their part of the pure doctrines of the Divine Word, which are the doctrines of the New Jerusalem, and which constitute the spirit and the life of the Sacred Scripture. These doctrines, which bring life and light to mankind, are contained in the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, and the publication and diffusion of these writings constitutes the end and object of the Swedenborg Society.

Truly a work of an appalling magnitude; for it brings salvation and life to a starving multitude, to a multitude which are not starving as to their bodies, but as to their minds and spirits. Wherefore in the end and object of the Swedenborg Society is involved the spiritual life and death of hundreds of thousands-nay, of millions-of human beings; for to as many-nay, to more—the Swedenborg Society may be the means of holding out the spiritual food which they need for the salvation of their souls.

The end and aim of the Swedenborg Society is therefore identical with the task of delivering mankind out of the thraldom of the natural senses, and of directing their gaze inwards and heavenwards, where the Lord is endeavouring to establish His kingdom in the hearts of men at the present day. The end and object of the Swedenborg Society, therefore, is to lead men away from themselves to the Lord, and to do this by the dissemination and publication of those doctrines and those writings which enable us to see the Divine in nature, and the Divine in the letter of the Word of God.

The accomplishment of the end and object of this Society, however, cannot be brought about without the application of adequate and appropriate means; and the means which the Lord has at His command, in realizing through this Society the end and object for which they have voluntarily organized themselves, are first of all the willing hearts of its members, and indeed a willingness on their part of being directed in their course by those very doctrines to the promulgation of which they have devoted the highest and best energies of their being.

The Lord can be with us and work with us only when we are willing to work in His, and not in our own way, and when we allow ourselves to be influenced by the broadest and most liberal spirit of charity; for only then can the Lord bless our work in all its parts, and under the Divine Providence add unto us all those things which He knows that we have need of in order to do fully and satisfactorily His work upon earth.

May we therefore as a Society constantly look up to the Lord for help and for guidance; and may we always remember that without Him we can do nothing, i.e. nothing that is really good and true in His sight.

But while thus looking up to the Lord, let us also look down upon ourselves; upon those hands and all those means which He has given to us, in order that therewith we may accomplish His ends in this world; for it is an old and true saying that the Lord can help only those who are willing and who know how to help themselves.

With these words ringing in our ears, may the annual recurrence of the anniversary of our Society, when its Committee and officers give an account of their stewardship, stimulate us to renewed energies, and make us pass a mental resolution that in this coming year, as members of the Swedenborg Society, we will do all that lies in our power to promote the end and object for which this Society has been established.

The SECRETARY read the minutes of the last annual meeting, which were duly confirmed.

The SECRETARY next read the Report of the Committee for the year just ended as follows:- :

In presenting the Sixty-ninth Report of the proceedings of the Swedenborg Society your Committee have much pleasure in congratulating the members upon the large measure of success which has attended the operations of the past year. To stimulate the growth of public opinion in favour of New Church doctrines, and to increase the circulation of Swedenborg's works amongst all classes of readers, have been the constant aim of the Committee in all the measures they have adopted. Some of the success is undoubtedly due to the Missionary and Tract Society of the New Church, whose attractive and popular publications, and useful missionary labours, coupled with the intelligent and vigilant exertions of the Auxiliary Society, have helped to create a wider reading public for the writings of the New Church than could otherwise have been obtained. Much has already been done to improve the English translations of the works, as may be seen in recent editions, and similar care will be taken with the remainder of the works when they are required to be reprinted, so that in their English dress the publications of the Society may be all that can be desired.

The works revised and printed during the year are the following:

"Divine Providence"

"Heaven and Hell" (pocket edition)

500 vols. 1000 99

Of the Annotated Catalogue 7000 copies have been printed and distributed, making a total of 17,000 copies of this work which have been put into circulation since its compilation in March 1878. A new edition consisting of 15,000 copies has just been printed, which

year.

contains on the last two pages full particulars of the Hindu pamphlet, and a selection from the numerous notices which have appeared of that work in religious and other periodicals. 10,000 copies of this edition are now in the course of being posted to clergymen, in continuation of the distribution suggested and commenced last Half the expense will be generously defrayed by Mr. George Fryer of Lymington, who has again come forward to assist this useful undertaking. The remaining half will be a charge upon the Society's funds, unless other friends will come forward and share it with the Society. The Committee also purpose, immediately after this meeting, to send an abstract of this Report, together with copies of the Catalogue, to the editors of the press. To do this about 2500 copies will be required. When completed these two operations will have enabled the Committee to reach nearly half the clergymen and all the editors in the United Kingdom by inexpensive means, which may be productive of important results.

At the suggestion of Dr. Garth Wilkinson the Committee are reprinting the extracts from the "Apocalypse Explained," which were published many years since in a separate form under the title of "The Souls of Animals." In order to present the subject with greater fulness it is intended to add extracts from the "Economy of the Animal Kingdom" and from some of the theological writings. The editorship has been kindly undertaken by Dr. Tafel. This work will, it is believed, be useful in bringing before the scientific world the true grounds of immortality, and help to disperse the crude notions respecting the souls of animals which are now held by many learned men, some contending that animals are immortal, and others that they are mere automata almost without feeling.

