stand some slight chance of hearing the word of Jesus,' said he. The preacher's text that evening sounded like a jest to him, Arise, go into the street that is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus,' etc. Previous to this the writer expresses it as his opinion that by way of alternative' preachers generally would be benefited by being confined for a space to the Psalms and Gospels as hunting-grounds for pulpit topics."

Referring to the first "Item of Interest" in our last issue, a correspondent draws our attention to a paragraph in the Intellectual Repository for August 1875, chronicling the sale by auction in London of a volume thus described, "Swedenborg (E.), Wisdom of Angels,' with pencil notes by W. Blake, the artist, 1788."

Alluding to the effect of partisanship on the body of doctrine formulated by the Protestant at the time of the Reformation, Mr. Gladstone (in the Contemporary Review for October) says: "The strong and just reaction from the Purgatorial system, prevailing in the Latin Church of the period, went far to account for and even excuse that stark and rigid conception of the effect of death on the state of the human being, which led to an abandonment of the uniform practice of the earliest ages of the Church, as testified by the liturgies, in the commendation of the faithful departed to God, for an increase of their rest and peace. But what caused, nay, even what might excuse, the violence thus done to nature as well as religion did not frustrate its mischievous effects in narrowing the range of Christian sympathies and establishing an anomaly in the general doctrine of prayer. With the obscuration of a universal tradition there came, indeed, manifold confusions of doctrine: the final judgment, with its solemn import, seemed to have no place left for it when the intermediate state of souls had been reduced almost to a cipher. Worst of all, the new standard appeared to be in hopeless conflict with the widest experience, for it implied that the entire work of discipline was in every case fully accomplished on this side of the grave; that every soul passed away into the unseen in a state of ripeness for a final destiny of bliss or woe.'

66

The Christian Signal has the following pregnant remarks on the subject of "The Inscrutable Ways of Providence: " 'It is easy to attribute disaster, as do the Times and Pall Mall, to some form of human folly,' but this charge overlooks the fact that ignorance in masters may prove as fatal as folly in the miners. Man has to learn more of the forces of evil by which he is imperilled ere he can baffle them, and thus work into the schemes of God's operating and benignant Providence. For it is not to Divine Providence such catastrophes should be attributed, but to man's non-perception of the destructive agencies about him, or his non-observance of the divinelytaught laws of self-protection. And the beneficent issue of all disasters, the providential consequence, is this, that men become better acquainted with the sources of danger which are rife in a disordered world, and thereby are taught to guard themselves from harm. Along this line of painful experience God is slowly leading man to discern and avert destructions, and thus extract a good from every ill.

And this method of Divine care is the fatherly method at work in our own homes, and is unchallengeably benign as a 'part of God's ways.' For, even amid the calamities which human error brings on blameless victims, Providence is opportunely working to teach men lessons of safety hitherto unperceived or ignored; and thus it is always found that, frowning as the heavens seem, there is a bright light within the clouds.'

The Bishop of Ripon in his sermon at the opening of the Church Congress has the following on the subject of Tritheism. Can it be wondered at that men of high intellect refuse to accept such teaching? It is important to bear in mind that each person in the everblessed Trinity performs an equal part in the work of redemption. That plan was so contrived as to exhibit the joint operation of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost: "The work of the Redeemer is in some respects more prominent, but we may not attribute a higher degree of importance to the undertaking of Christ than to that of the Father and the Holy Ghost. That which was actually achieved by the second person of the Trinity was originated by the first, and can only be rendered effectual by the third. To God the Father the atonement was due. Had He not been satisfied with the obedience and the oblation of Christ one element of confidence in the Mediator's undertaking would have been wanting, and apart from the agency of the Holy Ghost the redemption through Jesus would have been of little avail. It is an elementary truth that man as to his fallen nature is in a twofold sense morally ruined. Not only is he exposed to death as the wages of sin, but he is utterly destitute of all inclination or power of himself to turn and repent. The removal of the legal condemnation is due to the work of God the Son; that of spiritual death to the operation of God the Holy Ghost. Hence the office of each person in the sacred Trinity is equally essential. Deliverance from guilt and condemnation, restoration to God's favour here and to eternal happiness hereafter,

these are blessings for which equal adoration is due to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost."

