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THIS is a well-intentioned little story, embodying the safe and wholesome moral that the enthusiasm juvenile readers are prompt to feel when stirred by tales of "high emprise" against dragons, giants, or other less fabulous oppressors of mankind, should be directed into the right channel, and arrayed against those foes of mankind which every child, even, may be sure to find, and safe to overcome by the Lord's blessing, within the seemingly narrow and prosaic limits of its own daily life-self-love, self-will, impatience, self-conceit, and all the host of them. It aptly inculcates the truth, how far better it is to make little sacrifices, or whatever sacrifices may be required of us, than to dream of making great ones, which may never be in our power. But though it may safely and profitably, therefore, be placed in the hands of any of our young friends, we would suggest, for the writer's consideration, that the tale lacks unity and artistic form. By all rules of fitness, it should have been the boy who dreamt of heroic deeds, and was willing in the meantime to make what progress he could, by dint of little acts of duty, who was honoured with the call to the grand effort of life-long submission to so heavy a cross, not the thoughtless boisterous brother on whom the story lays it. This, however, is a kind of shortcoming which will not mar the pleasure of juvenile readers, though it may strike grown-up lovers of children's stories like ourselves as a defect which it would be desirable to see corrected in future.

M. C. (H.) R.

MISCELLANEOUS.

NOTES BY THE WAY.

It was the opinion of the late Conference that a considerable amount of interesting information might be collected in relation to the proceedings of other religious bodies, and the general progress of religious thought, as they bear upon the truths of the New Church; also that a monthly article devoted to such topics would form an interesting feature of the "Repository;" and it was resolved that such an article be prepared for the Miscellaneous department of the work. This paper has been hastily prepared in conformity with that resolution.

Swedenborg informs us that the state of the world after the Last Judgment,

when the New Jerusalem began to descend from God out of heaven, would be very similar to what it had been before; because the changes which had been effected in the spiritual world would not induce any changes in the natural world as regards the outward forms of things; so that the affairs of states, and all other things which belong to societies of men, in general and in particular, will exist in future just has they had existed in the past. But the state of the church after that stupendous event will be different. It will indeed be similar in its outward forms, but dissimilar in its inward life. To outward appearance divided churches will exist; their respective doctrines will continue to be taught; and the religion

MISCELLANEOUS.

of the Gentiles will remain. The change which is to follow the Last Judgment will consist in this-that the men of the church will be in a state of greater freedom of thought in regard to religious concerns, because that event restored spiritual liberty to the church. (L. J. 73.) This new freedom of the church has, in some measure, been experienced, and attended with various encouraging results. It is now struggling in numerous directions to make itself felt, not only in our own sphere of spiritual thought and use, but in every department of man's social, civil, and political existence. There is an effort in every direction, not only to throw off things which have become effète, and which have acted as hindrances to the progress of thought, but to secure for society the advantages of improvement in all the provinces of knowledge. It is not possible for the strongest conservatives of dogmatic thought to ignore those facts; they feel the old ground gradually passing away, and manifest no inconsiderable alarm at the growing attention to ecclesiastical affairs which prevails, and which the activities of a new freedom are forcing into existence. It is not only moving the Protestantism, but upheaving the Catholicism, of Europe. Catholic emigrants from Europe to America, and to the English colonies, are found to be relinquishing their Catholicism in great numbers. The authorities inquire and complain of this, but the facts go on; no doubt such changes are felt to be a liberation from spiritual bondage. Protestant Sweden and Denmark have recently provided for the extension of religious freedom among their people. Every student knows something of the stern and robust condition of learned investigation in Germany, and of the remarkable influence which the religious criticism published in that country has exercised upon the thinkers of the world. In France, Spain, and Italy there are large parties striving to induce their respective governments to remove those ecclesiastical obstructions, which have induced a kind of paralysis on the churches of those countries, and also to accept the laws of that freedom which are so favourable to the religious progress of the people. Chili, where Romanism had been rampant, furnishes us with an instance of modern success in this direction. The Panama Star and Herald,

