rection from the dead." So that the march of intellect has truly come upon us, and in some respects unawares.

So far, however, from the sacred languages being about to be consigned to a ready prepared grave, that one might with truth exclaim, in the language of the elegy, but with a negative emphasis,

"Slow through the Church-way path we see them borne."

So far, again, from a growing neglect of ancient literature being an argument for the supériority of any age, that such neglect (if it were not imaginary) would argue a progression the very reverse of that which had its origin in the revival of letters; that is, of the very languages, whose funeral obsequies (if we are to believe O. P.) are signalizing the onward march of rationality and common sense'; as an effect its cause.

Imagine the Babel-like confusion—the tenfold religious discord that must arise, if, wanting the standard and sterling original texts as a last appeal against voluntary corruption, each of England's hundred sects were to sport its own version (alias perversion) of the Bible! Almost would one, in anticipating the din and darkness that in such a case must overtake the earth, take his last leave of a never-dying language, in the passionate exclamation, róτɛ μoɩ xávoɩ εvρɛïú x0wv!* Or otherwise," asylum sad"-he might be driven, in despair, to take refuge "from the strife of tongues," in the silence of a sepulchre, and (Cleomedes-like) entrench him there!

Seems it not strange that New-Church men should appear to think so meanly of the Sacred Scripture, which E. S. declares to be "holy and inspired in every syllable," as to suppose it can, by any human cunning or wisdom, become transfused in all its virtue and fulness into other tongues! forgetting the obvious fact (a fact obvious to every scholar of reflection) that the very idioms and expressions of the original tongues, were made or else overruled for the purpose of affording a basis for infinite ideas?

Either O. P.'s hypothesis, that "ideas are the basis of language," gave rise to his error in point of fact and of abstract reasoning; or else his tacit assumption that language never is permanent, caused him to overlook a leading truth of the New Church philosophy; viz. that dead and permanent are in some respects the same thing; consequently that whereas living languages are subject to a continual flux and change, both as to expressions and meanings, the dead languages in question, being as it were embalmed in the odour of the Word's

*Earth wide ope her jaws and engulph me. -(Homer's Iliad 4, 182.)

divine sanctity, can never perish; while, being deprived by death of their mutability, they are in a manner stereotyped for ever!

How far this last consideration, if more strictly extended to the written text of the Word, may seem to favour O. P.'s conclusion, that "the continent of all forms is material," I care not, so it be agreeable to the truth; albeit in Swedenborg's Treatise on Heaven and Hell, find mention of writings in the spiritual world, and of which some are permanent (n. 262).

With respect to Observer, it is not so clear that he sanctions, although far from reprobating, the assumption of the Scriptures being fully translatable; only he seems to agree with O. P. in considering even the sacred languages as non-permanent. For, in stating his belief that when they (the doctrines of the Word) are efficiently translated into any other language, that language will do as well as Hebrew or Greek, &c." (p. 307;) there is, at least, an appearance of reserve, if not downright irony: however, this I had not observed, when struck with the boldness (not to say profanity) of the sentiment. I was thence led to comment, as above, on what appears to me an error of the first magnitude; as also on the opposite truth, which Observer had either left untouched, or else had left, (as, indeed, must ever be the case with so comprehensive a subject) for the reflecting reader to more fully confirm and elucidate.

I cannot do better than adopt the expressions with which Observer concludes his remarks, and subscribe myself, yours, &c.,

PANIOTA.

REVIEWS.

The Articles "Swedenborg" and "Swedenborgians," in the Penny Cyclopædia.

THE Penny Cyclopædia, it is generally known, is the production of first rate writers, and is, consequently, an acknowledged authority, and is circulated wherever the English language is known; that is, to every quarter of the globe, and to men of every shade of opinion in philosophy and religion. It is then with unfeigned pleasure we inform our readers, that the part of this work for May contains a much fuller and more correct account of Swedenborg and his works, and also of the Swedenborgians, than has hitherto appeared in any periodical unconnected with the New Church.

The account of SWEDENBORG begins by mentioning his parentage

and the care with which his education was conducted: it describes his various voyages and travels in pursuit of information, the objects of his studies, his employments in the royal service, and his numerous literary and scientific publications. Then follows, "a brief review of Swedenborg's scientific progress, with particular reference to method, principles, and doctrines," including a somewhat lengthened account of the subjects discussed in the Regnum Animale. The notice of his philosophical works is thus concluded :

On the whole, we may admit these works to be a grand consolidation of human knowledge;—an attempt to combine and re-organize the opinions of all the schools of medicine since the days of Hippocrates. The doctrines of the fluidists, of the mechanical and chemical physicians, and of the vitalists and solidists, as well as the methods of the dogmatists and empirics, and even the miscellaneous novelties of the present day, have each a portion and a place in the catholic system of Swedenborg. His works, however, are a dead letter to the medical profession, or known only to its erudite members through the ignorant misstatements of Haller.

Swedenborg is thus shewn to be a scientific character of the first rank, and the account, we should hope, is sufficiently copious, occupying about as much as ten of these pages, to lead inquirers to desire an acquaintance with the works of so gifted a man, who is nevertheless so little known.

