adapted to readers on this as on the other side of the Atlantic. The subjects of these lectures are-Swedenborg and the New Church; The Sacred Scriptures; The Divine Nature and Providence; The Incarnation and Redemption; The Holy Spirit and Regeneration; The Spiritual World; Death, Resurrection, and Judgment; Marriage. Speaking of the author of the writings in which the doctrines of the New Church are explained, Mr. Reid

Swedenborg stands before us as the herald of a new age, and his writings as an exposition of its distinctive religious truth. These are great claims, it will be truly said, and should be admitted only upon the weightiest evidence. Ought they to be accepted on the bare authority of Swedenborg or any other man? To this question, so frequently asked, I would give a most emphatic answer. No man, however good or wise, should be blindly followed in matters of opinion or belief. Swedenborg himself would be the last among men to assume any such personal authority. It is laid down in his writings as a cardinal principle that man should act in freedom according to reason. Religion furnishes no ground of exception to this rule. Unless one has perfect freedom of thought, and is able to satisfy his own reason, he can have no genuine faith in any doctrine. Though he profess, he does not truly believe. But, if a doctrine or principle is seen to be true in itself, no matter whence it comes, or with what name it is associated; no matter how many or how few may join us in embracing it; if we are free and untrammelled in the exercise of the rational faculties which the Lord has given us, we shall adopt it for its own intrinsic worth, and say nothing about authority. It seems to us to be of God. On these grounds, and on no others, the doctrines of the New Church, as contained in the theological works of Swedenborg, are valued and received by us. In all his writings the Scriptures are placed prominently before us. His statements with respect to particular doctrines are repeatedly confirmed by numerous passages from the Old and New Testaments. Never for a moment is the Bible out of sight. He himself says, "I testify in truth-that from the first day of [my] call I have not received anything that pertains to the doctrines of the [New] Church from any angel, but from the Lord alone, while I was reading the Word." That is to say, while he was meditating on the Scriptures, Divine light flowed down into his mind, giving him a clear perception of their interior significance. He was not inspired. The prophets were inspired; and when they wrote or uttered the Scriptures, their tongue was the pen of a ready writer, whose Divine words they were empowered to communicate. He was not commissioned to reveal a new Word, but to make the former Word, the everlasting Gospel, bright and clear. And first of all it was made bright and clear to him. He but expressed in his own language, according to the best of his ability, the wonderful truths which he saw. It is important to remember that the highest claim that is made by Swedenborg, or can be rightly made by any one on his behalf, is that he was a truly enlightened expositor of Scripture, and was therefore the herald of a new dispensation of Christianity.

The lecture on the Sacred Scriptures is a very interesting exposition of the subject:

The life and power of Divinity itself are in the Scriptures, though outwardly they are adapted to the lowest human intelligence. Hence they have ever been full of peace and comfort to all classes of people-to children and old men-to the simple in their simplicity, and to the wise in their wisdom. Those who have read them lovingly and receptively have been conscious of a peculiar influence which no mere verbal expressions were sufficient to account for. There is something in the Psalms of David which could not be supplied by a thousand Homers. The lives of Moses and Joshua could not be replaced by the glory, infinitely multiplied, of Socrates and Alexander. In short, there is no comparison between the essential quality of the Holy Word and that of all other writings.

The intrinsic and distinctive quality of Scripture is the only real proof of its Divinity. No acuteness of textual criticism can make or unmake a sincere belief in the Word of God. There is no historical evidence outside of its own statements which goes to show that the Bible was written by Divine Inspiration. We do not know of witnesses that stood by when Isaiah penned his majestic prophecies, or Jeremiah his tearful lamentations, or John, in the isle of Patmos, his visions of things to come. But if these writings possess an interior power which is all their own, if they seem to increase in beauty and significance the longer and more attentively we study them—if, especially, they can be shown to contain profound depths of wisdom which appear

actually exhaustless-what need of any further testimony? Indeed the Bible must prove itself true to the minds of men by their observation and experience of its contents, if it is really proved true at all.

