leads us there; that is, we are preserved by truth in all our spiritual wanderings, even to the very extreme of trouble. God's providence works through it, as it is beautifully said in Deut. xxxii. 10, 11, 12— "He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness'; He led him about, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings; so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.' So that we see it is God who leads us and our flock, by His truth, or His servant Moses, when we are in the desert of temptation. Ah, my friend, may you remember this! and when you find yourself in the wilderness, as you frequently will in the course of regeneration, turn not to the world for comfort and consolation, seek not to drown your troubles by plunging into guilty gaities and follies, but fly to the Word, put yourself under the controul and dominion of Divine Truth; let Moses lead you in the wilderness; and though, for the time, you may feel under an iron rod and stern discipline, yet, be assured, it will lead you to Horeb, the mount of God.

Mountains are representative of love; you may perceive from this what sort of mountains they were, that the Lord said His true disciples should move. They were the evil loves of their fallen nature, which can be expelled by faith and practice. But mount-Horeb is representative of God's love towards His creatures. Now, this is most truly seen and approached after we have undergone severe trial and temptation— when we have got to the far end or extreme of the desert; for it lies at the end of the wilderness! Temptation shakes off the evils of our nature, and like the refiner's fire, purifies us from spiritual dross. Our nature, by it, becomes purer and more assimilated with the divine; and," as we become more god-like, the perfections of God are better seen. Have you not noticed that, after a night of severe storm and tempest, the sun usually rises with greater glory and splendour in the morning? so, after we have despaired, and been beaten, and cast down, and troubled, in the night and wilderness of temptation, does the love of God and the divine mercy feel most precious and mighty to our hearts. We see, then, that the very wilderness, which was full of pains and sorrows, was the very and only road to Horeb; and that the further we went on, and the more pains and troubles we encountered, the nearer was the sacred mount of God's mercy to us. Let this cheer us, and let truth lead us, and we, like Moses and his flock, shall find at the end of our desert "the mountain of God, even Horeb !"

I did intend to give you the symbolic teaching of the second verse of

this chapter as well as the first, but I fear it would occupy both too much time and space. I trust, however, you will perceive that within this apparently trivial account of Moses leading his flock to the back side of the desert, there are several most important spiritual truths; namely, that principles of charity, and affection for truth, are communicated by the love from which we sincerely worship the Almighty; and that if we permit divine truth to be the shepherd of our spiritual flock, it will guide and protect us in the desert of temptation, and finally lead us to perceive from experience, that the mountain of the Lord's mercy rises up to our view when we arrive at the extreme end of the desert. Here, then, we behold the spiritual meaning, and that it is altogether distinct from the natural, yet so connected by correspondences, that one is as the soul to the other, and the other as the body to the first. You will doubtless perceive that if Moses and the other symbols which are used in this verse, had no fixed and unvarying correspondence, we could not arrive at, nor could it really contain, any spiritual meaning on which we could depend as being divine truth; but as it is, there is no doubt about it, and it may be read by all. Any other person who understands the symbols, could and would draw from it, in substance, the very same truths which I have now done, as plainly as any two who understand the meaning of letters will draw the same sense from the same writing; and therefore this second sense is not any thing that I have put into it, but it lies there by inspiration of God, and covered over with natural meanings and names, by the providence of the same good Being, in order that these heavenly pearls may not be found and defiled by the swinish wicked. If, also, any other name had been substituted for that of Moses, or any other thing than those named, no true spiritual meaning could be conveyed, for it would be like letters improperly placed, a mere mass of confusion; so that the slightest error or imperfect translation, so far as they go, invariably darken and obscure the series of the internal sense. All this shows that it is no fanciful thing.

There are many other things that might be said on this part of the subject, some of which may probably occur to your mind, and suggest questions; and, perhaps, I had better not anticipate them. And as I have occupied your time so long, I must now close. In another letter I intend to show you, as far as I can, that correspondence is a law, not only according to which the Word of God is written, but according to which all nature has been created; and also, that it was known and used by the ancients. In the meantime I commend you to God, with heartfelt wish for your future blessing.

MATERIALS FOR MORAL CULTURE.

[Continued from page 215.]

"Keep the channel open."-No. CCL.

CCCCVI.

Much is said in these days about rights. Rights cannot exist entirely separate from the sentiment of duty. Legal rights are always supposed to have their basis in justice, which involves the idea of duty. Lord Ellenborough (C. J.) declared that "What a man may do [or has a right to do] he ought to do." It is equally true, that "What a man ought to do, he has a right to do." For a man to have a rightful claim on another, it is implied that the other ought, or that it is his duty, to yield it, and hence it is the duty of man in society, both to the community and the individual, to cause individuals, so far as lies in his power, to do their duty, in yielding to others their rights. For the same reason it is a duty to prosecute offenders against the rights of person and property. For a man to have a right to do any act obnoxious to the feelings of others, he must be able to shew that it was his duty either to society or the individual, to take that otherwise objectionable To assert any right, or to do any social act, or act involving others in its consequences, not sanctioned by the sentiment or obligation of duty, is a trespass, or an impertinence, which ought to be discouraged. CCCCVII.

course.

