SECOND EDITION, NOW READY. PORTLAND HOUSE SCHOOL, THE BOOK OF THE SEASON. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3s. 6d. 276 12. Sunday-School Lessons.-Jesus and others' Actions-Micah and his Images, Lately published, Svo, cloth, 16s. BY J. J. GARTH WILKINSON, M.D. THE SPECTATOR. "Dr. Garth Wilkinson is well known as one of the most able, the most cultivated, and most zealous disciples of the Swedish sage. In the elaborate book now before us, he attempts, with all the power of a large heart and mind, and with that impressiveness which is generally produced by a profound belief, to bring his favourite doctrines to bear not only on theology, but on scientific progress, and on a multitude of the most practical social questions of the day. ... No competent reader will rise from its study without having found much food for anxious thought, and above all, without being conscious of a healthy elevation of his moral nature, a deepening of his religious sentiment, and an increased conviction of the reality of that unseen kingdom which lies above, and is, in some senses, logically prior to the domain of physical science." THE NONCONFORMIST. "The main worth of the book consists in this-that it contains a statement of the true and permanent relations of religion and science, derived from a long and attentive study of the works of Swedenborg. Those who are far from accepting the view of Swedenborg's mission and labours which Dr. Wilkinson has adopted, and so powerfully and unflinchingly defends, may well be willing to receive whatever light on this momentous subject is to be gained from the writings of this remarkable man." DUBLIN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE. "Among a special circle, and that not of unthinking people, Dr. Wilkinson has long held a high and honoured place as an original writer, and as translator, editor, and apostle of Swedenborg." LONDON: JAMES SPEIRS, 36 Bloomsbury Street. THIRD EDITION. In foolscap 8vo, cloth gilt, 2s.; cloth extra, 2s. 6d. EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, THE SPIRITUAL COLUMBUS. LONDON: JAMES SPEIRS, 36 Bloomsbury Street. EVENING AND THE MORNING. A Narrative. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. "It is not often that one meets with a book of this kind, so entirely free from religious cant, bigotry, and bitterness, and yet so full of wise and reverent thought and of earnest belief."-The Standard. "We are prepared to admit that it is decidedly "We have rarely read any treatise, however learned, it would become a powerful agent for the dissipa- "Controversial romances are seldom pleasant read- "Unlike most books of theological controversy, this is not dull; and, though it may be objected that the writer has both sides of the controversy in his own hands, no one will say that he uses his opportunities unfairly."-Morning Advertiser. "The author, who writes a style terse, vigorous, and beautiful, has evidently passed through the several phases of speculation which he puts behind and beneath him with no little dialectical skill."-Ipswich Journal. "The tale before us is written with an excellent purpose. It is the story of a young man who is led gradually from unbelief to Christianity; and though the subject is in itself trite enough, it is not treated in a common-place manner."-Westminster Gazette. 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The first is by pure Correspondences thrown into an historical series; of this character are the first eleven chapters of Genesis. The second is the historical, consisting of true historical facts, but containing a spiritual sense. The third is the prophetical. The fourth is that of the psalms, between the prophetical style and common speech. It is the Divine sense within the letter that constitutes the holiness of the Bible. In the Doctrine of Faith Swedenborg teaches that Faith is an inward acknowledgment of the truth, which comes to those who lead good lives from good motives. "If ye will do the works ye shall know of the doctrine." The Doctrine of Life commences with the proposition "That all Religion has relation to Life, and that the Life of Religion is to do Good." The shunning of Evils is the first necessity; the doing of Good is afterwards possible. No one, however, can do good which is really such, from self, but all goodness is from God. Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Providence. With Index. 35. In all the operations of the Divine Providence, human freedom is respected. The Lord forces no man to do good, or to believe what is true. It is of the Divine Providence that whatsoever a man hears, sees, thinks, speaks, and does, should appear altogether as his own. It is a law of the Divine Providence, that man should not be forced by external means to think and will, and so to believe and do the things which belong to religion. Miracles, signs, visions, conversations with the dead, threats and punishments, are totally ineffective to produce that state of love and spiritual life which makes true happiness and heaven, because they force and destroy that rationality and liberty which constitute the inmost life of humanity, and by the exercise of which man can alone be delivered from evil. The Divine Providence is equally with the wicked and the good. A complete List of Swedenborg's Works may be had on application. 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A Box sent free for 14 or 33 stamps. 