The following passages of Swedenborg may suitably close the above observations:- By loving the Lord is meant to love to do his commandments, (John xiv. 20-24.) because He Himself is [identified with] His commandments, for they are from Him, and therefore He is in them; consequently, He is in the man in whose life they are engraved, and they are engraved in man by his willing and doing them." Again: "The whole of the doctrine of the New Jerusalem relates to love to the Lord and our neighbour. Love to the Lord consists in trusting in Him and doing His commandments; AND THE DOING OF HIS COMMANDMENTS IS LOVE TO OUR NEIGHBOUR, because to do his commandments is to be useful to our neighbour." (Apoc. Rev. 556, 903.)

W. M.

MATERIALS FOR MORAL CULTURE.

(Continued from page 221.)

CI.

TRUE Charity, as the love of good, by its own light estimates others truly and affectionately, according to their love of good; but they whose charity is spurious, only love the good of others for its beneficial relation to themselves, and therefore they love those who are good only so long as their personal interest and gratification dictate.

CII.

A man who depends wholly on himself is more miserable than even a reptile, because it is the true order of a brute nature only to depend on itself; it is the true order of a man's nature to depend on the Divine Providence, and therefore every one's sense of happiness is in exact proportion to his sense of his entire dependence on the Divine Providence.

CIII.

Strength of mind is perfectly distinct from talent, although the two are often confounded. Talent is of the understanding only; but a strong mind owes its strength to a combination of moral wisdom with

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equality in external actions, resulting from the balancing of claims while acting in society. This kind of degree (if "degree" be not a misnomer) does not come up to the prevalent sense of the words "as thyself," namely, as much as thyself." In heaven, the impeding earthly circumstances having ceased, an angel loves his neighbour more than himself; on earth he did so potentially and in desire; in heaven he does so actually and in action. If the writer be wrong in his judgment, he is open

to conviction.

moral firmness of purpose; hence comes true decision of character, exhibiting a determined consistency in carrying out the just decisions of the judgment.

CIV.

In reading works of imagination, or narrative details, there is that passive reception of ideas and images by the interior sensual principle which requires no mental effort, and which is therefore suited to prostrate states of body, during which the mind is incapable of the rigorous activity demanded by the perusal of works of instruction. Wilfully to neglect works of instruction for works of imagination is an abuse which cannot be justified.

CV.

Charity (regarded as identical with the principle of duty) is apt to degenerate into mere party-spirit whenever considerations of personal friendship, or private convenience, are allowed to forbid in ourselves, or to demand to forbid in others, the discharge of a duty, because it comes in contact with the personal wishes of those with whom we have ties of personal feeling,-ties which we reprehensibly allow to become stronger than our sense of duty, as determinable by the requirements of an enlarged and impartial charity, thus putting partial friendship, or private interest, which is of the natural man, above charity, which is of the spiritual man.

CVI.

If we ask any thing of the Lord for our own selfishness, we ask what is hurtful; how, in such a case, can Infinite Goodness grant our prayer?

CVII.

Is not too much lenity shewn to a passionate temper when it is palliated on the ground of kind disposition at the bottom? If we grant that quick sensibility is inseparable from a ready intellect, we may still ask the question, Why should not the readiness of the intellect to correct, be brought to bear upon the quickness of the temper to err?

CVIII.

Does not a readiness to quarrel with persons shew a readiness to be either self-sufficient or vindictive? and does not a quickness of quarrel with things or untoward occurrences shew a readiness to be self-willed, and to speak foolishly?

CIX.

No practical harm will be likely to arise from a man's mistrust of others, provided he have a still greater mistrust of his own moral infallibility.

CX.

Dr. Johnson has well said, that to cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life. But, alas! how few there are who do not think themselves quite kind enough without any further cultivation !

CXI.

The wish to go to heaven is a rational wish only when it means a wish to be a servant of God, and, as such, to minister to his creatures, however debased, to eternity. This alone is heaven; and therefore every other kind of wish to go to heaven, is nothing worth, and vain.

CXII.

Not to do wrong is not to do what we know to be wrong; it is a simple matter of conduct; but to do right, is more a matter of motive, as definable by interior truth; and hence we affirm that good derives its quality from truth. To do right is far more complicated in its nature than not to do wrong, and therefore requires both a greater degree of skill to discern, and of self-denial to perform.

CXIII.

Many who are deemed fair Christians, fail of being really such from two causes. Some, like the worshippers of Baal, provide for their sacrifice the wood of external good, but do not look to the Lord for the fire of love to kindle it: others still more inconsistently ask the Lord for the fire, while they neglect to provide the wood. But the true Christian disciple does both; and proceeds exactly according to the directions of Elijah, (1 Kings, xviii.) and is equally distinguished for his loving heart before God, and his upright and honourable conduct before men.

CXIV.

