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tively, but patiently and usefully. You have no business to read in the long vacation.

Come here to make scholars

of yourselves, and go to the mountains or the sea to make men of yourselves. Give at least a month in each year to rough sailor's work and sea-fishing. Don't lounge. and flirt on the beach, but make yourselves good seamen. Then on the mountains go and help the shepherd at his work, the woodmen at theirs, and learn to know the hills by night and day. If you are staying in level country learn to plough, and whatever else you can that is useful. Then here in Oxford, read to the utmost of your power, and practise singing, fencing, wrestling, and riding. No rifle practice and no racing-boat or other. Leave the river quiet for the naturalist, the angler, and the weary student like me.

You may think all these matters of no consequence to your studies of art and divinity; and that I am merely crotchety and absurd. Well, that is the way the devil deceives you. It is not the sins which we feel sinful by which he catches us; but the apparently healthy onesthose which nevertheless waste the time, harden the heart, concentrate the passions on mean objects, and prevent the course of gentle and fruitful thought.

Having thus cultivated, in the time of your studentship, your powers truly to the uttermost, then, in your manhood, be resolved they shall be spent in the true service of men-not in being ministered unto, but in ministering.

66

A PARABLE FOR OLD AND YOUNG. POOR man wandered listlessly along the seashore. He had sustained many reverses, and the courage to combat his ill-fate seemed to be fast ebbing away. As he watched the setting sun, he murmured: Alas, how truly is my evil fortune pictured by this scene! Every ray of light is departing. Soon the sun will have vanished behind the stretch of waters. The shadows of evening are gathering around, and by and by every object will be shrouded in the blackness of night. My heart is disquieted within me. All is dark. Where shall I look for one ray of light to guide and comfort me in my present affliction?" As he spake, the last tinge of the sun's brightness ceased to illumine the horizon, and as he gazed the poor man seemed overpowered by the sense of utter loneliness that oppressed him, and sank down on the ground in his despair to die. His gaze seemed rivetted to the spot whence the sun had so recently vanished, as if he expected help to come from that direction. But above the plash of the waves, a gentle voice, as of an angel, whispered the words in his ear, "Turn around, and look higher." He obeyed. For a time he could discern nothing through the thick darkness. But soon a pale outline in the sky began to increase in radiance, growing brighter and brighter every moment, until the glad waves seemed to dance with glee in the glittering moonbeams. Simultaneously, as he lay and wondered, thoughts of hope and trust began to assume shape in his mind. "Have I indeed found another friend?" asked the man, as he looked up at the bright orb now sailing aloft in the heavens. "No," answered the voice; "it is the same friend. The sun has but lent of his glory to the moon. It is sunlight still, under another guise, though coming from a new quarter, whence it was least expected."

Take courage, be faithful and remember the Saviour's words, "I am with you always."

WAIT PATIENTLY FOR THE LORD.

J. C. B.

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

The following letter, bearing the Birmingham post mark, was received by the publisher, Mr. Speirs, on Feb. 16th:-"Dear Sir, -I have to rejoice that The Evening and the Morning' fell into my hands through seeing an article on it in the Literary World some three months ago. I was almost an infidel, not from choice, but because my mind refused to accept the teachings of what I now term the Old Church, and I was in a most painful state of doubt. Your book threw a new light on the Bible. I was astonished and delighted, and sought out the New Church in this town by earnest inquiry. I have procured other New Church books, and sincerely rejoice to say that my doubts have been dispelled by the glorious teachings of your denomination, and my knowledge of God's boundless love and glory has been indefinitely increased. Wishing it a wide circulation, and also your weekly paper the Morning Light, which is very welcome and a great treat, and hoping you will make that also widely known, I remain, yours sincerely, One who has been an honest doubter.

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From a paper on The Cross of Christ, by the Rev. John Pulsford, of Edinburgh, we subjoin the following suggestive extract :-"Observe that the literal crucifixion of our Lord's earthly body is by no means the essential cross of Christ. If you think that, how can

you be crucified with Christ'? And if you are not crucified with Him, how can you live with Him? The essential cross of Christ was our nature, with all its inevitable influences and temptations, which pressed upon His Spirit. In choosing the Divine life, in resisting the tempter, in resolutely declining to make this world and its glory His object, He took up His cross. His real crucifixion was a lifelong inward process in His soul. It was the travail of His soul.' His literal crucifixion was not His agony. His bloody sweat rather expressed the crisis of His agony. What He inherited from Mary was resigned, purged away, in favour of what He inherited from His Father. And this is the cross which we must take up and come after Him, if we are to become members of His recovered, Divine, human race. We must lose our life to gain our life. Our blessed heavenly life is only possible through the sup planting of the carnal life, which naturally is the uppermost and ascendant life of the soul.