66 M. LIEBIG & CO., 17 ESSEX STREET, STRAND, LONDON, And at Paris and New York. Just published, No. 1. FINANCIAL NOTES;" In twelve numbers, forming a Complete and Valu able Guide to Investors and Business People. The whole Series will form a volume of reference and matter not otherwise obtainable, from the pen of an able financier. Each number will contain a list of good paying Securities on the rise, and Debentures and Shares for profitable investment. Published by Messrs. THOMPSON and CO.. STOCKBROKERS, 27 Mansion House Chambers, Queen Victoria Street. FROM time immemorial mankind has been divided on the question as to which was first and stood higher, good or truth; as to whether charity ought to rule in the Church, or faith. And in common life the issue has been raised whether the man of action or the practical man stands higher, or whether the palm of excellence should be accorded to the learned man and to the man of speculation and theory. This question has also been made a personal one among men and women; and while some hold that man, as the representative of the intellect, of learning, intelligence, and wisdom, ought to come first, others are willing to grant precedence to woman, as the representative of goodness, of love, and of all those gentler virtues which derive their origin from love. Music even, the language of the affections, and literature, as the expression of the human understanding, have been pitted against one another; and while there are those who look down upon music, and regard it as a mere pastime, which cannot stand comparison for a moment with science, literature, and philosophy, there are others who place music far above science, literature, and philosophy, and who declare that where the realm of philosophy ceases, there the realm of music begins. In the light of the New Church it becomes plain at once that as good is interior, and truth exterior, the palm of priority belongs to good, and not to truth, to charity and not to faith, to action and not to speculation. And this it proves on the natural plane by the correspondences of good and truth, of love and of wisdom, of charity and of faith. Love, the New Church teaches, corresponds to fire, and wisdom to light, but common observation teaches us that light emanates from fire, and not vice versâ; it also informs us that heat, which likewise corresponds to love and to good, is more interior than light, and in fact imparts life to light; for experience teaches us that light alone is utterly void of life, and hence of power, as may be seen in winter; and that it becomes living and powerful just in proportion as it becomes instinct with heat or warmth, as may be seen in summer. In the body also, we are taught, love and the will correspond to the heart, and the understanding and wisdom to the lungs; but a mere general knowledge of the mechanism of our body shows that the action of the heart is not only more interior, but is also prior to that of the lungs. For while the action of the heart by the blood enters into the very inmost recesses of every muscle in the body, the respiratory motion of the lungs exerts only an external, stimulating influence upon the muscles and the sinews. But as to the question of priority in respect to time, it is well known that the function of the heart commences at a very much earlier period than that of the lungs. That the will is anterior and prior to the understanding, love to wisdom, and affection to thought, is also admitted by common sense and in everyday life. Hence we have proverbs like these: "Where there's a will, there's a way; and again, "Convince a man against his will, he'll be of the same opinion still;" thus acknowledging that behind a man's way of thinking there is his will, and that his convictions and opinions are controlled and shaped by his will or his love. Besides, it is well known that impure loves give rise to impure thoughts; and that a pure heart entertains none other than pure thoughts. If, on the other hand, we turn from common sense and everyday life to philosophy and theology, we find that these branches of human learning and intelligence are in direct opposition to the common-sense view of humanity and the teachings of the New Church on this subject. Thought, says modern philosophy, is prior to feeling and affection, and thus to love; and the theology which is accepted in the Christian Church teaches that faith is the one only thing which saves man from his sins, while charity, i.e. what we are taught in the New Church to understand by charity, is entirely banished from the Church and consigned to the philosophers and moralists, who treat of it under the name of Ethics. The Church, therefore, declares not only that faith is prior and superior to charity, but also that faith is the only saving principle of the Church. This was not the Lord's teaching, nor that of His apostles. When "a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted the Lord, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? the Lord said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with. all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And the Lord said unto him, Thou hast answered right this do, and thou shalt live." The Lord, therefore, puts love first, and makes it the end and object of life, and not faith or truth. And the Apostle said in his Epistle to the Corinthians, " And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." : The