Speaking of the correspondence between natural and spiritual things, by which the spiritual sense of the Word is educed, the author says:

Nature is a manifestation of something more than dead matter: it is filled and permeated with spiritual life. Every species of animals, plants, or minerals is different from every other because the life within is different. There is no outward object on which our eyes can rest which is not the connate expression of some indwelling spiritual essence. Man is the universe in miniature. All other created things have relation to, and centre in, him. They exist for his mind as well as for his body. They are capable of ministering to his sentiments and emotions as well as to his physical necessities. The world around him is wondrously responsive to the world within him. The reason is, because all the varied objects of nature are but the embodied forms and visible images of his own thoughts and feelings. There is nothing in the whole material creation which has not a distinctive spiritual meaning.

Gleanings.

THE RELIGION OF THE NEGRO.-The religion of the negro is generally considered as a peculiar crude form of polytheism and marked with the special name of fetishism. A closer inspection of it, however, shows clearly that, apart from certain extravagant and fantastic features which spring from the character of the negro and influence all his doings, his religion, as compared with those of other uncivilized people, is neither very peculiar nor exceptionally rude. There is ample evidence to show that the same tribes who are represented as fetish-worshippers, believe either in gods or in a supreme good God, the Creator of the world. Their belief in a supreme God is by no means without influence on the negroes. Often when in deep distress they say to themselves, "God is the old One, He is the greatest; He sees me, I am in His hand." A negro, who was himself a fetish priest, said, "Do we not see daily the grass, the corn, and the trees grow by the rain and the sunshine which He sends? How should He not be the Creator?" The clouds are His veil; the stars, the jewels on His face. His children are the Wong, the spirits which fill the air and execute His commands on earth. These Wongs step in everywhere where the distance between the human and the Divine has become too wide, and where something intermediate, or certain mediators, are wanted to fill up the gap which man has created for himself. God is invisible, and He never sleeps. He hears all that is said, but He can reach those only who draw near to Him. Good people will see Him after death, bad people go into fire.-MAX MÜLLER.

Religion teaches what we are to believe and what we are to do, and there never will be a better director than the Gospel. We should serve God like slaves, did we imagine we sinned in everything we do. The yoke of the Lord is the lightest and sweetest of all yokes. "Love God," said St. Austin, "and do what you will;" for then you will do nothing but what is agreeable to Him; and you will act with regard to Him, as a child does to a father he loves.

GANGANELLI, POPE CLEMENT XIV.

Miscellaneous.

THE FUTURE OF JUDAISM.

THE FREE CHURCH PRESBYTERY OF
EDINBURGH AND THE ROBERTSON
SMITH CASE.

strides towards the picturesque and the impressive, the prayers are shortened The Jewish Chronicle, a weekly paper and shortening, and a further element published by the advocates of the pro- of stability in the maintenance of our gressive school of Judaism, has discussed time-hallowed tenets is provided by the the subject we have indicated in a series substitution of exegetical and educaof editorials. The writer is bold and tional discourses for the blind and outspoken, and very unhesitatingly implicit belief in the sanctity of prayers, dismisses to the oblivion of the past irreverently mumbled over and rarely a large amount of the ceremonies of understood, which was so characteristic ancient Judaism. "We have simply,' of former periods in our Synagogal he says, "to brush away or adapt, in history." the light of our own common sense, a mass of eccentric accretions which have fastened on our faith in ages of ignorance and superstition, and which have been reverently maintained by those whose orthodoxy has led them to believe that they formed part of the original structure. We have merely to discriminate between the evanescent ceremonial of human origin and the immortal truths of revealed religion and morality; we have, in short, to go back to the fountain-head of our faith, and rearrange our symbols according to the exigencies of the times and the unperverted and enlightened traditions of our greatest sages. This is the work which is before us before we can rejoice in the future which is in store for us-a future the theological splendour of which must transcend anything which has been prophesied for us politically as a nation."

