experience. In the words of Dr. Parker, when recently discoursing on the help and the hindrance of similitudes, "What is that wooden Cross on Golgotha-is that all? It is nearly nothing, within its poor visible limits. There is another Cross in it, over it, round about it, of which it is the dim symbol, the narrow entrance, the initial point. The Cross-what are its measurements? High as heaven, wide as the horizon. We live into the meaning of the Cross. The preacher cannot state it to us in terms; by daily agony, by new variety of experience, by enlargement of consciousness, by startling views of sin, by the necessities of life, by social sympathies, by the spirit of personal sacrifice, we grow into the meaning of the word Cross, an infinite word, a word whose solemn music fills eternity."

But though the Cross seems heavy to bear, it is not so difficult to live for heaven as some suppose; we shall byand-by realize that His yoke is easy and His burden is light, and be enabled to sing

"How light, how light, this precious Cross,
Presented to my view!"

REVIEW.

SEDAN.

The Rev. JOSEPH COOK's Monday Lectures. Second Series. London: R. D. Dickinson.

M

(Concluded from page 188.)

R. COOK does not give us his own definition of Transcendentalism; he gives us instead the following definition, said to have originated with an acute teacher: "See the holes made in the bank yonder by the swallows. Take away the bank and leave the apertures, and this is transcendentalism," and goes on to say, "But we are all bank swallows too. The right wing and the centre of the social, twittering human race live in these apertures as well as the left wing, and it would be of little avail to ridicule the self-evident truths on which our own peace depends. I affirm simply that transcendentalism of the left wing has not been consistent with transcendentalism itself. My general proposition is, that rationalistic transcendentalism in New England is not transcendentalism, but, at the last analysis, individualism" (p. 106). This lecture is characterized by a close criticism as to how far man's ideas all arise from experience. He says, "16. Experience does not teach what must be, but only what is; but we know that every change not only has, but must have, a cause. . . . 17. We cannot explain by experience a certainty that goes beyond experience" (p. 110). The remarkable position taken by John Stuart Mill, "There may be worlds in which two and two do not make four, and where a change need not have a cause," is quoted as an assertion that has done much to cripple the philosophy of sensationalism; and Mr. Cook concludes that "transcendental truths are simply those necessary, self-evident axiomatic truths which transcend experience. Transcendentalism is the science of such . . . truths. . . . That every change, here and everywhere, not only has, but must have, a cause, is a transcendental truth. It transcends experience. . . . Our conviction, in the moral field, that sin can be a quality only of voluntary action is a transcendental fact. This moral axiom, we feel, is sure in all time and in all space."

In the two succeeding lectures Mr. Cook deals with the question of "Natural Law." Starting from the postulate motto on the title-page of Darwin's "Origin of Species" (a motto consisting wholly of words from Butler's "Analogy "), we are again presented with a proof of the importance of "definitions :" "(1) "That the only distinct meaning of the word natural is stated, fixed, or

settled; and (2) that what is natural as much requires and presupposes an intelligent mind to render it sothat is, to effect it continually or at stated times—as what is supernatural or miraculous does to effect it for once"" (p. 113). From these premises it is impossible to evolve an argument that can in any manner detract from the religious belief in the supernatural; and Mr. Cook step by step leads us to the grand conclusion of the perpetual omnipresence of God in the universe, and then proceeds: "It has pleased Him, whose hand moulds the centuries, to make the progress of science very nearly the most characteristic feature of the present age. Science as defended by its less thoroughly cultivated votaries has many faults. It sometimes makes arrogant claims; but it has one righteous thing in it, that is, the love of clear ideas. The holy and intense creed of reverence for proof, clear ideas at any cost, and obedience to the organ of spiritual knowledge, will live. It will go through the centuries of coming time without wreck. . . . Faith and reason challenge each other to the death. I see herein a promise, not of destruction for either, but of reinforced and mutually harmonious life for both. Science, against its choice, will show that every natural fact is in the strictest sense a religious fact. Startling us in some past years, it has been blindly bringing us to that great result. The eve of an unexpected time I believe to be at hand, and its dawn now more than begun in the best educated minds, when faith will make science religious, and science make faith scientific" (p. 136).