"To be carnally souled is Death.'

"If, therefore, we are to do well for the heir of heaven, which is within us, the heir of this world, which also has a deep root of life in us, must take up His Cross."

The following Memorial to the Home Secretary, commended by the Rev. R. Storry, President of Conference, is being signed by ministers and leaders of New Church Societies :

To the Right Hon. R. Assheton Cross, M. P.,-We, the undersigned New Church ministers, are convinced, from an intimate acquaintance with the people, extending over some years, that a large amount of drunkenness, irreligion, domestic misery, and poverty arises from the sale of Intoxicating Liquors on Sunday, on which day, owing to the exceptional privileges granted to the liquor traders, large numbers of the population being at leisure, and having a large portion of their weekly earnings in their possession, are specially exposed to temptation.

We venture, therefore, very respectfully to appeal to you on this subject, and, through you, earnestly to ask the Government to introduce a Bill for the stopping of such sale during the whole of the Lord's Day.

In view also of the strong and almost universal wish of the people of Ireland for the closing of public-houses on Sunday your memorialists urge you and your colleagues to give the Irish Sunday Closing Bill such support as will ensure its becoming law this session.

We have pleasure in calling attention to the weekly publication of Sermons by the Rev. John Presland at a penny each. They are called Popular Bible Explanations. The plan originated with a few of the members of his congregation; and, though undertaken mainly to help to direct the attention of strangers to our views, the Sermons only need to be known to be taken up, enjoyed, and circulated extensively by our New Church friends.

Cardinal Pecci, Archbishop of Perugia, was on Wednesday, February 20th, elected to the Papal Chair. He will be known as Leo XIII. The new Pope is an Italian by birth, and has nearly reached his 68th year. He is described as a man of moderate views, of good family, and commanding presence. Strong hopes are

entertained that he will endeavour to settle the differences that have so long existed between Italy and the Vatican.

The first Annual Social Meeting of the Glasgow New Church Mutual Improvement Association was held in the Hall below the Church on Thursday evening, 14th January, at 7 o'clock. Mr.

Con

Andrew Eadie, president of the Association, in the chair. sidering the inclemency of the weather, there was quite a large gathering of the members and of the young people of the church. After tea the Chairman made a few remarks, in the course of which he told his hearers that, although the avowed object of the Association was the improvement of their minds and the cultivation of their intellects, yet there was another part of their natures that required cultivation, namely, the social part. The Association had not left that out of sight. It was for the cultivation of that part of their natures they were met to-night, and he hoped all present would enter with spirit into the enjoyments of the evening. Those who sometimes acted the part of Wall-Flowers would, he hoped, on this occasion become Sweet-Williams. The programme, which consisted chiefly of songs and dances, was then begun and carried on with great zest. Everybody seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves, and at 11 o'clock the evening's proceedings were brought to a close by the company singing "Auld Lang Syne."