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of recent date, speaking of the question of religious toleration, which had been under debate in Congress, says that it found defenders in some of the most intelligent and enlightened men in the Senate, the press, and indeed in all circles, the only dissenting voices being those who are professedly under the rule of the clergy, in whose lines even the government appeared. Nevertheless, a Bill of Interpretation, emanating from the executive, was presented to the Senate, in which it is provided that those who do not profess the Catholic religion may worship within the precincts of chapels, edifices, or individual property. They are also allowed to found and establish private schools, for instructing their own children in the doctrines of their religion. The bill was rapidly passed through the Senate, and the same day accepted by the Chamber. The attitude thus assumed by the people of Chili, and the success it has achieved, are regarded as proofs of the march of religious liberty in the very midst of spiritual intolerance; and it is hoped that this important example will not be lost upon the sister republics of South America.

In facts of this description there is abundant encouragement for the citizens of the New Jerusalem to be "steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." The well instructed among them do not look for a sectarian planting of the church, nor for a sectarian progress of her principles. That which is Divine in its origin must be universal in its aims. Although, when merely viewed from a worldly light and the narrow platform of other churches, the New Jerusalem, in its efforts to find for itself a recognition among mankind, may seem to have the aspect of a sectarian action, yet that is no part of her character, nor does it form any part of the efforts of those of her wisest sons who are engaged in making known her teachings to the world. Truth is of no party, goodness is of no sect; they are infinite in their origin, and boundless in their purpose.

One of the chief sources of our hope for the progress of the church is the education of her people; because by instruction, the interiors of the mind are formed and adapted to receive the good things of love and the true sentiments of faith. These flow into men

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out of heaven from the Lord, and the church will grow as these are received. The instruction more immediately conducive to this result, no doubt, consists in religious discipline and spiritual information; but the implantation of secular knowledge plays no inconsiderable part towards this end. It lays the natural plane on which may be erected those broader and loftier sentiments which more technically relate to the church, and point to the inner life and eternal residence of men. It is, therefore, a source of much pleasant rejoicing for the members of the New Jerusalem to see the efforts which are being made for the education of the populace by most Christian Governments to observe the cautious experiments which are being made by the authorities the more effectually to secure this use-to know that large sums of money are annually voted from the public revenue to accomplish it-and that the business of the schoolmaster and mistress has been raised

into an honourable profession. There was a time, and that not long ago, when these things would have been regarded as the visions of Utopia; but having become facts, they are full of hope for the future of the church.

Although the secular education of the people, in the generality of our public schools, is frequently hampered with the teachings of a merely dogmatic religion, it is plain that those teachings do not fall into, nor can they be accepted by, the rational faculty; and therefore this faculty, as it acquires growth and strength by the attainment of sounder knowledge, will use the new liberty in which it lives to question the accuracy of an unreasoning faith, and be led to hold it with a lighter grasp, speak of it with greater freedom, and break away from it as conscience and a sense of honesty and truth may demand.

The education which has been undertaken by the Government of this country through the establishment of what are called National Schools, has in most places been carried on under the influence of the clergy, and, in many instances, carried out in a sectarian spirit. This has roused the attention of Nonconformists to the subject; they have pressed the matter on the consideration of the Council of Education, and Parliament itself has been moved upon the point. The last session appointed a committee of the House of