The following sensible article is from the Rock: "Upon the principle, it may be presumed, that any means of reaching the unconverted are preferable to suffering their escape from the spiritual fold, shepherds occasionally resort to unworthy methods of entrapping the lost sheep. A sensational religious advertisement bearing the signature of Mr. Ned Wright, an earnest but somewhat illiterate stump preacher, has just fallen under our notice, and suggests the train of thought. It is in the form of a bank-note, and is arranged and worded with some ingenuity. Emanating from the Christian. Workers' Hall, Camberwell, it takes up the usual strain of haste and terror. We say that such means as this of appealing to sinners are altogether unworthy of a true and noble faith. Religion is not a sentiment. No man can be deeply and truly converted to any faith whatever by means unsympathetic and unnatural. People of an uncertain, hysterical nature are attracted to meeting-houses by advertisements of this kind, and may there be roused to such a height of penitential emotion as to appear to be for the moment absolute converts. But how many natures are of that innate strength that, having professed sudden allegiance to a new master, they will hold by their vows on encountering again the temptations of the outer world? Unless the mind is thoroughly receptive, and prepared for the entry of a wholly new system of thought, no instantaneous conversion is worth the momentary pang it costs to renounce the things of this world. Practical religion, the only true religion, is a deep, strong, and all-pervading influence, the mainspring of a man's every thought and action, the ruler of his principles, the adviser of his every deed, and such is not acquired in a moment of terrified hysteria."

Mr. Froude, in an article on "Science and Theology, Ancient and Modern," which appears in the current number of the International Review, sums up his hopes for the future of religion in the following words: "Man's nature is the same as it always was. Science has much to teach us, but its message is not the last nor thehighest. If we may infer the future from the past, a time will come when we shall cease to be dazzled with the thing which we call progress, when increasing 'wealth' will cease to satisfy, nay, may be found incapable of being produced or preserved except when relegated to a secondary place, when the illusions which have strangled religion shall be burnt away and the immortal part of it restored to Not its rightful sovereignty. A long weary road may lie before us. easily will an inviolable atmosphere of reverence form again round spiritual faith to warn off the insolent intruder. Piety, reverence, humble adoration of the great Maker of the world, are in themselves so beautiful that religious faith might have remained for ever behind that enchanted shield, if imaginative devotion could have kept within bounds its wild demands upon the reason. Not till Catholics had piled superstition on superstition, not till Protestants had elabor ated a speculative theology which conscience as well as intellect at length flung from it as incredible, did the angels which guarded the shrine fold their wings and fly. The garden of Eden is desecrated now by the trampling of controversy, and no ingenious reconciliations of religions and science, no rivers of casuistic holy water, can restore the ruined loveliness of traditionary faith. But the truth which is in religion will assert itself again as it has asserted itself before. A society without God in the heart of it is not permitted to exist. And when once more a spiritual creed has established itself which men can act on in their lives, and believe with their whole souls, it is to be hoped that they will have grown wiser by experience, and will not again leave the most precious of their possessions to be ruined by the extravagances of exaggerating credulity."

At the Canterbury Diocesan Conference the chief subjects of discussion held on September 27th were "Mission Services in Rural Districts," and "The Church Defence Institution.” On the former the general feeling of the Conference was against the "revival " system, though the Archbishop expressed the opinion that there were dull places where a little stirring up would do both the clergy and the laity good. His Grace said the best means of Church defence would be for the clergy and laity to earnestly endeavour, in their various spheres, to perform the duty devolving upon them. By that means they would defeat the aims of the Liberation Society.

At the Annual Meeting of the Braxted Agricultural Labourers' Friend Society held on September 26th, the Chairman, Mr. Charles Page Wood, created quite a commotion by proposing "The Bishop and Clergy of the Diocese and all Ministers of Religion," in lieu of the old toast, "The Bishop and Clergy.' Two prominent members of the Society absented themselves from the dinner; and two of the speakers expressed their dissent from the charge, on the ground that they were opposed to the introduction of party politics into the meetings of the Society!

