maintained by him as it is by the Apostles and Evangelists, or by any Christian sect of the present day.

66

Having failed in showing anything absurd in his relations, and having misrepresented his doctrines, you, as a finishing stroke, attack his opinions and misrepresent them.

"It would have been better and more just to have given the translation of the passage you quote from Conjugial Love, in order that those who are unacquainted with Latin, which must comprise nearly all the readers of the Harbinger,' might have seen what he really does say, and not have left it to be inferred that the original warrants the construction you put upon it.

"I have not the original of Conjugial Love beside me, but I have the last English edition (1855), which, in the passage you have quoted, is an exact translation of the original. I need not tell you that that passage occurs in that division of the work entitled 'Voluptates insaniæ de amore Scortatorio,' expressly devoted to a consideration and exposition of the evils of adultery.

66

Now, what do you give as the scope of the passage' He directs the man that feels a strong inclination for female society,' &c.

"In the first place, Swedenborg gives no directions at all in the matter.

"2nd. It does not at all refer to those who strongly desire female society, for most, if not all, good men desire female society.

"The passage has exclusive reference to those Qui propter salaciam non possunt moderari libidines,' and cannot apply to any out of that class; and in what immediately follows your extract, he states the reasons which may prevent such from contracting a matrimonial engagement, viz., 'In kingdoms where certain forms and orders are to be observed, matrimonial engagements cannot be contracted till the season of youth is past.' This refers, any one may perceive, to continental nations, and cannot refer to Britain or any nation where no such restrictions are placed on marriage. Then he proceeds to say, that if the class of persons mentioned above cannot be restrained from rushing into great evils on account of the unbridled power of lust, a question occurs whether there may not be an intermediate means by which conjugial love may be prevented from perishing in the

6

meantime.' So far from directing any such thing, he distinctly states in the next paragraph (460) that The love of a mistress is an unchaste, natural, and external love; while that of marriage is chaste, spiritual, and internal.'

"These are his opinions from a due consideration of the subject; they may not be yours; you may think that all kinds of sin are equally evil and equally injurious to society; but why condemn another for holding a different opinion? and why misrepresent that which he does hold, and say that he directs to the commission of sin when he is condemning it?

"Such a mode of treating a system which you dislike is not according to the doctrines of the holy Apostles.

"In conclusion, allow me to ask whether, in the course of your thirty years' acquaintance with the Swedenborgians, you have found them to be less intelligent and more immoral than the other Christian sects?

"Yours respectfully,

"JAMES W. FARQUHAR."

"MONUMENTAL EDITION OF THE APPEAL."

[The following paper was received on the 21st of April, too late, as stated on the cover for May, for that number. In the meantime the writer of the letter signed "Disinterestedness" saw the remarks of the Editor at page 231, and sent to us, for the June number, an explanation and an apology, which we inserted, hoping that satisfaction would thereby have been given. As, however, the committee are still of opinion that their complete vindication requires the insertion of their paper, we here subjoin it.-EDITOR.]

To the Editor.

Dear Sir,-Instead of simply our usual pleasant duty of informing the church of our progress in a useful engagement, we have the additional painful duty of replying to an acrimonious letter, very unjudiciously, we think, admitted into the pages of the Repository, signed "Disinterestedness." We feel that the spirit of the letter is inimical to Christian charity, and contrary to the precepts of the Gospel-" If thy brother offend thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone."Supposing we had been in fault, this,

we conclude, was properly the first step, instead of rushing before the Church in a hostile and bitter spirit-assuming (for no proof is or can be given)-that we are mercenaries, "hirelings," "violaters of an engagement," language neither Christian, gentlemanly, nor ornamental to the pages of a religious publication; of course in all we say we give simply our impression, and we feel bound to speak plainly. We do not, in this instance, approve of an assumed name, as other persons may have the discredit of the paper, for every one knows to whom, and of whom, these things are said, and it would surely have been more creditable to the writer to have made known who said them, as when the intentions are elevated and pure we see no necessity for concealment. But to the term itself: "Disinterestedness," if used in its purely dictionary sense, signifies contempt of private interest, meaning thereby material advantage or profit; it is probably much more appropriate to us than to the writer; for our part in this matter has been sustained with very considerable sacrifice, in the shape of time and manual labour, as well as our quota of subscriptions and the purchase of books,-the latter points, we apprehend, being the only ones in which the writer can be considered to sacrifice any thing. There is, however, another point of view-a person might possibly be "disinterested" about the sale of this excellent book and it does appear that the writer is fearful that we should sell too many, or appeal too much to the "selfish feelings" of the members, and thus get them to order too many copies; if it is in this sense that he is "disinterested," we at once join issue with him, and envy not his choice; so far from fearing that we shall do any mischief by the extensive sale of this work, we unflinchingly say we will sell all we can, and would not hesitate, were it necessarywhich we believe it is not-to appeal even to selfish motives; and we can produce the highest authority for such a course. Why are selfish motives implanted in man's nature? to serve as a foundation for higher and nobler ones; and this book will be likely to elevate the man who reads it. Some notice of the following statement, as given by your correspondent, appears necessary: "After receiving, as they declare, the free contribution of the whole sum re

quired to stereotype the work, and 2,000 copies ordered beside, the cry is still for more, more!" Now if this more, more, means, as any casual reader would suppose it to mean, that we ask for more contributions,-for the word contribution is coupled with the ordering of the books in the previous sentence,it is simply untrue, for you may read in the March number of the Repository this sentence:-"The subscription list has reached the amount required, and, as previously announced, is closed from the first of March." This is a quotation from the very article complained of: is this asking for more? If the writer does not mean that, he has expressed himself with culpable carelessness; and if he means simply that we cry still for more, more orders for books, on that subject we have expressed ourselves.

