spirit of piety. Charity cannot truly exist in the bosom without piety; and piety is empty and void, and merely formal and hypocritical, without charity. Whatever, therefore, tends to the promotion of piety is a great blessing to the mind. But in the New Church piety will ever be attended with intelligence; the understanding will be opened to see truths in their light, and the interior things of the spiritual life. Nor have the real members of the New Church from its commencement been insensible to the uses and graces of piety; although some who have been filled with abhorrence at the empty forms of an hypocritical piety in a fallen church, may have gone to an opposite extreme, and neglected the externals of piety altogether, yet in proportion as the spiritual life has been their great object, -the kingdom of heaven in the first place, and its righteousness,-they have been soon brought back to the necessity and uses of piety, which cannot be neglected without causing weakness and injury to the spiritual life. The labours of the late venerable Clowes in this province of the Lord's vineyard are truly excellent. All his works are written in a strain of the most exalted piety. The admirable works by Mr. Mason on this subject, especially his "Help to Family and Private Devotion," &c., should be in every family. Although much has been already prepared by the writers in the New Church to assist in cultivating an enlightened and fervent piety, yet every effort tending in this direction, if characterized by true and exalted sentiments, will be welcome to the mind seeking to have its conversation in heaven." In this, as in most other respects, the greater the variety of means, the greater the probability that every state of mind will be met with its proper nourishment and support. 66 What we stated in our former notice, "that these 'Spiritual Reflections' are well calculated to awaken sentiments of piety, love, and intelligence, and to strengthen the mind in its heavenward course of Christian duty and holiness of life," has, from remarks we have frequently heard, been abundantly verified. As a specimen of these "Reflections" we will here subjoin THE BURNING BUSH. "And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt."Exod. iii. 3. "Moses, who kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, led the flock to the back side of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. Here it was that the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush ; and although the bush burned with fire, yet it was not consumed. It was this most remarkable phenomenon that led Moses to say, 'I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.' 66 'The spiritual instruction involved in this appearance is so strikingly beautiful, that we are lost in wonder as we contemplate it. There was a reason for the Lord appearing in this manner to Moses: from the midst of this burning bush the Lord called him to be the deliverer of the Israetites from Egyptian bondage, and from this it was that he received his first instruction as to how he was to proceed in effecting their liberation from a land of bondage, and in bringing them into a land flowing with milk and honey. (Verse 17.) "When we contemplate any subject in the Bible, it should be for the purpose of drawing forth the truth to be a light to our path, that we might be led by it to the land of promise. Reflect, O man! and know that we are all, more or less, by nature, in the state denoted by Egyptian bondage. We cling with too much fondness to the things of time and sense; in this way the body enslaves the soul, and the flesh makes a captive of the spirit. The WORD of GOD is the appointed medium through which the Lord speaks to us; he calls us to come out of the bondage of falsehood and iniquity, and to enter into the freedom of truth. Now the bush with its burning flame is a beautiful emblem of the Word of God in its literal sense, out of which the Lord speaks in love and mercy to all. The bush here named is literally a bramble-bush, and signifies truth in its lowest order, in its letter: it is divine truth terminating in the lowest kind of knowledge or science. The fire in the bush is, according to the universal language of correspondence, the divine love within the Word, and shining through it. The divine love is a fire that glows with everlasting freshness, and burns without consuming. It pervades every part of the Word of God, and is the living fire in the bush, giving life and warmth to its letter, and beauty to every jot and tittle. This fire in the bush is as creative love in the bosom of wisdom, shining forth to preserve truth in its outward clothing. It is the ground of the divinity and inspiration of the WORD, and the only reason why it cannot be dissipated. If Holy Scripture is to be destroyed, its inspiration and divinity must be withdrawn; if the bush is to be consumed, the fire must be put out. The Lord, in mercy, still speaks to us by means of his Word. He calls to us out of the burning bush, and instructs us how we are to proceed in leaving the bondage of sin in order to attain the spiritual life of liberty and peace. Turn aside, reader! as Moses did, from the follies and sins of the world, and ardently seek the truth-that truth that will enlighten thy soul, and bless thee in thy walk of life. God is nigh to aid you: He will speak to you from the burning bush, and as he gave Moses power to rescue the Israelites from their bondage, so will he grant thee power to liberate the powers and faculties of thy soul from the slavery of sin, and bless thee with liberty, righteousness, and peace." 66 The "Book of Family Worship," &c., also at the head of this paper, is likewise well adapted for its purpose. It takes a wider range than the former, and contains "Prayers, Illustrations of Scripture, and Psalms and Hymns." The portion already published contains the "Family Devotion" for the first week only, and consists of 40 pages. This portion is presented (says the author) to the public as a sample of the work," from which the reader is presumed to judge of the entire production. We have examined this "sample," and we are bound to say, that it is an admirable specimen of spiritual intelligence, combined N. S. NO. 113.