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previous period in the history of the Christian Church, and here we Christians are waging a war of mutual extermination about questions of ceremonial. Far less important than this consideration is the bearing of these struggles on the security of the Establishment. But if the High Church party is desired to take its choice between submission to a tribunal which proscribes its historical traditions, and a separation from the English Episcopate, which it shrinks from as from schism (and therefore as sin in the sight of God), the result is not difficult to foresee. Churchmen will, to a very great extent indeed, find relief from the dilemma in a third conrse, viz. co-operation with the political forces which, year by year, more and more steadily are working towards disestablishment. This is not a menace; it is the statement of a simple fact. It will, I trust, suggest to many others than those who are directly interested in the particulars of this judgment, that if the historical basis of the Church of England is to be narrowed down to the proportions of a Puritanical sect, or something very like it, it will not by any means be certain that the expulsion of the representatives of Andrewes and Keble from the ranks of the Church's ministry will be the only consequence of the proceeding."

HERESY.

The orthodox Churches in Scotland seem doomed to a succession of troublesome cases of heresy. The Free Church presbytery of Meigle has been occupied with the case of Mr. Robertson, accused of being "the author of certain publications containing passages said to be offensive to and subversive of the Word of God." The case is one which shows the extreme difficulty, if not the impossibility of free and earnest inquiry respecting the Word and the retention of faith in its plenary inspiration and divine authority, without an acknowledgment of its spiritual sense. Even the leaders in the Free Church," said Mr. R. in supporting his appeal from the kirk-session, "were unconsciously perhaps, under the influence of 'modern thought.' In illustration of that he would quote from Dr. Candish, who said in his lecture on the Infallibility of Holy Scripture,-'It'seems somehow to be imagined by some that men infal

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libly directed by the Holy Spirit, and conscious or assured of their being so, must feel themselves under the pressure of a strong restraint, obliged to pick their steps, if I may so say, with extreme nicety and delicacy; to be very scrupulous and fastidious in telling what they have to tell. I apprehend that we might expect the very opposite effect to be produced on their modes of thought and expression. I

can well believe that a man writing under the assurance of a Divine guidance might take liberties in dealing with certain subjects, which, if left to himself, he would by no means have considered it warrantable to take.' Now, these words were written by the Rev. Dr. Candlish, who said in the preface to his book-'Every word of the Bible is what it is and where it is by the Divine will of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is responsible for its being what it is and where it is.' Had he (Mr. Robertson) wished to caricature the infallibility of Scripture he could not have used more offensive or subversive language than Dr. Candlish did in the passages quoted. And yet in the presence of the dogma of the supreme authority of the Bible over reason he (Dr. Candlish) could not help him. self. His intelligence as a man saw the human errors and mistakes in the book, but his prejudices as a theologian defending Bible infallibility drove him to apologies which degraded the Deity below the trustworthiness of a common writer of history.'

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The teachings of Mr. Robertson, however, are so fatal to all belief in the Bible as the inspired Word of God, that the presbytery seem to have unanimously sustained the sentence of excommunication which had been adopted by the kirk-session. These continual trials mark, however, a phase of the controversy respecting the Divine authority of the Word, and make manifest the unsettled state of the minds of the prominent teachers in most Christian communities. The great problem of the relation of reason to revelation is forcing not a few to the adoption of sentiments respecting the Word of the most disparaging kind. Mr. Robertson was reported to have said that a belief in "the Divine origin, authority, and perfection of the Old Testament Scriptures was as unreasonable and false as any superstition

to which the human mind had ever been in subjection; and the evidence adduced from the historical books of the Bible," he stated in the conclusion of his pamphlet, "exhibited how utterly false and unworthy of an enlightened people was the superstition that the entire Bible is the holy, authoritative, infallible Word of God."

The presbytery could not be expected to sanction such teaching as this, but its correction will require more than the forensic decisions of Church courts. Heresy can only be banished from the Church by true doctrine and enlightened exposition of the Word; and the teachers of the Church have before them a work which will tax their utmost efforts, and for the accomplishment of which they will require better aid and a higher authority than the Westminister Confession.

SWEDENBORG.-A correspondent sends us the following account of a lecture on Swedenborg recently delivered at Bolton:-"During the past two months, a course of Sunday Evening Lectures has been given in the Bank Street (Unitarian) Chapel, Bolton, upon Religious Reformers.

