mindedness, Infidelity, Bigotry, Superstition, Fanaticism, and every other AntiChristian Temper, by the Establishment of the Empire of True Divine Love, Wisdom, and Peace in the Human Bosom,'-—a [- History]. In this work, I have attempted to [present in an] historical form, first, the corruptions of [the old] church, and, secondly, the rise, growth, and effect [of the] doctrines of the new. It is comprised in ten chapters, and will [swell] to about 220 pages.

"I have now only to wish and to pray, (as I do most devoutly,) both for yourself, your family, and your Society, every blessing from the Father of Mercies, and to add how truly I remain, my dear Sir, in the spirit of this prayer, your ever-affectionate friend and brother,

"J. CLOWES."

"Manchester, Dec. 23, 1816.

"My dear Brother, I received yesterday your favor of the 14th of November, and lose no time in endeavouring to do away the impressions of disturbance which my long silence has fixed in your mind. Allow me therefore to observe, in the first place, that that silence has not been occasioned by any unfavorable idea whatsoever respecting yourself or your character, for I never heard any thing insinuated to your disadvantage by others, but quite the reverse, and therefore I have always regarded you as a pillar and shining light in the Lord's New Church, and have been ever affected towards you accordingly. If then you have not lately heard from me so frequently as you had reason to expect, it is not because I did not love and honor you, but because other incidental causes have operated to produce an effect, which I myself regret and deplore as much as you can do. For, in the first place, since I last wrote to you, I have had a severe attack of illness, which left me for several months incapable of using my pen. In the next place, on the receipt of your kind favor by Mr. Kimmel, I fully intended to make that gentleman the bearer of my reply, and accordingly waited for his return to Manchester, in the full expectation of his calling upon me, according to his promise; but, to my great concern, he either never called, or I was from home at the time, and heard nothing of him, but that he had been in Manchester, and was gone back to America. You may then depend upon it that it was no fault of mine that you did not receive by Mr. Kimmel a reply to the letter which he was kind enough to bring me, but the fault, or rather the misfortune, was, that either Mr. K. never called upon me on his return, or that I never saw him. But enough of this disagreeable business of apology, which I trust

will never recur.

"What you say of your own little flock, and of the New Church at Philadelphia, charms me, and leads me earnestly to hope that the heavenly doctrine of the New Jerusalem will dispense its manifold blessings gradually through your vast continent, and give an immense increase to the Lord's new kingdom. I have lately had several letters from Philadelphia, announcing the zeal and energy of the members of the Church in that city, and exciting a gratitude to the Father of Mercies, which no words can express. For who can say what shall be the limit of the operations of those heaven-born principles? To me it appears, that a seed is already sown, which will produce, to the most remote generations, a rich and plentiful harvest of true worshipers of the Incarnate God, and will thus hasten the happy day, when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.

"I saw, last night, the Rev. Mr. Jones, who told me that he was about making up a box for you, containing a letter and some books, and that, if I had any thing to send, he would willingly enclose it. I shall accordingly make up a small packet of some late publications, and avail myself of Mr. Jones's kind offer; but both he and I were of opinion, that this letter had better be conveyed by the packet-boat, which sails from this to your country.

"In the hope of soon hearing that you have received both this despatch and the box safe, and with devout prayers for your best happiness, and the prosperity of the New Church, I remain, dear Sir, your grateful and affectionate,

"J. CLOWES."

"Manchester, November 11, 1817.

"My very dear Brother,-Your very affectionate and welcome favor of the 29th of June was forwarded to me at the sea, whither I had retired during the summer months, for the benefit of my health; and since that period I have been such a rambler, and on my return home found such an accumulation of business, and engagements, that it has absolutely been out of my power to reply to it so soon as I could otherwise have wished. I had the pleasure of seeing your name in the 3rd No. of the Philadelphia Repository, and again in the Minutes of your first General Convention, and take this opportunity of congratulating you, as I do most sincerely, on the blessed prospect of a rich and plentiful harvest of divine graces and blessings, which your American fields present to the delighted view; and on the high honor conferred upon you, in being a labourer in that harvest. Well might the Great Saviour say, on such an occasion, 'Lift up your eyes and look on the fields,' for what sight can be more transporting, what more edifying, than to observe the seed of eternal life, growing, and producing its blessed fruit in the minds of millions of our fellow-men, who, without it, must perish in everlasting death and darkness? "It therefore appears to me, that the labourer in the harvest in England is greatly indebted to the labourer in the harvest in America, since, entering into his labours, he experiences an immense increase in his own spiritual stores, and especially in that divine grace, which is so preeminent over all others for its sanctity and its blessedness-gratitude to the Most High. May you then, my much valued friend, continue active in the use both of your ploughshare and your sickle, not only for your own sake, but for the sake also of thousands on this side of the Atlantic, who are gainers by your activity! And may the American soil repay the toil of all those who labour in its cultivation, by bringing forth first the blade, then the ear, and afterwards the full corn in the ear, to the glory of the Great Lord of the harvest, the salvation of souls, and the joy of every devout receiver of the truth in the most distant corners of the globe!

