for Sunday, October 29th, and Monday October 30th. On the former date Mr. Bastow delivered two discourses under the general title of "Bible difficulties made easy." In these discourses he seems to have been very successful in illustrating his subject and si'encing the cavils of those opposed to the Bible. The success which has attended his labours is said to be very considerable; numbers, including several who have been prominently connected with orthodox churches attaching themselves to the New Church. Only a place of meeting is required to form them into a society, the materials for which are already at hand.

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On the evening of the 30th, a lecture was given at the same place by Capt. J. Bufham on the subject "Who was Swedenborg, and what did he teach?" The attendance was again good and the most marked attention was given to the subject. Whether," said the lecturer, "Swedenborg were regarded as a scholar, a philosopher, a theologian, or a seer, he stood foremost among the great men who have blessed the world by living and working in it." The lecturer passed rapidly in review the history of Swedenborg to the time of his call to the office of messenger of the Second Advent, and offered as an evidence of the practical tendency of his mind, his discovery of a method of finding the longitude by lunar observations, which he (the lecturer) knew from professional experience to be eminently useful. In continuation he explained the doctrine of correspondences, which underlies all that Swedenborg has written as a theologian, the Resurrection and the future State, and concluded by urging on his hearers to cultivate an acquaintance with the writings of our great author. At the close of the lecture a conversation took place, and a good impression was made. Next day a stranger wrote desiring to be supplied with some of the works such as the Arcana.

it a principal cause of prevalent scepticisin and infidelity;" and the third on "the Redemption and Atonement of Jesus Christ." The time of this visit was, in one respect, unfortunate. The annual meeting of the social Congress was being held at the same time; and the public attention was occupied by a series of public meetings on exciting and attractive subjects. The attendance was, nevertheless, encouraging, extending from one to two hundred persons; and the service was doubtless useful, both in extending the knowledge of the truth, and instructing and confirming those who are already acquainted with our heavenly doctrines.

LEICESTER.The Rev. T. S. Marsden of Sunderland visited this place in October last. On the 15th he delivered two discourses in the Alexandria Room. The subject of discourse in the morning, was the baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan; and in the evening, the ap pearance to Moses in the burning bush." The congregations were good and the subjects were listened to with great attention. On the following evening, Monday, October 16, Mr. Marsden give a lecture in the same room on "Oriental customs in the temple of God and at home." This lecture was also well attended and listened to with interest. The Society at the town is still struggling with difficulties which the members hope to surmount and to become a living member of the great body of the Church.

MIDDLESBRO'.-The small society at this place was visited in October by the Rev. R. Storry. Arrangements were made for a series of services, partly in the town-hall, which was rented for the occasion, and partly in the meeting room occupied by the society. The lectures in the town-hall were on the following subjects:-"The Bible a Revelation from God, needed for the full development of the Nature of Man;""The Deity of the Christ and Saviour, the central truth of Divine Revelation, and its acceptance the hope of the World;" "The Redemption and Atonement of Jesus Christ, the completion of the Creation of God. The harmony of these Divine Works explained and demonstrated." The attendance at these lectures was not so numerous

as the members of the society had hoped -about one hundred being present; but the attention given to the subject was all that could be desired. All seemed to be interested, and we have reason to hope were benefited.

As the town-hall could not be had for services on the Sunday nor Monday evening, discourses were announced in the Society's room (appropriately designated, New Jerusalem Church Mission Room"), for Sunday, October 1st, and a social meeting of the members and friends arranged for the Monday evening. The following were the subjects of discourse on the Sabbath morning :-"The invitation from the Angel standing in the Sun to the fowls of Heaven to the Supper of the Great God (Rev. xix. 17 and 18 verses); "The Marriage of the Lamb" (Rev. xix. 7 and 8 verses). At the close of the morning service, the Sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered to twelve communicants, and in the afternoon an infant and adult baptism took place, the latter that of their esteemed leader, Mr. II. W. Smith. The meeting on Monday evening was confined to members and friends of the Society, and the time was spent in pleasant conversation on matters connected with the condition and growth of the Society. Among other topics which engaged the attention of the meeting, a Sunday school was recommended, which has since been established. The Society is well circumstanced in their leader, who seems devoted to his work, but like most pioneers in a great work, has to contend with difficulties and discouragements. We hope that he will be earnestly supported by all the members, and that his labours will be successful in building up the church in this populous and growing town.