The Rev. J. H. Rose, B. A., Vicar of Clerkenwell, is at present delivering a course of Tuesday evening lectures in St. James's on "The Religious Associations of Clerkenwell," of which the following is the published Syllabus :-Clerkenwell-Origin of NameSacred Plays at Clerks' Well-St. Mary's Nunnery-Founded 1100 -History-Founder and Benefactors-Benedictine Nuns-Possessions-Muswell Hill-Nunnery Garden-Dissolution-Priory of St. John of Jerusalem-Knights of St. John-Their Part in the Crusades-The Priory-Royal Personages reside here-King JohnHenry V.-St. John's Gate-Its Associations-Dr. Johnson-St. James's-Its History-Election of Ministers-Monuments-Sir William Weston last Prior of St. John's-Lady Elizabeth Berkeley -Connecting Links between Pre-reformation-and Post-reformation times-Sir George Strode-Benefactions-Cobham Row-Sir John Oldcastle-"The good Lord Cobham," First Protestant Martyr-Turnmill Street-" Jack Ketch's Warren "-Hiding-place of Lord Cobham-St. Bath Street-Emanuel Swedenborg, Lived and Died here-Spa-Fields-Wesley-Whitfield-Countess of Huntingdon-Friends in Clerkenwell-Visits of George FoxRichard Baxter confined in Clerkenwell Prison-Lady OwenBishop Burnet-Residence and Death in Clerkenwell-His life and Times-William Huntington-&c. The idea is a good one, for the interest in one's local surroundings and associations is very strong, and all the more so when these associations stretch back so far and are so famous. The lecture on Swedenborg, however, delivered on Feb. 19th, is to us the point of interest. The service of the Church of England was gone through, and then from the pulpit Mr. Rose delivered his lecture. He began by saying that among the many great and good none perhaps excited deeper interest than Swedenborg, who claimed to be the bearer to mankind of a new revelation, or, more properly, of a new interpretation of the old. Various theories had obtained respecting him, but all those which charged him with being a lunatic and an impostor would not bear the test of evidence. He seemed to have possessed the highest intellect and most capable mind. He was the most guileless of men. Still, the lecturer added, this but adds to our confusion, and make him one of the world's puzzles. He then gave a brief outline of the facts of his life, mentioning the position of his father, his singular expressions as a child, his university life up to the taking of his degree as doctor of philosophy. Like young men of his rank, he then travelled. His attention to mechanics while abroad, and his services in sending home models. His appointment as assessor of the College of Mines, which the lecturer erroneously compared to the position of President of the Board of Trades in this country. Mentioned his many publications, which would have placed him, had he continued his scientific pursuits, in the first rank of scientific men. He stated how while writing his last scientific work on the "Animal Kingdom," and calmly thinking cut in logical sequence its various parts, he believed himself to be subject to spiritual influences which were seen and felt, to dreams which he jotted down, and to states of struggle and trial. He quoted the prayer beginning "Almighty Jesus," and how he dreamt that he thought he sat in His lap and looked into His face, and thought He must have looked like this when He lived on earth. A most striking incident. He believed he had a mission, and that he was the instrument by which the light of the spiritual sense was to pierce through the clouds of the letter, and that the New Truth thus unfolded constituted the Lord's Second Coming. He quoted from Sandels' eulogium upon Swedenborg; much commending his quiet, contained happiness. Read his rules of life, which he said deserve, whatever may be the estimate of Swedenborg, to be adopted by every Christian. He showed the manner in which, as Swedenborg believed, intercourse could be had with the spiritual world; that man, in fact, was now living in two worlds, and that the natural body was only a temporary husk which was dropped at death. In the spiritual world, though we were not aware of it, we were attended by guardians and tempters, who infused into us all our thoughts and desires both good and evil. Swedenborg relied for proof in the Scripture declarations respecting the visions of John, Paul, and Daniel, and upon the opening of the

eyes of Elisha's servant to see the horses and chariots of fire. Kant's testimony respecting the fire in Stockholm which Swedenborg saw whilst it was happening in Gottenburg was quoted. His residence with Shearmith was referred to, and how his presence seemed to be a blessing. His letter to Wesley was referred to, and Wesley's surprise that he could have learned of his strong desire to see him, though he had mentioned it to none. How he predicts his death, and is as pleased as if going to a merrymaking. The lecturer stated that abundance of material had given him much difficulty in preparing his lecture, and he had done so without entering upon He his books, which may, however, be done on another occasion. finished by saying that Swedenborg was a man of high and extraordinary gifts, and whether we admit his claims or not, we should do well to imitate his blameless life.

The following anecdote of the late Pis Nino, forwarded to the Daily News by Rev. J. T. Walters, Rector of Norton, Bournemouth, proves that even in places where one would least expect to find it (if we judge men by their creeds) an exalted charity may exist, and that the late Pontiff was in this respect an eminent example alike to Catholics and Protestants :-"Two English ladies, sisters-one a Protestant, the other a convert to Popery-wintering at Rome a few years ago were presented to the late Pope. After a gracious reception his Holiness signified that they might withdraw. One of the sisters, the convert, hanging back, and showing a desire for some further communication, the Pope instantly observed it and beckoned her to return. When she had returned and placed herself kneeling before him, he said, 'What is it you wish to say to me?' She replied, I desire the prayers of your Holiness for my sister that she may be converted from Protestantism, and that we may not be separated by death.' He replied (I think, having placed his hand upon her shoulder or upon her clasped hands), Daughter, those who love God will not be separated in the next world.'