The

third lecture of the series was given on the 12th February, on Emanuel Swedenborg, by the Rev. George Fox of Park Lane, near Wigan. Mr. Fox treated his subject in a most appreciative manner, and did justice to the learning, the worth, and the purity of Emanuel Swedenborg. In the course of the lecture, he remarked-Swedenborg is a mystery.

I find it difficult for

me to form an opinion concerning his pretensions. I dare not call him a madman, I cannot designate him an imposter, yet I hesitate to accept him as a prophet. He is a philosopher, a man big in body and mind.

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He reveals so much of truth that one is tempted to accept his statements beyond the limits of one's convictions; and yet again there is such a fanciful mode of reasoning, such a matter-of-fact way of dealing with heavenly secrets, that one finds it hard to receive his visions and interpretations as real. Whatever opinion however prevails, it must be conceded that he was a most wonderful genius-a man of simple and unassuming character-alike courteous and gentle in heart and life, with deep spiri

tual insight, and possessed of profound knowledge and wisdom. While rejecting some of the fundamental doctrines of his theologic system, I reverence him for his purity of life and for his marvellous intellectual and spiritual capabilities. I do not hesitate to consider him as one of the greatest interpreters of the spiritual aspects of religion the world has seen. So far as I have read his works, I must say, that though much seems far-fetched, strange and fanciful, I am astonished at the knowledge, wisdom, and power displayed. I am indebted to Swedenborg for some of the most cherished of my thoughts.' The lecturer next briefly reviewed the career of Emanuel Swedenborg as a philosopher, asserting that he anticipated many scientific facts whose discovery has been credited to more modern men; and proceeded :- Hitherto Swedenborg had been noted for his great scientific knowledge and celebrity; in all scientific matters his fame stood high.

He had arrived at a time of life when one might suppose the nature of his life might be fixed, when he appeared to the world in altogether a new character. At the mature age of fiftyfour he announced that he beheld a vision, in which his spiritual sight was opened to see in perfect wakefulness what was going on in the other world, and to converse with angels and spirits.

From that time he gave up worldly learning, and devoted himself almost entirely to the task of recording his visions and illustrating his theology.

Swedenborg, in his matter-offact way, describes heaven and hell with wonderful precision. Whether these are as he describes or not, he certainly writes like an eye-witness, and with a certain unconscious simplicity and naturalness, leading to the belief that he did see in some vision, though one cannot tell how, what he has recorded. Whatever may be said of his pretensions as a seer in relation to the minute particulars of the other life, on which he has so largely written, it does appear indisputable that he possessed a more than ordinary vision, that in fact he was gifted with what may be called second sight." Here Mr Fox related the well-known anecdotes concerning the fire at Stockholm,' &c., concluding with, 'These stories are related on the best evidence. I

do not pretend to explain them. These anecdotes of Swedenborg are not his credentials; his position is to be judged rather by his revelations than by his second sight.' A brief, but accurate résumé of the theology of Swedenborg was next given by the lecturer, who also commended the works of Emanuel Swedenborg to the attention of all lovers of truth. The interesting lecture was brought to a close in the following terms: If I am not prepared to submit myself entirely to his explanations of truth, I acknowledge the benefits I have derived from reading what I have read of his. I reverence him as one of the giants of the earth whom God sometimes permits to enter to educate and advance the human race. Swedenborg is one of the world's great representative men. He is truly one of the world's benefactors, for whom mankind is both the better and the richer.'"" J. D. A similar lecture to the above was delivered by the Rev. F. R. Young, in the Free Christian Church, New Swindon, as the first of a series on Great Men of the Christian Church." This lecture is reported at some length in the North Wilts Herald of February 6th. It contains notices of the new Church as well as of Swedenborg. Speaking of the latter, he says:-"The claims of that eminent man had been met by total rejection, total and unquestioning acceptance, or, as in his (the preacher's) individual case, with a mixture of rejection and acceptance; many persons feeling themselves unable to attribute infallibility to Swedenborg's utterances, but, at the same time, having a most profound regard for his mighty intellect and his manifestly true views of God and man."