The Committee have decided to defer for the present the reprinting of the first volume of the Index to the Arcana compiled by Mr. Rich, and to reprint Swedenborg's own Index, as it has been urged upon them that this work has peculiar merits of its own, which adapts it to a higher class of readers, who would be interested by brief statements of principles, but who might decline to read the "Arcana of its voluminous extent. Mr. Bruce kindly undertook the task of revision, and the work is now nearly ready for the printer.

on account

Of the theological works 2262 have been sold and 658 presented, making a total of 2920 vols.

Of the philosophical 58 have been sold and 36 presented,of 94 vols.

-a total

One of the facts in last year's Report to which peculiar interest attached was the numerous applications for the "True Christian

Religion" and the "Apocalypse Revealed" which had been made by theological students. The number of similar applications this year is a most gratifying circumstance. Of the two works, 229 copies have

been presented to this important class of readers, and the receptive state of mind existing among them is shown in a recent acknowledgment by a student who writes as follows:

"On behalf of myself and fellow-students I beg to thank you and your Committee very much for their kind present of seven copies of the 'True Christian Religion' and fourteen copies of the 'Apocalypse Revealed.'

"We shall all value the books as containing the thoughts of a man whom we look up to with reverence as a great spiritual seer; one who tried to interpret the great mystery of law and life with no small amount of success.

Availing themselves of the admirable treatment of his subjects by Mr. Pandurung in his "Reflections," a circular directing particular attention to the contents of that work, with two or three copies of the pamphlet, was addressed to the senior students, and, judging by the sales, a good many students have obtained the work for themselves. The Committee have continued to present to clergymen copies of the "True Christian Religion" and the "Apocalypse Revealed" in all cases where the applications have appeared to them likely to lead to a useful result. Thirty-eight of the former and twenty-three of the latter have been presented during the year. One minister of the United Methodist Free Church, after thanking the Committee for "their handsome and valuable present," continues, "I intend to read them carefully and prayerfully. My great object is to find the truth." A Unitarian minister writes, "I am very desirous of knowing something about Swedenborg and his writings, principally because he claims to have received truth from a spiritual source, and to have been in communication with the spiritual world. I do not question these claims of Swedenborg, but as far as I know his teachings concerning the spiritual world, I should say his claims were genuine, but I suppose he never claimed infallibility either for himself [or] his doctrines." A Baptist minister, writing for a copy of Mr. Pandurung's "Reflections," says: "There is far greater excellence in Swedenborg than I could find in him at first. I persuade myself I have been much edified at last in reading him. I am anxious to know more of him." Another correspondent states that, refusing to accept the religious doctrines commonly taught, his mind became in a most painful state of doubt, which was not removed until he became acquainted with the "glorious teaching" of the New Church, by which his previous "knowledge of God's boundless love and glory had been infinitely increased."

These extracts could be multiplied were it necessary to do so.

Enough, however, has been adduced to illustrate the widespread interest which is taken in the principles of the New Church by thoughtful readers amongst the teachers of the various religious denominations. In this connection we may add an extract from the letter of a well-known author, who expresses his indebtedness to Swedenborg's writings in the following eloquent terms:

“I received, two or three days ago, three books, gifts from the Society—the 'True Christian Religion,' the 'Apocalypse Revealed,' and 'Earths in the Universe.'

"I cannot well express to you the deep pleasure which this superb present afforded me. Coming, as it did, in a season of considerable anxiety and distress, it was like a message from the spiritual world, reminding me that I was not forgotten. The books are among those which I have long wanted to possess for my own, instead of being constrained to borrow them, as has hitherto been necessary. That I should come into possession of them in this way renders them precious as to themselves as well as in their essential quality. I need not speak of the value I attach to them in their doctrinal character. All that I have ever accom. plished worthily since arriving at years of discretion, and still more, all that I ever hope to accomplish in the future, I trace to the warmth and enlightenment afforded me by the works of Swedenborg. He is the open window of the age, through which heaven attains to illuminate the darkness and fire the apathy of the world."

There has been an increase this year in the subscriptions of £13, 5s. 6d. The donations towards the Indian translations amount to £389, 15s., and £49, 17s. 10d. have been received towards the publication and circulation of the Hindu pamphlet. The value of books returned to subscribers is £55, 3s. 9d. The balance in the hands of the Treasurer will be absorbed by the cost of the works which are now being reprinted, and by others which will shortly have to be undertaken by the Committee. It is desirable, therefore, that the subscription list should be well maintained, and for this purpose the Committee will be glad to welcome new subscribers of any amount.

The "Reflections" of Mr. Pandurung, in the opinion of your Committee, supplied fresh materials for interesting the public mind in the doctrines of the New Church. An advertisement containing several favourable press notices of the work was prepared, and 1000 copies of the pamphlet sent to the editors of various provincial journals, with the view of obtaining for the work the widest publicity. The following is a list of the journals in which the advertisement was inserted: The Baptist, Baptist Hand-Book, Church Times, Christian Life, Christian Signal, Congregational Year-Book, Friend, Freeman, Guardian, Methodist, Methodist Recorder, Morning Light, Modern