vital principles of truth and love, it is like the skull emptied of its brains. The declension and fall of the church is from interior principles of truth and love to external professions of religion, and to empty principles of worship. It then has the mere " form of godliness, and none of the power thereof;" it is like "a whited sepulchre, which may appear beautiful indeed without, but inwardly full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness." In our external man resides our sensual nature, together with our selfish and worldly principles, so closely associated with our evils and with the powers of darkness. It is by the inordinate activity and supremacy of these principles that all holy truth is perverted, the church destroyed, and the Lord himself crucified. Thus Golgotha, or the place of a skull, represents the death of every heavenly and spiritual principle in the mind and in the church. When led by our sensual nature to oppose and pervert the truths of the Word, or the divine principles of heaven, we are on our way to Golgotha, where everything constituting the church within us will be destroyed. That which brings the church to Golgotha, or to its consummation and its end, is the falsification of the truths of the Word, and the perversion in consequence of all its goodness and its love. Its falsification is effected by false doctrines, the "vain traditions of men;" and its goodness and love is destroyed by the application of its truths to merely selfish and worldly ends. Thus "they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall," to shew to us that they not only added cruelty to his sufferings, but that they thereby represented the entire perversion of every truth in his Word. Ther vinegar signified the falsification of truth, and the mingling of it with gall denoted its perversion and destruction by evils of every kind. Gall is the refuse, or fœces of the blood, and has a similar signification to the fœces of the body. Vinegar, therefore, mingled with gall, denotes the direst falsification of truth, and the entire perversion of all goodness from the Word in the church. The Lord did not drink it, to denote that no falsification and perversion can possibly be accepted by Him, because utterly destructive of the happiness of man; for the Lord's hunger and thirst, when mentioned in the Word, signify the infinite ardour of his divine love for the salvation of the human race. This salvation is effected in proportion as we "hunger after righteousness," or as we receive his love and his truth,-as we eat his flesh and drink his blood. But when his truth is perverted,-when the wine becomes vinegar, and when this is mingled with gall, or with evils of every kind, it is impossible that our worship can be grateful to him, and that we can be saved. In John we read that they "put the spunge filled with vinegar upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth, which he received," to denote that the truth among the Gentiles, although perverted by fallacies and by traditions of various kinds, from their not having the Word, could nevertheless be purified, and thus serve as a medium of salvation. For hyssop denotes a medium of purification. (4. C. 7918.) See Lev. xiv. 4-7; Num. xix. 6, 18; and especially in Psalm li. 7, where it is expressly said, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean." MINUS. REVIEW. SERMONS, DOCTRINAL, MISCELLANEOUS, AND OCCASIONAL, by THOMAS O. PRESCOTT. pp. 358. Glasgow: BELL and BAIN, St. Enoch's Square. London: HODSON, and NEWBERY. Manchester: LEON KENWORTHY. THIS volume of sermons, already announced in our periodical, is now before us. On surveying its contents, and on examining the manner in which the subjects are treated, we can cordially recommend it to our readers. It is quite evident that a great variety of mediums are employed, in the wise economy of Providence, in order to convey the Truth to the minds of men, and the greater the variety, the greater the efficiency of conveying instruction, and of impressing it upon the heart. Thus we hail every attempt to promote the Truth, and every individual who receives the doctrines of the New Church should become a medium, if not a preacher, still in his life and conversation, of letting his light shine before others, and of leading them to a knowledge of Truth and Love. The volume before us cannot fail to become a medium extensively useful for this purpose. The simplicity and clearness with which the greatest doctrinal truths are presented to the mind, and the affectionate and earnest tone by which they are impressed, cannot fail to affect the sincere seeker after Truth. Several of the discourses in this volume have been preached to different societies in Britain, and we have heard but one opinion as to the favourable impression they produced. All who heard them said that they were truly excellent. Others who had not the edifying pleasure of hearing them, will now, we doubt not, be delighted to read them. Our readers will see from the author's preface, here subjoined, the occasion which led to the publication of this volume : "The occasion of publishing the present volume of Sermons is as follows:-The first ten discourses constitute, with one exception, part of a series on the Doctrines of the New Church, which the writer had occasion to deliver in various parts of Western America, while on a somewhat extensive missionary tour through that region. Having been frequently urged, in many quarters, to publish the series, the writer had for some time contemplated combining with these a few other discourses, so as to form a small volume,-understanding that such a work was needed, particularly by small societies, which held meetings for public worship, but yet were without the services of a minister. Preparations had even been commenced for the undertaking, when, by a favourable concurrence of circumstances, he was induced to set out on a visit to Europe, with the double purpose of seeing the state of the Church in Great Britain, and of taking, at the same time, a traveller's view of the Old World. He thought it advisable, however, to take with him his manuscripts, in the prospect of having a good opportunity, during the leisure of the voyage, of going on with the work of revision; and thinking it probable, also, that there might be need of the sermons themselves, for use in the pulpit. Little idea, however, was entertained of publishing the volume in this country, as the writer had no expectation of remaining in any one place a sufficient length of time to render it practicable. When, however, during a somewhat protracted sojourn