SUMMER LANE, BIRMINGHAM.—In the year 1868, the Treasurer of the Society offered to give £100 towards removing £1000 from the debt on the church, provided the effort was completed in three years. On November 12th, the term prescribed expired: happily, not before every penny of the sum had been subscribed and a few pounds surplus. Viewing the matter as a success, there are four great reasons for congratulation. 1. Many of the

subscribers gave their names for large amounts in the face of a general depres sion of trade. Now, sensual prudence is far too often the cause of human failures. Had our friends listened to its soft impeachments when their subscriptions were solicited, the probability is that the effort would have collapsed, under the wet-blanket of discouraging refusals, or the fatality of very small suis. When large sums were promised the markets were flat, money was scarce, and workmen were on part time. But since then, trade has revived, discount has gone up, and workmen have resumed full time; and now every fainthearted subscriber is thankful that three years ago he did the right thing, and set a good example to his brethren else where. 2. The amount has been raised within the time set down for its accom plishment. Where achievement is a matter of simple will; willing to do it, or willing not to do it, or to let somebody or nobody else do it, to prescribe a time when it must be done is an excellent security. Had the term for this effort been six instead of three years, it would have trampled on other important matters, it would have been turning up like the letter H, where it was frequently not wanted, and have stood in the way three years longer than necessary. Every man knows there is nothing equal to money down. Ledgers, day books, folios, quarterly bills, &c. are the emblems of rottenness in the constitution of commerce. Some day we shall get rid of the bill broker, and pocket his discount ourselves. With ready hands and willing hearts our lingering difficulties might be made very short lived. 3. The effort has not been confined to the well-to-do ; but rich and poor alike share the pleasing sensation of success. It is a wrong policy for the rich to do everything. The rightthinking poor do not wish it; it takes away their freedom, their individuality, their responsibility, their self respect, and degrades them in their own eyes. Then for all to give is better for the stability and health of the society. It makes everybody interested in the church. A low motive, verily, to religious zeal; still, not to be despised. The natural heart goes with the natural treasure. Besides, in all orderly life, mere interest is ultimately superseded by spiritual love. Every member of a

religious society ought to give, according to his means, for his own sake. This brings me to the fourth reason of congratulation. 4. The effort has been a lesson in practical religion. To support the external requirements of worship is a necessity of spiritual religion. The church either is or is not an equal necessity of true life with the bakehouse. If it is not a necessity, the sooner we cease to waste our money upon it the better-if it is a necessity we should class it with our other natural requirements and pay for it accordingly. The members of the New Church above all, require instruction and encouragement in the art of giving. The makeshift spirit which drove the early receivers of the New Dispensation into cock-lofts to pray, and hear the truth from an unpaid teacher, is almost a part of the church as at present existing. It has descended from father to son; and even those well able to support our beautiful religion in appropriate externals, are satisfied to potter about in the shabby cube of bricks and mortar which poverty compelled their fathers originally to build. This effort has done us all good in more ways than one; and nobody is any poorer in reality for what he has given. No one has sacrificed pleasure, recreation, or the necessaries of life to enable him to give. Success is its own encouragement; and while the example may be useful to others, the undertaking just completed may possibly pave the way to a new style of New Church architecture, at no very distant period, in Summer Lane.

Crosby Barlow, B.A., to edit the work True Christianity,' and proceed to publication as soon as the necessary fund of £300 be subscribed." Subscriptions to the weekly publication fund should be sent to the Treasurer, Mr. T. H. Elliott, 24 Culford Road, London, N., and will be acknowledged in the Intellectual Repository. In connection with this publication, we have received a communication from the proprietor of the Dawn, remarking on the statement of a correspondent in our last that "much misapprehension exists in the Church, caused in part by the advertisements respecting the Daun which has been confounded with 'True Christianity.' Into the personal matters connected with the origin of the Dawn it is not necessary that we should enter. "True Christianity" is the organ of a New Church organization, and, as such, entitled to the support of the Church. Would it not be possible to blend these two papers in one?

