It is scarcely necessary to say what these are, for they will be almost intuitively declared, but one or two cautions may not be out of place. The resources of the executive power and the functions of the legislative authority must not be supposed either to regulate or indicate the limits of liability. They may and often do control the means of obedience, but are wholly incompetent to do more than to determine when and how far force shall be applied. Neither can deal with moral power, and misconception respecting their operation has caused very much of the evil so generally deplored. The minimum which will be compelled has been too often confounded with the maximum which could be legitimately demanded. "Must" and "ought" have been regarded as identical, instead of representing entirely different spheres. In consequence the obligations of right have not been allowed their just weight, and those teachings of experience which constitute so important a part of education have been too often sadly lost. Religion has been treated as a theory instead of a practice. That which ought to be the guiding principle of everyday life has been relegated as a subject for speculative study, the unfortunate results of which are only too evident. It is scarcely desirable at present to inquire what modes of action offer the largest encouragement in dealing with an evil which is only a manifestation of that principle of self-love it is the grand business of man on earth to combat and overcome, and the task is of sufficient importance to employ the most powerful intellect as well as to utilize the widest experience. In its discharge all may lend their aid, helping the Churches of the land to arise from the dust and put on the beautiful garments prepared for their adornment. The layman and the cleric have each their duty in the release of the daughter of Zion from captivity, and can alike command the help of Omnipotence in its performance. S. G. B. Correspondence. (To the Editor of the Intellectual Repository.) FLAXMAN AND THE NEW CHURCH. THE following reply was sent to the editor of the Guardian on the occasion of the letter from the West-End Vicar which appeared in our last issue. As the reply, however, was not inserted, it now appears in our pages: SIR,-A West-End Vicar who writes to you upon this subject has in one important point taken the only wise and legitimate course. He says, "I sometimes read the writings of Swedenborg very much to my profit, and I have no doubt that if my brethren did the same, they would by so doing help to extinguish the sect." Now, sir, as a clergyman who has followed this advice for nearly half a century, I have not only studied the writings of Swedenborg, but have had serious conversation with some of the leaders of the " Swedenborgian sect," so called, upon the very subject contained in your correspondent's letter, and I have always found them acknowledge that as a religious and isolated body professing to belong to a New Church or a New Christendom, their present status is only provisional, and intended to last only to that time when the clergy and ministers of all denominations shall read the writings of Swedenborg, and derive from them that profit which the Vicar says that he himself has done. I allude more especially to the late Mr. Smithson of Manchester, who conversed with me, and also wrote to me plainly on the subject, and who although belonging to the so-called Swedenborgian "sect," was the least of a sectarian I ever met with. We have Bampton Lectures, Hulsean Lectures, Boyle Lectures, Wabertonian and other lectures, discussing all sorts of phases of Romanism, Lutheranism, Calvinism, Arianism, Semi-Arianism, Socinianism, Semi-Socinianism, and so forth, but not one word upon what many in the present day esteem as the profoundest system of theology that ever was written. The only exception to this statement of which I am aware is a recent prize essay at Cambridge on the subject of Montanus, in which "the vast" system of theology taught in the writings of Swedenborg is brought before the notice of the University. What has been the consequence of this past neglect? A popular meeting of the so-called "Swedenborgian" ministers and representatives in the vestry hall of one of the most important parishes in the metropolis (which, however, is found too small to hold them), and mutual congratulations upon the continued increase of their body in various parts of the world. It is in vain to shut our eyes to this fact. But with whom does this responsibility rest? May I rely upon your sense of fairness for the insertion of this letterYours, very respectfully, AUGUSTUS CLISSOLD. Review. HISTOIRE SOMMAIRE DE LA NOUVELLE EGLISE CHRÉTIENNE, fondée sur les Doctrines de Swedenborg. Pp. 246. Par un Ami de la Nouvelle Eglise. Paris: Librairie, 5 Rue Theṇard. Londres: Swedenborg Society, 36 Bloomsbury Street. THIS work, written in French, is a very interesting account of the rise and progress of the New Church, and its development in various countries to the present day. The excellent writer has been very careful in his study of the subject, and brings before his reader in an attractive style a multitude of facts in well-arranged order. He commences with England, then goes to the United States of America; subsequently he describes the growth of the New Church in Germany, Switzerland, Russia, and France; and lastly he sketches the Church in Australia, the island of Mauritius, and the East Indies. To all our readers who are French scholars we can promise a great treat from the perusal of this book. The description of the Church in England is very carefully done, although the author, like literary Frenchmen generally, is not quite exact often in the rendering of English