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itself when it is seen in its own character, and stands out as its own evidence. After the early chapters of Genesis came those parts of the Word which had been referred to as having led some people to think that a book which has so much in it about fighting could hardly be considered a respectable production, and as coming from a God of order and moral dignity. But they knew that every battle there recorded was a representative of the battle that must be fought in our souls. The history of the slaying of Goliath enabled us to see how to slay our giant lusts. The trials, troubles, conflicts, and victories recorded had all to be realized in our own souls. Every chapter had to do with some chapter in our lives, our progress, and our regeneration. When all this was known, what a book the Bible became ! The glorious Bible, which had been handed down from age to age, and had been the centre of civilization in the past, was becoming the centre of a still higher civilization, and was a divine rock upon which they could stand to do their Master's work-a divine granary from which the seed of heaven and all its glories could come, and a sacred inspiring light that would carry them through the valley of the shadow of death, and enable them to enter their glorious home, where the Word would still for ever be a continuing treasure of glory without end.

The Rev. Chauncey Giles said he had been asked to speak on the need of a definite theology concerning immortality. By a definite theology he supposed was meant a true doctrine concerning man's nature as a spiritual and immortal being. He need not try to prove to them that there was need of definite teaching concerning the subject. There was need of definite instruction and a definite theology concerning the fact of man's immortality. There was in all religions a general belief in man's immortality. The Indian looked forward to the happy hunting-ground in which he was to be accompanied by his faithful dog, and where he was to find the pleasures of the chase; the Mahometan looked forward to a heaven in which he was to find and to carry out more fully the gratifications which he had indulged in this world; the Eastern nations looked forward as their highest hope to be absorbed in the Divinity. So in all nations and all religions, Christian and pagan, they found the faint glimmering of an idea that man is immortal. The doctrine had been expressed in England, within a few years, by one of the great teachers of the Christian Church here, thus: The immortal hope, the eternal hope of man's immortality beyond this life. Notwithstanding all that had been taught about the future life, he thought he should be within the bounds of truth, and in ac

cordance with the experience of every one present, when he said that the public teaching on this subject had been so vague, so contradictory, so irrational, and so dim and misty, that it had failed to convey to the minds of the Christian world, and to men and women who had received those teachings, the clear and distinct idea that man is immortal and is to live for ever. We may acknowledge in words what we do not believe, that is, what we do not grasp as a great fact, and bring home to ourselves in such a way that it operates in full and varied power upon our motives and actions. He believed that even those present who were teachers in the New Church, and had listened to its doctrines for many years, felt, not a disbelief in the fact, but felt that there were so many shadows about it, that it seemed in a certain way so remote and indistinct, that they did not bring it home in their daily lives as a power operating upon them in all their relations. He believed that even they of the New Church needed a fuller and clearer conception, or, as sone said, a more realizing sense of the great fact that they were citizens of another country, that they were immortal. Those present that evening were still in the earth of the material body, and did not see each other, but only the earthly-enveloping garment. Who were they? Who was he? He would repeat that they needed to get a clearer conception of the great fact that they were immortal, that they were to live for ever, that they had capacities capable of expanding and developing, so that the child born to-day would and must pass beyond the present attainments of the highest angel. This was a great fact which their theology taught in a plain and clear way, but which it took a long time to grasp, so imbued had they been with the idea that they were beings of this world, and that this was the real world. It took a long time to get out of the mists of old teachings, and to conceive clearly and bring home to themselves the great fact that they were citizens of another country. And when they had brought this fact home to themselves they were at once met with another question and with greater needs. What were they when they passed into the other world? They needed teaching on that subject. Were they shadows, formless essences: was that the immortality to which they aspired? Was not that the immortality, and almost the only immortality, promised to them? No; they needed, when they had stood on the threshold of another world, and were convinced of their immortality, to know something about the nature of that life upon which they were to enter. They needed a definite theology to teach them

