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it shall lay aside childish things, and find in the cheerful obedience of natural laws, a perfect satisfaction to every aspiration of the soul, and to every want of the body. "Thus you perceive that the coming church reverses no true verdict of history. It falsifies no lesson of past experience. It denies no fact of man's spiritual declension. It accepts in all its length and breadth the fact of self-love. But it reconciles all this historic experience with true Providential mercy, which absolutely exacts the evolution of an intellect in man, based in the staple harmonies of natural order. The endowment of this intellect is essential to the permanence of creation, and is the very end of the descent of the Divine to the Human, and the unition of the Human with the Divine. Thus the church reconciles the hitherto unmanageable fact of self-love with the unimpeded operation of divine laws; with the great ends of creative love and wisdom. It perfectly harmonises the law of self-love in man, with the law of universal love in God. It does not bid the natural mind revoke all history in order to reäscend to its primal celestial conditions: it reproduces these celestial conditions themselves, in natural forms. It no longer exalts the inward or real, at the expense of the outward or actual; it proves the one to be an every way fit and indispensable exponent, basis, and continent of the other. It does not bid us blush for our past history, any more than you now blush for the mistakes and wilfulness of your infancy; for it proves every event of history to have been a necessary means towards the actualization on earth, of the perfect order which is only truly realized in heaven. Right action is the crown and end of all individual culture; or all individual growth in goodness and truth. So the subjection of nature to distinctly human uses, or to a perfect social method, is the crown and end of the divine benignity towards the human race. It is henceforth the open secret of Providence. In short, the New Church affirms the divinely wedded unity of matter and spirit, conciliates nature and regeneration, and harmonises the profoundest truths of reason with the central fact of revelation."

Poetry.

FRIENDSHIP.

(To a Friend on her Birth-Day.)

Friendship! touch my feeble lyre;
Come, my drooping muse inspire;
And upon this welcome day,
Every heartfelt wish convey.
With its morning let me raise
Tributary songs of praise;
And when evening shades prevail,
Let them mingle in the gale.

Friendship! 'tis to thee I owe
Much of happiness below;

Gentle soother of my breast,

When with care or grief oppressed;-
Or, when pleasure fills the heart,
Thou dost bear a willing part;
Yes, on thee I fondly lean,
In each chequered, changing scene.

Friendship! evermore may I
Feel thy choicest presence nigh;
While through life I bend my way,
Let me own thy gentle sway ;-
When the valley I descend,
Still my latest steps attend;
Cheer me while I have my breath,
Peaceful close my eyes in death!

Friendship! oh! my heart possess,
Still my friend with comfort bless!
Let thine influence benign,
Long our tender tie entwine!
Let the bond of sacred bliss
Elevate our earthly peace!
Every woe and pleasure share,
Each the other's burden bear!

Friendship! let our hearts ascend
To our Good, our heavenly Friend!
Think how His unfathomed Love
Brought Him from the realms above;
How His Human nature bled,
Bowed in death that lowly head;
Died that we might live indeed,—
Lives! and grants us all we need!

Long may Love and Friendship be
Handmaids o'er life's troubled sea!
If at times a heavy sky

Shows some storm or tempest nigh,
Upward still in faith arise,
Draw from Jesus full supplies;

All you want by Him are given,

All you want for earth and heaven!

S.

LINES ON ISAIAH, CHAP. XXXV.

In deserts wild, and solitary plains,

Where desolation dwells, and terror reigns,

The rose shall bloom, and gladness breathe around,
And verdure bright enamel all the ground.

To flowery meads the wilderness shall change,
And flocks and herds through pastures green shall range;
Abundant blossoms freely shall be borne,

A fragrant offering to the rising morn;
With joy and singing all the land rejoice,
Gladness of heart, and cheerfulness of voice.
Thy glory, Lebanon, shall now be given,
And dews of sacred truth descend from heaven:
Carmel and Sharon's excellency blend

To praise the Lord-His kingdom to extend.
Nations shall see Jehovah's glory shine,
God's excellency-Love and Truth Divine.

Strengthen, ye people! strengthen the weak hands,--
Confirm the feeble knees;-say to the lands-
Be strong, fear not; behold your God will come
To save, and lead His faithful people home.
Then shall the blind no more in darkness dwell,
Th' imprisoned mind shall burst its gloomy cell;
The deaf, with grateful gladness, hear the voice
Of Mercy bid his inmost heart rejoice.
The impotent and lame, with thankful heart,

Shall leap for joy, and emulate the hart:

The dumb man's tongue will loosened be, to sing

The praises of his Saviour and his King.

For in the desert, and the wilderness,

Pure springs shall rise, the parched land to bless;
Truth's gushing waters gently flow around,

As streams of life, to fertilize the ground.

In habitations vile, where dragons lay,

And coiled their hideous forms, and shunned the day,

The grass shall spring, the reeds and rushes bend,
And verdant plains on every side extend.

N. S. No. 95.-VOL. VIII.

2 K

And there a highway and a way shall be,
Its name declared to all eternity,—

The Way of Holiness!-No thing unclean
Shall o'er it pass; nor aught of ill be seen;
But simple wayfarers shall be supplied,

From heaven, with an unerring Friend and Guide.
No lion there, nor any ravenous beast

Go up thereon, His people to molest:

It shall not there be found;-a glorious band,
Redeemed of God, shall walk throughout the land.
The ransomed of the Lord shall here return,

Their lips shall praise-their hearts forget to mourn.
In countless troops, to Zion's holy ground

They come they come !-with joy and gladness crowned.
Sorrow and sighing shall flee far away,

Chased by the dawning of this heaven-born day.