sources of Christianity, therefore, the Word of the Lord Himself, and the teachings of His apostles, give no uncertain sound when asked whether good or truth, charity or faith, love or wisdom, are prior and more important in the Church; for they clearly and unmistakably assign priority and the first place to love and charity, and not to wisdom and faith. This very same priority between charity and faith, or good and truth, is treated in the internal sense of the words of our text, and, indeed, in several other passages to which we shall allude. In the literal sense our text treats of the history of the sons of Isaac and Rebecca, the ancestors of the Jewish people. Yet as by the Jewish people throughout the whole of the Scripture was meant God's own chosen people, His Church on earth; and as by Canaan was represented the heavenly Canaan, the Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth; as, therefore, the Lord's Word while treating outwardly in the letter of the history of the Jewish people, inwardly in the internal sense treats of the Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth; so also by Abraham and Sarah, by Isaac and Rebecca, and by their sons Esau and Jacob, are represented powers or faculties of the Lord's kingdom in the minds of men. As Abraham, Isaac, Esau, and Jacob in the letter of the Word represent three successive generations, of which one gave birth to the other, so in the internal sense they represent three degrees or three regions in the human mind, of which one is interior to the other, and in all of which the Lord's kingdom is to be established. By Abraham is represented the highest degree of the human mind, which in the writings of the New Church is called the celestial, and which corresponds to the highest or third heaven. This in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus is represented by Abraham's bosom. In this inmost degree of the human mind are the remains of innocence, which during the earliest age of our existence have been mercifully implanted there by the Lord. By Isaac and Rebecca is represented the rational degree of our mind, corresponding to the second or spiritual heaven. There, we are taught, is formed in the beginning of regeneration the plane of conscience, which consists of a union of rational good and rational truth; rational good being represented by Isaac, and rational truth by Rebecca. By means of the good and truth in the rational mind the Lord reforms and regenerates the natural mind. And the regenerated natural mind is constituted of natural good represented by Esau, and natural truth represented by Jacob. As good is the firstborn in the Church, and claims priority over truth, and as by Esau is represented natural good, and by Jacob natural truth, therefore, also, we read that Esau was the firstborn or elder brother, and Jacob the younger brother. Thus far everything seems to be in perfect harmony with the general teaching of Scripture and of the New Church, namely, that good is firstborn, and thus prior, and truth subsequent, and hence inferior. But in contradiction to this principle we afterwards find that good, represented by Esau, sells its birthright to truth, represented by Jacob. And in the twenty-seventh chapter of Genesis we find that Jacob, by whom is represented truth, after putting on the outward appearance of Esau, by whom is represented good, is accepted by Isaac, or by rational good, as his firstborn, and receives his blessing. A similar case we find recorded in Genesis xlviii., where Jacob in blessing the sons of Joseph placed his right hand on the head of Ephraim, the younger son, and his left hand on Manasseh, who was the elder and firstborn, and by whom, therefore, was represented charity or good, while by Ephraim was represented the intellectual principle of the Church. On this account, also, Ephraim is called the firstborn in Jeremiah xxxi. Now what spiritual lesson is intended to be conveyed to us by all this? In the first place, it must be stated here that the selling of the birthright of Esau to Jacob, and thus the acknowledgment of the priority or superiority of truth over good, is only temporary, and not permanent. The temporary nature of this sale is expressed by the words "as for today," which are used in the original language of Scripture in this connection, "Sell me, as for to-day, thy birthright," and again in this connection, " And Jacob said, Swear to me, as for to-day." That the superiority of Jacob over Esau was only to be temporary appears also in Isaac's blessing of Esau, where these words are used : "And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother and it shall come to pass, when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck" (Gen. xxvii.). But that Esau, i.e. good in the natural mind, actually broke the yoke of Jacob, i.e. of truth in the same mind, we find on reading, that Jacob humbled himself and his wives and his sons before Esau, calling Esau "his lord," and himself "his servant" (Gen. xxxiii.). It seems, therefore, that in the establishment of the Lord's kingdom, or of the Church, there is a period during which truth or doctrine has priority over good; nay, it seems that unless truth or doctrine had then priority over good, the Lord's kingdom or His Church could not be established in this world; for otherwise it would not have been taught in the internal sense of Scripture