in this city, (Glasgow,) a highly favourable and, as it seemed, providential opportunity presented itself for undertaking the publication, he felt it a duty to avail himself of it, as thereby the circulation and consequent usefulness of the work would be greatly increased, "The volume is now offered to his brethren of the Church in both countries, and to the public generally, in the humble hope that it may be a means, under Divine Providence, of making more widely known, or of confirming where already known, the cheering and elevating truths of the New Dispensation." We could gratify our readers by presenting many interesting extracts, did our space permit, but we can only insert one on the " Excellence of the Spiritual State." To accustom ourselves to think of the spiritual world and state, is a most salutary exercise. On drawing a comparison between the natural and the spiritual state, the author says: : "We all know how imperfect this life is, at best. Even to those who have all the comforts which worldly wealth can afford, and what is far more, who are blessed with the riches of the soul, knowledge, and goodness, and love, and peace, and trust in the care and protection of Divine Providence,- -even to such as have all these advantages, there are many troubles and afflictions, arising out of the imperfect nature of this temporal state. In the first place, this is a world of space and time, and all who live in it are subject to the laws of space and time. This necessity is, alone, a great source of trial. Our friends, and those we dearly love, are called away from us, and they are absent, days, weeks, months, and all this time we cannot speak to them, and hear their pleasant voices in return, nor look with delight in their faces, and receive the answering look of affection, nor touch them and sit by their side, nor be near them; all these innocent delights are taken away from us, by the operation of the natural law of space. A hundred miles, perhaps, of air and earth are between us and the objects of our affection, and we must bear the separation, till that distance can be re-passed. But it is not so in the spiritual world-in heaven. There, as we are instructed in the delightful revelations made to the New Church,-there, space and time are unknown; there, we have only to wish, to have our wish gratified,—we have only to desire to be with one we love, and we are instantly at his side. "Again, this is a world of times and seasons, and to their influences, also, we are subject. Each year, as this ball of earth rolls round the sun, comes summer, with its excessive heat, and winter, with its cheerless and painful cold; and these, be we good or bad, rich or poor, we cannot wholly escape from. The winter wind blows right in our faces, and heeds not our shivering; and the summer sun pours down his fierce heat upon our heads, without regard to whom it falls on. These, indeed, are slight troubles; but there are consequences that spring from them, not only physical, but moral and mental, which have much effect upon our happiness. In the spiritual world-in heaven, it is not so. There, is neither the burning heat of summer, nor the harsh cold of winter; but there truly exists, what poets in fancy have described, perpetual spring; for there all things are moderate, all things are right,—all are in the "golden mean," midway between extremes. "Again, all things in this natural and material world are subject to decay and death. Matter is a thing so gross and inert, that it is comparatively a very imperfect recipient of life. The organised forms, composed of it, are easily deranged and disordered. Our own natural bodies are ever subject to injury and disease; most of us are continually suffering, in a greater or less degree, from various ailments, arising either from hereditary defects of physical constitution, or from the violence of the elements, or from the operation of the daily events of life. Decay, too, is stamped on every thing around us. The tall trees stand for a while in their beauty, and then they fall to the ground and tumble into dust. The elegant structures which we erect, and which seem to stand so strong, and look so enduring, are nevertheless perpetually, though silently and secretly, undergoing decay. Time, with his active fingers, is every where at work, plucking the cement from between the stones, and boring invisible holes into the solid material itself, and making all ready for the destruction, which is to come at last; for his work, though slow, is sure. Our friends, too, are continually dying around us, and leaving a void in our hearts. From the little infant, to the old man,— at all ages, and in all states, they are continually going, and leaving us to mourn their absence; for though, indeed, to the eye of faith, they are spiritually present, nevertheless they are not naturally present; and men, in this world, are natural beings, and to such, presence is not full and complete, unless it is natural as well as spiritual. This is the truth, and it is vain to deny it. The death of one we love, is for a time, at least, a real loss of happiness to ourselves; and for that loss we cannot but grieve; nor is it any where forbidden us by our Heavenly Father to shed the tear of natural affection. He only says to us, tenderly and after a little while, 'Now my child, wipe away your tears, and try to feel, that this temporary loss, like all the dispensations of my Providence, will be to you an eternal gain.' Such are the gentle consolations of religion. "But in the spiritual world-in heaven, there is no death nor decay. There, all things around us will be in perpetual bloom and beauty; there, our friends will be ever about us; there, those we love will be always near, and we shall enjoy their presence and their society, without fear of absence or separation, but, rather with a certainty that our union with them will be still nearer and closer and dearer, perpetually, to eternity."-pp. 191-194. Our thanks are not only due to the author, but also to the publishers, for bringing out the volume in so handsome and cheap a form. Poetry. THY WILL BE DONE! Thy will be done! O heavenly King, Its upward flight, great God, to Thee! Though I must still on earth abide, To toil, and groan, and suffer here, To seek for peace on sorrow's tide, And meet the world's unfeeling jeer;— When heaven seemed dawning on my view, And though the world can never more Though friends I loved-the dearest-best, Yet must I live-must live for those Yes, I will live-live to fulfil The noble mission scarce begun, And, pressed with grief, to murmur still— ANNA CORA MOWATT. |