mercies will flow in if they are allowed to flow forth in their true order, for the law of reception and progression is, that influx is in proportion to efflux. The proposition furnishes a solution of the question, "How is happiness attainable ?" All religion has relation to life, and is momentarily applicable to our every-day duties in the market and the work-room-the temple and the closet. In every situation of life we are the recipients of the Divine Mercies, whether we are cheered by the bright sunbeams of prosperity, or depressed by the dark clouds of adversity. In every situation, and under all circumstances, we must never forget that "Whatever is given to man is given through man." For if we cease to act upon this conviction we choke the channel of reception; and although it is impossible that we should cease to be the common recipients of the Divine Mercies, we shall no longer enjoy a perception of them as such, and shall become scarcely more conscious of their true nature, or even of their existence, than "are the beasts that perish." It is evident, then, that man is intended by his Maker to be an instrument and channel for the diffusion of the Divine Mercies, and that in the exercise of this high vocation he must be guided by his rational faculty; and it follows that the opening, enlarging, and strengthening of this faculty, with a view to its legitimate use, is a sacred duty which cannot be lightly disregarded. Thus it becomes "him to acquire a knowledge of many |