affection, these Relations impart a deeper sense of the reality and presence of the spiritual world. They give to all our conceptions of that world a vividness, which we could not have had without them. They contain, as it were, practical illustrations of the laws both of heavenly and of infernal life. They are a description of that world whither we are all going, and where we are to dwell forever,-furnished us by one who gives ample evidence that he has himself been there, and describes truly what he heard and saw. Do we read with profit and delight the accounts that travelers give of foreign lands which we may never visit, and yet receive no pleasure, and derive no profit, from authentic accounts of that world which is to be our eternal dwelling place?

Upon this subject Mr. Noble, in his powerful Appeal in behalf of the views of the Eternal Word as unfolded in the writings of the New Church, has the following sensible remarks, which may form an appropriate conclusion to this lecture.

"If the accounts of travelers in distant countries are read with delight; if even the minute occurrences which happened on the journey to the travelers themselves, and the familiar anecdotes by which they illustrate the manners of the people and the character of the place, are found to possess great interest, though we never expect to visit those countries ourselves; what delight ought to attend the perusal of an authentic account of that eternal country to which we are all hastening, and with what interest should we hang over a favored traveler's detail of the familiar incidents which are there constantly occurring, and in which we must, ere long, be called to take our share! That a special traveler should be empowered to communicate such information, by no means exceeds, we have seen, the bounds of rational credibility, nor even of probability. The possibility of it is abundantly evinced by the narratives of Scripture; and the facility of it is demonstrated by the views of man's constitution, and of the laws of the spiritual world, discovered in the writings of Swedenborg. Indeed, many divines and philosophers have seen that man is by creation a subject of both worlds, the spiritual and natural. If by his spirit he belongs to the spiritaal world, and he has a spirit within him while he lives in the body, it cannot be difficult for Him who is the Author of both to open the senses of his spirit even while he lives in the body; he must then be at once perceptible amid the objects of the spiritual world, in the same manner as he will be after death; and accordingly, we have seen, it was thus that views of the spiritual world have been vouchsafed to prophets and others. Is it at all surprising then, that such an opening of the spiritual sight should take place in an extraordinary manner, with one individual, at the era of the Lord's second

some

coming? Most people believe, that in the primeval ages of the world man lived in perpetual society with angels; and it was not till he had far descended in degeneracy, that it came to be the character of "angel visits" to be "few and far between :" and most people believe also, that in the latter ages of the world such communications will be restored, and angels will again be closely associated with men; is it then at all unreasonable to expect, that, as preparatory to such a state, should it be the purpose of Providence to produce it,-or in lieu of it, should that be without the provisions of the Divine Economy,distinct, accurate, precise, and even familiar knowledge, respecting the eternal world, its appearances, its inhabitants, and its laws, should be communicated, through the instrumentality of one commissioned herald, to beings who belong to it, in part, even now, and are soon to belong to it altogether? When man's former state, and his still unaltered nature as a subject of both worlds, are reflected on, the wonder surely is, that the world of which his better part is a native and a denizen should ever have become so shut out from him, and all particular knowledge respecting it so utterly lost, not that they should again be restored: and when could their restoration be more appropriately in place, than among the blessings attendant on the second coming of the Lord, and consequent upon the performance of the last judgment? Whilst then there is so much to give probability on this subject to the statement of Swedenborg, and nothing which, fairly estimated, detracts at all from their credibility; whilst all the particulars advanced, when their causes are understood, are found to be in the strictest agreement both with Scripture and Reason; they surely may be pressed upon the candid and reflecting as in the highest degree worthy of their attention, because conveying information of the highest interest to man as an immortal."

"They came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels."-Luke xxiv. 23.

In the last lecture it was shown from the Sacred Scripture, that men of former times had spiritual senses, which could be opened, and actually were opened, during their abode in the natural world. The inference, therefore, is unavoidable, that men now-a-days have these senses also, and that they are susceptible of being opened, whenever the Lord in his wisdom sees a fit occasion for it. Thus the possibility of Swedenborg's intercourse with the spiritual world, and of his having actually seen and heard the things recorded in his Memorabilia, is established upon the highest authority.

I come now to consider the question of the probability of his alleged intromission into the spiritual world. And, in order to settle this question fairly, we should first endeavor to learn the true meaning of his Memorable Relations-learn how they are to be understood. And having done this, we should next consider whether they are rational; that is, whether they are consistent with other parts of his writings, with the Sacred Scripture, and with all that we know of the order of Providence, and of the nature, constitution, and laws of the human soul. We should not consider it wise or right for a man, wholly uninstructed in the truths of Revelation, to open the Bible, say at the 10th chapter of Ezekiel, or at the 9th chapter of the Revelation, and, understanding those visions according to their literal sense, to infer from the strange things there recorded, that the Bible is a book of silly fables, and all its believers insane men, or, at best, men with the organ of marvelousness unduly developed. We should feel warranted in saying that this were a rash conclusion, and one deduced from quite insufficient data. We should tell such a man that he ought to make himself better acquainted with the contents of this book generally-with the external and internal evidences of its divine origin before he permits himself to pronounce such an opinion concerning the Bible. Yet (strange to tell!) this is pre⚫cisely the course pursued by many professing Christians with regard to the writings of Swedenborg. Without making themselves

familiar with his writings generally, and from some things in his Memorabilia which they may have read or heard of, but which they do not rightly understand, they presume to sit in judgment upon these writings, and to pronounce them all visionary and foolish. This, certainly, is neither wise nor just.