-VOL. X. P with sentiments of holy and enlightened piety; and whether the author. whose name we do not know, is supported or not, as to the expenses of carrying out his design by the sale of the work (which is certainly the legitimate mode of sustaining him in his undertaking), we sincerely hope that means will be found to enable him to proceed with the publication. The members of the New Church have now no need to complain of the lack of works suited to the promotion of piety on the most enlightened principles. The harvest is great, may the labourers be numerous! In speaking thus favourably of the work, we wish, however, to guard ourselves with the declaration, that our remarks only extend to the "sample" before us. We have waited some time to see whether other numbers would make their appearance, that we might be in a position to judge more correctly of the undertaking, and the manner in which it is executed; but as no other numbers have appeared, we wish to give the undertaking what encouragement we can, and we hope our readers will not fail to procure it. There is one subject which we desire strongly to impress upon attention of our readers. It is this, no substitute will ever do, as a means of devotion and spiritual edification, in the place of the HOLY WORD. These "Spiritual Reflections," and this "Book of Family Worship" are not intended as a means of devotion separate or apart from the Word, but as helps to enable the mind spiritually to understand its Divine Truths. The Word should always, first be read; for the Word, owing to the correspondences in which it is written, opens heaven to the mind, which no other work can do; and it is the opening of heaven and the consequent descent of holy and heavenly influences which essentially constitute the edification of the soul. When, however, our understandings are opened to understand the Scriptures as by these helps we may be enabled to do, there is every reason to believe that consociation with the minds of angels is more closely effected than when the Word is understood only as to its letter, according to the following assertion of Swedenborg:-"The angels observed," that if man were aware of the existence of the spiritual sense, and when reading the Word, were to admit some knowledge of it to influence his thoughts, he would enter into interior wisdom, and into a still closer conjunction with heaven, because by means of that sense he would enter into ideas similar to those of angels."-Heaven and Hell, 310. 195 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. TO THE EDITOR. SIR,-I send you an extract from a letter which I have recently received from the Cape of Good Hope, under date of November 17th, 1848; and as it contains some gratifying information relative to the state of the New Church in that colony, it will, no doubt, be interesting to your readers. The writer is the same person from whose letter you inserted some extracts in your number for August, 1845; and about that time I sent him out a supply of New Church books. He had a further supply last summer; and again writes for more. You will learn from the following extract, the good use which he makes of them. Yours, &c., London. J. S. H. "You will, no doubt, be glad to hear what progress the New Church is making in this part of the world; and I am happy to say that it is making more way than I could have anticipated. After receiving the doctrines myself, like most ardent minds, I was very desirous that others should receive them also. They became almost the constant theme of my conversation;-perhaps not at all times prudently so. "The first step I took was to re-publish the little tract- Inquiry into the Laws according to which the Word of God is written.' This I distributed. It appeared to make but little impression; indeed it rather excited opposition and ridicule, but, notwithstanding, I continued to talk; and the situation in society which I hold here being perhaps a little influential, it might have had some degree of effect on a few minds. "The next decided step I took, was to request some eight or ten gentlemen to give me one evening of their attention to hear a lecture from Mr. Noble's Plenary Inspiration Asserted,' &c. which they did; and so satisfied were they, that most of them attended the reading of the whole. At the close, I had the pleasure to hear several declare, that all their scepticism with respect to the Word was fully removed; and two or three Unitarian gentlemen expressed themselves fully convinced of the sole and supreme Divinity of the Lord. Since this period, now for more than twelve months, I have been, every week, reading various parts of the works of Noble, and other authors, in the shape of lectures; and on Sunday evenings I read sermons and other works of a more devotional character. These meetings have been generally attended by from ten to sometimes twenty, and even more, respectable and intelligent persons. Just at this time I am again going through Noble's Plenary Inspiration, which I have advertised; and I read the first of the course last Saturday evening. It was attended by thirty persons, who almost all expressed themselves much delighted with what they had heard. The editor of our leading journal (a Methodist) was present, as well as one of the most intelligent, respectable, and pious among the Church of England; and they both declared themselves so much pleased that they heartily thanked me for the lecture, and expressed their intention to hear the whole course. "I have also begun to publish a monthly tract, of twenty-four pages, entitled 'A Star from the East, or, the Reflector,' consisting mostly of selections from the Repository. This costs (400 in number) £6. per