where they would be, and the principles which would govern their lives when they had thrown aside the veil of the material body. The whole world needed those principles, and when they could be communicated in clear and distinct forms so that men could see their rationality, and that they were necessitated by the very laws of man's being, then this fact of their immortality would loom up before them, and instead of pushing off into the unknown darkness, and becoming they knew not what, they would see that they were rising into the light. They would then see that passing into the spiritual world was not going into a world of shadows, but into a world of substance and realities, and that they who went there would be substantial and real; that the relations they would sustain to each other there were the relations which human beings sustain to each other. They would have not only the mere abstract qualities of a human nature -if any such existed-but the form, the whole of the relations. They would have the power of being made happy. They needed a theology which would teach them that, and bring it home in such a clear and positive way that they would not merely accept it as a fact, but that it should have an immense power over the life. If any man could only bring it before himself as a fact, as he brought it before him as a fact that he was to pass into the other world in a short time, as an orderly step in his life, and that the relations he would sustain to others in the world, and his capacities for happiness in that world, were to be determined by what he did to-day, by what he knew, by what he loved, by what he became; and if the teaching were such that these facts were brought home to the man as a reality, it would be unanimously agreed that they would have an immense power over his daily conduct in life. His thought would begin to rise out of the ground and pass beyond the horizon of this world, and he would say, "I am preparing for home. I am building the house in which I am to dwell for ever. I am determining to-day, according to the measure of my work, and the motives which actuate me, the position which I shall occupy through all coming years. I am determining by what I love, and by what I know, and by what I do to-day, what I shall love, what I shall know, what I shall do, what I shall enjoy, and with whom I shall be through all coming time." If this great idea of immortality came clear and distinct before them, it would have an amazing power upon them in all the relations of life.

A definite theology was also needed to teach men something more than they had been accustomed to know about them

must

Man

selves as spiritual beings. People should be taught that they had distinct planes in their minds, that they could live on a merely, natural plane even after they had left the body, or on a spiritual plane, a degree above, or in a higher region still, distinct and above that; and that if those regions of the mind were developed here, that development would determine in what plane of life the man would exist when in the other life. If a man saw clearly that he had faculties and possibilities in his nature so much higher than any merely natural faculties, than any merely intellectual qualities developed in this world, than any powers of natural affection, which were seen sweetly and beautifully developed perhaps in the domestic relations in this life; if a man had a clear conviction of this, then he could not help saying to himself, "I must do the best, develop the highest that is in me.' was an organized reception of life from God, and could receive it in various forms. The tree, the beast, the material body, the natural body, the spiritual body, could receive life in higher and higher forms, and thus man could rise. He could live low, or in the medium plane of elevation, or he could live high, and nearer, and nearest to God of any created intelligence. The higher he rose, and the more interiorly he developed the planes of his mind, the greater his happiness. Men should be taught to see clearly and fully how to develop these interior planes in their minds. They needed a definite theology concerning their immortality to enable them to make the most of this life. They needed light far beyond the clouds and the horizon of the natural world to teach them the nature of this world, to show them why they were here, and their duties, and how to perform them. If they kept this idea distinctly before them, in the shop, the kitchen, the parlour, the store, and the counting-room, in every bargain made and in every blow struck, that they were immortal, destined to an eternal life, and that that life would be determined to some extent by how the bargain was made, the blow struck, the room swept, or the food cooked; and if they would determine to make heaven in the kitchen, the store, the shop, and the factory, and to work like men, like women, like angels, how much the labour would be lightened. It would not be of so much consequence what the work was: they would make it fine, noble, angelic, by the spirit they put into it. That was heavenly work, if it was sweeping the streets, which was done from heavenly motives. If they had this idea in their minds it would enter into their natural joys and delights, and all their social relations would lift them out of the natural plane, and imbue them

with a heavenly beauty, the sweetness and purity of angelic life. What was called death had been the great shadow, the great terror, and was so to-day to Christians as well as to heathen; and they needed such a clear and definite theology upon this subject that the idea should become a part of their very being that death was a step in life, that the throwing aside the material body was the drawing aside the veil and gaining admission into a real and substantial world-was the throwing aside the fetters of time and space and the weights of the flesh, and gaining freedom, and the admission into the full enjoyment of those heavenly principles which they had made their own; and, instead of in any sense being a privation of life, was in every sense an entrance into a clearer, fuller, and more glorious life. Other speakers followed, and a most interesting meeting was closed at 10 P.M.