names. We have Hindsmarsh for Hindmarsh, Masson for Mason, Broatfield for Broadfield, and Satisbury for Salisbury; but passing over these slight blemishes, the history is full of facts very clearly and cleverly narrated. The author, as might be expected, has not distinguished between the two Goyders, and evidently blends the Rev. Thomas and the Rev. Dr. David Goyder into one. The portion of the book in relation to France is naturally very full of interest, and most valuable. We learn much respecting the priests who have received the doctrines at different times, and of the literary men-Richer, Leboys-desGuays, Harlé, and others. The story of the worthy Tollenare of Nantes is most important and valuable, as throwing light on the result of the timid action of those who, wanting courage for the truth before men, imagine they can win goodwill by truckling to the bigots of a fallen Church, instead of boldly proclaiming for others the truths which are as needful for the world as they have been for them. Tollenare was a rich retired merchant of Nantes who gave himself to works of beneficence, especially as treasurer of the hospital in the city. He had watched over the construction of the hospital and over its wellbeing for many years. He was an excellent Christian in all the relations of life, and generally esteemed in the town. He nourished his piety and virtue by a diligent reading of the Word and the Writings of Swedenborg, but he went to mass as a good Romanist, took part in the worship of the Virgin, and kept on good terms with the Roman clergy. He gave the sum requisite, £400, to publish the admirable works of Richer; but he was very delicate in his allusions to New Church truths in his family, and expected his son to grow up a Christian although he abstained from teaching him the truth, and left him and the rest of the household to the management of the priest, the priest being outwardly deferential to M. Tollenare himself, but quietly filling all around him with prejudice against his views. His son became a mocker of all religion. And when the good old man came to die in 1832, we find another lamentable result. His dying-bed was pestered by the priest until he consented to renounce the New Church doctrines, and to send communications stating his renunciation to those New Church friends who had for years been his correspondents. The evening before his death Tollenare wrote to Madame St. Amour, a New Church friend, a letter, which she sent on to M. Leboysdes-Guays, accompanied with these words of her own: "I have just now received a letter from our friend; I don't know if I am dreaming, but I send it on to you. There are two lines in pencil which reassure me a little. His family and his confessor have required him to write this letter." In his letter Tollenare expressed himself thus: "I have to say to you that, preparing to quit the earth, I have returned to the religion of my fathers, to the Roman and Apostolic Church, without any foreign suggestion, assured that there is nothing in that Church which may not be reconciled with the doctrines which we have cherished. "P.S. -Communicate my resolution to M. Leboys, to our London friends, and those of Philadelphia and Tubingen (Dr. E. Tafel). I ask from God in the meaning of the Catholic Church, that I may renounce everything that she does not approve in the New Church, from which I in fact separate myself." The writer of the "Histoire Sommaire" goes on to relate that being on a visit to M. Leboys, some time after the receipt of this letter from M. Tollenare, M. Leboys gave him the letter to read, and in taking a walk-the month was July and the day very warm-he held up the letter to read it again, when there came out in the ardent sunbeams, between the lines, written with sympathetic ink, another letter, in which the poor dying man declared "that he had been compelled to write a letter of abjuration, but he hoped that his friends would perceive the other writing, which he had employed to protest that he had died in full belief of the truths of the New Church." A vast number of facts, equally valuable and interesting, are given in this "Brief History," admirably told, and we commend the work most heartily to our friends who are familiar with the French language, and we congratulate the modest but diligent, earnest, and talented author on the valuable work which he has presented to the Church he loves so well. W. C. B. POWERS' BUST OF SWEDENBORG.* Tantoque (Academia) exsultat alumno. CHEERED by thy noble voice, serene and clear- Through rocky seas fraught with enchanted song; JESMOND LODGE, MALTON. ROBERT ABBOTT. * Presented to the Swedenborg Society by the Rev. Augustus Clissold, M.A. TWO SONNETS. I. REMONSTRANCE. SHALL men build mansions for themselves, and deck And yet the House of God be poor and mean? To neither know nor care, nor see nor hear, It cannot be! The Lord must set some bounds II. APPEAL. REPENT, ye sons of Dives, whilst the power Repent! and let your new-born actions say, 66 See, Lord! I do remember me this day Of my great fault; O Lord, I render back J. B. THE MAGAZINE. ARRANGEMENTS have been made which will increase the interest and we hope the importance of the Repository for the coming year. The contributors to its pages will include Leo Grindon, Esq., who will resume his pen in the service of its readers. Occasional articles will treat of current social and religious topics; and notices will appear of such articles in our periodical literature as reflect the light and spirit of the age, especially those which give indications of progress. In agreement with the recommendation of Conference the information contained in the Miscellaneous department will be brought up to the latest possible date. |