very sunshine, converting it into the most grievous evils, and drying up all the sources of affection in the soul.-As the sun is the source of light, so is the divine love the source of truth; and as in the alternation of day and night it is not the sun which turns from the earth, but the earth that turns from the sun; so in the perverted and darkened states of the human mind, when God appears to hide his face" from it, it is the mind that has turned from God, and not God that has turned from the mind.

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The moon, a necessary accompaniment, depends for her light upon the sun; she is the constant attendant upon the earth, and revolves round it, communicating to it light in darkness, and by her influence moves and purifies the waters of the ocean, rendering it a source of life, instead of a stagnant mass of putridity. And faith or truth performs the same offices, spiritually, to the mind, that the moon does to the earth, deriving all its excellency, in fact its very existence, from divine love. It is the constant light of the christian, cheering him with the "evidence of things not seen," when all else is dark and gloomy around him. It brings into active operation those principles of truth which, without it, would be quiescent; making every portion of knowledge become useful in the life of piety.

Now, apply this meaning to those parts of the Word of God where the natural figures occur-" Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw herself, for Jehovah shall be thy everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended." The spiritual meaning is at once obvious, and may be thus paraphrased-Thy love shall no more wax cold, or go down, neither shall thy faith fail, or be staggered, for the Lord will shine on thee in his truth, and thou shalt be defended and brought safely through the trials of spiritual temptation." The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold." This is a prophecy, as we have already seen, of the spiritual blessings to be enjoyed by the church in the latter days," when faith shall be so enveloped in charity, and "perfect love which casteth out fear," so universally prevalent, that the apostolic truth will be acknowledged by all; "faith, hope, and charity will abide, but the greatest of these will be charity." The first

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advent of our Lord is described by the prophet Joel, as a period when "there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, blood and fire, and vapour of smoke," when the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood." Alluding to the almost total absence of divine love in the minds of men, and the consequent want of all true faith. In the same terms is the Lord's second advent described. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven;" thus showing that the second coming of the Lord would be at a period when there would be no true faith, and when charity would be altogether darkened.

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CORRESPONDENCE OF THE HORSE.-One of the most frequent, as well as one of the most remarkable of scriptural symbols is the horse. Its consideration will be found highly interesting; it represents the intellectual principle or understanding of man; the colour, whatever it may be, denotes the quality; and the rider or director, represents the guiding power of the mind. To illustrate this, we shall select the 6th chapter of Revelations, which contains, in the opening of the seven seals, by far the most remarkable application of this correspondence. In this vision, the horse, as a symbol of the understanding, is most conspicuous, and represents the successive states of the church, even to its decline. The opening of the first seal exhibits "a white horse"-the symbol of purity of faith in love—while he that sits on him, "the Word," or wisdom, is crowned, and "goes forth conquering and to conquer." In this state the church is pure in faith, and the Word of God mightily grows and prevails. The second seal opened, shows a red horse. Here the understanding of truth had deteriorated-faith was no longer pure, but still charity was not wholly gone. He that sat on him, the same Word or Wisdom of God, becomes now, through the perversion of man, and the endless disputes of those who, "thinking themselves wise," were really "fools," a source of contention and division. Sects and parties, all drawing their weapons from the letter of the Word, war with each other, and that Word, which in the first state of the church went forth to conquer, now takes peace from the earth, and enables men spiritually to

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destroy each other. And thus ends the second state of the church, and the first of its decline. When the third seal is broken, the state of the church is still worse-charity and faith are alike extinguished. The horse is now black. The understanding is completely darkened through the influence of evil: charity has waxed cold, and the love of God and the neighbour are little regarded. He that sits on him (the same Word as before) has a pair of balances; while 66 a measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny," shows the low estimation in which spiritual good is held. Still, however, there were some, remains of good and truth, but rather suffered to remain, than encouraged or promoted: see that thou hurt not the oil and the wine."-The fourth seal shows the climax. The horse is now a pale or colourless one, and the Word, which was at first 'the savour of life unto life," has now become "the savour of death unto death." He that sat on him was death, and hell (the state of the dead) followed him." The Word is now perverted, and that which was intended for the food of the soul, becomes under the perversions of those who receive it, a deadly poison. As the same earth and water which, in the grain of wheat, becomes a nourishing substance, becomes in the nightshade and poppy, a poisonous juice; so the Word of God, which to the humble and sincere recipient, is spiritual health, is to the proud follower of error, spiritual death. "He that sat on him was death, and hell followed him." "And power was given unto them to kill by the sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth." Here the rider on the horse is said to do that which the perversions of men themselves effect. As the Scriptures, wrested and perverted, become (not in themselves) but through the evils of the receiver, a source of condemnation; so the Word of God, thus perverted in the church, slays spiritually those who receive it. As the sword of the spirit is truth, so the sword of evil is error: by this sword thousands and tens of thousands were spiritually slain. Thousands again, by a famine of the Word, were destroyed for lack of knowledge; and tens of thousands more were undone by their own evil and sensual affections-those "beasts of the earth" that go about "seeking whom they may devour."

