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MISCELLANEOUS.

tion to the church. In this long life there appears no hesitancy nor doubt. There was nothing in the conduct vacillating or feeble, or inclined to relinquish its peaceful and unobtrusive service. Then there were many features of character of rare excellency, which must have been strengthened and enriched by this steady attention to the duties of religion. Among these may be noted her peaceful serenity, her quiet discharge of duty, her cheerfulness of temper and disposition, her love of her children, and the manifest delight with which she witnessed their attachment to what was true and good. And in the latter period of her life the quiet enjoyment of these qualities was undisturbed by the least shadow of worldly care or anxiety. Her frugal habits were continued to the end of her life. Her wants, which were few, were more than provided for. She was surrounded, also, by those who regarded it as a privilege to add to her comfort, and her life was thus more than ordinarily contented and happy, as her departure also was serene and peaceful. Indeed, of her might be truthfully said, she departed "in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour."

Departed this life, April 20th, in the 56th year of his age, Mr. John Went, of Brightlingsea. The immediate cause of his removal was, it is thought, disease of the nerves. The writer of this notice visited him four or five times during the latter part of his earthly sojourn,, read to him portions of the Word, and spoke to him of the blessedness of the Christian's life and death, to which he paid the deepest attention, and seemed fully sensible of the fact that he would soon he ushered into that sphere which makes manifest the hidden affections and thoughts of the heart and mind. At his request, and about three days prior to his departure, he partook, with thankfulness, of the Lord's Supper; after which he sat up in his bed, and read with earnestness a beautiful hymn from a small book compiled by the late Rev. W. Mason, of Melbourne. This book was greatly prized by him, and seemed to cheer his drooping spirit during his last hours. He was remarkably industrious in his calling. By his removal, his surviving wife, sons, and daughter sustain a heavy loss; but it is sincerely hoped they will endeavour to feel, in all their moments of affliction,

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that their loss may be his eternal gain, and thus be enabled to say, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord." A funeral discourse was preached on Sunday evening, April 30th, in the New Jerusalem Church, New-street, Brightlingsea, by Mr. Dibley, of London, to a numerous audience.

Departed this life, at Farnworth, on the 8th of May, 1865, aged 29 years, Mary, the wife of Mr. George Taylor. Born of New Church parents, the departed received a careful New Church training, which, operating on a disposition naturally gentle, was manifested in the general kindness of her character and her attachment to the church, with which she had been connected from early childhood. The immediate cause of her decease was a cold taken after her confinement, which terminated in rapid pulmonary consumption. Her end, as might have been anticipated, was calm and peaceful; and there can be no doubt of her final rest being in the kingdom of her Heavenly Father.

Departed this life, at Kersley Vale House, Kersley, May 17th, in the 62nd year of his age, Robert Fletcher, Esq. Born of Wesleyan parents, and brought up under Wesleyan influences, the deceased naturally attached himself to that body, and remained in connection with it for a considerable portion of his life. He was a native of the adjoining village of Radcliffe, but removed, about the year 1830, to Kersley, having been engaged in the paper and bleach works of the late Messrs. James and Roger Crompton, where he remained till the decease, in 1859, of the latter, who was the last surviving of the two brothers. During that period, with the exception of a short time at the first, he occupied the position of manager, and by his upright and diligent attention to Mr. Crompton's interest greatly contributed to the success of the business. Of this, indeed, Mr. Crompton was fully aware, as appears from his according to him in his will the option of succeeding him in the concern, and at the same time appointing him the principal trustee to see to the carrying out of its provisions, stating that it was his "wish, in consideration of his long and faithful services." The removal of Mr. Crompton seems to have deeply affected Mr. Fletcher, so much so that he never