month, including advertising and postages. I send about 100 away gratis, direct on publication, and give away about 200 more in the course of the month, reserving 100 in the hope that, when their value is seen, they may be called for to bind up. I made a collection among my friends to assist me in the cost of publishing, and obtained £36.,-one gentleman giving £10. This will enable me to publish six numbers, at any rate; and I have little doubt of being able to raise £6. a month for its continuance after this is expended. I had £3. sent me from Town last week in aid. I do not, at present, sell more than ten copies. I send a copy to every minister and serious intelligent person I can hear of in the colony. The first number excited a sneer from one of the public papers, and another professed to criticise it a little; but our friend Sam Sly,' in his African journal, shewed him that he was writing about what he did not understand. "I think that I can safely say that about twelve intelligent persons have become decided receivers of the New Church doctrines, by the efforts which I have made; among whom may be reckoned some who were almost of an infidel cast; some Churchmen, Unitarians, Methodists, and Presbyterians. At Cape Town there are four or five receivers, and more readers; and some few in various parts of the colony. I have great reason to believe that most of these persons have not only received these views into their understanding, but that they are making progress in the will and life. 66 I will thank you to send me any works which are or which may be published respecting the New Church views. [Here follows an order for books.] I hope soon that we shall begin to organize a society; when I trust to send an order for a supply of all the writings of Swedenborg. In the above order do not confine yourself to the list given, but send me any works you may think I should like now or at any other time, provided the amount does not exceed £8. a year." THE BAZAAR AT LEEDS. The committee for conducting the bazaar at Leeds, beg to return their grateful acknowledgments to all friends who have so generously assisted them in their undertaking. Their appeal has, indeed, been most kindly responded to; and they know not how to speak, to convey a sufficient sense of the obligation they feel. Nearly every society in England has contributed something; and, doubt less, every one, without exception, their good wishes. They are not sure, in the hurry and bustle in which they were necessarily involved for a few days, that every contributor received a note of thanks; this was done in most cases, but if any should have been overlooked, the committee assure them that it was not intentional. There were several parcels which were received without note or any indication from whence they came; in these cases, of course, it was impossible to reply. The committee trust, however, that their friends in the following places will accept their sincere thanks, if they have not already received them :-London (from several places), Hammersmith, Birmingham, Preston, Bolton, Louth, Dalton, Derby, Exeter, Torquay, Bideford, Malton, Gainsborough, Manchester, Blackburn, Ashton, Bath, Bristol, Clifton, Crosby, near Liverpool, Huddersfield, Wakefield, Boardman-lane, and Leigh. Their thanks are also due to several private individuals for contributions in money. It is possible that the above list of places may not be complete, but the committee have no doubt that our friends will forgive an omission which they could not avoid. The bazaar was held in the Music Hall, on the 4th of April. The profusion of extremely beautiful articles was very great; in consequence of which the room was found to be too small;-this, and the wetness of the second day, no doubt, interfered greatly with the sales. The expectations of the society were so moderate, that they could not well be disappointed. Several estimates were as low as £20.; few higher than £40., and scarcely any above £50. So that all were well satisfied indeed, when it was found that altogether they were likely to realize nearly £60. There are many articles still on hand, in fact, nearly as many as have been sold; two parcels have been received since the bazaar. It is not yet determined what shall be done with them, but several think it would be the best to reserve them, and hold another bazaar in about twelve months. This may be done. Let There are several very interesting facts with which the committee were only partially acquainted previous to the bazaar. The kindness and generosity of the majority of the church they never doubted, and should not have doubted, even if their appeal had not been so heartily responded to, for every society has numerous burdens of its own; but now they feel that it is proved. there be a good cause, and the church will not be backward to assist. Numerous instances of extreme devotion to the cause could be recorded. One poor girl has been occupied in knitting a large and beautiful quilt; which must have cost her far more time and expense than she could really afford. May Providence bless her love and her self-denial! Others have sent Berlin work, and other beautiful specimens of arts, which shew a much more cultivated taste to exist amongst our poorer brethren than we ever gave them credit for. This is one of the most pleasing features connected with the bazaar. The letters that have been received from different places, indicate a literary talent, in some instances, of the very highest order, amongst the ladies of the church. And the committee cannot but compliment their brethren generally on this fact; for to the extent it is found to exist they were not in the least acquainted with it. These and several other particulars which there is not space to name, together with the hearty good will breathed in every note that they have received, have cheered the committee, and supported them in many difficulties which may be inseparable from such undertakings. |