The most glaring of human errors, and the greatest bar to human progress, is the all-but-universal assumption by which every new proposition is met by saying, "That does not agree with my opinion, and therefore it is wrong." Few have sufficient candour to lead them to think that possibly their opinion may be wrong, and the contrary opinion be right.

CXV.

"The New Church (says Swedenborg) will at first be in an external state." If so, charity is more likely to shew itself in its true members in the form of cold justice, than "loving kindness and tender mercy." The "day of small things" must be patiently endured. Still it must be remembered, that there is no entrance into states of genuine charity except through the ever open gates of justice. If justice be not maintained, charity is but a simulation.

(To be continued.)

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ON DISEASES AND THEIR CAUSES.

(From Swedenborg's Economy of the Animal Kingdom, not hitherto translated.)

CHAPTER III.

On the Influx and Correspondence of the Diseases of the Body of the Animus and of the Rational Mind.

377. I believe it will not be doubted by any one, that our intellectual mind, that is, its thought, will, love, and desires, flow into the animus and its imagination, whence cupidities are excited, which flow or operate into the sensations of the body; that is, into the expressions of its countenance, and into its actions and pleasures. For he who reflects even lightly upon those things which exist in himself, will discover, that the universal corporeal system is so connected, that that which is superior and internal acts into that which is inferior and external, and contrarywise. Experience abundantly demonstrates this; for the mind often so operates into the body as to disturb and obscure the blood; as when the mind desires any end which it fails to realize it becomes so angry, and the animus so enraged and furious, that the blood becomes heated, and the bile is so copiously expelled from its duct that fever seizes upon the viscera, and in some cases the intestines are so affected as to be twisted into a knot, (iliac passion.) There is, consequently, a perpetual influx and a perpetual correspondence; yea, so often as there is no correspondence, antagonism or a battle is excited, whence disharmony arises which is the cause of many maladies and diseases; but to treat of this influx would be to write an entire work.

378. All diseases of the body, of whatever kind they be, acknowledge a corresponding malady in the animus, and a corresponding affection or change of state in the mind, (mente.) But although they correspond, they are not, however, to be considered in the same manner, nor are the diseases themselves, which in the body are properly called diseases, but in the animus they are called maladies (ægritudines) and passions, and in the mind, (mens,) changes of state, or perverse states, and in the soul, (anima,) guilt. The pain which is in the body, is called anxiety in the animus, an evil conscience in the mind, (mens,) and hell in the soul, (anima.) Malignant fevers in the body are angry passions and fury in the animus, and a burning hatred in the mind, (mente;) the one also excites the other. Paralysis in the body corresponds to inertness (vecordia) in the animus, and to a fluctuation and an indetermination of the will in the mind, (mens.) It is the same with the other diseases; but we cannot explain the correspondences of all disN. S. No. 153.-VOL. XIII.

2 x

eases before the nature of each is explored. Respecting correspondences and their application, wonderful things may be seen in the article on that subject.

379. Such is the correspondence of diseases, as is that between the crasser, the purer, and the purest blood; or such as is that of the bloodvessels, the nervous fibres, and the simple fibres; also such as is that of the heart, of the brain, and of the cortical substance;* for these are forms which mutually succeed one another. As they mutually correspond to one another, so they mutually flow and act into one another, and also mutually suffer [or react one upon another.]

(To be continued.)

REVIEW.

A VINDICATION OF THE DOCTRINES AND STATEMENTS OF Swedenborg AGAINST THE PERVERSIONS AND ATTACKS OF DR. MEHLER AND PROFESSOR PERRONE; (being, at the same time, a Contribution to the History of Doctrinal Theology.) By Dr. J. F. I. Tafel, Professor of Philosophy, Librarian of the Royal University of Tübingen, and Member of the Historico-Theological Society at Leipsig. Translated from the German by the Rev. J. H. Smithson, formerly Member of the University of Basil. London: HoDSON, and NEWBERY. Manchester: KENWORTHY. 1852.

No theological work has of late years been so extensively read as Dr. Mæhler's "Symbolism,” in which he treats of the "Doctrinal Differences between Roman Catholics and Protestants," &c., and in which he has also a chapter on "Swedenborgianism, as one of the Protestant sects which grew out of the Reformation." This work of Mohler's, as already stated in this Periodical, has passed through six German editions, and has been translated into French, Italian, Latin, and English. The refutation of the mis-statements and perversions of Mohler as to Swedenborg and the doctrines of the New Church, has consequently become indispensable, if the Truth is to make its way and to prosper in the world. We can, however, scarcely hope that this refutation will find its way into every quarter where Moehler's work has been read; nevertheless an antidote is now provided, and those who wish to read both sides of the question, and to judge for themselves, can do so.

The subjects discussed are of great importance, and comprise a large scope in the domain of theology. They are subjects upon which the

* Chapter xxiii. On the Fibres.