Chorley.

MARY.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

LONDON MISSIONARY AND TRACT SOCIETY.

Some of the members of the Missionary Committee being at the late Conference, took advantage of the circumstance of the Rev. T. O. Prescott, of Cincinnati, being present, to engage him to pay a missionary visit to Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.

Of his visit to the first an account has already appeared. At the other two places, we understand, his lectures were well attended, and gave general satisfaction. At Glasgow the friends were so well pleased with him, that they have obtained his promise to revisit them for a few Sabbaths. It may also be mentioned here, that he lectured twice in Leeds, immediately after Conference. He is now (Oct. 19) in London, and preached last Sunday evening in Argyle-square, to a full congregation of members and strangers, who were gratified by the exhibition of his power as an expositor of the Divine Word. He is expected to preach next Sunday at Cross-street.

From the end of August to the beginning of October, the Rev. D. G. Goyder was engaged in a mission to the eastern district, during which he delivered six discourses at Brightlingsea, two at St.

Osyth, three at Wivenhoe, and five at Ipswich. At Wivenhoe, after a lecture of an hour, so great was the interest he had raised in his hearers, that they requested him to explain the 15th chapter of the 1st of Corinthians. To this he devoted another half-hour. In this village, it seems, there is a strong desire manifested to have frequent visits; and the Committee much regret their inability to meet the want so often and so earnestly expressed. At Ipswich the little chapel was generally filled, sometimes to overflowing. The towns-people now are wishing to know what the New Church means; strangers are, therefore, frequently present. Here he baptized six infants (three of them from Harwich) and six adults, and administered the Holy Supper to seventeen communicants. Had they but an efficient stated minister, there is every reason to believe that a good society would soon be raised in Ipswich.

On Sunday, October 10, the Rev. T. Goyder preached at Twerton, near Bath, it being the anniversary of the opening of the chapel. Mr. Goyder's place at Chalford was supplied on the occasion by Mr. H. Larkin.

The Rev. T. Chalklen has recently visited

Chatham twice, and administered the Sacrament. The society here, we are glad to find, continues its steady progress. In a short time they hope to obtain a more suitable place of worship.

Mr. Chalklen is now engaged in delivering a course of six lectures on the Second Advent, at Chelsea, near the place where he some time ago delivered a course of similar length, which was well attended, and very favourably received.

Such is a simple statement of what has recently been effected under the auspices of the Missionary Committee. The want of funds has compelled them, in some instances, to refuse assistance when applied for, which it would have been far more congenial to their feelings to have afforded. It is, however, the Lord's work they are engaged in; and it must prosper in His own good time. They, therefore, look with confidence to the friends of the New Church to give adequate support to an institution that is universally recognised as one of the most orderly and powerful means of disseminating a knowledge of the heavenly doctrines.

REPORT OF THE LABOURS OF THE REV.

T. O. PRESCOTT IN EDINBurgh.

The Rev. T. O. Prescott, of Cincinnati, United States, visited Edinburgh about the latter end of August last. On the occasion of his visit the Calton Convening Room, Regent Terrace, was engaged, with a view to render his services more effectual, the room being not only more commodious than the society's regular place of worship, but in a very central part of the city.

On the afternoon of Sunday, the 29th August, he delivered a very interesting discourse on "Reformation and Regeneration," shewing that man's separation from God was on account of the sins rooted in the love of self and the love of the world; and declaring the necessity for every man to remove himself from the propensity to evil of all kinds with which he is born, that he may be saved. The audience was large, and during the whole of the discourse every person appeared to give an attentive ear.

At the evening service an anxious audience crowded the room, filling the passages, and listening attentively, while the subject of the Lord's assumption and glorification of the humanity was clearly set forth. From the inquiries made at the close of the sermon by various parties, it

was evident that sincere convictions had been awakened.

On Monday evening a soirée, in honour of Mr. Prescott was held in the society's usual place of worship, having been previously announced, at which the majority of the members of the church, accompanied by a few friends, were present.

Mr. Prescott then gave a very interesting account of the state and prospects of the church in the United States, which was listened to with great pleasure and delight, as his style of address was simple and perspicuous. Indeed, the fresh views he had regarding the rising church, and his observations on the best manner of insuring her progress, according to the experience of many American societies, have made an impression on our minds which, we hope, may lead to some useful results.

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On the evening of Wednesday, the 1st September, Mr. Prescott again delivered, in the Calton Convening Room, a discourse on The Life and Character of Emanuel Swedenborg," which he treated in a very lucid manner, and much to the satisfaction of an audience deeply interested.

At a special request Mr. Prescott consented to deliver two discourses on Sun

day the 5th September. The subject of the first discourse was "The Divine Trinity," which was elucidated in an exceedingly clear and satisfactory manner, contrasting strikingly and favourably with the present views of the subject. In the evening he delivered a discourse "On the Bible," in which he shewed how the spiritual sense removed its obscurities and reconciled its apparent contradictions. It was obvious that Mr. Prescott's previous services had left a very favourable impression, as the numbers who attended the services of this day were still greater; the Hall in the evening being filled to overflowing, and many were heard to express themselves highly satisfied. At all these meetings tracts were liberally distributed.

Such missionary exertions, we are fully persuaded, are the only means by which the public mind can be roused to consider the important claims of the doctrines of the New Christian Church; for on account of the warm love in the present age to acquire all kinds of knowledge, missionary labours possess the best means of bringing strangers together, and of making them reason together; and it is under the influence created by an able preacher, glowing with the doctrines of love, that various minds can become im

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