SUNDAY-SCHOOL LESSONS.

THE FIVE LOAVES AND THE TWO FISHES. March 10, Morning.-The great multitude represent the many affec tions and thoughts of the natural mind which are seeking to be raised to a more interior communion with the Lord, who comes forth to give the blessings which are so much needed and desired. The Lord's compassion is said to be moved when it moves us to repentance and humility. It shows His love for mankind, and His healing the sick the saving work of His wisdom. The evening having come, and the desire of the disciples to have the people sent away, signifies their obscure perception of truth, and that good must be acquired in an external way and by their own power. But the Lord would say to all such, They need not depart : give ye them to eat. Their supply of food signifies the remains of goodness and truth stored up in early life. It is most important to bring these to the Lord: they may then form a beginning of the spiritual life in mature life. people sitting on the grass signify the arrangement of truth, resting on the lowest kind of knowledges. The Lord takes the loaves and fishes; He adjoins Himself to the "remains" of good and truth. Looking up to heaven, He blessed, signifies the opening of the spiritual mind and the descent of mercy and peace. He brake and gave the loaves to His disciples, and they to the multitude, signifies the communion of good. They did all eat and were filled, shows that the "remains," small though they were when brought into use and under the influence of the Lord, were capable of indefinite increase. The twelve baskets of fragments that remained signify fulness of instruction and appropriation. The five thousand men who had eaten, besides women and children, signify all in the Church in truths from good.

ISAAC.

The

March 10, Afternoon.-Isaac signifies the Divine rational, and the command to Abraham, to offer his only son Isaac in sacrifice, signifies the intensity of the temptations and struggles. The preparations for the sacrifice in the wood, the fire, and the knife, signify respectively righteousness, the good of love, and the truth of faith. The tying of Isaac the last degrees of temptation. The voice of the angel signifies perception of consolation after temptation. The ram caught by the horns signifies the spiritual portion of mankind who can be disentangled from falsity and saved by means of the Lord's Divine Humanity.

BIRTH.

On February 18, at Vauxhall Grove, Birmingham, the wife of J. William Tonks, of a daughter.

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

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WHAT DOES SWEDENBORG REALLY
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EVENING

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Heaven and Hell, and the Inter

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By EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. With Copious Index; and Preface by the late Rev. T. Hartley, M. A., Rector of Winwick, Northamptonshire.

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"Our heaven and hell are essentially our developed characters and consciousness. They are created by the state of our minds and affections, and their visible manifestations grow out of laws which come at once into play when the flesh is laid aside. A man's heaven or hell is not only in himself, but it is himself; and this self he is forming every day, by his love and his life in the world. This moral conduct is continually superinducing upon him the celestial or infernal form, and by a law, too, as invariable as that which brings forth the flower and the fruit in conformity with the quality of the seed. By the same law he is also continually storing away in the inner chamber of his spirit the material of the scenery which shall go to beautify or deform his eternal dwelling-place. We have in this presentation of the genius of heaven and hell, as given in the visions-if you please to term them-of Emanuel Swedenborg."-The late Professor Bush, of New York.

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the Life and Character

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AMID THE CORN.

By the Author of " The Evening and the Morning.”
I. THE CHRISTMAS PARTY.
CHAPTER V.

"Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire."

HAD scarcely taken in a view of the persons gathered together in Mr. Freeheart's kitchen, and realized the true character of the situation, when the Rev. Mr. Robins, having heard the news, came in to condole with the bereaved parents, who, as I have indicated, attended his chapel, as also did Miss Lilian. He was one of those gentlemen who, having a short and easy method of salvation ready at a moment's notice for all sorts of persons so long as they have five minutes' breath in their bodies, had no means of salvation for any sort of persons, however good and excellent, if they had departed without having accepted his own special view of the case and disposed their minds accordingly. He at once proceeded to comfort the poor old folks by telling them that it was their duty to submit to God's judgments and not to question the righteousness of His decrees, however hard they might appear in their own particular case. further ventured to improve the occasion by reminding his hearers of the way in which God cut off the young man Absalom in the midst of his sins, and of David's subsequent submission to the event. He then, for the benefit of all present, announced that the way of salvation was plain and simple, and that all should at once, in view of this awful judgment, accept it and escape the wrath to come.

