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then; and as we are both, I hope, walking on to the same place, just as we did to the trees and cottage, you will surely see with your own eyes how true is the description I give you."

I was very much frightened, for I feared that when he had done his narrative we were to walk on through the wood into that place of wonders and of shadows where the dead were visible.

He leaned his elbow on his knee, and his forehead on his hand, which shaded his downcast eyes, and in that attitude described to me a beautiful landscape, radiant with a wondrous light, in which, rejoicing, my mother moved along an airy path, ascending among mountains of fantastic height, and peaks, melting in celestial colouring into the air, and peopled with human beings translated into the same image, beauty, and splendour. And when he had ended his relation, he rose, took my hand, and smiling gently on my pale, wondering face, he said the same words he had spoken before

"Come, dear, let us be going."

"Oh! no, no, no-not now," I said, resisting, and very much frightened.

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'Home, I mean, dear. We cannot walk to the place I have described. We can only reach it through the gate of death, to which we are all tending, young and old, with sure steps.'

"And where is the gate of death?” I asked in a sort of whisper, as we walked together, holding his hand very fast, and looking steathily. He smiled sadly, and said

“When, sooner or later, the time comes, as Hagar's eyes were opened in the wilderness, and she beheld the fountain of water, so shall each of us see the door open before us, and enter in and be refreshed."

We do not think the author of this work has intentionally misrepresented the views of Swedenborg. The critic in the Athenæum remarks that the Swedenborgian tenets are given in it "with a tender grace and reverence with which all religious beliefs ought to be mentioned;" and he considers the scene at the mother's tomb as "full of tender and beautiful thoughts." The author, as we have remarked, evidently knows little of Swedenborg's writings, and he has mixed up his views with those of the mystics and spiritualists. We think it, however, a favourable sign that the "tenets" are thought worthy of being interwoven into a respectable work of fiction, which will introduce our views, imperfect and misshapen as they are here, before a large number of readers, and which may induce some to read for themselves. The author himself evidently favours the views which he undertakes to represent; for he makes his heroine conclude the narrative of her eventful life, which has a happy consummation, with some beautiful sentiments on the analogy which exists between this lovely world of nature and the transcendently beautiful world that lies above and beyond it.

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LITTLE STAR, AND OTHER POEMS, original and translated. By A. M. W. Bath Binns and Goodwin. London: E. Marlborough and Co. pp. 93.

THESE poems are by a sweet young songstress of the sister isle. They come to us recommended by no less an authority than Mrs. S. C. Hall, who says of them-" Miss Wright's very charming poems are full of natural as well as cultivated feeling, and are often pervaded by a deep, but not obtrusive sentiment of religion. She has the real poetic fervour in her." What more can we say of them than this? We cannot recommend them more highly for their own sake, but we may venture further to recommend them for the sake of their authoress, whose "star," once bright and in the ascendant, is now paled by domestic sickness and depressed by family misfortune. With how much additional pleasure may we invest a small sum in the purchase of the little volume, when we feel that we are thereby, in the most legitimate and delicate way, ministering to the comfort of a household, and shedding back upon a meek and gentle sufferer a ray of that hope and love which it is the object of these productions of a daughter's and a sister's muse to inspire. We may mention that the authoress is already known to our readers by a poem of hers which appeared in the July number of the Repository for 1862, under the title of "Jacob's Dream." We have beside us another contribution from her pen, but for the present we give as a specimen of her poetic talent one of the pieces in this volume, not because it is the best, but because it is the shortest and most suitable for our pages—

"HALLOWED BE THY NAME."

"I think when the morning is blushing awake,

My Heavenly Father, of Thee,

When nothing the exquisite stillness doth break,

Save the low, gentle hymn of the sea;

When the Spirit of Peace spreads her white wings afar,
Where the light o'er the ocean doth play,

And joyously trembles the pale morning star,

In the blue boundless ether away;

Meekly, in this holy hour, enraptured I exclaim

'Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name!'

"I think when the golden sun lights up the hills,
Again, O my Father, of Thee;

When his summer-crowned glory the universe fills,
Then the still small voice' whispers to me,

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In the glad flow of streams, and the still sweeter sound
Of the wind through the emerald trees,—
And beauty, God's beauty, is imaged around,
And echoed along by the breeze;-

Gladly, in the happy sunshine, all gladly I exclaim—
'Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name!'

"I think when the sunset clouds part in the West,

Once more, O my Father, of Thee,

When like to a beautiful ocean at rest,

Seems that last flush of daylight to me;

Then a bright dream of God fills my soul for a while,
And I join with sweet nature in prayer,

For methinks that His pure and heavenly smile

Still lingers a little time there;

Gently, in the sunset hour, in lowly accents I exclaim-
'Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name!'