A document lately published on the Continent, and said to be highly approved of by the Pope, is addressed to Roman Catholics

with regard to their conduct towards the "heretics who, patronized by the Government of usurpation, have settled, and now hold their ground firmly, in the holy city. Among other directions are the following: "It is positively forbidden to enter knowingly or out of mere curiosity the Protestant halls or churches in which the meetings are held. All musicians who are paid for singing or playing in Protestant churches are guilty of mortal sin. Printers as well as composers who print heretical works incur damnation from the Pope himself. Architects, surveyors, the foreman of the workshop, who assist in any artistic improvements in Protestant churches, are among the lost; masons and inferior workmen will be saved if no scandal arises, and they do not work out of contempt for the Catholic religion.'

The Jewish World gives some further details respecting the coloured Jews who recently arrived at Malta with the Indian contingent. These coloured Jews reside in considerable numbers on the Malabar coast. It is said that they are the descendants of the Jews sent to India by King Solomon to capture elephants for his use, and to work in the gold mines, and that their skins in the course of 3000 years have entirely changed colour. They have a written Bible, and claim to be in possession of a number of autograph prayer-books written by the patriarchs.

At a recent meeting of the Board of Congregational ministers, the Rev. Dr. Reynolds read a paper on the question, Is Congregationalism worth preserving? Of course he answered the question in the affirmative. His points were :—

"1. Congregationalism is not worth preserving simply because we possess an enormous amount of property devoted to its uses, and have a glorious history of three hundred years.

"2. We do not live to bear witness merely against the Establishment by the secular power, of any one form or of all forms of religious persuasion.

"3. Congregationalism is not a mere protest against liturgical worship, from the simple reason that liturgy is quite compatible with its own forms and principles, and some combination of the two modes seems to be rapidly evolving itself even in the enclosure of Congregationalism."

But Congregationalism is abundantly worth preserving :

"1. From its grand witness to the spirituality and catholicity of the Church of Christ. A fundamental principle with us is that the body of Christ consists of all elect souls in heaven and on earth. The Church is invisible, inasmuch as that glorious body is not revealed through any organization whatsoever, nor limited to any. Our position is that no one organized society in the world includes the whole of the company of faithful souls, nor does any summation of such organic bodies contain them all.

"2. Closely allied with this fundamental principle is the Congregational theory of the ministry, both in respect of its functions and the method of its appointment. Our theory is not built upon mere negations. We do not repudiate the idea of the Christian priesthood, we only widen and universalize it. The Roman, Anglican, and Greek Churches have done much in the way of negation and limitation of the priesthood. They have practically denied the priesthood of the Christian man, and have restricted to a class of officers the honour and blessedness of drawing near to God."

"Outside of your own business there are one or two subjects on which you are bound to have but one opinion. That roguery and lying are objectionable, and are instantly to be flogged out of the way whenever discovered; that covetousness and love of quarrelling are dangerous dispositions even in children, and deadly dispositions in men and nations; that in the end the God of heaven and earth loves active, modest, and kind people, and hates idle, proud, greedy, and cruel ones;-on these general facts you are bound to have but one, and that a very strong, opinion." Mr. Ruskin in this extract from "Sesame and Lilies" objects to the common mode of expression of their being much to be said on both sides. All will agree with him in morals, though they may believe it is only applicable in that domain.

The John Bull says: "It appears to be no secret amongst members of the congregation of St. Alban's, Holborn, that the living of St. James's, Hatcham, has been offered by Mr. Robert Tooth, the patron, at the desire of the Rev. Arthur Tooth, to the Rev. A. H. Stanton, of St. Alban's, Holborn, and that he has accepted the vicarship. It is stated that Mr. Stanton will adopt the full ritual which was in use when Mr. Tooth was the vicar. There appears to be some doubt as to the Bishop of Rochester's consenting to institute the new vicar-elect, and it is reported that a legal action will probably be the result of the nomination."