"You seem desirous to know my present sentiments on the subject of separation from the externals of the old church, and I am free to inform you, that they are still what they ever have been; nor do I at present see any sufficient reason for changing them. Yet I do not condemn those who are of a contrary opinion, because I think it best and fittest that every man should be left in this case, as in all others, to act from his own unprejudicel judgment with the most perfect freedom. Yet it appears to me, that every one is bound, on this occasion, to consult simply the guidance of the Eternal Truth, and to take good heed to himself, lest any undue influence, arising from temporal ease, gain, or glory, should tempt him, either to overlook that guidance, or to oppose it when it is seen!

"In regard to the passage on creation, which you quote from Nicholson's Dictionary, &c., it is evident to me that Mr. Nicholson has been misled by Dr. Beyer, whose words he literally translates; and that Dr. Beyer has been misled by mistaking the sense of the passage in the D.L. No. 326, to which he refers, but which, in reality, suggests no idea at all of the creation of the universe being effected of the Lord by an angel. For the passage in the original runs thus: "Ex his nunc constare potest, quod omnia universi ex usibus spectata referant in imagine hominem, et quod id testetur, quod Deus sit Homo; nam talia, quæ supra memorata sunt, non existunt circum hominem Angelum ex Angelo, sed ex Domino per Angelum; existunt enim ex Influxu Divini Amoris et Divinæ Sapientiæ Domini in Angelum, qui est recipiens, et producitur coram oculis ejus sicut Creatio Universi, ex quo norunt ibi, quod Deus sit Homo, et quod Universum creatum, quoad Usus spectatum, sit Imago Ipsius.' In English, therefore, the passage will read thus: From these considerations it may now be manifest, that all things of the universe viewed from uses, have reference in image to a man; and that this testifies that God is a man. For such things, as have been mentioned above, do not exist around a manangel from an angel, but from the Lord by or through an angel; for they exist from the influx of the divine love and the divine wisdom of the Lord into an angel, who is the recipient, and there is produced before his eyes as it were the creation of the universe, from which circumstance it is there known that God is a man, and that the created universe, viewed as to uses, is an image of him.' Now the question is, what is to be understood in the above passage by the words' such things as have been mentioned above,' of which it is said, that they do not exist around a man-angel from an angel, but from the Lord, by (or through) an angel, for it is of those things, and not of the universe, that our author says that they are of the Lord by (or through) an angel. Now the things mentioned above have manifest reference to what the author has asserted in the two foregoing pages concerning the spiritual world, in order to prove that all things of the created universe, viewed from uses, have reference in image to a man, and that this testifies that God is a man, on which occasion he testifies, that all things exist in that world according to the affections and thoughts of the angels. The author, therefore, is not here speaking, as Dr. Beyer supposes, of the first creation of the universe, but only of the external appearances in the spiritual world, as resulting from the affections and thoughts of the angels, concerning which appearances, he asserts that they are from the Lord by (or through) an angel. It is much to be lamented, therefore, that both Dr. Beyer and Mr. Nicholson have entirely mistaken the true sense of the above passage, and thus have given birth to an idea, which is at once contradictory to reason, and to the entire testimony of the venerable messenger of the heavenly doctrines of the New Jerusalem.

"In regard to your inquiry concerning baptism, &c. &c., especially concerning its effects on infants, I see nothing at all perplexing in the account which our author gives us of the subject. You seem puzzled by the idea of infants being supposed susceptible of false doctrines before the rational principle is formed, and you ask how is this? But it is well to be noted that E.S. says nothing about false doctrine, but only about inclination in favor of a perverted religion; and all this appears conceivable, since it is easy to suppose that an infant might admit an inclination to a particular religion, in case the favourers of that religion had access to such infant, and thus gain an ascendency in its affections.

