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gave two lectures in a large room hired for the occasion. The subject in the afternoon was "The Reality of the Future Life: where do Men live after Death, and how?" In the evening, "The Divine commisson-Go ye out unto all the world and preach the Gospel, and the signs following them that believe." The place not being large enough to hold more than 200 persons, about 100 were unable to gain admission. The door and windows were crowded with anxious listeners, and the people on both occasions paid the most earnest attention to the ideas and striking illus. trations of the speaker, who presented his arguments in such a manner that the most uneducated could not fail to understand the great truths which were advanced. A very favourable impression was made on the minds of many persons, who expressed the hope that our friend Mr. Tall would soon visit us again. Yours truly,

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Dear Sir,-In the report of the meeting to support the Students and Ministers' Aid Fund, which appeared in the April number of the Repository, it was noticed by Dr. Bayley that the fund was at the time aiding four societies, one of the number being Bristol.

It may, perhaps, not be uninteresting to the readers of the Repository, and the friends of the Church, to know that the services of the Rev. Thomas Chalklen, who commenced his ministry here in January, have been highly appreciated. The attendance at the public services has increased, and is much more regular than before his appointment.

Seven new members have joined the society; and a weekly evening meeting is held, for the purpose of reading some portion of the Word or works on the doctrines of the New Church, and for conversation thereon.

Our means and circumstances at present prevent the establishment of a Sunday-school, but hopes are entertained that such a desideratum may not long be deferred. I am, dear Sir, yours truly, C. W. BRAGGE, Sec.

EMBSAY RECITALS. On Sunday, the 29th of March, the Sunday and Day-schools held their

27th anniversary recitals. Twenty girls repeated the Catechism in the afternoon; but in the evening it was found necessary to dispense with the Catechism, in consequence of the many dialogues and pieces to be recited. It was, however, repeated on the subsequent Sunday evening by twenty boys. The recitals were rendered the more agreeably interesting by the choir singing at intervals, in a very efficient manner, a number of select pieces from Handel.

The congregation was in the afternoon numerous, many of whom seemed highly pleased and edified; and in the evening there were many who could not gain admittance, which is usual on these occasions.

Collections were made for the benefit of the schools and library, amounting to upwards of £7.

NORTHAMPTON..

The Rev. W. Woodman preached, in the morning and evening of Sunday, May 10th, 1863, in the New Church Public Room, Corn Exchange, and lectured on the Monday and Tuesday evenings following. Subjects:-Sunday morning's discourse "The features which distinguish the Prophetic Dreams of Scripture from those of an ordinary character, with an explanation of the deep and important spiritual instruction conveyed in the two Dreams of Pharaoh." Evening's discourse "God's Sovereignty over and Property in the Human Soul." Lecture, Monday evening, May 11th-"The Science of Correspondences and Analogies, the Key to the Mysteries of Creation and Revelation." Lecture, Tuesday evening, May 12th-"The Doctrine of a Vicarious Sacrifice nowhere taught in Scripture." On Wednesday evening, May 13th, there was held a public Conversazione "On the General Doctrines of the New Church," with a view to communicate information and explain and remove any difficulties respecting them.

The attendance at each of the above services was very good. On Sunday and Wednesday evenings our room was quite full. Both the friends of the church and strangers seemed greatly pleased, which was manifest from the attention paid to the subjects.

The sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered to about thirty persons after the Sunday evening's dis

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course. Mr. Woodman also baptised The Salamon Family, Cape two infants.

We all feel that this visit has been a time of spiritual blessing, and we flatter ourselves that it was a treat to Mr. Woodman to see our society in such a flourishing position. We can but feel deeply thankful to Mr. Woodman, for he has fought our battles well when we were persecuted on every hand. We trust that this course of lectures will prove of great benefit to the church. We are pleased to be able to report progress. We have recently had several additions to our numbers.

A Sunday-school has been started, with an ample staff of teachers and about forty scholars. A Bible class for adults is held on Thursday evenings. The ladies have also put their hands to the good work by forming a Benevolent Meeting, to help the poor connected with the society.