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Again, in the nineteenth chapter of the same book we read, "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True :he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called the Word of God." Here the horse, as in the first seal, is the purified understanding or intellect of man; and the rider, as before, is God as the Word" or wisdom, guiding and governing the understanding. On the white horse he is said to go forth to war, because it is by means of the understanding of truth alone, that the Word conquers and overcomes its enemies. Without the understanding being guided, without mounting "the white horse," the Word makes no conquests: but the Word or truth of God, or rather God as the Word, is said to be clothed with a vesture dipped in blood." Now as the blood is the life of the body, so love or affection is the life of the soul: and a vesture or garment dipped in blood, denotes the quality of the truth: it is truth encircled by, and clothed with, love. The whole vision represents the destruction of evil and falsehood, through truth united to love, operating by means of the understanding, and guiding and working by the intellect of man, through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Our Lord's entering Jerusalem on an ass is another instance of the application of correspondence. An ass signifies the natural or scientific mind; and it was not merely as an instance of humility that he thus rode into Jerusalem (for kings do not scruple to ride on asses in eastern countries); but to teach that the Lord rules the natural mind and affections of man, and guides them towards that heavenly Jerusalem of which the earthly was a shadow.. Thus, in even those parts which seem to have little meaning, the Scriptures, in their correspondent sense, open up views of beauty and truth which are of the highest importance to the welfare of man.

Having gone through the principal rules which relate to the correspondent sense, we now proceed to give a few illustrations from the different kingdoms in nature, stating the meaning, and the reason for the meaning, derived from the natural qualities of each; from which it will be seen that the correspondence between the natural and spiritual object is not, and cannot, be arbitrary; but that the former

is so constituted, and possesses such qualities, as plainly to point it out as the representation of the other.

To every intelligent mind this science, the most ancient, as well as the most important, is of the utmost use. Not only does it afford a key, by which the wonders of the Word of God are revealed to man; but by representing every natural thing as a mirror, in which some perfection of the Deity is imaged, it affords a rich and intellectual treat to the soul. The study of nature, therefore, leads to the adoration of the God of nature. It is no longer a system of dry matter of fact, having reference only to outward nature; but every fresh fact elicits new spiritual light. and every fresh accession of the knowledge of nature, leads the mind upward to a contemplation of that kingdom of spiritual glory, when ultimately the correspondencies shall give place to the real objects.

ILLUSTRATIONS FROM THE THREE KINGDOMS IN NATURE. DEFINITION OF CONTINUOUS AND DISCRETE DEGREES.-There are three kingdoms in nature; the mineral, the vegetable, and the animal. These three Kingdoms depend upon each other, and all depend upon what may be called the meteoric kingdom, which, though named last, is in importance, first.

The meteoric kingdom consists of the sun, moon, planets, fixed stars, etc.: the atmosphere, dews, clouds, rain, vapour,

snow, etc.

The mineral kingdom is composed of metals, earths, rocks, stones (whether what are called precious or otherwise), sand, clay, etc.

The vegetable kingdom comprehends plants, shrubs, trees, flowers, blossoms, fruits, seeds, etc.

The animal kingdom has insects, reptiles, fish, birds, beasts, man.

The meteoric kingdom gives rise to the mineral, by the influence of the sun upon the atmosphere, and this upon the earth, producing metals, rocks, and stones.

The mineral kingdom acts on the vegetable; there being in the former, substances which act as connecting media between it and the latter, producing ultimately, shrubs, plants, roots, and trees; and, in its turn, the vegetable is connected by a medium (partly vegetable and partly animal) with the animal: while it (the vegetable)