that good sold its birthright or its priority to truth. Truth or doctrine has thus priority over good in the beginning, while preparation is being made for the Church, and while the Church itself is being planted; or, in other words, before and during regeneration, truth and doctrine are in the first, and good is in the second place. But after regeneration has been accomplished, or after the Lord's kingdom has been established in man, there is an inversion of state, and then good, represented by Esau, has the dominion, and the truth of doctrine, represented by Jacob, becomes the servant. Such was not the case in the most ancient times, when humanity was enjoying its Golden Age. Then good or love was prior and superior to truth or doctrine from first to last. Good then, as we are taught, flowed into the hearts of men from within; and from their hearts, that is, from their wills, it flowed into their understandings, and assumed there the form of truth. On this account we read in Scripture concerning celestial men, that the Lord will put His law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and in the writings of the New Church we read that they had the perception of truth from good, that is, from good they were led into, and perceived, truth. This faculty of perceiving truth from good has however been entirely lost to mankind since the Flood. The will-faculty of men, so far as their natural mind is concerned, has ever since been entirely perverted and turned away from the Lord; and thus instead of being born with a tendency towards the love of the Lord and their neighbour, they are now born with a tendency towards selflove and the love of the world. Instead of loving good and truth, therefore, men by birth now love evils and falsities. In order to save man out of this abyss of evil and falsity, we are taught the Lord mercifully separated the perverted will-faculty of men from their understanding, so that there is now no such uninterrupted influx from the will into the understanding, as in former times. And the result of all this is, that at the present time the understanding can no more be taught by the influx of good from within; and that every item of information, both in spiritual and in natural things, has to be communicated to it by instruction, through the medium of the natural senses from without; wherefore we are further taught that the understanding of man nowadays is, indeed, in a state of integrity at his birth, but his willfaculty is utterly perverted and instinct with hereditary evil; and that men from having been internal men have now become external. It is on this account that there is nowadays an apparent superiority of what is external over what is internal, and thus of the understanding over the will, and of the truth of doctrine over good; yet this superiority is only temporary, and extends only to the period before and during regeneration. Yet even before and during regeneration the superiority of truth and doctrine over good is only apparent, and not real. For in order that truth and doctrine may then be fixed in the understanding, love and its affections, and hence good, are required as a receptive soil. The love, however, which is required in order to insure the development of the understanding is furnished by the good of innocence which the Lord instils into the souls of men during their infancy and youth. And the love which the Lord then instils into the hearts of men is not only utilized in fixing truths and doctrines and scientifics of every kind in the memory; but love, and hence good, so far as the man himself permits it, arranges also all those truths and doctrinals and knowledges of every kind into heavenly order; thus enabling man to think of these subjects in a rational manner. Nevertheless, the action of love and of good in the human minds is deeply hidden from the gaze of men; while the implantation of truths and doctrinals, and their elaboration into higher truths and conclusions, can be plainly traced by them. Man, therefore, is now distinctly led by truths to good; or, in other words, he clearly and distinctly learns and acquires truths from the Word of God, and then he tries to practise them. This acquisition of truths and doctrines, and of knowledges of every kind, is undertaken by the Jacob principle in our mind, and in the internal sense of our text is meant by Jacob's boiling pulse. Good nowadays is utterly helpless in our minds; for the innocence of childhood, which represents our store of good, is only superinduced over our will-faculty, and does not interiorly enter into it. In fact, our old, perverted will cannot be reformed and regenerated at all, and therefore the Lord builds up a new will in us, and this He builds up in our understanding, but it is built up there by the truths in our understanding teaching our new will what to do, and how to act. While Jacob, therefore, studies and collects truths and doctrines from the Word, Esau, the new will, has to go to Jacob for spiritual food in order that it may perform the good of life, which is meant by Esau's being in the field. In the field, however, Esau becomes faint; that is, good nowadays, unless it is constantly instructed by truths from the Word and strengthened thereby, becomes faint, and is obliged from the field of labour to come to Jacob for a fresh supply of doctrine, represented by pulse. In the form in which Jacob first collects this doctrine