In his lecture on the "Physical Tangibleness of the Moral Law," in which he treats of the evident fact that mental emotions manifest themselves in external or physical forms, there is a passing reference to Swedenborg (pp. 162, 163). "Begin with what cannot be controverted, or the proposition that we hang the head in shame, and hold it erect in unconscious self-approval. We know that some attitudes in deep remorse bring a man down to the posture of the brute almost. We grovel in the dust at times when we feel ourselves under the thunder and lightning of the moral law. Emerson says he has read in Swedenborg (he means he has read in natural law) that the good angels and the bad angels always stand feet to feet; the former perpendicularly up, the latter perpendicularly down. If you please, that is science; it is not poetry. It is poetry; but it is science too. We see a gleaming curve of the law in the hanging head and in the erect and reposeful and commanding attitude. We see it in that sense of elasticity, and almost of physical levitation, which arises in states of moral trance. We see it on the canvas of great painters in yet higher manifestations; and when we come to the asserted cases of physical levitation we have at least an indication of the intensity of the instinct they represent, and, therefore, of its value as a scientific guide." If Mr. Cook would give a diligent attention to Swedenborg's doctrine of correspondence he would find many such scientific explanations of the phenomena of things seen in the natural plane of existence. The spiritual world is the world of causes, and the natural world of effects; and thus it is that "the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made." The lessons we read in natural law are mirrors of lessons in spiritual law; through them we may see as through a glass darkly the power of the Great First Cause and the surpassing beauty of holiness.

In the lectures devoted to the consideration of conscience we have an elaborate analysis of the various views propounded by Spencer and Bain and Foster and. Pascal and Mansel and Kant and Stuart Mill and

others, full of suggestive thoughts. Conscience is defined as "a sense including both a perception and a feeling, a perception of right and wrong in motives, and a feeling that right ought, and wrong ought not, to be chosen by the will. Every motive has two sides rightness or its opposite, and oughtness or its opposite. The former distinction is perceived, the latter felt. Conscience is that which perceives and feels rightness and oughtness in motives" (p. 142); but Mr. Cook nevertheless admits "the propriety of all our popular, and, of course, all the scriptural, language concerning the possibility that the conscience may be seared with a hot iron (p. 143). Mr. Cook pleads for the acceptance of a belief in the infallibility of conscience, which he regards as the influence of the Spirit of God in man. He puts

the question thus: "Called upon to choose what I will do, I have a certain amount of light, and I am to decide whether I will act according to all my illumination candidly or not. I know whether I turn away from the light or not. I know whether I look on the whole or a part only of this illumination. . . . I have illumination, and I know whether I suppress a part of it. I know whether the whole is taken as my guide, or whether I turn away from one section of the radiance. The distinction between the whole and a part is primordially perceived in the fields of mental vision as certainly as it is in the field of physical vision. It is just as infallibly perceived there as here. The perception in both cases is a direct vision of self-evident truth.

"There is an ancient Book that speaks of the mischief of the suppression of light. There is a Volume which says that this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.' All this is said in connection with the most subtle doctrines concerning the Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.' I find, therefore, that this general view of conscience, as something which always pronounces it right to follow all the radiance we have, and wrong to suppress light, coincides marvellously with the profoundest thought of Christ, that whoever tutors' the Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world' is acting against light, which in the beginning was with God and was God (p. 204).