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afterwards fully recovered his former energy. Although his religious views appear to have been undergoing a change for some time previously, and although his two sons had connected themselves with the Church, it was not till after Mr. Crompton's decease that he attended the New Church regularly, when he occupied Mr. Crompton's pew till illness prevented his doing so, and liberally supported the funds of the church. It can hardly be Isaid that he received the doctrines of the. New Church; indeed, he looked more at the practical good of religion than at its doctrines. As respects the latter, he seems to have been in a transitional state. It is a somewhat remarkable coincidence that the disorder of which he died was almost identical with that of Mr. Crompton-an affection of the heart, terminating in dropsy. Neither he nor his friends, however, could persuade themselves of his imminent danger, especially as up to the day of his removal he did not appear to be materially worse, and for a day or two had been decidedly better, the apparent improvement continuing even till the morning of the day on which he died. Between ten and eleven, however, a shaking seized him, under which he rapidly grew worse till the evening, when his spirit peacefully left his body to become a denizen of the realms of immortality. It is due to his memory to add, that he equally considered the interests of the workmen as those of his employers, and was the means of effecting a marked reformation in the habits of the former. He was thus an instance of how much may be effected by the steady effort of one individual in promoting the welfare of others.

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At Newcastle-on-Tyne, May 31st, aged 55, after some weeks of suffering from pulmonary consumption, Mr. W. Doig, ship decorator, entered the spiritual world in great peace. Previous to his embracing the doctrines of the New Church he was in the Presbyterian faith; but being much perplexed with some

points of belief as taught by that body of Christians, he hailed with delight the clear teachings of the New Jerusalem; and for several years it was his great delight to exemplify them in his life, and most affectionately to enforce them upon the attention of others. He was an estimable man, and a truly consistent and useful member of our society. "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord."

At Newcastle-on-Tyne, June 1st, Mr. John Bonner, aged 59, left the natural body and entered the spiritual world as "the land of the living." He was one of the fruits of the efforts made by our departed friend Mr. Doig, through whom he was a few years ago brought into the doctrines and life of the New Jerusalem. Before this introduction he was altogether careless as to the claims of religion. On becoming so much delighted with the beautiful and harmonious views unfolded in the writings, he was led to value the Sabbath on account of the comfort and spiritual strength the worship of Jesus as our Father in the heavens afforded him. He procured many of the works of our illumined author, which he read with much delight and profit. A few weeks since he made a considerable sacrifice in his profession in order to be at home on the Lord's Day, and constantly enjoy all the privileges of the church. For several years he was the intimate friend of the subject of the preceding notice, and he felt deeply the probability of his removal; but his own disease took a somewhat sudden change, and he therefore followed him in a few hours. "Lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their deaths they were not divided." His confidence in Jesus as his "only wise God and Saviour" brought him peace at the last.

Their removal was improved in a sermon by the writer of these notices, from Paul's exhortation, Heb. vi. 12-"Be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises."

TO READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS.

All communications to be sent to the Editor, the Rev. W. BRUCE, 43, Kensington Gardens Square, London, W. To ensure insertion in the forthcoming Number, communications must be received not later than the 15th of the month, except recent intelligence, which will be received till the 18th.

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

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ADDRESS TO THE SWEDENBORG SOCIETY,

On the occasion of its Fifty-sixth Anniversary, June 20th, 1865.

By the Rev. A. CLISSOLD.

MY DEAR FRIENDS,-Among the signs of the Lord's Second Coming we read, that "the powers of heaven shall be shaken;" and if we inquire what is the meaning of these "powers of heaven," we are told that the angels derive their power from the internal truths of the Word, that the internal truths of the Word are thus the veritable powers of heaven, the foundation of which is the literal sense. Hence, to shake the literal sense is to shake the basis; to shake the spiritual sense is to shake the building, which is thus doubly shaken, when it rests upon already trembling foundations.

This being the case, do we not see fulfilled before our eyes the prophecy" Yet once more, I shake not the earth only, but also the heavens"? Was there ever a day in which fiercer assaults have been made against the literal sense of the Word? Have not the Creation and Deluge come to be regarded as mere poetical myths ?-the greater part of the Jewish Law as belonging only to bygone times ?—the language of the prophets as mere figure and metaphor? Might I not speak of the total absence of all definite principles of inspiration,-of the denial of inspiration to the Scriptures, either in whole or in part,— of the argument deduced from the discovery of new manuscripts, * Apocalypse Explained, art. 726.