Cardinal Nina (a despatch from Rome says) continues his policy of re-establishing friendly relations between the Vatican and the foreign Powers, and has recently sent instructions to the Latin Archbishop at Constantinople and to Monsieur Hassoun, recommending them to endeavour to resume the negotiations between the Vatican

and the Porte, which were suspended on account of the RussoTurkish war. The Cardinal has also sent a circular note to the Papal Nuncios at the foreign Courts, stating that the Vatican may possibly be obliged to take measures for preserving the authority of the Pope, in view of the hostile attitude adopted by the Italian Government, observable chiefly in the exercise of the prerogative by the king in the nomination of bishops whom the Pope would never recognise. The Nuncios are instructed to sound the Govern ments to which they are accredited, and especially to ascertain their views in the event of the Pope taking extreme measures. The Vatican has instructed the Latin Archbishop at Constantinople to request the Porte to put a stop to the massacres of Roman Catholics in the western provinces.

At the recent Conference of the London Baptist Association, met to consider the subject of "the young people, one of the speakers distinguished himself by maintaining that there was no mental or moral distinction between the sexes! When Sunday-school teachers give such teaching, can we wonder at the spread of materialistic views?

SUNDAY-SCHOOL LESSONS.

JESUS APPEALS TO THE SCRIPTURES IN PROOF OF HIS DIVINITY.

October 27th, Morning.-John v. 39-47. The Jews did not know the Lord; regarding Him as the son of Joseph, they sought to kill Him when He spake of the Divine Father.

The Scriptures testify of Him; the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. In the promise (Gen. iii. 15); in the blessing (Gen. xlix. 10); in the unwilling prophecy (Num. xxiv. 17); and in numerous prophecies in Isaiah and elsewhere the Lord is spoken of. The Jews would not believe Him; they would not come to Him for life, because they loved the ways of death; they had not the love of God in them, because they loved darkness rather than light.

The writings of Moses and the words of the Lord bear the same testimony. The writings of Moses taught the letter of the Law; the words of the Lord were spirit and life. For He is Life itself, the great God of heaven and earth, God manifest in the flesh, Immanuel, God with us. By Him were all things made; He was the Redeemer and Saviour, the Mighty One of Jacob, the God of the whole earth shall He be called.

In Him were fulfilled the predictions of prophecy, and from Him the types and shadows of Judaism derived their life-giving power. As we search the Scriptures we may be made wise unto salvation, or we may close up the avenues within us through which the Divine light might flow.

The Lord was distasteful because He came in the Father's name, in the name of Almighty Love. The Jews preferred one who would come in his own name, in the name of self-love. If we fulfil not the letter of the Law, the external duties of religion, how can we rise to the glories of its spirit, the spirit of Divine love?

THE ISRAELITES AND THEIR SHEPHERD DAVID. October 27th, Afternoon.-1 Samuel xvii. 12-23. The Israelites represent the Church and the spiritual man; the champion of Israel is David (literally beloved), the shepherd. David denotes the Lord as to Divine truth, the very opposite of the principle represented by Goliath.

He was a shepherd, a protector of the principles of charity, a faithful shepherd (a type of the Good Shepherd who giveth His life for the sheep). That reception of truth which enables us to keep alive the principle of charity is the principle of life that enables us to combat the principle of faith alone and the boastings of selfderived intelligence. Even in its youthful state, before it has developed into the full stature of a man, truth loved and lived is far more powerful than all the appliances of falsity and evil.

False principles and doctrines may daunt those who rely in themselves, but he whose heart has received the Divine truth sees nought to fear from them; they ask as David did, "Who is this?" (verse 26.) The natural man trusts in his armour (his own, his selfderived defences); the spiritual man trusts in the name of the Lord of Hosts.

Passages about David, Ezek. xxxvii. 23-25; Zech. xii. 7-9, xüi. I; Isaiah lv. 3, 4; Matt. xxii. 42-45; Rev. iii. 7.

Passages about Shepherds, Psalm xxiii. I; Isaiah xl. 11; Ezek. xxxiv.; Luke ii. 8, 20; John x.; Heb. xiii. 20.

DEATH.

On September 28th, 1878, at Wigan, William Mason, jr., fourth son of William and Ann Mason, aged eighteen years and ten months. Much lamented.