Upon the subject of conscience we are in possession of Swedenborg's views upon this matter in "The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine" (Nos. 130-140). Since truth is the light of conscience, those who reject truth persistently reject conscience, until by-and-by the conscience becomes weakened, and ultimately dies. "Conscience," says Swedenborg, "is formed with man from the religious principle in which he is, according to its acception inwardly in himself. Conscience with the man of the Church is formed by the truths of faith from the Word, or from doctrine out of the Word, according to the reception thereof in the heart; for when man knows the truths of faith, and apprehends them in his own manner, and then wills them and does them, he then acquires conscience. . . . The very spiritual life of man resides in a true conscience, for his faith conjoined to his charity is therein; wherefore, with those who are possessed of it, to act from conscience is to act from their own spiritual life, and to act contrary to conscience is, with them, to act contrary to their own spiritual life. Hence it is that they are in the tranquillity of peace and in internal blessedness when they act according to conscience, and in intranquillity and pain when they act contrary to it; thus pain is what is called remorse of conscience."

It has always seemed to us that those who plead in

favour of the infallibility of conscience on the strength of Scripture teaching concerning "the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world," are apt to do so to the neglect of that other teaching: "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!"

We heartily commend the volume to the consideration of all those who would wish to be abreast of the latest conclusions of modern science and philosophy.

J. DEANS.

CAMDEN ROAD MONTHLY READING MEETING.

THE

REDEMPTION AND ATONEMENT.

HE second of these meetings was held on Wednesday, May 1st, at half-past seven o'clock, in the Lecture-room, the Rev. Dr. Tafel being the reader. He opened the proceedings by reading the 59th chapter of Isaiah and offering up the Lord's Prayer. The subject for consideration was "The Redemption and Atonement," and during the reading the following numbers (or portions of them) were read from "The True Christian Religion" in the order we here give them :-Nos. 114, 115, 118, 119, 120, 121, 123, 126, 127, 132, 133, and two Memorable Relations, 134, 135. After the reading Dr. Tafel said :-"This presents the subject of redemption, salvation, and atonement to us in the light which the doctrines of the New Church sheds upon it. There are, however, a great many particulars connected with this doctrine, and some of these, if you choose, we may make the subject of conversation and discussion. There is the subject of imputation,

on which especially some interesting matter might be read." No question having been put, Dr. Tafel continued:-"There is one remark that struck me on reading this subject, and that is that no one is able to know the condition of the spiritual world, and more particularly of the world of spirits, at the time of the Lord's First Coming; because, as Swedenborg says, this subject is not discussed in the letter of the Word, i.e. it is not discussed in its fulness, although the generals are of course the same there as those that Swedenborg afterwards described as the condition of the world of spirits at the time of the Last Judgment in the last century. There is one interesting point, however, in this connection, and this is, that according to Swedenborg's teaching the spiritual world, more particularly heaven, was not always divided as it is now, viz. into three. Before the Lord's First Coming the spiritual world, or that portion of it which is now occupied by heaven, was divided into two kingdoms, the celestial and the spiritual. The distinction between these two kingdoms and the three heavens, however, is not so great as is usually supposed; for by the celestial kingdom in its largest signification are meant the higher heavens, and by the spiritual kingdom the lower heavens. But here, again, there is an interesting point to notice, namely, that the function of the spiritual kingdom before the Lord's First Coming was not carried on by means of angels and good spirits generally, for the three heavens were not fully organized till the Last Judgment in the last century. The case was then similar to that which existed in the spiritual world at the time of the Lord's Second Coming. The third and second heavens were fully organized by the Lord at His First Coming, but not the first heaven, for the first or lowest heaven has only been organized fully by the Lord in His Second Coming. The function of the first heaven during the last 1800 years was carried on by the former heaven and the former earth' which are spoken of in the Book of Revelation, and the condition of the former heaven is represented in the parable of the tares and the wheat. Of such a nature also was the spiritual kingdom before the Lord's First Coming, for it consisted of tares and wheat. Now by this is meant (to return again to the parallel cases of the Lord's Second Coming in 1757) that that kingdom consisted of simple good spirits, and of such spirits of the departed as during their life in this world had outwardly lived the lives of Christians, but who were inwardly wicked. In this world, as we are taught in our writings, there are many who outwardly are good men, but are good from themselves and not from the Lord. The spiritual kingdom before the Lord's First Coming was organized of such persons, for then the simple good and the internally wicked lived together, and there, by the strong influx which flowed into these good spirits from the celestial heaven, those who were only externally good were kept in their externals, and they thus could be utilized in carrying on to some extent the function of the spiritual kingdom. Swedenborg tells us that there was a great influence brought to bear upon such as were externally good to make them

do outwardly good works; but finally they were separated by means of a last judgment."

