its way. His voice shall be heard above the tumult, and, confidingly obeyed, shall lead it safely to the haven of success. Then shall the nations flock around its peaceful standard, to be enriched with its immortal treasures, and bless the saving mercy and loving-kindness of their God.

But so long as men will not pursue the only way of social as well as of individual regeneration-that of keeping the commandments, the Lord's unspeakable love, His desire to save them from their sins and misery, makes use of their disorders and follies to shorten the days of iniquity; otherwise no flesh could be saved. He permits the fermentations of evil passions to extend, that the vices and corruptions of the depraved hearts of men may no longer continue, in their fatal security, to poison the world. It is the judgment of truth, working among the evils, that is bringing up every lurking abomination to the surface, calling them forth like beasts of prey from their dens, that they may see and worry and destroy one another, that so a preparation may be made for the introduction of righteous and orderly principles, that true spiritual religion may find admission, send forth its living and peaceful influences, and subdue all to its heavenly power.

But, notwithstanding this course which the divine Providence is taking to work out the purposes of divine mercy, let it not be imagined that the fermentations, contests, and mutual destructions of evil principles can give birth to any of the good which is to follow. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. It is the diffusion and insemination of truth and good from the Lord,-the reception of these into the ground as it becomes prepared,-the quiet but resistless progress of right principles-principles of sound justice, heartfelt charity, and sincere, spiritual piety; it is this that is producing all the real improvements and renovations that are taking place. This is the Lord's own work, the work of mercy in which he delights.

We see many of the elements of a new and felicitous state of society shewing themselves and multiplying, producing important reformations. Attention to the comforts and well-being of others is a duty more widely acknowledged and practised. Sobriety and intelligence are making their way among the industrious classes, and many indications of better and happier times approaching for the human race are to be discovered, not as the fruits of disturbance and disorder, yet growing up and propagating, simultaneously with these,

and ready to take possession as these accomplish their awful work of preparation.

By the descent of spiritual truth, effected by the opening of the interiors of the Word, and taught in the doctrines of the New Church, by their open reception and promulgation, and all their direct influence, and also by their unobserved infusion into thinking minds, and the indirect results of their announcement, the Lord is bringing his salvation near to men-to their very doors; that when the demons of disorder now fearfully working shall retire, it may enter in and bless them,-bless them with the true principles of moral and spiritual reformation.

It is because such is the Lord's purpose, and such the way he operates for its accomplishment, that we view simultaneously the dispensation of spiritual truth and the spread of materialism, the establishing of spiritual worship and the prevalence of irreligion, the dissemination of the sacred Scriptures and the spread of infidelity, the publication and entertainment of sentiments of peace and good-will, and the outbursts of diabolical wars.

While, then, we lament the disturbances that agitate the world, and take consolation from the revelations of Gospel truth that shew the over-ruling hand of mercy, bringing on the day of salvation, let it be the sincere and ardent desire of our souls to faithfully perform our portion of the great work we see going on; for, whatever is doing or shall be done, will be effected by human instrumentality. All that the power of goodness and wisdom from heaven shall achieve in establishing its kingdom on earth, and all that the dark and evil influences of hell can work to oppose or hinder, will be all done in the hearts and minds of men, and by their activities.

Let us remember this and see to our doings, and if we would hasten the downfall of all iniquities, and the reign of righteousness, let the laws of righteousness guide us; let their injunctions actuate us; let us put our hand upon the mouth of our self-love, while we listen to wisdom's voice. Amidst all the loud clamour for rights and privileges that may assail our ears, let the still small voice of divine truth, reminding us of our duties, and saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it," be heard, for it can only be in following its direction that we can coöperate with the Lord, and facilitate the blessedness we would see enjoyed. T. C.

REVIEWS.

LETTERS TO A MAN OF THE WORLD DISPOSED TO BELIEVE. By J. E. LE BOYS DES GUAYS. Translated from the French by JOHN MURDOCK. A new edition, revised and corrected by GEORGE BUSH. New York: ALLEN. London: HODSON, and NEWBERY. Manchester: KENWORTHY. pp. 259.

WE are delighted to see this beautiful little work in English. We hail its appearance on account of its intrinsic and inestimable value to every seriously-disposed mind anxiously inquiring after the truth. As a medium of conveying truth on the most important subjects to those who are in the regions of doubt, scepticism, and obscurity, it is truly invaluable. The author is by no means a merely speculative writer; he has himself passed through the wilderness of doubt and obscurity, and has arrived at the promised land of light and peace. From his own experience, therefore, he writes, and takes his reader by the hand and gently leads him, like a guardian angel, into light, satisfaction, and peace; his doubts are gradually solved and removed, and by the most conclusive reasoning the truth, on the most important and recondite subjects, is brought home to his delighted mind. Professor Bush has revised and re-edited the work, and it comes, therefore, with his earnest recommendation to the reader. We will here adduce the Preface by Mr. Bush:

"The first edition of this work having been exhausted some months since, it has been deemed desirable to issue it in a new and improved form. With this view it has been subjected to a rigid revisal, and now makes its appearance in a style of execution in some degree worthy of its invaluable contents. It would not be easy to point to any single work illustrative of the conjoint philosophy and theology of Swedenborg, more happily adapted to its end. Taking the disturbed but meditative sceptic in the crisis of his mental conflicts, he leads him gently onward, from certain rudimentary principles of belief, through a series of well compacted and consecutive reasonings, to the grand conclusions embodied in the faith of the New Church. The evolution of the argument is so skilfully conducted· one step of the demonstration rises so naturally from another-every difficulty proposed is so luminously cleared up-that admission after admission is forced from the doubter, till at length the momentous result is seen to be inevitable- -man is immortal; there is a heaven and a hell; he lives as perfect a man after death as before; he dwells in a spiritual body, in a spiritual world; that world is replete with objective scenery suited to the senses which take cognizance of it; his destiny there is the necessary product of his life and character here; and every conclusion reached on the subject by the fairest reason, goes to confirm the truth of Revelation.

"Considering the profound and abstruse nature of the subjects treated, the work

will be seen to be extremely felicitous in the clearness of its expositions, and a certain attractive simplicity in the style relieves the mind from that latent oppression which it sometimes experiences under the continuous influx of new ideas.

"It will be seen, in the concluding letter, that a second series is promised, relating mainly to the principles on which the inspired Word is constructed, and by which it is to be interpreted. We are happy to announce, that in the present edition of the work, this series of Letters, as far as published, has been added to the preceding. This may perhaps enhance somewhat the price of the volume, but no reader of the first we presume would willingly dispense with the second. The whole will be found to contain a most able and beautiful exposé of the leading disclosures of Swedenborg, relative to the philosophy of the universe and the constitution of the Divine Word. "G. B. "New York, April 1, 1848."

We could say much from the pleasure we have had in reading this little work; it has brought the great truths of the spiritual state home to our perceptions and feelings in a most powerful manner. We most cordially recommend it to our readers.

RISING IN THE WORLD. By T. S. ARTHUR. London: J. S. HODSON, Clifford's Inn Passage, Fleet-street. 32mo., pp. 182.

In our number for July, 1847, we noticed Mr. Arthur's publication called The Maiden, and we stated that we should look forward with pleasure to the appearance of the other little volumes, entitled The Wife and The Mother, which were promised by the author in his preface to succeed The Maiden. These works having appeared in due course (consisting respectively of 147 and 130 pages), have not disappointed our expectations. They are both deserving of our hearty commendation. The characters of wives and mothers of an opposite description are forcibly depicted, and the delineation is well calculated to inspire unmarried females with an earnest desire that, by the blessing of Providence, should they be called to change their condition, and become wives and mothers, they may be guarded from the errors that mark the conduct of the thoughtless and unprincipled, and led to realize the true blessings which ever attend the path of the good wife and mother, when united with an affectionate husband and wise father, such as was the husband of Mrs. Hartley, the true wife and mother described in the works entitled The Wife and The Mother, and the delightful Anna Lee in The Maiden.

The time was when works of fiction were regarded by decidedly religious characters almost with horror. But it was perceived that fiction, being a powerful mode of conveying mental poison, might also be

made a vehicle, by judicious management, to convey the wholesome food of piety and morality. Unfortunately, however, religious novels so frequently exhibited the morbid influences of wrong religious principles, and thence defective feelings, in the writers, that a general repugnance arose to such productions, except in sectarian quarters, and in respect to works suited to sectarian purposes. The consequence has been, that although works of fiction have greatly advanced in the important qualities of general knowledge, propriety of language, and, generally, moral tendency, the evidences that man, when in order, is a religious as well as a moral being, have been unnaturally suppressed in many or most instances.

But in writings like those of Mr. Arthur, we have not only the external qualities exhibited by the clever writer and close observer of men and manners, but we have also laid open the inmost ground of character, the workings of the genuine principles of religion and morality going wisely into operation in the varied circumstances of life, teaching, in the way of example, how right principles lead to the avoiding of many of life's sorest ills and saddest mischances, and to the realization of the largest portion of its true, because innocent and blameless joys. The nobleness of right principles in uniform action, and yielding happy results, is seen in a more striking point of view from being ingeniously placed in contrast with principles and results of an opposite description. The skill is not small, nor the merit of it slight, which carefully brings out these mental and moral pictures, so as to give them the living hues and modest truthfulness of nature and reality. Such, in fact, are the skill and merit of Mr. Arthur.

We remarked that productions of the imagination of a genuine and natural character are useful, as affording instruction in the form of example; for we have long considered it a gracious provision of Divine Mercy, that in the existing dearth of good example in actual life, great skill has been vouchsafed to writers of fiction to delineate beautiful moral pictures, to engage the moral approbation and love, we might say, of the honourable men, and lovely because noble-minded women, presented to us by competent writers. It is impossible to over-estimate the practical worth of the remains which are probably insinuated into the minds of ingenuous young people, while their sympathetic affections are drawn forth to love the ideally good, and their consciences aroused to abhor evil as depicted in the ideally disorderly, dishonourable, and wicked. Nor when even tears of joy, surprise, or strong admiration are cxtorted by the power of the writer, are we disposed to regard them as evidences of a morbid state of the feelings or weakness of the under