This troublesome case, which was supposed to be settled by the recent action of the highest authority of the Church, has again arisen to disturb the quiet of Rev. Doctors and assembled Presbyteries. Since the close of the General Assembly another article by Professor Smith has appeared in the eleventh volume of the Encyclopædia Britannica," on the "Hebrew Language and Literature." The conclusions of this article, it is contended, are false in themselves, identical with the most recent and destructive criticism, and contrary to and inconsistent with the doctrinal confessions and testimony of the Free Church concerning Holy ScripIn the estimation of this writer the ture, and more especially concerning the tendencies of the Jewish communities truth, authority, and inspiration of of the present day are favourable to this Holy Scripture. The subject is again, hope."If," he writes, "the history therefore, before the Church courts. of the last forty years of this somewhat special meeting of the Free Presbytery lethargic community be carefully sur- of Edinburgh has been called to consider veyed it will be seen that real changes a number of motions on the case, and have been effected-changes which are after a sitting of nearly six hours, ended almost phenomenally and incredibly by adopting a motion proposed by Sir striking in their boldness and complete- Henry Moncreiff which resolved to ness. Forty years ago,' said the Rev. memorialize the Commission of the Professor Marks on a recent occasion, General Assembly on the subject; and 'so many abuses had crept into the in doing so, the Presbytery represents Synagogue service; the ladies' gallery to the Commission the importance of was empty, the choir was unknown, the pulpit was silent, and the Synagogue might have been called a house of brawling instead of a house of prayer.' In the year 1880 our services are orderly and progressing with rapid

...

A

taking that article into consideration so far as to adopt steps to meet the disturbance and anxiety produced by it, and to vindicate Scriptural principles. In the discussion of the several resolutions proposed was some remarkably

scheme will give £66,307 to Foreign Missions, £35,500 to the Theological Institutions, £39,000 to Connexional Schools, £26,000 to Home Missions, £57,855 to extension purposes in Great Britain, £35,000 to Sunday and middleclass schools, £36,000 for benevolent purposes, £3000 for temperance pur poses, and £3000 for Temperance and Contagious Diseases Acts Committees. The balance will provide for expenses. The amount already promised is nearly £284,000.

plain speaking. Mr. Whyte, speaking for deficiency of income. The modified of the motion which was in the end adopted, said, "Did they not see the snake in the grass? They could not fail to see it, because the fact was, there was more snake than grass in Sir Henry's motion. Mr. Balfour's diplomatic motion had to be withdrawn, partly because there was too much grass and too little snake for one wing of his followers; but in Sir Henry's guileless motion, the venomous thing stared them boldly in the face. Doctrine of Inspiration and otherwise.' He warned them that Sir Henry would go on dragging inspiration into such cases till he got more of that perilous question on his hands than he or any other members were ready to deal with."

This "perilous question" of inspiration waits solution, and will not be put on one side. These discussions necessitate its deeper investigation. What is the true nature of Holy Scripture, and in what sense is it "the Word of God"? These controversies are compelling attention to the subject, and how ever disturbing and painful, their end can scarcely fail to be profitable to the Church.

METHODISM.

Notwithstanding the vigour, enthusiasm, and liberality of the several Wesleyan communities their members are not apparently on the increase. The following are the reports of two of the largest and most influential of these bodies:

Wesleyan.--At the Wesleyan Conference held this year at the City Road Chapel, London, the returns of membership presented show a decrease, the total being 376,678, against 377,612 last year. The largest decrease will be reported in the Cornwall district, whilst the Newcastle district will report the largest increase, 316. There are 100 candidates for the ministry. The Thanksgiving Fund Committee, in the belief that the total amount of the fund will reach 300,000 guineas, will recommend the grant of £1000 in aid of the Welsh Chapel in London, £5000 to the Connexional Sunday-School Union towards providing permanent premises, and £5500 to the Home Mission Fund. Supplementary grants will be made to free other funds from debt, and provide

Primitive Methodist.-The statistics presented by the General Committee secretary unfortunately show a decrease of 101 members for the year. This may be partly accounted for by the immense number of removals that have taken place owing to the slackness of trade, amounting in very many circuits to 20 per cent. of the entire membership. The numbers stand thus: Members, 174,469; ministers, 1041, showing an increase of 3; local preachers, 14,244; class leaders, 10,220; chapels, 4072; other places of worship, 1846.

THE PULPIT IN FRANCE.