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SCIENTIFIC DIFFICULTIES IN BIBLICAL EXPOSITION.-As usual one portion of the time occupied by the Church Congress was devoted to the discussion of the relation of Christianity to the current forms of scepticism- the forms thus indicated being those which threaten the church from the side of the natural sciences. The subject was introduced by Professor Lightfoot, who in the course of his paper cautions his readers against the adoption of hopeless theory of inspiration;" i.e. one that will lead "to strained expedients for harmonising details." And this fear of adopting any theory of plenary inspiration is expressed in various ways by the speakers or writers that followed. Thus the Rev. C. A. Row says "It is an undeniable fact that the discoveries of science had brought to light a multitude of truths which in a greater or less degree conflicted with the popular ideas of what constituted the contents of the Bible. It was therefore a most serious thing to determine if the alleged antagonism between religion and science were ascribable to the processes of theologians; it was of the utmost importance in relation to the present aspects of unbelief that the earnest thought of the defenders of revelation should be concentrated on this question.

. . .

What are the limits of the inspiration, if any, under which the Scriptures have been composed? A large proportion of the questions now troubling men's minds were justly chargeable to inaccurate though popular interpretations of the Bible; and these owed their origin to incorrect views of the nature of revelation and the extent of the inspiration with which they had been communicated. Much of the difficulty was widely due to a prevalent want of the recognition of a human element in the Bible along with the divine." The progress of the sciences is thus necessitating increased attention to the popular expositions of the Scriptures, and leading to the rejection of much that has been held sacred by the most extensively read commentators. I do not see, says Canon Walsham How, "why we students of Holy Writ should be either alarmed or unprepared to admit that we may on various points have still to readjust our views of the meat ing of certain passages in the record we love to read.

We may

not at once see clearly the way in which this is to be done; but we know it has been done. First astronomy, then geology, appeared to contradict statements of the Word of God. Men's minds were troubled. But what happened? The deductions of science were proved impregnable, and the church readjusted her interpretations of the Bible." But unhappily in these readjustments the church has lowered the standard of inspiration and thus weakened the authority of the Bible as a divine guide. And it is one of the signs of the present state of the public mind-and, indeed, of the clerical mind on this subject, that, to use the words of the reporter of the Guardian, "these sentiments were loudly cheered; and, indeed, nothing was more remarkable throughout this discussion than the disappearance of that old jealousy of physical science and narrow interpretations of scripture which used to be considered the natural opprobrium of the clergy." But if these low views of inspiration are to prevail it will be vain to invite the student of nature, as is done by Mr. How, to the study of the Bible on the ground that it has precious truths and realities to present analogous to the surprising discoveries of the natural sciences. It is the works of

God that are full of mysteries which are to be sought out by those who take pleasure therein. And if the theologian is to offer the secret mysteries of providence and grace, if he is to disclose the marvellous wonders of the divine perfections and the wonderful processes of man's regeneration, he must penetrate beneath the veil of the letter, and seek to acquaint himself with the stored up wonders of the spirit of the Word. What is required of the public religious teacher is not the exaltation of the human element of the Word and the exposure of its infirmities and apparent imperfections, but the exposition of the deeper wisdom of its spirit and the manifestation of its intrinsic beauty and excellence and of its divine efficacy and power.

THE MINISTRY.-A common inquiry in orthodox Churches is, how are the difficulties and perplexities with which these Churches are surrounded to be met? The appeal is made to the ministry, and it is answered by a cry of distress. The faith cherished by the fathers, and crystallized in chapel deeds, is fading out of the minds of the more cultured and influential ministers; and the rising ministry is less hopeful than the present. The causes for this are also much the same in all Churches. They are largely involved in the want of a proper appreciation of the uses of the ministry, and of a higher spiritual life in the Churches. Too many members in all Churches are more inclined to visit the minister with unkindly criticism and to magnify his shortcomings than to help him in his work.

Before

we can hope to attract cultured and able men to the ministry, we must be prepared to provide them a more generous support.

Marriage.

On September 30, at the church, Brunswick Road, Camberwell, by Mr. E. Austin, Mr. Edward Madeley, of Hammersmith, to Miss Eliza Millman Jones, youngest daughter of Mr. W. Jones, of Surrey Square, London.

Obituary.

On November 11th, 1871, at her residence, 22 Cloudesley Square, Miss Eliza Tucker, in her 70th year, member of the Cross Street Society.