"With this you will receive a copy of a new work, entitled 'The Two Heavenly Memorialists,' &c.; also a Reply to a Letter addressed to the Inhabitants of Skipton, in Yorkshire, on the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem; likewise the first part of another new work, entitled,' Scripture Histories Explained according to their Internal Spiritual Meaning;' all of which I shall be glad to hear your approbation of. The latter work is intended to be pursued through all the more remarkable histories of the Old Testament. At the same time we are advancing fast in a new translation of the Gospel according to John, to be illustrated by extracts from the writings of E.S., after the manner of the Gospel according to Matthew, published several years ago.

"You will learn from the two last numbers of our Intellectual Repository, that the editor and myself are not quite agreed on the subject of the Lord's glorification. I trust, however, that some good will be derived from the discussion, especially as it has been hitherto conducted in the spirit of brotherly love and charity. My only alarm has been, lest our adversaries should say we deny the resurrection of the Lord's body, which we must virtually deny, if we assert that the identical body, which was laid in the tomb, was not raised to life again. Yet we must contradict common sense, if we say the body was not material when it was laid in the tomb, and therefore, I can see no way of getting over the difficulty, but by supposing that the material body, which was laid in the tomb, was, at the resurrection, and by its full incorporation with the divinity, rendered a divine substantial body. It is perplexing, according to any other idea, to conceive how the body should retain, after the resurrection, the marks of the wounds in the side, the hands and feet, which it had before received.

"Excuse the length of this letter, and believe me to remain, with best love to every member of your Society, and devout prayers to the Father of Mercies for your spiritual growth in all the graces of his kingdom, dear Sir, your ever grateful and affectionate brother,

"J. CLOWES."

MATERIALS FOR MORAL CULTURE.

(Continued from page 260.)

CV.

GENUINE Doctrine teaches, that the Lord forgives those who repent, by restoring them to the actual enjoyment of His favor; and that in respect to those who do not repent, He does not take vengeance upon them, for that all punishment is from the evil of sin, which, while it is unrepented of, punishes itself. This, then, is our example. If those who injure us repent not, we must not retaliate; but if they repent, and we believe their repentance sincere, we must "restore them, in the spirit of meekness," to the love and confidence they had forfeited; and if we cannot do this entirely, owing to some degree of doubt attaching to their repentance, we must do so as far as possible.

CVI.

Goodness of disposition manifests itself by gentleness and sweetness,-gentleness, in that it is afraid to do hurt, and by sweetness, in that it loves to do good." (E.U. 50.) If "gentleness" be cultivated, "sweetness" will follow in the same proportion: but if "sweetness" be cultivated chiefly, or exclusively, a good disposition will then be simulated, rather than acquired, because the effort originates in this case with the external man, whereas, in the former case, it originates with the internal. This distinction is founded on the general principle, that good is not genuine unless it be preceded by the shunning of evil. CVII.

"Simulation, hypocrisy, cunning, and deceit, are at this day called prudence." (E.U. 54.) Real prudence, however, consists in a perception when and how to speak and act; and when to forbear; so as best to further the interests of virtue, both in respect to ourselves and others.

CVIII.

The social circle.-According to the quality of a person's social affections, is the extension of his regards, and the comprehensiveness of the circle of his benevolence, taking his own individuality as the centre. Immediately around this centre, are his family and near relations; in the next circle are those who are agreeable and serviceable to his ruling love, especially his intimate friends; and in the circumference are those opposed to his ruling love. But (as shewn in N.J.D. 89.) the character of the circles differs according to the quality of the central individuality, as formed either from heavenly love ruling, or self-love ruling, as follows:

THE REGENERATE MAN.

Centre. Individuality as formed from heavenly love ruling: thus the Lord, as the Divine Good, is the ground of the individuality of the regenerate man.

1st Circle. His family, regarded as belonging to the Lord; also near relations, so far as they love what is good.

2d Circle.-Those who are in the Lord's kingdom, and are serviceable as such; the love of whom is called charity.

THE UNREGENERATE MAN.

Individuality as formed from selflove ruling: thus the essential self, or proprium, is the ground of the individuality of the unregenerate

man.

His family, regarded as a part of self; also near relations, so far as they make themselves agreeable.

Those who are serviceable and agreeable to self; the love of whom is pronounced by the Lord to be friendship not to be commended. (Luke vi. 32.)