Mr. C. A. Faraday thought in reference to the redemption of the angels, that seeing we knew so little about the spiritual world at the time of the First Coming of the Lord, we must probably take the statements of Swedenborg as revelation, and not inquire more upon the subject, though it seemed to him that the angels would not need redemption.

Dr. Tafel in reply quoted the T. C. R. 120, but said "it did not thoroughly answer the objection, and applied only to those good spirits who were approaching heaven, from whom, without the Last Judgment, the approach to heaven would have been entirely cut off, and there would have been a danger of future angels becoming perverted on passing through the world of spirits. Such was the danger before the Lord's First, and even before His Second, Coming, and therefore we read of such souls as could not pass through the world of spirits on their way to heaven, that they were, as the letter of the Word tells us, placed under the altar' in the lower earth (Rev. vi. 9), which is in hell; for they would be safer in hell than in the world of spirits, because hell was in order, and the world of spirits was not. This shows that it was not safe for souls to be at large in the world of spirits. The reason why the world of spirits was a more dangerous place than hell was because it was rendered so by the inhabitants of this world; for according to the order observed since the Fall, every one in this world is attended by good spirits from the Lord and evil spirits summoned by himself. And whenever there is not an evil spirit bad enough in the world of spirits, a devil from hell is brought up into the world of spirits, where he is in a state of freedom, which renders it more unsafe there. It was because the evils of humanity had drawn hell into the world of spirits that it became necessary for the Lord to effect redemption. With regard to the redemption of the angels, which is said to have been effected by the Lord's Coming, the explanation is, that the heavens cannot exist independently of this world. Heaven is the throne of God, but this world is the Lord's footstool. Everything must stand on ultimates, on last things; for if the last things are subverted, then the higher things topple over and are destroyed. When a man loses his two feet even up to the ankles, the whole body falls. The Church on earth is the resting-place for the heavens, and unless there be a Church on earth the heavens lack that resting-place. By redeeming the world the Lord also saved the angels of heaven, who were in danger of falling, not by their fault, but by ours. The heavens are arranged so that the best angels in each heaven are in the middle, and they decrease in goodness and excellency in proportion as they radiate away from the centre and towards the circumference. Then, gradually, as the outskirts of the heavens became infirm (from the assaults of man, represented by the building of the tower of Babel), the middle of the heavens was insecure, because even the angels, we are told, are not perfect before God; for they have their proprium with them and have to be kept out of it by the Lord. The Lord's Humanity, we are taught, extends now from the spiritual sun down through the heavens even into this natural world. Before the Glorification the Lord could only be mediately present with humanity in this world by means of His angels, but now He can be immediatelyand is immediately-present with every one of us. And this immediate presence of the Lord is secured by the new arrangement into three heavens. The Last Judgment, however, which, as we are taught, took place in 1757, is not yet finished: it has only taken place in the other world, and not yet in this world. It is usually thought that the Church has been already judged in this world, but the Dragon is not yet cast into hell, it is only cast into the outer world of spirits, and so the separation of the wheat from the tares has only been accomplished in the other world. There is still a great deal of wheat in the Old Church mixed with the tares, and, indeed, the Old Church has a distinct office to fulfil, which is rather negative though, to prepare those whom it brings up, for the New Church, and after the wheat has all been drawn out of the Old Church then the condemnation by which the Dragon is cast into the outer world of spirits will come. The judgment is described in the eleventh chapter of Revelation, but the judgment of the Dragon, by which it is cast into hell, is only referred to in the nineteenth chapter. The difference between the state of the world of spirits before and since the Last Judgment is this, that in the world of spirits there are two degrees; there is an exterior and an interior world of spirits. In the exterior, man is in his exterior thought, and in the interior in his interior thought. Before the Last Judgment man could not rise beyond the perverted world of spirits in his thought, but men may now rise in their interior thought into the light of heaven; and thus the members of all Churches are now capable of beholding the falsities of their faith if they will. It is only because the sphere of man's interior thought has been purged by the Last Judgment that we are able to see and accept the doctrines of the New Church. But it will not do for us to condemn wholesale all the Old Church congregations; because, as I said before, the wheat and the tares are there still together; in some Churches there is more wheat and in others less. There can be no doubt that the stronger the New Church becomes, the

