with him. His kingdom was not of this world! "Away with him away with him!" said they; "Crucify him! crucify him!" While we bewail their inconsistency, let us beware of indulging in similar perversity.

We have already said, the Lord has always chosen man to enlighten man. Even when he sent his angel to the various prophets, it was the prophet, not the angel, that communicated with the people. If we look through the scriptures, we shall find that the Lord always chose some human instrument, and enlightened his mind, that he might declare the divine will to others.

It was the same at the commencement of the Gospel dispensation. The resurrection, the ascension, and the communication of the Holy Spirit, were seen only by a few, and were seen by them that they might be witnesses to the world at large. We never find the Lord communicating his will otherwise than by human instruments. Even at Mount Sinai, though the whole nation saw the fire, and heard the sound of the trumpet, yet to Moses alone, on the top of the mount was the law of the Lord delivered, and he was commissioned to deliver to the people. If the Lord then has always wrought by human instruments, both under the Jewish and christian dispensations, we have every reason to expect that at the commencement of the dissemination of light to the world at the latter day, he will use the same means. He will choose some man from among the rest, enlighten him by his spirit, and commission him to shew that light to others. We have not the slightest reason to look for any miraculous appearance, any strange or supernatural visitation.

Here, then, we take our stand, and (1.) The situation of the church at the present day, distracted and divided as we have proved it to be into contending parties, loudly calls for some further illumination. (2.) The prophets and apostles expressly foretel that in the latter day (the present age of the world as we have shown) such illumination will be given. (3.) The whole tenor of the Lord's dealings with man justifies the belief that, whenever this light is vouchsafed to the world it will be by human instrumentality, through the medium of some one whom the Lord will enlighten and commission to reveal that light to

others. And although there is danger of our being misled by men, whom the Lord has not sent, yet there is equal, nay greater, danger in rejecting the light, when it really does appear. For the Jews, at least some of them, who were willing to look upon Herod as the Messiah, and who were beguiled by imposters whom God had not commissioned, when the true Messiah appeared, at once rejected and crucified him. While, therefore, we avoid credulity on the one hand, we must take care to fly from prejudice on the other. And now we return to SWEDENBORG.

We most broadly and distinctly assert, that the whole of the Theological writings of Swedenborg have the tendency to prove that he was commissioned by the Lord to reveal the true nature of the Gospel to mankind, through the unfolding of its spiritual sense, and to declare the true nature of that future state to which we are all hastening. Are we then at once to reject this testimony? Doth our law condemn any man without a hearing? Are the subjects on which he professes to enlighten us so trivial, that they are beneath our notice? Is it not possible-just possible, that the Lord may have chosen him, as an instrument to give information to the world. Possible it certainly is, none can deny that: and if possible, it becomes a duty to examine for ourselves, whether he is an instrument sent by God.

(1.) The whole of the writings of Swedenborg evince the deepest reverence for the Divine Being, and for the Sacred Scriptures of which HE, the Divine Being, is the Author.

2. He reconciles the whole of the comparative obscurities and discrepencies by a universal rule of interpretation. 3. He proves to a demonstration as certain as any problem in Euclid, that God is an impartial Being, that He is good to all, and desires the happiness of all.

4. He clears up all obscurity on the doctrine of the Trinity, proving that the Lord has redeemed his gracious promise, and shewn us plainly of the Father.

5. He shews the nature of charity, and the necessity of its union with faith, and proves that a good and holy life is essential to salvation.

6. He clears up all doubts and uncertainties respecting a future state of existence. Proves the reality of the eternal

world and state; urges to constant watchfulness; and demonstrates that on the death of the body man rises to heaven if he is prepared for it; or descends to hell if his life has been evil; and all this he does, not by mere affirmation, but by proof from God's most holy Word.

7. He takes away the stumbling block of tradition, and fixes every doctrine he propounds upon the impregnable rock of divine truth. And when he has done all this, he ascribes all the merit and all the praise unto the Lord Jesus Christ, whom he declares to be God over all blessed for evermore.