T. E. M.

Town, per Mr. Trimen, of
London

The Derby Society, per Mr.
Dewsbury

£1 0 0

100

For such charity, and which has been so liberally shewn to our poor operatives, I have, on their behalf, to return sincere thanks. It is also pleasing to announce, that labour has become more plentiful, and it is to be hoped will continue so.—I am, Sir, yours, &c.,

THOS. PEMBERTON, Treasurer.

GERMANY.

LETTER FROM DR. TAFEL.
Tübingen, April 12th, 1863.

To the Editor.

My dear Sir,-As one of the greatest obstacles to the more general reception of truth are the many false reports of writers, who, without any inquiry, repeat only what others have said, we have all reason to expect good results from the

PROPOSED SUPPLEMENTARY PRAYERS TO Monography on Swedenborg and his THE LITURGY.

To the Editor.

Dear Sir, I observed that a request was made by the Bath Society, at the last Conference, that some supplementary prayers should be added to the Liturgy, in order to increase their variety. I have since learned that two societies have adopted the plan of reading occasionally a prayer from the Rev. W. Mason's "Help to Devotion," which has induced me to re-examine this really valuable work, which ought to be in the possession of every New Churchman. I think the idea is sufficiently valuable to deserve remembrance, that societies feeling the deficiency in variety certainly existing in our Liturgy, might supplement their services by prayers from this excellent source.-Yours very truly,

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doctrines, to be published by M. Matter, the celebrated author of so many works which have been well received by the literary world. In compliance with his wishes, I sent him, as a donation, all those of my publications which he did not previously possess, except the Adversaria and the Diarium, which he received from England; and he was so kind as to send me in return two of his latest works. But within these few days, I was so happy as to receive what had been a donation from E. Swedenborg; for in the catalogue of an antiquarian I met lately with some of his Latin originals, which I purchased. Although one of them was very dear, on the receipt of it I was much rejoiced to see on the title page, in his own hand-writing, the words "dono datur" (presented as a gift). It consists of the "Four Leading Doctrines" and the "Continuatio de Ultimo Judicio" (Continuation of the Last Judgment) bound in one volume, and as every one of them appeared without the author's name in 1763. The donation by which I was so providentially refreshed is just 100 years old. The first possessor, too, has written in the preceding blank sheet "Dono auctoris ignoti" (given by the unknown author), "Hard.".. the rest of this is removed,

but afterwards is added-"v: de hoc lib. Tourn: des Sçav. Viv., 1764. Vol. II

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p. 527., fin. et 199;" from which we see that in his great liberality he sent his books gratuitously even to persons who did not know from whence they came, and who, perhaps, had no knowledge of the author.

Divine Providence is always preparing the way for the dissemination of truth, even in regions where the light had hitherto no open access, or but a hidden one. So a Russian Minister had once made the acquaintance of Swedenborg's books at London, and left them after his death, strongly recommending them, especially the Arcana Cælestia, to his children; but he left also a translation of the Sapientia Angelica in the Russian language, and one of his sons commissioned me to offer it to the Swedenborg Society, at London, for publication, in case they would undertake it; but before I can do so, I should require to be informed if there be any hope that such a translation could be imparted and propagated in Russia; as concerning my publications of his works, I experienced quite the contrary, and it will be a question whether we should not wait till religious liberty is openly declared in Russia. Persons of the Greek religion seem, however, to find no difficulty in adopting the moral part of Swedenborg's doctrine, and those essential truths which are explained in our Declaration of 1847, and the additions and explanations of the German General Convention of 1847 to them; for the Russian Minister Plenipotentiary, of whom I spake in my last, wrote me an ingenious letter, stating that he gives his full assent to that Declaration, and believes also that E. Swedenborg was a sublime spirit, and that the moral part of his writings is very good; but he was in mistake to fancy he bad, as it is said in the Prodromus of 1821, an immediate and personal intercourse with God, wherefore Goethe seems to have thought on him when he made the Ghost say to Faust: "Thou art like the spirit whom thou comprehendest, not like me." It is enough that we can "cognoscere causas" without knowing the "causa" (can perceive causes without knowing the cause). I answered to his Excellency, that Swedenborg was so far from believing that he had immediate and personal intercourse with God, that, on the contrary, he showed that after the Word had been written such intercourse is impossible,

being against the invariable laws of the providence of God, and that what is possible now is only a mediate revelation, which was given to him when he read the Word of God, and is essentially a higher degree of illumination, to which also is to be reduced that "dictation" which is spoken of in my Prodromus of 17th December, 1821, from a report of Bogue and Benett, which I quoted.