greater will be the influence from the new heaven brought to bear upon the Old Church to bring the wheat out of it; but the New Church becomes strong only by planting the standard of the truth firmly in this world, and not by compromising the truth; for if we do this, we may indeed get some to join our Church organization, but they will not be really joined to us, nor separated from the tares." Mr. Ernest Rabone thought in reference to the explanation offered about the heavens resting on the Church in this world, that lower things existed from higher, and not vice verså.

Dr. Tafel replied :-"This question belongs to the doctrine of degrees, and any question in connection with degrees can always be illustrated by collateral things. As in the body, when scalds exceed a certain dimension the person cannot be healed, simply because the ultimate is wanting, and the ultimate is required in order that there may be an appropriate reaction. Action and reaction is a law without which nothing can exist in this or in the other world; there is an action from within and a reaction from without; but if the reaction is wanting there is nothing to hold the interiors, and they must go to ruin,-there is nothing to prevent it. Thus it is with the heavens and the Word. The Church and the literal sense are the ultimates, which give the reaction. All the power of the Divine Word is in the letter, and we must always remember that it is by the Word in the letter that we are able, by the Lord's assistance, to drive evil spirits away from us; conquering in temptation by means of the Word in ultimates. If you take the letter of the Word away, then you only have the internal sense, and without the letter of the Word this would be quite powerless. Now the doctrines of our Church as we have them in the writings, are the Word as the angels have it in heaven, because the letter of the Word cannot exist in heaven. If the natural world was wanting, then the letter of the Word would also be wanting.' After a few remarks from Dr. Bogg, Dr. Tafel closed the meeting with the Benediction.

BRADFORD NEW CHURCH SOCIETY.
ANNUAL MEETING.

N Wednesday evening, April 24th, the Annual Meeting of the Bradford Society was held. There was a good attendance. After the meeting had been opened by a hymn and the Lord's Prayer, the minister, Mr. J. R. Rendell, called upon the Secretary to read the report. The report was in all respects very satisfactory. Six new members had been added during the year, raising the number to forty-four. The average attendance at worship has been larger than it had been the previous year. Six young children had been baptized, and two marriages solemnized. The conversational meetings at which the "Divine Love and Wisdom" had been read had been fairly successful. The Mutual Improvement Society had also prospered. The Sunday-School had remained about the same, and fourteen of the senior scholars were being prepared by the minister for admission as junior members. A band of hope had also been established, which it was hoped would prove a safeguard to the young against the sin of intemperance. The report also stated that the requisition to the minister to allow himself to be ordained had been signed by all those members who regularly attended worship, and that it had been accepted by him. The report of the Treasurer was also very satisfactory. It is the custom of the Bradford Society to raise the salary of the minister a year in advance, a plan which might be adopted with advantage by other small Societies.

A pleasant feature in the meeting was the election of five members. The most important business of the evening, however, arose out of the report of the Trustees. The building in which the Society worships is not the property of the Society, and it was thought that the time had arrived when an attempt should be made to purchase it. The owner of the building, George Aspinall, Esq., one of the oldest members of the Society, has most generously offered to sell it for £650. It was purchased by him a few years ago for the sum of £600, and some improvements and drainage had incurred an expenditure of about £50. The building with the land in front is worth much more than when it was purchased. Mr. Aspinall was not only willing to sell the property, but had promised to give 100 towards the purchase. The meeting instructed the Trustees to purchase the building, and heartily thanked Mr. Aspinall for his generosity. As many of the readers of Morning Light are aware, the friends at Bradford are preparing to hold a bazaar in the autumn of the present year, by means of which they hope to raise a considerable portion of the mortgage of £550. The meeting concluded by a hymn and the benediction. It is trusted that this pleasant meeting will encourage and stimulate all the friends to greater exertions for the good cause.