Commons to consider whether the advantages of the State education could not be extended. Among the subjects which came under the consideration of that committee, and upon which witnesses were extensively examined, was that which has been designated the conscience clause. This is a clause which it is proposed to insert in the trust deeds of National School houses, providing that all children may be educated therein without being compelled to learn the Catechism of the church, or to attend the Sundayschool connected with it. This had been found necessary in consequence of the coercion and hardships in those matters which had been imposed upon Nonconformist parents by the clerical managers; and notwithstanding the resistance which has been offered to this clause by those managers, it is now, to some extent, being imposed; the committee of Privy Council on Education having decided that they could make no more grants for the erection of new school edifices without the adoption of this clause. A few of the managers of such schools have preferred to dispense with the pecuniary aid of the State, rather than be compelled to educate the children of "schismatical" parents; others, however, have willingly adopted the proposed clause, and, notwithstanding "convocation" has thought fit to utter its protest against it, there can be little doubt that it is on the high road to Parliamentary protection. In those facts we see some other of the footsteps of that spiritual liberty, the existence of which is the peculiarity of our times. It indicates the march of freedom upon the frontiers of that popular education on which the progress of a nation, and the happiness of a people, so much depend.

The awkward forms of theological thought which have been forced upon the minds of educated thinkers by the statutes of the Universities, and the demands which they have made for relief, by insisting on a broader platform of faith than that which "orthodoxy" prescribes, have contributed to the production of no little excitement in almost every ecclesiastical quarter. All who have paid any attention to the recent history of such matters, must have noticed the workings of a dissatisfied undercurrent, and that these, among other things, have thrown to the surface two great parties of the established church in this country. These are known

MISCELLANEOUS.

as Ritualists and Rationalists; the former being represented by Dr. Pusey and the latter by the writers of " Essays and Reviews," and Bishop Colenso. The "evangelical" party has acquired a prominence through those extremes. Nonconformists, for the most part, concur in the theological views of this party; and all stand aloof from each other, assuming an attitude which cannot be described as the symbol of love. What is thus so conspicuous in England is also felt on the Continent. The uneasiness of theological discord is spreading itself abroad in every direction; and upon the principle that fermentations lead to purification, there is reason to believe that it will, sooner or later, eventuate in the perception of some of those Divine truths which distinguish the New Jerusalem now descending from on high.

The ritualistic party, feeling that they were losing priestly influence among the people, have sought its recovery by attempting to restore some of the rubrical forms of worship which the sterner Christianity of a former age had rejected, and to revive certain classes of superstition in regard to the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, which the common sense of our age was permitting to sink into forgetfulness. They have also been solicitous to restore "church discipline," that is, the power of " dealing with heretics," and specially with those of the clergy who should dare to step beyond the precincts of that orthodoxy which is supposed to be contained in the Liturgy. Finding, however, that they are restrained in these matters by the laws which connect "The Establishment" with the State, some of their leaders have not hesitated to express a willingness to accept a severance from State control rather than be interrupted in the prosecution of their design. This, indeed, was no more than might have been reasonably expected from the circumstance of so many of this party having gone over to the Church of Rome, one of whom has become the successor of Cardinal Wiseman as Archbishop of Westminster. When it was decided by the House of Lords, in the case of Bishop Gray, of Capetown, versus Bishop Colenso, of Natal, that the colonial bishoprics were not connected with the State, and that, therefore, the

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laws applicable to the Establishment at home could not be applied in the prosecution that had been instituted, Dr. Pusey publicly spoke of this decision as one favourable to the liberty of the church. No doubt he spoke for the party whose existence he had inaugurated, and it clearly shows that they feel the law by which they are restrained to be an uneasy yoke.

The Rationalists, also, experience coercion from the same source; but for this the symptoms of a bolder speech, which they are suspected to possess, might be displayed. They are men of intellectual power, and their struggles are not so much with their legal position as with the difficulties of a theological system in which they have been educated, and with which they have been associated through social position and connections. Their efforts are to get rid of what they conceive to be the narrow views which have clustered round the church; to widen the sphere of religious thought and Biblical criticism, and willingly to accept the intellectual consequences which may fairly and logically arise. Still they are men of "the letter," and they hesitate to receive anything of that spirit of the Word for which we believe the letter to have been the Divinely-constituted vehicle. We have seen a note from Bishop Colenso, in which he professes to know something of Swedenborg's spiritual interpretation, but says he is not prepared to accept it. This is to be expected, and their efforts, although apparently damaging to the literal forms of the history and prophecy contained in the Bible, will, we have no doubt, contribute something towards establishing the principle on which they have been written, by educing counter inquiries, conducted with equal ability and with

more success.