WELCOME TO AMERICAN NEW CHURCH MINISTERS. At the quarterly meeting of the Executive Committee of the London Association of the New Church, held on June 24th, a sub-committee was appointed to arrange for a meeting to welcome the American New Church ministers who were intending to visit the forthcoming Conference at Salford. This gathering took place accordingly at Argyle Square Church on the evening of the 8th ult., and though from various reasons the number present did not exceed 200, it was a thoroughly representative and enthusiastic assembly.

Mr. E.Austin, President of the Association for the current year, took the chair at seven o'clock, and was supported by the Revs. Chauncey Giles, Dr. Bayley, J. Presland, Messrs. Bateman, R. Gunton, and S. B. Dicks. A hymn having been sung, Dr. Bayley offered a brief prayer.

The Chairman remarked that one of the characteristics of the age in which we live is the habit which men have acquired of travelling long distances, availing themselves of the wonderful facilities for so doing, which are doubtless among the indirect effects of the Last Judgment. Especially does this seem to be the case with Americans, who delight to visit the "old country." Receivers of the doctrines would remember how, in days gone by, they had the pleasure of welcoming at various times Messrs. Carll, Hiller, Worcester, and other American ministers; but the present year was signalized by the presence in this country, at the same time, of three ordained ministers of the New Church in America, including the President of the General Convention. To celebrate this event the London Association had determined to hold a public gathering, in order that New Churchmen in London might have an

opportunity to make the acquaintance of these gentlemen, to express sympathy with their work, and to testify to the intensity of the fraternal feeling with which the New Church in America is regarded by its English brethren. Unfortunately two of the gentlemen included in the invitation, the Revs. C. A. Dunham and W. H. Benade, were unable, from various causes, to be present; but the latter gentleman had written a letter (which the Chairman read) expressing his regret that he could not attend, and wishing the Association ample success. The Chairman then, as President of the Association, heartily welcomed Mr. Giles in his double capacity as representing the New Church in America and as a New Churchman well known and loved on this side the Atlantic. From the New Jerusalem Messenger, the Chairman said, Englishmen gather details as to how the American brethren are toiling, printing their books, and carrying out that grandest of all schemes for introducing the writings of Swedenborg to the reading minds of their countrymen, which we in England have been proud as far as possible to imitate. In welcoming the President of the General Convention, the present meeting desired to show how deeply English New Churchmen sympathized in these efforts; while in welcoming Mr. Giles personally, it desired to show its appreciation of the "Trinity and Incarnation," "The Nature of Spirit," and other noble books, which had already been a source of comfort and instruction to thousands.

The Rev. Dr. Bayley followed in a speech, in which he joined heartily in the welcome to the American brethren.

The Rev. Chauncey Giles, who on rising was greeted with a most hearty outburst of applause, said that it must be gratifying to any man to learn that anything he may have done has been a blessing to others. We all know how difficult it is to bring down the principles of religion into our daily life, and we must feel interest in and gratitude to any one who gives us help. The member of the New Church sees more clearly than others the dangers which beset him-he realizes more keenly the immense loss it is to be deprived of truth; and therefore, without claiming for himself any special excellence, he (the speaker) could not but express his delight in knowing that he had been of use to any human soul. Mr. Giles then gave a very bright and interesting autobiographical sketch, of which the following are some of the particulars :—