66

But

A correspondent sends us Galignani's Messenger of June 28, from which we give the following extract from a sermon by Rev. E. Bersier, in which he spoke strongly against the writers of the modern naturalistic school. "These writers," he said, assume that 'as long as man is a being finite and limited, he must do evil and suffer.' As well might it be said, thus contrasting the finite with the Infinite, who is all-wise and all-good-that falsehood is merely a lower degree of truth, and hatred a few shades removed from love. here was not merely a difference of degrees, but direct opposites in kind. After showing the fallacy of the argument that there are two eternal principles of good and evil, and that it is a mere accident whether the one or the other shapes our lives, he concluded by demonstrating the truth that man was created with the possibility of doing wrong in order that he might be a free agent, choosing his own path, and yielding his Maker willing and intelligent obedient service. Thus would the spiritual govern and sanctify the natural, and evil be utterly subdued."

GENERAL CONVENTION OF THE NEW

CHURCH IN AMERICA.

The New Jerusalem Messenger of June 30th is largely occupied with a descriptive account of the recent session of this Convention. From this report we give

the following particulars :

"The General Convention held its sixtieth annual session at Portland on the 18th to the 21st inst., as had been duly announced.

missionary work with good results. The President visited the Church in England as the messenger of the Convention. He also met with the people of the New Church in Paris, who were greatly encouraged thereby. The spiritual good that results from the annual meeting of the Convention can hardly be over-estimated. Mr. Iungerich and the American Tract Society have continued their work of circulating the writings of Swedenborg to the clergy. The Tract Society has published 5000 copies each of nine sermons recently preached by the Rev. Mr. Giles in Philadelphia, and they have been widely circulated in

demand for good ministers, and it ought to be one of the principal uses of the Church to thoroughly educate the right kind of men for the uses of the ministerial office."

"The attendance was comparatively small, as had been anticipated. There were present twenty-four ministers and fifty-one lay delegates, which was about half the number usually present at these that city. There is an ever-increasing gatherings. There was, however, a large local attendance, which gave an interested audience to all the proceedings. As at the recent meeting in Philadelphia, so here the ladies constituted a very considerable portion of the attentive listeners. All the meetings were exceptionally pleasant. The weather was beautiful, and there was nothing to interrupt the constant presence of all the delegates. As the time was limited -being one day shorter than usual-the Convention attended strictly to its business, and accomplished the work it set forth to do."

The Church in the United Kingdom was last year represented in the Convention by Rev. J. F. Potts and Mr. Willson. This year, although no formal appointment was made, the Church was represented by the presence of Mr. Broadfield, one of the most active and useful members of the General Conference. Mr. Broadfield received a cordial and hearty welcome, and was invited to take a seat in the Convention and to participate in its deliberations. In introducing and supporting this resolution much kindly feeling was expressed by several members of the Convention, particularly by those who have been present at meetings of the General Conference.

The following brief statement is given of the report of the President, Rev. Chauncey Giles: "The work of the Church has gone on as usual, with few incidents of particular interest to report. The progress of a true Church is a growth, and thus must largely be imperceptible. One minister has been removed to the spiritual world, and four have been ordained.

Reports of officers and institutions followed the report of the president. The Board of Missions reported that "the missionary work is in a very satisfactory condition. More has been done, and a larger amount of money received, than usual." Interesting supplementary reports were presented by several of the ministers who had taken an active part in the missionary work of the Church. In the discussion which subsequently took place on this report most interesting statements were made respecting the missionary work in the South. Mr. Brickman had organized the Savannah Society two years ago. The members were poor, those who had money having lost it. They were taking steps to obtain a lot on which to erect a church. Speaking of the South, Mr. Brickman said they had been much misunderstood by those in the New Church. He had never known more genial, warm-hearted, and earnest people in his life than our Southern brethren. In politics they were conservative, and it is exceedingly difficult for them to cut loose from their old ideas. But leave politics out of the question, talk the New Church to them, talk the doctrine of the Lord, and they will wonderfully listen. He had preached where no one ever heard of Swedenborg, frequently travelling away from the railroad by private conveyance. Mr. Brickman described how eagerly they would question him after the lecture, often detaining him until a late hour of the night.