An immediate and personal call is not to be confounded with a personal intercourse and induction. The Lord spake to Swedenborg only a few words of call and promise, whilst in the Lord's appearing to Paul in the way to Damascus, we find at least question and answer. What was possible at Paul's time, after the Lord's ascension, is also possible now, at the time when the promise of the Lord shall be fulfilled "to make all things new," and to "make a way from Israel to Assyria and to Egypt," or from revelation to reason and science or experience. From the literal sense of the Word of God must be derived the true doctrine, explained and confirmed by the spiritual sense, by sound reason, and by experience, even extended into the other world, and the more so as many parts of the Word of God relate to the other world, and cannot be understood without such experiences in the world of spirits, in heaven, and in hell. Swedenborg, however, did not accept any orders or instructions from spirits or angels concerning religion, but made them the objects of his observations and experi ments; and said especially that no angel wished, and no spirit ventured, to give him any instruction concerning the Word or any doctrine from the Word, but the Lord only did teach him, but mediately through the Word, and illuminated him

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The case was, therefore, quite another than with Faust; and Goethe could not think on Swedenborg when he made the ghost speak to Faust, because Swedenborg had never requested a spirit, and the other world was opened to him without his own doing by the Lord; but Goethe might think on Swedenborg when he made Faust say—

"The world of spirits is not shut,

Thy sense is closed, thy heart is dead;" for Goethe shewed acquaintance with Swedenborg's works, of which he did not speak unfavourably; and Dr. Wolfgang Menzel, at Stuttgart, as I mentioned in a former letter, received, as he

MISCELLANEOUS.

told me, after Goethe's death, a visit of Eckermann, Goethe's friend, who reported to him that, in his last days, Goethe was much occupied with Swedenborg.

That concerning the other world Swedenborg could give more than mere fancies and dreams has been proved by facts, which are proved and testified by many and respectable authorities, that even extreme infidelity or unbelief must confess that it is impossible to reject them.

Amongst these authorities is the testimony of the Queen of Sweden, the intelligent sister of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia; and are, too, the reports of the Ministers resident at Stockholm to their courts; and the Russian Minister Plenipotentiary was a principal actor in those facts, as, in the distress of the widow of the Dutch Minister, he procured her the help of Swedenborg.

As to the "cause," they have no value without the "causa," but are like noughts without units; where is to be recommended the saying of Schelling, the great philosopher, who declared it to be the greatest superstition to speak of causes without having somewhere something infinite and absolute. The existence of God and of His principal proprieties is more certain and more near to us than we are to ourselves; it is this which is given to every one with his self-consciousness by internal intuition, and the contrary bears to the chief absurdity that "ex nihilo aliquid fit;" every existence must therefore have, of necessity, a correspondent cause. And I was so happy as to convince some unbelievers of respectability of this truth-"For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly SEEN, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse." (Rom. i. 20.) "God had revealed them unto us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." (1 Cor. ii. 10.) And the Lord Himself gave us the precious promise—“The Holy Ghost, whom the Father shall send in my name, He shall teach you all things;" (John xiv. 26.) "He will guide you into all truth." (x. 13.)

I took the liberty to send to the Minister two other pamphlets, in which all these things are more fully proved, viz., "Swedenborg and Superstition: an

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Address to Professor D. Schleiden," with the Continuation of 1859; and "The Immortality of the Soul, &c., proved by Revelation, Reason, and Facts from all ages."

The "Concordance of the Spiritual Sense," or Index Biblicus, vol. iii., is now about to leave the press.

I remain, with great esteem, and kindest regards to all brethren and friends, most affectionately yours,

EMANUEL TAFEL.

It is practice alone that confirms our thoughts, and leads them higher and higher step by step; for thoughts without their application in practice, are like the threads that form the warp in the web of life, useless for any purpose by themselves, but as soon as practice weaves the woof among them, the web at once becomes substantial and useful.