After devotional exercise, the report was presented, which showed that the free income of the Society for the year ending March 1878 has amounted to £107,386, 11s. 6d., whilst the sum received for Scriptures sold, both at home and abroad, had reached £104,141, 16s. 7d., which with £135, received on account of a Special Fund for Indian colportage, and £640, 7s. 6d., for work at the Paris Exhibition, made a total of £212,303, 15s. 7d. The expenditure had amounted to £227,805, 18s. Id., being £10,475, 5s. more than in any previous year. This increase was wholly due to the extensive and costly effort made in connection with the recent war in the east of Europe. The issues of the Society had been, from the depot at home, 1,462,609; from the depots abroad 1,490,988, making a total of 2,943,597 copies of Bibles, Testaments, and portions. The total issues of the Society from its commencement now amounted to 82,047,000 copies. Interesting details were given of the operations of the Society, and it was stated that at the seat of war there had been circulated 100,012 copies. It was proposed to circulate copies on a large scale during the Paris Exhibition.

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

The Society at Horncastle has just held its fifth anniversary. Mr. Bates, one of the Conference students, took the morning service, and Mr. Gunton the afternoon and evening of Sunday, April 28th. A tea-meeting was held on Wednesday, and a public meeting afterwards. These and the Sunday evening meeting were all well attended. The ladies' sewing meeting in connection with the church has enabled the Society in four years to clear off the whole of its debt on the building. Mr. Bates has been engaged by the Society as its minister.

On Wednesday evening, May 8th, the week-evening Theological Meetings in connection with Argyle Square Church were resumed after a somewhat lengthened interruption.

An excellent lecture was delivered by the Rev. J. Presland on the subject of "Conscience." An animated conversation took place after it, and a number of difficult questions were put to the lecturer and satisfactorily answered. It was announced that these meetings would be held fortnightly.

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday the 22nd inst. at eight o'clock, when a lecture will be delivered by Mr. James Speirs on "The Law of Retaliation." This will be followed by lectures on the 5th and 19th of June next, after which they will be suspended until October.

At Grimsby, on the 24th and 26th of April, Mr. Gunton delivered two lectures in the Mechanics' Hall. Over thirty copies of the "Silent Missionaries were sold. Several new inquirers were amongst the listeners.

On Sunday, May 5th, Mr. Gunton returned to his labours in the important town of Leeds; at both services there was a good attendance, and in the evening several strangers, the floor of the church being comfortably filled. An attractive list of subjects for five Sundays has been circulated.

The Society has arranged to offer its present place of worship by public auction on Wednesday the 15th of this month.

The Hoxton New Church Society, which has met for worship in Buttesland Street for a number of years past, has now moved to Albion Hall, Dalston, near the spot where they hope at no distant date to build a church. This Society will in future be known as the Dalston Society of the New Church. The funds which have been and which are still being raised for the erection of a church will not be used, it should be clearly understood, for the missionary services at present being conducted in Albion Hall, but be kept exclusively for the erection of a place of worship. These funds are at present invested in the Star Building Society, where they will remain at interest until required for their legitimate purpose.

The Hackney and Kingsland Gazette of May 6th has the following: "A lecture on Heaven, Hell, and the Intermediate State, the first of a series of lectures, was delivered by the Rev. John Presland at the Albion Hall, on Wednesday evening. The attendance, in spite of the tempest raging at the time, was very good, and the views advocated by the lecturer, although quite new to many present, were very favourably received. The subjects were handled with the lecturer's usual ability and eloquence, while every proposition advanced was supported by copious extracts from the Word of God."