Would it not be a good definition of spiritual truth in all time to come, (whether warranted by past authority or not) that "Truth means whatever is true to spiritual love," as being spiritual love's true interpreter, manifestation, and index? This definition would include under the designation of truth, all ideas that correspond with, and advance the purposes of spiritual love.

CCCCVIII.

What is internal in quality, must be internally acquired from spiritual sources. Only what is external can be acquired from without. It is the exterior of what is good and becoming, which is learned by example. This is chiefly for the use of children and the simple. But example not only introduces this good, but it serves to confirm and strengthen good that has been interiorly acquired. Genuine interior good is the good of regeneration. A semblance of it is found with the educated, who are moral from self-respect; but this good is merely natural, and not saving good.

CCCCIX.

He who thinks himself a true Christian, and yet allows himself to neglect duties because he accounts them small, is not one who "walks humbly with his God," for he walks proudly, determining to get to heaven only by giant strides, performed in his own strength.

CCCCX.

In our way to the heavenly Zion, we pass "from strength to strength." Every one who knows this, so as to be savingly affected by it, admonishes himself never to neglect small duties. We must ascend the steps of the temple one by one. No self-confident leaps can be allowed. The Chinese have this proverb, "The loftiest building is raised by small accretions."

CCCCXI.

Acts of duty are thought to be most acceptable to God, when they are performed with a cheerful sense of willingness. It is not so in this world, however it may be in heaven, where the higher the angel, the more willingly devoted is his service. Here, that act most advances our spiritual interests which costs us the strongest effort towards selfrenunciation.

CCCCXII.

When we feel dissatisfied with our present state as to wisdom, or as to wise thoughts, views, and judgments, and the power of expressing them, there is no occasion for anxiety about amending or improving them. Since affections invariably create their correspondence in the understanding, we need only to cultivate our affections by shunning evils with increased diligence. New affections will then be given from above, and an improved state as to wisdom will be the necessary consequence.

CCCCXIII.

Why are angels so successful in conducting imperfect human beings to final happiness, through the painful process of "vastation" in the world of spirits? It is because they are as wise as they are merciful, and as merciful as they are wise. It is because human agency in this world is so often that of good without truth, or truth without good, and hence ineffective in benefiting others, that so much remains to be performed by angelic agency hereafter.

CCCCXIV.

To be valiant for the truth, is considered a virtue; but here, sometimes, "prudence is the better part of valour." He who is valiant beyond his strength, will bring upon the cause he advocates the shame of his defeat, through lack of ability to conquer.

is as real a part of wisdom as to know when and how to speak.

CCCCXVI.

Attention to present duty will be found to include all needful care for the future. All taking thought for the morrow beyond this, is an inversion of the course of time, and as destructive to peace, as physical influx would be to life. It is, moreover, a violation of the great law of series,—of order, "heaven's first law," which requires that only one thing should command our energies at once, and all things in just succession.

CCCCXVII.

In the consummated church, all the theological terms in use have lost their primitive sense. As all things in the New Church are to be made new, all these terms should be restored to their true meaning, perfected by means of the more interior ground in which they are now laid open. Perhaps no better or more comprehensive definition can be given to the term "piety," than this," an earnest desire to unite the good with the true." Certainly all piety short of this is external worship without internal.

CCCCXVIII.

In appearance, study is the voluntary activity of the intellectual powers, carried on systematically; but, in reality, it is the desire of information, answered by influx from attendant spirits. The disposing of the thoughts to study, is the laying open the mind to receive the activity of influx, in which, contrary to the appearance, it is rather a receiver than a producer. In this plastic state, spirits bring the student's thoughts together, or associate his ideas according to the law of association, thus leading to comparisons, and thence conclusions. Swedenborg says that no one can think for a moment except from spirits. A studious man, much used to mental exercise, is therefore one, properly speaking, who most effectually coöperates with the spiritual mediums sent to him by Providence for his instruction.

CCCCXIX.

The good of innocence is the ground of all degrees of genuine good, and its general form is trust in the Lord. It is that which gives a celestial quality to every degree (long before the celestial degree itself is attained) and brings to man that special protection which the celestial preeminently enjoy. They that trust in the Lord are as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever." (Ps. cxxv.)

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