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One of the poets has remarked that the child is the father of the man, and this has certainly been true in my case, for I can recollect nothing earlier than my desire to be a minister. Why and how I came to desire it I know not, for at that time it

seemed as probable that I should be Emperor of Russia as that I should be a minister of the Gospel. When, therefore, as a boy, I was asked what I was going to be, I would not tell, for it seemed so absurd. One day my father said to me, 'Chauncey, Mr. So-and-so offers you a situation in his store as a clerk. It is a good opening. You may perhaps some day rise to be the head of the store. I replied, 'I don't want to go.' 'Why?' 'Because I don't want to be a merchant.' As I grew up the idea grew with me, no matter whether I was chopping wood, or picking up stones, or ploughing for I have done almost everything in my time-although there was still not the slightest prospect of my desire being gratified. Every now and then I would make the hay fly or the stones flywhy? because I thought I was preaching, and quite forgot the actual work I was doing.

"At last an opportunity occurred for me to be educated, and I studied for the ministry of the orthodox Church. Then, just as the prize seemed within my grasp, my health failed and my eyesight failed, in fact I utterly broke down. This seemed to be the greatest harm that could befall me, but now I see in it how the Lord in His providence led me. I then, being unable to preach, took to teaching, and soon after 1 received the doctrines of the New Church. An old gentleman suggested one day that I should get a licence as a 'reader,' so that I might read other people's sermons to the little band of New Church people who lived in the place, which was in the State of Ohio. Then I thought that, instead of reading other men's sermons, I would write them for myself; and I remember that I thought the first one I wrote a very poor thing, and so threw it away. At last I had to decide which I would give up, teaching or preaching, and I chose the former. Of course every one thought I was a fool, or crazy; but I persisted, and here I am. I have throughout my life sought no place; and when I wrote the substance of my books, I never expected that they would be published."

After these interesting reminiscences, to the mingled quaintness and geniality of which it is impossible to do justice in a condensed report, Mr. Giles remarked that the life of every man is in some sort a type of that of the race. If every man would begin to try to do the duty which lies nearest to him in the sincere desire to be useful, having advanced one step, he would straightway see his way clearly to another -doing his duty to-day, he would find the way open to a more important duty tomorrow; and the same rule held good in the case of every Society, and of the Church a large. If any one man in one place

lived up to the glorious principles of the New Church, letting his light shine, not obtrusively, his children or grandchildren would see the New Church becoming externally, what it is even now spiritually, a power in the world.

Mr. Giles then spoke of Mr. Iungerich, telling how, coming from Germany, he had started in a small way of business as a grocer, and having accumulated wealth, was now in his declining years, while suffering from a most painful disease, engaged in distributing the writings of Swedenborg among the ministers of religion in America, and had, moreover, vested in trustees sufficient funds to continue this good work for ever. The speaker characterized this as perhaps the grandest work that is being done in the present day.

Mr. Giles then, on behalf of the great body of New Churchmen in America, who were, as he said, standing behind him, thanked the meeting for its cordial welcome and sympathy. He said it seems as if England is much further from America than America is from England, judging by the disproportion between the visits of Americans to England and vice-versa; indeed, according to etiquette, no more Americans should cross the Atlantic until Englishmen had paid a return visit.

In conclusion, he said that far from the New Church growing slowly, it was growing faster than any Church ever had done, breaking out everywhere, and moulding society in every direction. Disintegration must precede organization; and Christendom was rapidly becoming impregnated with those heavenly principles by which mankind would be lifted out of the grave of sin and death, and the Lord's kingdom come, and His will be done on earth as in heaven.

Speeches echoing and intensifying the cordial greetings already offered to Mr. Giles were subsequently made by Rev. J. Presland, Mr. Richard Gunton, and Dr. Bateman. Interspersed with these, several musical pieces were performed by the choir with great success. The Rev. Chauncey Giles then, in a few earnest words, again thanked the friends present, after which the Chairman made a few remarks, a hymn was sung, and the Rev. Dr. Bayley pronounced the benediction.