"I think in the night, in the calm silent night,

Still, still, O my Father, of Thee,

When the stars, with their pure and shadowy light,

Are sparkling all tremulously;

When brightly below, 'mid the fair little flowers,

The crystaline dewdrops shine;

While lightly are falling night's silver showers,

In silence serene and divine ;—

Softly, very softly, in the hush of midnight I exclaim-
'Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name!'"

MISCELLANEOUS.

CASE OF THE BISHOP OF NATAL.-Our readers are aware that the Bishop of Cape Town, after a trial, deposed Dr. Colenso, Bishop of Natal, on the ground of his heretical opinions respecting the Scriptures, and that the Bishop of Natal appealed from his decision to the Privy Council. The judgment of the Judicial Committee, which has been looked forward to with interest, has been pronounced and bears date the 20th of March. After reviewing the case, the Judges conclude by saying their lordships, therefore, will humbly report to Her Majesty their judgment and opinion that the proceedings taken by the Bishop of Cape Town, and the judgment or sentence pronounced by him against the Bishop of Natal, are null and void. The questions argued before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council had, as our readers are aware, nothing to do with the published opinions of Dr. Colenso on the Pentateuch. They

related entirely to the jurisdiction of Dr. Gray, the Bishop of Cape Town, and the validity of his claim to pronounce such & judgment. It has been decided by the highest legal tribunal that he has no jurisdiction, and that his decision is null. But the judgment of the Privy Council does not leave these two Bishops exactly as it found them. The elaborate judgment of the Privy Council embraces a larger view of the question than that on which the appeal was based. It examines the whole question of the status and authority of these colonial Bishops; and the decision come to is, that they have no status and no authority. Not only has the Bishop of Cape Town no authority over the Bishop of Natal, but neither Bishop has any legal authority whatever as such. To understand the grounds of this decision, it is necessary to distinguish between the rights of the Crown and those of the Parliament. The Crown

MISCELLANEOUS.

has the right to create bishops, but has not the right to create bishoprics, or give bishops any status or jurisdiction. There is no power in the Crown to create any new or additional ecclesiastical tribunal or jurisdiction, and the clauses which purport to do so are simply null and void. Now, it appears that the authority in virtue of which the Bishop of Cape Town deposed the Bishop of Natal, was derived solely from the Crown, which, it is now discerned, had not the right to bestow it. Previous to 1853, there was only one bishopric in South Africa. In that year the colony was divided into three bishoprics, and the Bishop of Cape Town was created Metropolitan Bishop, to whom the Bishops of Graham's Town and of Natal were to be subject and subordinate. This was done by the Crown, on the representation of the Archbishop of Canterbury. But letters patent passed under the great seal have not the force of law, unless they are themselves within the law. Such a law could not have been

passed by the Imperial Parliament, for before this time the colonists had received a constitution which empowered them to make laws for themselves. And "no metropolitan or bishop in any colony having legislative functions can, by virtue of the Crown's letters patent alone (unless granted under an Act of Parliament, or confirmed by a colonial statute), exercise any coercive jurisdiction, or hold any sort of court or tribunal for that purpose.' By this important decision these, and other colonial bishops similarly circumstanced, if they cannot agree with each other, must content themselves with carrying on a warfare with ecclesiastical weapons; they cannot inflict legal penalties. They have, in fact, no legal authority; the metropolitan has no power over the suffragan, nor the suffragan over the priest.

NEWCASTLE.-A correspondent in this town writes as follows:-"The Rev. G. Gilfillan delivered a lecture last month before the members of our Literary and Philosophical Society here, about 500 being present, on Geology and Miller's Testimony of the Rocks;' and I may add, on the first chapter of Genesis, for that received a large amount of attention and criticism as to its disagreement with the developments of geology. The lecturer fully endorsed those develop ments as far as they had gone, as estab

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lished facts; and hence the impossibility of reconciling them with the literal history of creation, as set forth in Genesis, some six thousand years ago. Nor would he admit Hugh Miller's Vision of Moses,' &c. as a solution of the matter; referring to which he observed that Miller predicated a grand flora existing at a geological epoch which, when compared with his exegesis of the Scripture narrative, must have occurred before the sun was created! On the subject of the antiquity of the earth he used some strong expressions, setting it down at millions of years; and as to any general deluge ever having occurred, he said it was utterly impossible, and now the idea was given up entirely by all deep-thinking men. concluding his subject, he said his audience would naturally ask him-' What are we to do in such perplexity and apparent contradiction? Wait!' said he, 'wait until Providence sends the solution.' I opened a private correspondence with him and sent him Rendell's Antediluvian History; and I may be permitted to quote from his letter the following estimate of Swedenborg :- He was a great man; but I think he often saw more in the Scriptures than the writers themselves.'"