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

"The Gates Ajar.”—A subscriber who was informed by a lady at Argyle Square Church that she was induced to visit there through having read the "Gates Ajar," wishes to know whether Miss Phelps, the author, is a New Church lady, and whether all the editions are the same. The author is not a New Church lady, neither can the

work be styled a New Church work; but it is at one with us in asserting its belief in the continuance of life immediately after the death of the body, of life as real and of spiritual objects as substantial as any natural life or natural objects in the world can be. The authoress has apparently an idea of our law of spiritual affinity, but, according to our thinking, she carries it to a fanciful extreme. The work has been of great use, and possibly has done better service than a really better book would have rendered. All the editions are, we believe, complete, except the first English edition issued by Messrs. Low & Co.

The Lord's Resurrection Body." A Primitive Methodist" would like some further information respecting the body with which the Lord rose, and what became of His natural body which was laid in the tomb; also in what sense the Lord is the firstfruits of those that slept, and in what way His resurrection is like ours. The Lord rose with a body which was unlike man's, as He Himself said, for He said a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have; but when He glorified His natural body we must remember that the natural body is perfectly distinct from and must not be identified with matter. Every man, on the other hand, has a natural body and a spiritual body now. At death he merely drops the natural garment by which he has known and been known in the world, parallel between the Lord's rising and ours is that ours, like His, occurs at death, that we rise in a spiritual body, having laid aside our material body, and that He arose in a glorified but non-material body. This subject you will find very fully and clearly treated in a lecture by Dr. R. L. Tafel on "The Lord's Glorified Body" (price 2d.).

The

"Except ye become as little children." "An Inquirer" would like to see this passage more fully illustrated, because by the orthodox it is taken to mean that as little children take everything for granted without further question, so in like manner ought we. The condition of the little child is not certainly meant to indicate simple and blind trust, but the innocence of ignorance which characterizes it is meant to be typical of another innocence, the innocence of wis dom, to which in spirit as to his soul he is desired to aspire. The word innocence, it has been said, shows the real state of the child, for it is a negative instead of, as might generally be expected, a positive term. It is a non-harmful state; but that results from want of intelligence and want of power; it is innocence of the physical nature. The real innocence is the result of regeneration, and is the innocence of wisdom, thus is no longer an attribute of a man's physical nature, but is now of his spiritual nature, which will continue to live for ever. God's commands are not contradictory; but the "'orthodox" interpretation of this passage certainly place it in antagonism to such passages: "Come now and let us reason together," and "Search the Scriptures; for they are they which testify of Me," and "From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Jesus Christ. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." Next week we hope to print an article on this subject from the pen of Dr. Tafel.

SUNDAY-SCHOOL LESSONS.

JESUS APPEARS TRANSFIGURED. May 26, Morning.-Mark ix. 2-13. The three disciples who accompanied the Lord and were the witnesses of His transfiguration are the principles of love, faith, and good works, which, when they abide in our heart, enable us also to see the Lord as He is seen in the spiritual world. The Bible is not only from the Lord but is the Lord, and when we are in a high state of regeneration, having the principles represented by the three disciples abiding in us, we are able to see the Lord as to His real character, and therefore transfigured throughout the whole of the spiritual sense, and not merely as He is referred to in the letter of Scripture. The spiritual greatness and glory of the Lord is then seen and acknowledged, and our own unworthiness and utter helplessness for all good purposes. Moses and Elias, who appeared transfigured with Him, signify the historical and the prophetical Word, the unfolding of the spiritual sense and the revelation of the true character of the Lord Jesus Christ as the One God of heaven and earth, "the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega.'

May 26, Afternoon.—Catechism.

BIRTHS.

On May 7th, at Colinfield, Wigan, the wife of Mr. John Johnson, F.M.S., of a daughter. On May 8th, the wife of Mr. George Meek, Manchester, of a son.

Printed by MUIR AND PATERSON, 14 Clyde Street, Edinburgh, and published by JAMES SPEIRS, 36 Bloomsbury Street, London, W.C.