Let us then endeavor, first, to learn if we can, how these Memorabilia are to be understood. And this is clearly taught by Swedenborg himself. In the True Christian Religion (n. 794) we are told "that all things which are seen in the spiritual world are created in a moment by the Lord, as houses, paradises, food, and other things; and that they are created for correspondence with the interiors of the angels and spirits, which are their affections and thoughts thence."

In another part of the same work, the author tells us, that when he was meditating on the creation of the universe, with his spiritual sight opened, an angel came to him and said:

"I will now show you how animals and vegetables of every kind were produced by God.' And he led me along into a large green field, and said, 'Look around.' And I looked around, and saw birds of the most beautiful colors, some flying, some perching upon the trees, and some upon the ground, plucking little leaves from the roses; amongst the birds were also doves and swans. After these things vanished from my sight, I saw, not far from me, flocks of sheep with lambs, and of goats and kids; and round about those flocks, I saw herds of cows and calves, and also of camels and mules; and in a certain grove, stags with high horns; and also unicorns. After these things were seen, he said, 'Turn your face toward the east.' And I saw a garden, in which were fruit-trees, as orange-trees, citrons, olives, vines, fig-trees, pomegranates, and also shrubs, which bore berries. Afterward he said, 'Look now toward the south.' And I saw fields of grain of various kinds-wheat, oats, barley, and beans; and round about them, beds of roses, exhibiting colors beautifully variegated; but, toward the north, groves full of chestnut-trees, palm-trees, linden-trees, planetrees, and other trees, all in the richest foliage. When I had seen these, he said, 'All those things which you have seen are correspondences of the affections of the love of the angels, who are in the vicinity.' And they told me to what affections every thing corresponded; and, moreover, that not only those things, but also all the other things which are presented to our eyes as objects of sight, are correspondences; such as houses, and the furniture in them, tables, and meats, and clothes, and also coins of gold and silver, as also diamonds and other precious stones, with which wives and virgins in heaven are adorned. From all these things, we perceive what each one is, as to love and wisdom. Those

things which are in our houses, and serve for uses, constantly remain there; but to the eyes of those who wander from one society to another, such things are changed according to consociation. These things have been shown to you, in order that you might see the whole creation in a particular type; for God is Love itself and Wisdom itself; and the affections of his love are infinite, and the perceptions of his wisdom are infinite; and of these, all and every thing that appears upon the earth are correspondences; thence are birds and beasts, thence trees and shrubs, thence corn and other grain, thence herbs and grass of every kind; for God is not extended, but still He is in the extense every where ; thus in the universe from its firsts to its lasts; and because He is omnipresent, such correspondences of the affections of his love and wisdom are in the whole natural world; but in our world, which is called the spiritual world, there are similar correspondences with those who receive affections and perceptions from God; the difference is, that such things, in our world, are created by God instantaneously, according to the affections of the angels; but in your world, they were created in like manner at the beginning; but it was provided, that, by generations of one from another, they should be perpetually renewed, and thus that creation should be continued. The reason why creation, in our world, is instantaneous, and in yours continued by generations, is, because the atmospheres and earths of our world are spiritual, and the atmospheres and earths of your world are natural; and natural things were created that they might clothe spiritual things, as the skin clothes the bodies of men and animals, and the rind and bark clothes the trunks and branches of trees, the maters and meninges the brain, the coats the nerves, and the delicate membranes the nervous fibres, &c. Thence it is, that all those things which are in your world are constant, and constantly return every year.'

"After this we talked upon various subjects, and at last concerning hell; as that no such things as are in heaven appear there, but only the opposites; since the affections of their love, which are the lusts of evil, are opposite to the affections of the love in which the angels of heaven are. Wherefore, with those in hell, and generally in their deserts, there appear birds of night, as bats and various kinds of owls, and also wolves, leopards, tigers, rats, and mice; moreover, venomous serpents of every kind, such as dragons and crocodiles; and where there is any spot of grass, there grow briers, nettles, thorns and thistles, and some poisonous plants, which at times vanish, and then appear only heaps of stones, and bogs in which frogs croak. All these things are also correspondences, but as was said, correspondences of the affections of their love, which are the lusts of evil.T. C. R. n. 78-Mem. Rel.

Again, in the Apocalypse Explained, n. 1212:

"Vegetables in the heavens appear according to the affections of