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ADDRESS TO THE SWEDENBORG SOCIETY.

and the proportionate increase of various readings, that the text of Scripture, the Word of God in the letter, has been so shaken by criticism, that parts have already been reduced to a heap of rubbish, that the temple itself is giving clear indications of having lasted its time, and that the plough of the critic will soon pass over its foundations? *

In opposing this work of destruction, has it not been the solemn and delightful duty of this Society to stand up and maintain before the Christian world that the text of Scripture is not so precarious as many would have it to be; that the Creation and Flood are not poetical myths; that the books of Moses are still alive; that the language of the prophets is not mere empty figure and metaphor; that the true canon of Scripture is divinely inspired; that this inspiration consists in the spiritual sense; that this spiritual sense is not invalidated by various readings; that the Bible is and ever will be the inspired Word of God? Are not these the principles which it has been our solemn and delightful duty to proclaim? Yet what have we lived to see? An attempt to destroy the spiritual sense of the Word of God, corresponding to the attempt to destroy the literal sense; thus to destroy the inspiration of the Word of God altogether,--to pull down as fast as we have been endeavouring to build up, and to make the earthquake as universal and destructive as possible. Before the spiritual sense was known, it could not be attacked. Now that it is known, the case is otherwise. For a century the Arcana has reposed in peace,- -a peace that was necessary to its period of infancy, while it was being read, and studied, and translated, and was gathering strength in the minds of men for its future career, -a peace, nevertheless, which has been owing to the indifference of Christendom to everything spiritual. Hitherto it has been considered to be too visionary to be worthy of attention; and now at last it has become the subject of a critical notice. Why is this? Because it holds a distinctive place in reference to the controversies of the day. Criticism and science have put to flight the old interpretations concerning the Creation and Deluge: why have they succeeded? Because the old interpretations were purely matters of criticism and science. Criticism has now attacked the Arcana; but in this case the character of the contest is changed; for criticism has now to deal with spiritual truth, not with scientific facts; with the laws of the regenerate life, not with geology; with the internal history of the human mind, not with the external history of the earthly life. Criticism and

* See, among other signs of the times, the article on St. John's Gospel in the last Westminster Review.

ADDRESS TO THE SWEDENBORG SOCIETY.

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science are competent to deal with the one; they are quite out of their sphere in attempting to master the other.

What, then, shall we discard criticism altogether? By no means; we only deny that any one, upon any mere principles of criticism, can arrive at any true estimate of Swedenborg's interpretations. Something more is required than a critical knowledge of languages to enable us to see the truths concerning the regenerate life. The selfhood of man must be brought low, the spirit of dictation must be bowed down to the dust, the ipse dixit nature must be crushed from out of its inmost recesses, or else all that learning will do for a man is to make him take up his position outside the truth, to wrangle there incessantly "Whether it be so," and above all to assert, lexicon in hand, or upon his own authority, that "It is not so."

Is our object then to disparage criticism? Certainly not; but only to make it know its proper place; and when this is effected, when it is in subordination to the Spirit of Truth, when the letter is regarded as only the letter and not the spirit, and the spirit is regarded as the all in all of the letter, then will the criticism of the letter fight in favour of the spirit of the letter, and rejoice to establish the divine authority of the Word of God, instead of attempting, as in these days, to shake it to its foundations.

It is these two classes of criticism which I propose to bring before you this evening; the one being in favour of what we conceive to be the spiritual sense of the Word of God; the other against it. You will therefore have the opportunity of impartially judging how far, in the several instances I bring before you, the criticism in favour of the internal sense meets the criticism against it. I am aware that your own internal convictions will be quite independent of any merely external criticism; but still, in the case of the Bible more especially, genuine criticism will be in favour of the truth. The remarks we have to make have been founded upon independent investigation; but they are offered as only supplementary to the able articles which have already appeared in the Repository, arriving, as they do, at the same general conclusion.

The first instance to which I would call your attention is where, whilst the original text in Genesis is said to be wrongly rendered by Swedenborg, "a pointed internal sense is foisted upon this false rendering." Thus in

"Vol. i. p. 109 (Genesis iv. 22.) we read—And Zillah she also bare Tubal Cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron, &c. The word here translated

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