He

Poor Mr. Thomson was completely taken aback to witness the cool way in which his well-meant offices were suddenly thrust aside, and the old people's fears and anxieties, which had been to some extent allayed, were renewed. Whether his annoyance and that of Mr. Freeheart had any relation to the way in which Miss Lilian evidently regarded Mr. Robins I cannot undertake to say, but they both marched out of the kitchen into the yard with a very visible expression of disgust on their honest faces. Thinking I could no longer be of any use here, I withdrew into the parlour, Hettie and Mr. Morse following me.

"Now, Willie," I said, as soon as we had settled ourselves down, "I am inclined to think that your indifference to Christianity, and indeed your aversion to it, have been excited by views similar to those propounded by the gentleman whom we have just left. I have investigated the subject as far as my feeble powers will permit, and I don't hesitate to say that what you have now heard is nothing else than a shocking mockery of the way of salvation revealed for our guidance and peace in the Sacred Scriptures."

"I candidly confess, Mr. Romaine,” said Willie, "that you have put before me things that I have never yet properly considered. My attention has been arrested by the beauty of the thoughts evolved apparently from some of the passages you have quoted. In fact, I am willing to admit that you have shirked no question asked, nor evaded any difficulty suggested, save one.”

"And pray, Mr. Morse, what is that?"

"Why, when Lilian referred to that awful parable of the sheep and the goats, quoting the terrible sentence, 'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels,' you quietly put it by and went on with another subject."

"No. I went on with the subject already in hand,

the burning up of the chaff with unquenchable fire. The two things are entirely similar."

"How so? You defined the 'fire' as the consuming power of God's love, which, as Hettie suggested from the poetry of Waller, burns up our dross.'

"I did. Now, Hettie, will you have the kindness to read the parable?"*

"Observe, Willie," I remarked, when she had done, "if we rub this sufficiently hard, we shall get rid of all ideas associated with sheep and goats, or indeed with persons altogether, and we shall have left the solemn record of the work of the Lord in the purification of every saved soul."

"I hold," said Willie, "that it is intended to be a picture of God's judgment of the good and evil."

"Well," I replied, "we have already seen that the good and evil are separated for the advantage of both. But passing that by for the moment, I think if you look at what we have beneath the chaff, you will see that we have here a description of the judgment exercised in every regenerated nature. every regenerated nature. The Son of Man, or the King sitting upon the throne of His glory, is the Divine Truth established on the throne of Reason, and glorified in the Understanding. When Truth exercises dominion over the rational faculty it is our King, and rules over all the inner region of the spirit."

"Love is and was my Lord and King," murmured Hettie, quoting a line from Tennyson's "In Memoriam.” "Very good," I continued; "truth is the form of love, and love is the essence of truth. Now, when Truth is thus a throned power in our spirits, it begins to discriminate between the two kinds of principles which it finds there. It discerns the one to be good and the other to be evil. It draws a line of separation between things blessed and things cursed. This is indicated by the King separating the sheep from the goats. The heavenly affections in the fold of the heart, which, without an everpresent consciousness of their excellence, are devoted to what is beautiful and useful, the Truth reigning in us approves. This is taught by the sheep being placed on the right hand. The worldly affections, which are so blind that they have no consciousness of evil, the Truth disapproves. This is taught by the goats being set on the left. The former the Truth cherishes, fosters, and preserves; the latter the Truth rebukes and casts out of the interiors of the spirit."

"Is that all?" said Willie, after a pause, and with a look of disappointment. "You have said nothing about the fearful sentence, 'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.""

"Well, Willie, to those who have eyes to discern it the 'fire prepared for the devil and his angels' is nothing else than the fervour of Divine Love, which consumes all things unfit for use and unworthy of existence. I would not have you think of the devil and his angels as a monstrous Anti-God and his servants, but as Evil and the Falses that attend and wait upon it. To my mind the sheep signify the Unconsciousness of Goodness, which is the highest state attainable by man. The sheep knew not that they had done any good thing. The goats signify the Unconsciousness of Evil, which is the lowest state to which a man can fall. Hence the goats knew not that they had done any evil thing. The unconsciousness of goodness is a living state, and hence it is elevated to the eternal kingdom. The unconsciousness of evil is a dead and damned state: it is the rubbish of the soul, and hence is accursed and consumed."

"Then do you deny hell altogether?"
"Certainly not."

Matthew xxv. 31-46.

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