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The Doctrine of the Lord is a Scriptural deduction of the Divinity of Christ, of the personality of the Divine nature, and of the fact and meaning of the incarnation. The Godhead of our Saviour is made to rest upon the whole breadth of Scripture authority, and that there is a Trinity (not of persons but) of person in the Godhead, and that Christ is the person in whom the trinal fulness dwells.

The Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture explains that the Word we now possess is written in four styles. 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.

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"Trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord."

N the afternoon Hettie was desirous of paying a visit to a young woman in the village in whom she had taken a great interest, and who had been confined to her bed through sickness for many years. Her parents were among the honest and industrious poor, who I venture to believe are the beauty-spots in a nation deformed with intellectual and spiritual pride, and begrimed with the vice of intemperance and the lust of wealth. The cottage was a humble one; but it was prettily situated, its exterior being surrounded with the simple sweets of nature. Within, everything was clean and neat. The father and the mother sat by the daughter's bed, and the old gentleman had evidently been reading the Bible, for it lay closed, with his spectacles on the cover, on a table that stood near. They rose as we entered and bade us welcome. While the old folks set chairs for us, Hettie hurried to the bed where the young woman was supported by pillows, and, kissing her affectionately, took the place by her side.

Composed for use at Sunday-school festivals and children's services. It is intended to be sung to the tune of "The Men of Harlech."

"So you have been reading the good old book," I remarked, pointing to the closed volume.

"Yes, sir, sure," he said; "what could we do without it? It keeps us up, like. I sometimes compare it to the hand of our Heavenly Father touching us while we are groping on in the dark, and helping us on, and letting us know we are not all alone."

"It would not be always safe to trust to a hand in the dark, would it?" I asked. "It might be a treacherous one."

"But we know this ain't, sir? We have tried it too often to doubt its faithfulness and strength. Look at that young thing. There she has been year in and year out, and what has she got to look forward to? Without this book, nothing. It fare to me that without this book she'd be looking every day into a loathsome grave that was to swallow her up for ever, but now she is gazing into one o' the many mansions of her Father's house, and reckoning on the time when she shall go to occupy it."

He spoke in a suppressed voice, that he might not interrupt the conversation between Hettie and his daughter at the bedside in the corner of the room. The old lady, who was a little deaf, sat in her neat white cap with her hand at her ear an anxious listener to her husband's words.

"The tree of life, John," she said, as if she wished to give him the cue to further remarks.

"Ay," he said, "she gets clearer and clearer. She seems to be in a lighter place than we are. She calls it the tree of life now with its twelve manner of fruits; and the leaves she says are for healing. Father,' she says when she wants me to read to her, 'let us gather some fruits and leaves from the tree of life.' And she always seems the stronger and better for 'em."

"But you find it difficult to understand, do you not?" I asked.

"I don't know about that, sir," he said; "I know we live and grow on it. It's something like the nice things your young lady brings her sometimes; we don't understand what they are made on, but they are sweet and refreshing and strengthening, and that is all we want to know."

After a few more remarks to the same effect from the old gentleman, Hettie rose to take leave of the young girl, who was a very picture of delicate beauty, the pallor of her cheeks being tinged with the softest touch of rose, arising probably from the excitement of the interview. A tear stole down her face as Hettie kissed her and moved away. Willie was evidently much impressed by the scene in the cottage, and could not conceal his admiration in relation to Hettie.

"That was a striking remark which the old gentleman · made about the tree of life," said Willie, after he had given expression to his thoughts respecting the inmates. of the cottage, "and it appears more suggestive, at least, than that of the learned Mr. Norton this morning. And that reminds me that you have not developed your idea about the trees of Eden, Mr. Romaine. You led Mr. Norton to express his opinion respecting the kind of fruits that grew upon them, but you did not give your own."

"I thought the truth so obvious," I replied, "that I scarcely considered you would require any further explanation. As the trees, herbs, and flowers planted in the ground constitute the garden, so the principles planted in the mind constitute the state of cultivation developed in the soul."

"Of course. The things planted in the ground, and which make it either a garden, a field, a vineyard, or a wood, correspond with the principles which have