We now approach a very important part of our enquiry, a part which will require the strictest attention of the reader, as well as his utmost patience; we allude to the views which are propounded by Swedenborg relative to the sacred Scripture. And here we may state at the onset, that Swedenborg is rather argumentative than didactic, whatever he asserts of Scripture he demonstrates by Scripture; in other words, he makes Scripture its own interpreter. He proves there is a law or rule by which the most abstruse and difficult parts may be explained, and he applies this rule with the utmost consistency throughout his numerous works. If this rule were fairly investigated, it would of itself been seen as a proof of the most convincing kind. If it should be said, it is easy for an ingenious mind like that of Swedenborg to frame a system of analogies, we answer, true but is it easy, so to frame a system which shall never fail in the application which, when successfully applied to the unfolding of one passage of scripture shall do so in EVERY other? Let the reader sit down and try. Let him affix to the first verse of the first chapter of Genesis a spiritual meaning, and then let him remember that whereever the same expressions occur, the meaning must be applied, or where is the universal application of the rule. Yet this, Swedenborg, by divine aid granted while in the study of the Word, has done; and in every case, when this rule is applied, a consistent explication is given.

But before we proceed to give illustrations of this rule, it seems necessary to state the distinction between the Word of God, and that of man; and we set out with the affirmation, that the Word of God is of plenary inspiration.

It is a lamentable characteristic of the church at the present day, that few of its members have any clear idea of what constitutes INSPIRATION; or of what it is which elevates the Word of God above the ordinary class of human compositions. Hence, the Scriptures are often read with no higher feeling than any other historical work; or, perhaps, so much is allowed to them that they are intermingled with moral reflections and contain instructive lessons. When, therefore, the historical relation has been gone through, by most readers it is imagined, that all which the bible contains in that part of its narrative has been acquired. It is not seen that there are any other wonders in God's law, than those wrought in Egypt, or in the passage of the Israelites, as historically detailed from Egypt to the promised land. To a multitude of readers the historical portions of God's Word seem of very little more importance than the histories of ordinary nations. This want of a true knowledge of the Scriptures, has been the means of ministering to the success of infidelity. For sceptics, by pointing out instances of apparent contradiction in the historical narrative, have asked, "Would the Almighty God so far demean himself, as to become the mere chronicler of assassinations, adulteries, and other crimes equally heinous ? And how have the advocates of religion and of the Scriptures replied? They have endeavoured to palliate, and to temporize, and to plead expediency. Yet surely there must be more in the Word of God, than a mere relation of Jewish crimes and Jewish obstinacy. The spirit of God surely intended something further than to inform us of what the Jews did two thousand years since, of the wars, quarrels, and miseries of their kings, and the idolatry and perverseness of their people. All Scripture, it is declared, is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto all good works." (2 Timothy, iii. 16, 17). The Scriptures are given as a means of salvation, but how is our salvation forwarded, by a knowledge, as given only in the letter, of the vices of kings and people? As warnings, they may be indeed considered highly useful, but if this were all intended to be conveyed, we might be equally well warned by events in the history of our own nation.

But it is certain, that the events of Jewish history neither contain a reference to the Saviour, nor lead the soul to believe in his name. This is so much felt by many christians, and by many christian pastors too, that they scarcely ever read the historical portions of the Word, choosing the prophets, the psalms, the gospels and epistles, in preference; because, in these they find mention of the Saviour, which in the history is not to be found. Yet if the bible be true, all Scripture, the historical as well as the prophetic, speaks of the salvation the Lord came to offer unto man. As, indeed, the great Saviour himself declared, when beginning at Moses, he expounded to the disciples the things concerning himself. Some additional light on this subject, therefore, as well as upon others we have named, must be wanting, which shall point out to the mind, how even the law of Moses itself refers to the Redeemer. And this is what we propose to attempt, as an introductory means for preparing the reader to understand the spiritual sense, which we believe the Gospel by Matthew in common with the whole Word of God, contains. We turn again to the enquiry, what is it which constitutes the books included in the bible-the Word of God? and we reply:

The divinity of the Scriptures does not consist in the truth of their history: no, not though that history contains events which revelation only could make known. The history of Josephus records the same events as the bible, and in a more connected series, but no one imagines that history inspired. The truth of a history does not make that history divine. If it did, then the history of our own, as well as of various other countries, would be inspired volumes. But a history may be true, even to the very letter, and yet be only a human composition. So the bible is true, even to the letter, and yet the bible without some further evidence than what the letter discloses, may be no more than a human composition. It required no divine influence in a cotemporary of Moses, to record the events which came under his own observation. Moses might be inspired to declare the events of the creation and the fall! but any one, whether inspired or not, after hearing them from him, might record them. The inspiration of Moses