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[We think so, too; but when we say so, we mean that the Author of the Scriptures embodied in them by inspiration, not only more than the writers understood, but more than Swedenborg saw, and more than man or angel will ever comprehend.-ED.]

BATH, HENRY-STREET.-On Wednesday evening, the 22nd of February, 1865, our society was favoured with a visit by the Rev. Dr. Bayley, whose mission to the West was to obtain subscriptions in behalf of the Students and Ministers' Aid Fund. It was arranged to have a tea meeting upon the occasion in the library of the church (at only one day's notice), which was well attended. After the repast the rev. gentleman, in clear and lucid terms, explained to the meeting the origin, formation, and progress of the Students and Ministers' Aid Fund, its important uses up to the present period, and its future prospects. So very satisfactory, eloquent, and earnest was the address, that all present became aware of the duty and necessity of assisting, as far as lay in their power,

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so desirable an object. All present manifested a desire as far as their means would permit, to lend a helping hand to forward the good work. At the close of the address a subscription was entered into, when the sum of twenty pounds was promised, and the contributions of absent friends made up a sum of £29.9s., which has been duly forwarded and acknowledged. On Sunday, Feb. 26th, morning and evening, and on Wednesday evening, March 1st, the rev. gentleman preached in the New Church, Henry-street, on the following important and interesting subjects:-"The Passover; its Institution and Significance; "The Gift of Manna to the Jews, and its Meaning for Christians; " and "The Ark and the Flood." On each occasion the church was well attended, but in particular on the Sunday evening, when it was filled in every part, many being persons who were but little acquainted with the truths of the new dispensation. All appeared deeply interested in the subjects so well expounded by the rev. lecturer; we arrive at this conclusion from the profound attention by which he was listened to throughout by the whole congregation, and their approving remarks on leaving the church. We are much indebted to Dr. Bayley for his recent valuable services, in the earnest desire manifested by him to promote the true interest and building up of the New Church; and we would here earnestly recommend all the members and friends of the Lord's New Church to exert themselves in nobly and efficiently supporting the Students and Ministers' Aid Fund,-convinced as we are that the New Church doctrines are divinely true, and only need to be effectively and perseveringly preached to be welcomed by an increasing number of receivers. Those who have freely received are commanded to freely give; thererore, "Let us work while it is day, for the night cometh, when no man can work."

MELBOURNE.-A course of three lectures was delivered in this town during the months of January and February, by the Rev. J. Hyde. The first was on the Lord, the second on the Atonement, and the third on the Resurrection. The able lecturer conclusively proved that it was Jehovah who became the Saviour; that the God who is love needs no reconcilia

tion; and that the resuscitation of matter is an absurdity. It is known that the lectures have caused some discussion among some of the intelligent working men of our town; and although, of course, prejudice exerts its stand-still influence here as everywhere, it is hoped that this effort to spread the knowledge of the truth has not been in vain.

GLASGOW. It is with great pleasure that we record an act of munificence which must be gratifying and encouraging to the members of the New Church generally. Mr. Riddell, Gatehouse of Fleet, has given to Mr. Porteous, minister of the New Church Society here, the sum of £50., which is to be spent in the purchase of Swedenborg's minor works, "Noble's Appeal," &c., and distributed by Mr. Porteous among those societies in Scotland who require books, and to small circles of persons who are known to meet for New Church instruction. It may be interesting to relate that Mr. Riddell is a poor man, and that he saved this sum of £50. from an annual income of £30. ! This example of practical love for the New Church ought to quicken many richer individuals to a more spirited charity.

ALLOA.-There has been a revival movement in this town for some time, and those who make themselves active in it appear to fall into a very narrow circle of ideas, and get quite enthusiastic in believing that they only who come within it are saved. Two revival missionaries connected with one of the Presbyterian churches having made a denunciatory prayer in the house of a member of the society, Mr. Drysdale felt it would be wrong to allow such conduct to pass unnoticed, and he adopted the mode of appealing to the public in three advertised letters. In his first letter, after a gentle but dignified rebuke of two "missionaries" who had had the bad taste to make an attack upon the principles of the New Church, as leading to hell, in the house of a gentleman earnestly attached to them, Mr. Drysdale proceeds to "submit a declaration of his principles, which are charged with the terrible crime of leading to hell," and which are as follow:-

"1st. In obedience to the Divine call, 'Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest,"

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