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Taking as his guide the life of Swedenborg by "his friend Mr. William White," he imitates his author by introducing into his discourse features of character to the disadvantage as well as the advantage of Swedenborg. His general treatment, however, could scarcely fail to remove prejudice and to create an interest in the writings of our

great author. The following extract

somewhat abbreviated, will give a fair specimen of this lecture :-"His (Swedenborg's) was an eminently scientific mind, and he had a rare love for searching out and understanding the facts

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and laws of all phenomena. He was also a considerable financier, so much so, indeed, that at the Swedish Diet of 1751 the most solid memorials on finance were from his pen. Whether he anticipated much of the science of the present day, or not, had been questioned; but this at least was certain, that his purely scientific works must ever remain as monuments of his unwearied research and subtle powers of examination. But it was in the year 1743, that, to use his own words, the Lord Himself was graciously pleased to manifest Himself to his unworthy servant, in a personal appearance, to open his sight to the spiritual world, and enable him to converse with spirits and angels.' The statement thus made by him at first, was made all the way through, down to his very death-hour. The first effects of this new experience were blinding and confusing; but, after two years had passed away, the storm subsided into a calm, the eyes became used to the great light, and his whole being became an organized power for good. Immediately he began to write, in Latin, and publish volumes of his expositions of Genesis and Exodus, the mysteries of Heaven and Hell, the Doctrine of the Lord, the Laws of Providence, the Laws which underlie Marriage, an Exposition of the Apocalypse, &c., &c. The circulation of these works during his lifetime was inconsiderable, both in his own country, the continent, and England. But since his death they had been translated into English, Welsh, French, Italian, German, Swedish, and even Icelandic. The style of his works was my no means flowing and poetic, except in rare instances, while almost all their matter was so abstruse that lovers of the periodical literature of the day would find their perusal a fatigue. And yet there was no exaggeration in the assertion that no other single theologian of the last 200 years could be named whose mind was of equal power, and who by his works had rendered so great a service to pure and undefiled religion. His seership was a great fact, and a gift of wonderful magnitude. He denied a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, but taught that there was a Trinity of Principles; and that the names Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, were but names for the Divine Essence, the Divine Manifestation, and the

Divine Energy, and that the Lord Jesus Christ was Himself the only and Eternal God. He taught that the natural and spiritual worlds were set over against each other, the last being symbolized in the phenomena of the first. He taught that the genuine Scriptures contained an external and an internal sense, and that the internal sense was absolutely and infallibly true, in every minute particular. His work on heaven and hell was the most profound volume on that subject in any language, but it was burdened and darkened with the terrible error of the dogma of eternal damnation. He did not appear to have understood very fully many of the doctrines of orthodoxy, and much that he wrote against justification by faith alone, the doctrine of the Atonement, &c. &c., would be very properly repudiated by intelligent orthodox believers of the present day," [but not in the time in which he wrote,] "as caricatures rather than fair representations of the matters in dispute. But he taught, with tremendous energy and rare felicity, the absolute necessity of piety in the heart and good works in the life, or love to God and love to man, as the alone foundations upon which human happiness here and hereafter could be securely built. Mr. Young went on to say that the sect bearing the name of the "New Jerusalem Church" owed its existence to a number of Wesleyans who left the parent body; but, principally, to a man named Robert Hindmarsh, a printer, and the son of a Wesleyan preacher. The members of the sect were ordinarily highly intelligent, while their lives, morally speaking, were very much above the average. But in their ecclesiastical relations they were painfully exclusive, and they appeared to look down upon those who did not agree with them with a kind of mild pity which narrowly escaped from passing into contempt.

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DURATION OF THE EARTH.-The doctrine of the destruction of the world by fire, as supposed to be involved in the prophecies respecting the Lord's second coming, and taught by the Apostle Peter, has been the subject of an exciting discussion in the town of Maidstone. The question appears to have been introduced by a scientific lecture on "The Forces of Nature." in which the lecturer

endeavoured to find scientific reasons for the expected destruction of the earth. The lecture was followed by a sermon in the parish church by the Vicar on 2 Peter iii. 10, 11. In this discourse the preacher gave a strictly literal interpretation of the text, and an imaginative description of the burning elements, in which, while the righteous are miraculously preserved, the wicked will be burnt up. These discourses seem to have excited considerable attention, and were followed by letters in the local papers criticizing their statements and arguments. The members of the New Church resident in the neighbourhood were not backward to avail themselves of the opening thus made to call public attention to higher and truer views of Scripture teaching on the subject. Our active and earnest friend, the Rev. Mr. Marsden, has published two pamphlets on the subject, in which he discusses in the light of the teachings of the New Church the several topics to which prominence has been given in these discourses and the subsequent discussions. These topics take a wide range. Besides the passages immediately appealed to, "The Days of Noah," The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, &c., &c., are introduced. A third pamphlet is in the press, which will complete the series. Lectures have also been delivered by Dr. Bayley and Mr. Gunton, which have been very favourably received, and left an abiding impression on the minds of many whose attention had thus been attracted to these important inquiries. Further efforts will doubtless be made by our friends to diffuse right views respecting the Lord and the glory of His second coming.