Obituary.

DEATH OF THE REV. W. MASON.

We have only time simply to announce the decease of this venerable minister, which we do in the words of his successor in office:

Rev. W. Bruce.

Derby, May 19th, 1863.

My dear Sir,-Will you please announce the departure into the spiritual world of the Rev. William Mason, which occurred this morning, at twenty minutes past four o'clock? Mr. Mason had long been suffering from angina pectoris, which assumed an acute form on the 3rd inst.; and since then our venerated friend has been slowly dying. His sufferings superinduced upon him a state of extreme simplicity, humility, and patience most cheering to the many friends who visited him during the last fortnight. He was sensible to the last, and was filled with consolation and hope by the contemplation of his journey to that state where "the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest."

I shall, of course, preach his funeral sermon at Derby, and I shall beg your insertion of it in the Intellectual Repository for July.-Yours very truly,

JOHN HYDE.

No cards will be sent. To send to all his friends would be impossible, to neglect any would be invidious.

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At Newcastle-on-Tyne, on the 18th February, Edward Cartmell, aged 63 years. Our departed friend was the founder, and several years leader, of the Carlisle Society, now under the care of the Rev. Mr. Beverley. About the year 1844 Mr. Cartmell went to America, at which time he was an infidel. The Divine Providence and Love forsook him not on that account. He was induced by a New Churchman in Philadelphia to give some attention to the Heavenly Doctrines, which resulted in their warm reception. On his return to England he was impressed that "a church was to be raised in Carlisle," where most of his friends resided. About six years ago, he came on a special visit to Newcastle to consult the writer "what was to be done, for he had been led into the idea that a society was to be formed in Carlisle." The address of Mr. A. Pixton, of Carlisle, was given him, and he went home with joy. Mr. Pixton and he went to work, and in a short time a society of nearly thirty members cheered them on. Mr. Cartmell laboured with a loving heart in the cause, and only gradually relinquished when compelled by declining health. Indeed, he was very frail from the beginning. His youngest daughter's departure obliged him, to remove to an elder one, who lived in Newcastle. Seeing his frail and poor condition, the writer took the liberty of asking aid for him through this magazine, and with the kind assistance of Mr. Willson, of Birmingham, nearly £6. came in from our benevolent friends in all parts of the kingdom. The heart of the good old man overflowed with gratitude. He received a weekly sum from this, and when he departed sufficient remained to pay all funeral expenses; and his "frail tabernacle," as he called it, was respectably interred. 'He longed for his removal when the Lord should see fit, as he was not able to be useful at all to any one here." He has gone to be

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useful elsewhere-or, possibly, he may even be more useful to us here than ever. His acquaintance with the Divine Word, and fine perception of its spiritual sense; his knowledge of the New Church Writings, strong conviction of their practical teaching and destined use to the world; his constant dwelling on these, in spreading them amongst men, and developing the angelic life within him. self-are sufficient to convince us that he had attained the stature and "measure of a man that is of the angel."

R. C.

Departed this life, April 15th, 1863, in the 66th year of her age, Mrs. Ann Taylor, widow of the late James Taylor, Esq, of Leeds, Yorkshire. By her removal to the spiritual world the Jersey Society has lost a very intelligent, zealous, and affectionate member.

Departed this life, on the 16th May, 1863, from pulmonary consumption, at 11, Chandos-street, London, Mr. Thomas Ware Shaw, aged 47. Mr. Shaw had been for some years past the subject of mental infirmity, resulting from a subtle disease of the brain, which rendered him incapable of taking any active part in the affairs of life; in addition, a diseased state of the lungs latterly impaired his physical powers, and has now caused the termination of his earthly career. He was patient and resigned during his last illness, and derived much satisfaction from the Lord's Prayer, and from portions of the Psalms, which were daily read to him. He was naturally of a thoughtful and religious turn of mind; and having, at the age of twelve years, been led to admire the doctrines taught by Emanuel Swedenborg, he adopted them, and to the end of his life held them in high estimation.

CAVE & SEVER, Printers by Steam Power, Hunt's Bank, Manchester.

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