it is undigested, and not properly arranged, and therefore it is called pulse; yet Esau is so eager for it that he begs Jacob for the red thing, by which he means that it is good in his eyes, for red corresponds to good. Natural good in its hungry state, without the doctrine. of truth, we are taught, is represented by Esau, but when it is fed by Jacob's pulse, by the red thing, then it is called Edom. Edom in the original language of Scripture signifying what is red. As good nowadays is so utterly helpless and dependent on truth and doctrine from the Word in order that it may know what to do and how to act, therefore we read finally that Esau sold his birthright to Jacob; that is, good thereby acknowledges that truth and doctrine nowadays is the indispensable means of regeneration, and hence of salvation; that without truth good is blind, and does not know how to act; that good, in fact, is entirely qualified by truth, that is, it puts on its quality. If truth in the mind, therefore, is scanty and badly digested, good will be of the same quality; but if the mind is well stored with truth and doctrine, then good will be rich and full. Again, when the truths in the mind are drawn simply from the literal sense of the Word, and hence are of a merely general nature, then also good will partake of the same general character; but if these truths are drawn from the interior sense of the Word, if the understanding, therefore, is taught in the particular truths of the Divine Word, then good in man will be of a like particular and definite character. Let us, therefore, never forget that we no longer live in the golden age, and hence no longer belong to the Lord's celestial Church, but that we are born in the iron age, and belong to the Lord's spiritual Church; and that in the spiritual Church Esau has to sell his birthright to Jacob in order that Jacob may give him to eat and to drink; that unless Esau go to Jacob for instruction in the doctrine of truth, Esau, that is, good in the Church, will become faint and helpless and void of all power. In conclusion, let us remember that this doctrine has been taught by the Lord Himself when, on being tempted by the devil, He replied to him, "Man shall not live by bread," i.e. by good alone, "but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." R. L. TAFEL. T CONFIRMATION.* HE subject of Confirmation, accounted as one of the Seven Sacraments in the Romish Church, and deemed of very great importance in the Episcopal Churches, British and Foreign, is one that deserves candid and careful consideration. The popular conception of the rite is that the responsibility accepted by godfathers and godmothers at baptism, when they promise in the name of the child "to renounce the devil and all his works, the pomp and vanities of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh," is transferred at Confirmation to the child now arrived at an age to understand right from wrong. We need scarcely say that this view is held by the unlearned only, although there are many features in the preparation for the rite and in its administration that might naturally lead the vulgar mind to such a conclusion. In the various discussions that have taken place in the New Church in England, those who have advocated the adoption of "a rite analogous to that of Confirmation" have generally assumed that the chief uses to be performed by such a rite would be found in the preparatory instruction of young people in the doctrines of the Church, and in the steadying influence of a public profession of faith and of an earnest desire to become children of God. Against these things no reasonable objection can be taken, but these are no essential parts of the rite of Confirmation. The work before us may be justly regarded as an authoritative statement of the views of the Anglican Church upon the subject of Confirmation, dealing with the subject of the origin and grace of Confirmation doctrinally and historically. The author, while admitting that there is no direct Divine command for the practice of Confirmation, traces the origin of the rite to the days of the Lord's apostles: "About the practice of the apostles there is no doubt. Whether they derived it from our Lord's express command, or by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, as it is not revealed, must remain a matter of private opinion. Our Lord Himself, indeed, took the little children in His arms, laid His hands upon them, and blessed them; and if we are not warranted in taking this as a direct authority for 'the laying on of hands,' yet we may at least view it as a gracious foreshadowing of one of the most touching and impressive ceremonies of the Church. But no sooner was the promised gift of the Holy Ghost bestowed upon the Church, bringing to the remembrance of the apostles all that Christ had taught them, than we find that a special function, retained in the hands of the apostles themselves, was ministered to the newly-baptized converts." In support of this view we are referred to Acts viii. 14-17; xix. 1-6. But the writer goes further than this, and quotes Heb. vi. 1, 2, as proof that Confirmation is one of the first principles of the doctrine of Christ, and that "it must express a Divine reality, as permanent, and as necessary to be held in all ages of the The History of Confirmation. By William Jackson, M. A., Vicar of Heathfield, Sussex. Parkers, London and Oxford. |