BERLIN, ONTARIO, CANADA.-The Messenger of March 1st gives the following account of the temple erected by the members of the New Church at this place, and of its dedication :-"The members and friends of the New Jerusalem in Berlin and vicinity will long remember, with unalloyed pleasure, the opening of their beautiful new temple for divine worship. Being, as it is, the most beautiful structure of its kind, not only in Berlin, but in the whole county, it stands a monument of the zeal of the Society. The building is composed of

stone, beautifully edged with white dressed stone, and built in the pure Gothic style, in the form of a cross, the top of the cross being towards the east. The size of the building is eighty by thirty-two feet, except the two arms of the cross, which project five feet beyond the main building on each side. The steeple rises 103 ft. from the ground, and is surmounted by a cross. The basement is divided into three apartments, the largest being intended for the Sunday-school and social gatherings; of the other two, one is the pastor's room, the other contains the heating apparatus. The entrances to the vestibule are from the west, by two doors. Above the right-hand entrance in the bottom of the steeple, is a tablet with a representation of the open Bible in the centre, with the all-seeing eye above, and the words, 'Nunc Licet' beneath it. Surrounding the Bible is the inscription, Verbum Domini manet in Eternum,' and beneath is the name of the church, and the date 1870. From the vestibule the audience-chamber is gained by two short curved flights of stairs. At the further end of the room is the chancel, containing on the right the pulpit, with the words, Nunc Licet inscribed on it. On the left is the reading-desk, and further back are the communion table and the repository for the Scriptures, this last is a beautiful piece of carved work and white pine; at the top are the initials 'I. H. S.' and a cross. The circular light behind the chancel contains the monogram, 'Alpha, Omega,' in its centre. The organ occupies the north wing of the Church, and contains 632 pipes. It is beautifully carved, and is made to correspond with the main building. On it are the words, 'Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord." Next to the organ is the baptismal stand. The cost of the Church, including the organ, has exceeded $7000. On Sunday, 29th ult., at 10.30 A. M., the dedication took place. The service was commenced with the beautiful dedicatory ceremonies of the New Church, the music being under the able direction of Mr. Zöllner, of Waterloo, Miss Zöllner presiding at the organ; after which Mr. Türk, pastor of the Society, delivered a most excellent sermon from Genesis xxviii. 17, 'How dreadful is this place! this is none

other but the house of God.' He was listened to with deep attention by an audience of upwards of 500, many of whom had probably never heard a New Church sermon before. At 2 P.M. the rite of baptism was administered to six infants, and the Holy Sacrament was partaken of by quite a large number. In the evening the Rev. J. Parker, of Toronto, delivered a very able and impressive address to a very crowded house. His text was taken from John viii. 31, 32. On Christmas Day, Mr. Türk and Mr. Parker dedicated the new chapel, lately erected by the Toronto Society. Mr. Türk intends to preach in English every second Sabbath evening. This will give great pleasure to the English portion of the Society."

CONFERENCE FUNDS.-We are informed by the treasurer, that a benevolent lady, recently removed into the spiritual world, has manifested her desire for the progress and support of the Church, by bequeathing to its various institutions the sum of £1,400. this sum, £700 is to be invested by Conference for the benefit of the church, library, and schools at Bath; the other £700 being £100 each for seven of the Church institutions.

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NATIONAL MISSIONARY INSTITUTION. -The national missionary is at the time of our going to press pursuing his labours in the north. These services will close on the 19th of March at York. The only services of which we have received notice are at Middlesborough-onTees, where Mr. Gunton, in the month of February, gave a course of lectures in the Town-hall, and preached in the Society's meeting-room on the Sabbath. The first lecture is partly reported in the Middlesborough Exchange newspaper, and from this report we learn that the lectures were favourably received, and followed by animated discussion at the close of each lecture. In introducing his first lecture, Mr. Gunton said:- "We lived in an age of progress, and it would seem strange if there was not progress in their understanding of religious truth, as well as in every other description of knowledge. No part of the world's history, he believed, ever indicated such rapid strides in the development of knowledge as the last fifty years. And could they for a moment conclude that they understood

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