The Evangelical party, who mistake piety for mental power, look upon the writings and proceedings of the Rationalists with alarm: they feel that there is some force in what is said, but cannot command the weapons necessary to meet the difficulties which are urged. They hope for the restoration of an ecclesiastical power, by which the voice of an adverse criticism should be silenced; they rely for success more upon the authority of law than the force of thought, and to this end they, with others, are

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striving to revive the action of convocation. This is an assembly of the clergy, by their representatives, to consult on ecclesiastical matters. It is held during the session of Parliament, and consists of an upper and lower house. The upper house is for the bishops, the lower is for the inferior clergy, who are represented by their proctors. The convocation is convened by a writ from the Crown, directed to the archbishop of each province, requiring him to issue the necessary summonses. The power of convocation is limited by a statute of Henry VIII. They are not to make any canons or ecclesiastical laws without a licence from the Crown; nor, when permitted to make any, can they put them in force but under several restrictions. They have the power of examining and the censuring of all heretical and schismatical books and persons, but there lies an appeal to the Crown in Chancery against any decision at which convocation may arrive. The clergy have very recently been engaged in the election of this body; and, from the discussions which have taken place at the elections, it appears that when the representatives assemble an unusually trying time will be experienced. It is believed by the press, most conversant with the facts, that the assembly will enter upon the discussion of some of the most vital questions of orthodoxy; that the modification of the rubrics will be contested with great keenness, and that the tendencies of the Rationalistic party will be assailed with considerable force, because the elections have issued in the return of a majority of those who are considered to belong to "the extreme Ritualistic party." Although it is not possible to foresee the course which convocation may pursue upon any particular point, we may be confident that the issue will be favourable, more or less directly, to the interests of spiritual liberty and truth. We cannot suppose that the Divine Providence is not watching over the welfare of the church which is now in the process of coming down from God out of heaven, to be His tabernacle with men. And we believe that, whatever other churches may do, they will certainly be influenced in their conduct by that new liberty of thought in respect to spiritual things which has resulted from the Second Coming of the Lord.

CONFERENCE.

In the last number we reported such of the proceedings of Conference as we considered more immediately interesting to the church at large, or which related to measures requiring its zealous operation. There is one other subject which may be noticed. Some changes have been made and recommended in the con duct of the Magazine, which it will be interesting to our readers and is due to our contributors to report. For the last three years the Conference has made a grant for acknowledging the services of those who supplied matter for the Repository. It cannot have been for the sake of reward, but it may have been from the sense of approval of their labours which the acknowledgment expressed, that the supply of matter during that period has been more abundant and regular; during that period also the sales have gradually though slowly increased. These grants by the Conference were however made in the hope, and were coupled with the expressed wish, that the members of the church would supplement them with subscriptions. the exception of a liberal contribution last year from the Accrington society, no result has followed. We think failure in this, as in other similar cases, has arisen simply for want of organisation. What is a legislature without an executive? What are appeals for subscriptions without collectors? However, we are sure our contributors, who supply the wealth of their minds to enrich the pages of the Magazine, will continue their contributions, although the Conference has this year made no grant for acknowledgment of their services. It is to them we are to look for the supply of that kind of matter which tends directly to the edification of the church, and we trust the simple consciousness of contributing to this primary use of the Magazine will prove sufficient to prompt and sustain them in their valuable labours.

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There are, however, other uses, or indirect means of promoting the same use, which are not to be neglected. The Conference has taken action on some of these, and recommended others to the attention of the Editor. To quote from the Minutes-"It being the opinion of this Conference that a considerable amount of valuable and most interesting information might be obtained in relation to the proceedings of other religious bodies,

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