Having disposed of Swedenborg as a philosopher, it turns to the other picture and regards him in his more interesting and important character of a theologian. His miraculous call to the holy office is explicitly stated; and it is maintained that such a statement, however startling, cannot be fairly objected to by those who admit the inspiration of the prophets, inasmuch as it is corroborated by abundance of unquestionable evidence.

His abandonment of the pursuit of natural science, and his more diligent application to, the study of the sacred Scriptures, are alluded to; also, his writing and publishing his theological works in different countries. Mention is made of the persecution raised agaist him, as well as of the spiritual intercourse he enjoyed, and of the tranquillity of his closing scene.

There is a complete list of his theological works, which are stated to be all translated into English from the Latin, in which they were originally published, and some of them to have passed through several editions in England and in the United States.

An outline is given of his views respecting heaven and hell, the last judgment, and the Word of God, and the names of the books that have an internal sense; also, "the particulars of faith on man's part.” Added to his Rules of Life, we have the testimony of Count Hopken, N. S. NO. 33.-VOL. 3.

X X

who was intimate with him forty-two years, to his uniformly virtuous character.

The SWEDENBORGIANS are described as

The people who believe in the mission of Emanuel Swedenborg to promulgate the doctrines of the New Church, signified by the New Jerusalem in the Apocalypse, and are said to consist of

Two portions, one of which forms the denomination, known as such to the world, while the other portion remains without visible separation from the Established Church. It is stated that in this country there are between forty and fifty societies, which

Send delegates to an annual Conference, which [now] publishes the Intellectual Repository, a periodical of thirty years standing, devoted to the cause.

It briefly mentions the spread of the doctrines in the United States, France, Germany, and Sweden.

Of the United States it says, there are,

Three distinct annual Conventions, of which that for the Eastern States, meets at Boston; that for the Southern, at Philadelphia; and that for the Western, at Cincinnati; and they publish four different Swedenborgian periodicals.

This statement does not convey quite a correct idea; it is the "General Convention," which has been established many years, that meets at Boston; while the others are but of recent date, and of less extensive influence. The account continues,

There is more than a suspicion that the initiators of the new Oxford theology (the editor of Fronde's Remains, and others) were acquainted with the early readers of Swedenborg; and that hence originally came their repudiation of the fundamental Protestant doctrine of justification by faith alone.

It alludes to the fact, that many members, and even clergymen, of the Church of England, are receivers of the doctrines, and that the first translators of Swedenborg's larger works were three of the established clergy. The principal works in recommendation and in defence of the doctrines are mentioned; also the Printing Society, and the various Missionary and Tract societies; also the Liturgies of the United States and of this country. From the latter are given, at full length, the Twelve Articles of Faith, with which the account concludes.

Upon the whole, we have been extremely gratified at finding such a document in such a publication. As Swedenborg's doctrines are now brought under discussion much oftener than formerly, here is an easily accessible means for those who are ignorant respecting them to obtain information. His character as a philosopher fortunately occupies a prominent place, and there is, therefore, greater reason to hope that it will produce so favourable an impression as will form a suitable preparation for a candid examination of his theological opinions. We much question whether the distribution of a hundred thousand

tracts would have been equally serviceable in disseminating a knowledge of the doctrines of the New Church.

The London Medical Gazette, August 5, 1842, "Swedenborg on the Intestines." Longman and Co., Paternoster Row.

A GROWING interest is felt in the New Church respecting those great works in which Swedenborg presented to the world the results of the education he passed through, preliminary to his spiritual mission. Those works are designed to regenerate science, and make it capable of being connected with enlightened theology; nor is the day far disstant when they will enter the field, and go forth to conquer and to We venture to predict, that in no long time, they will be current in our schools of medicine, as the language of the lecture room, and the daily comment from the professor's chair.

save.

With this conviction, we were not sorry to see a beginning made in such a respectable channel as the London Medical Gazette: one of the late numbers of which contains a translation of Swedenborg's Chapter on the Intestines, taken from the Regnum Animale. The Gazette has done itself honour by the insertion. The wonderful organic laws discovered by Swedenborg are likely, then, to come, at last, before the legitimate tribunal-before the bar of the medical profession! Whatever, at first, may be the effect of prejudice in particular quarters, and on small-witted philosophers, who mistake their own logic for the laws of nature, and new terms for new principles, we shall still have no fears for the final result: for there is much that is truly excellent in the literature, and much that is enlightened in the tendency, of modern medical science.

The Entranced Female; or, the Remarkable Disclosures of a Lady concerning another World. By ROBERT YOUNG. Pp. 36.

If we may judge from the avidity with which this little work has been received, it having passed through twenty-four editions in a few months, there seems to be an increasing disposition to believe in the reality and proximity of the spiritual world. The contents are truly remarkable, and, as might be expected, somewhat vague, partaking as they do of the quality of the narrator's mind; yet they are stated to have had the happy effect of awakening many persons to a sense of religion. The author,-a minister, we believe, in the Methodist connection, aware that there is a strong prejudice against such disclosures, remarks