THE NEW CHURCH SOCIETY IN VIENNA. -The following letter from Dr. Cate, which appears in the Messenger of August 7th, is opportune. The sympathies of the members of the New Church in England and America will be strongly excited towards their brethren in Vienna, and they will be glad to obtain information respecting their state. We gladly, therefore, publish this letter:

"This Society was organized in the year

1868.

It has about 100 communicants, and there are 360 members of the parish, or 360 whose names are inscribed on the parish books. From the first organization of the Society, notice has been given to the police of each intended meeting, and its objects were stated, so that the police could judge whether it contemplated anything of a political or objectionable character. For several years a policeman, detailed for the purpose, attended every meeting that was held. For the last two years such attendance has been only a part of the time, but government has been fully advised of all that has transpired at the meetings of the Society.

"For five years the Rev. Herman Peisker has been the pastor of the Society, although here he has no Rev. on his card. The reason for this is that he is not recognized by the government as a Christian minister, or his Society as a Church.

"There is a goodly amount of spiritual freedom here, in a certain way, under given rules and regulations; but all must come under these regulations, or fail of a full measure of freedom. The Catholic Church is the State religion, supported by the government and free to all. Where I say supported by the government, I mean that all the expenses of the Church are paid from the public treasury, all the salaries from the Bishop to the lowest priest or deacon, and all the building of the churches and the care of them is paid from the public treasury. So the churches are all free to all who wish to attend them. For the service of marriage, baptism, and absolution some gratuity is given, but in other respects the services are free to all. Besides the support which is derived directly from the public treasury, the Catholic Church has great wealth from invested funds. Many a saintly person has left wealth to the Church, in acknowledgment of the good received at her hands; and many a sinner has left wealth to the Church to buy immunity from the pains of hell, and to secure the helpful influences of its prayers and supererogatory works to assist in elevating the delinquent to heaven. I am told that those of this last class are far more numerous than those of the former. The rich saints may somewhat abound, but the rich sinners seem to much more abound. So all along back for centuries the rich sinners have helped to bring gold to the Catholic Church, and the impression here is universal, that this Church is very rich. So between the government treasury and its own wealth it is supposed to be always fat and comfortable.

"Then the Jewish Church is large here, and has its worship fully recognised by the government. There are several Protestant Churches also here, with stated

worship and full recognition. But the government prescribes certain conditions for the recognition of a Church. According to the theory entertained here, a Church must have an external form and a confession of faith. To the former belongs a church edifice for worship and a ministry, and to the latter a statement of religious doctrines embodying a system of religion. When any religious society can come before the government and present their claim, fulfilling these conditions, recognised and permitted to enjoy its worship and administer the sacraments of its communion.

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"It is also the theory of the government that everybody must have some religion and be instructed in it. So the public schools are divided into three classes, representing the Catholic, the Jewish, and the Protestant religions. The parents are supposed to give the children religious instruction at home till they are seven years old, after that time they are to be instructed in the public schools in the religion to which they belong a stated number of hours each week. This is a liberal arrangement for those belonging to the Churches named. But the New Church Society here is poor

composed of poor people, and, I am told, all of the lower class of society. There is not one in the Society or parish who belongs to the middle class, and above the middle class is the aristocracy. So they are all at the foot of the social ladder. For some years they have rented a small hall at No. 9 Dreilaufer Gasse, where they have held their meetings for public worship, Sabbath school, etc. As was before said, notice of every meeting has been given to the police, stating the nature of the meeting and the services which would be performed. Since Mr. Peisker has been the pastor here for five years, baptism and the Holy Supper have been administered in an orderly way and at stated intervals: the Holy Supper at Christmas and Easter, and baptism according to the needs of the people. All of these services were known to the government and permitted without protest.

"But two weeks ago an order came from the police closing their place of worship, and at the same time for the seizure of their library and safe containing some four hundred guilders in money, and the securities for three thousand guilders belonging to a building fund. The alleged cause was a violation of the law which forbids the administration of the sacraments of the Church by persons not authorized to administer them. This violation has been known all along through the last five years and no notice taken of it till now. It was known to the members of the New Church Society here that the law did not provide

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