The writer professes to be "sorry to see the pushing, bargaining spirit of the article;" was he not " angry with his brother without a cause"? Verily we think so. Matters of business,and this is one,-require and deserve, and we rejoice to give them, businesslike attention; and if our method does, in the eyes of a few, "smack" too much of the world, probably it is only because they understand too little of the world; it is our method, and if we do the work they must excuse it.

The next point we shall notice is the appellation of "hireling" applied to us. Is it not an impertinent insinuation that we are influenced in what we do for the Church by mercenary motives? Will the writer of that letter believe us, when we say, that neither we, individually, nor the Cross-street Society, ever for one moment dishonoured this matter by the thought of a material advantage or profit, which some others, as well as the writer of that letter, have been narrowminded enough to conclude? We feel that we should fail to do justice to this case if we did not express our indignation at such grovelling imputations. Your correspondent goes on further to say that "to raise the price to 3s. 6d. would certainly be a violation of the terms on which the enterprise was undertaken." Let us now refer to the understanding or agreement as given in the "Repository" for August, 1854, p. 374.

After the preliminary observations the reading is this: "They have ascertained

that to compose and stereotype the work £100. will be required; they therefore solicit subscriptions at least to that amount, and should the sum subscribed exceed it, the surplus will be used in advertising the work.

"This amount furnished, the committee will be able to supply to societies or individuals any number of copies required; ten copies for 20s., or any number less than ten at 2s. 6d. per copy.

"The form and type of the last edition are intended to be retained, and the work will be printed on the best paper and in the best style."

These clauses contain the agreement, the "understanding" which should be "held of the matter by the whole Church;" for if any one has imaginary conditions in his mind, we have nothing to do with that, but to correct his erroneous impressions. Now, we ask, which of the clauses binds us to furnish "permanently" a good cheap edition of the Appeal at 2s. 6d.? Our engagement is to 66 supply "-not necessarily for the whole term of our life and our heirs and executors in perpetuity-but to "supply" societies or individuals, and we are even censured for being over anxious to do this; our duty, therefore, ceases altogether when we have done this, and no one has any farther claim upon us. When we stated that "orders for copies would be received till the 10th of the month, after which the work would be obtainable only through the publisher, and it is expected the price will be 3s. 6d.," we did so with the intention of appointing a publisher to supply the public and the trade on the usual terms, and we could not see that it could be done for less than 3s. 6d. ; therefore, we gave this intimation, as we then said, that persons might not be disappointed. In this respect, it will be seen we have taken another course.

The plates are the property of the Cross-street Society, and how have they cared for the welfare of the Church? by passing a resolution at their last annual meeting (before the paper of "Disinterestedness" was seen-mind that or, possibly, he may take credit to himself for the measure) to this effect, that "the stereotype plates of the Appeal be transferred to the London Missionary and Tract Society, on such conditions as the committee deem suitable."

The first committee then passed a re

solution to the effect, "that the committee appointed for the Appeal business are hereby empowered to transfer the plates to the Missionary and Tract Society on condition that they keep the work permanently before the public at a price not exceeding 3s. 6d." This will be brought before the annual meeting of the Missionary Society in May.

In conclusion, we beg to say, that we undertook this matter voluntarily, with motives of usefulness, if we know any.. thing of the matter; we have, to the best of our ability, performed a use,-a service to mankind; we have done this to the satisfaction of our own minds, and, we doubt not, to the satisfaction of the great majority of the New Church. Yours sincerely,

THOS. F. SALTER. WILLIAM MAXWELL. R. GUNTON.

"MONUMENTAL EDITION OF THE APPEAL."

To the Editor.

Dear Sir,-As several applications have been made for copies of this work which we have been unable to supply, it has been arranged, under the auspices of the Missionary Society, that another 500,-or 1,000 if necessary,—shall be struck off as soon as we have received orders sufficient to justify such a step. The price will be the same,-viz., 10 copies and upwards, 2s. per copy; less than 10, to subscribers, 2s. 6d. per copy; to non-subscribers, or ordered through a bookseller, the price will be 3s. To prevent any mistakes, we think it best that those who desire to order the work should do so quite irrespective of anything they may previously have said about it; that is to say, if any society should have written previously, saying, that they wish for 25 copies more, or any other number, regard that as nothing, and let us start on fresh ground; let all the societies and individuals send orders for as many as they require, and consider any previous orders as standing for nothing. We must again request payment of the outstanding claims, as the treasurer, in his payments, is in advance of his receipts. Yours sincerely,

R. GUNTON, Secretary. 25, Lamb's Conduit-street, London, June 14, 1855.

On the 7th of June, at the French Church, Queen-street, Norwich, by the Rev. Robert Abbott, Mr. James Hair

White, of London, to Amelia Margaret, daughter of Robert Woolterton, Esq., of the former city.

The Rev. James Bradley died at his residence, Hulme, Manchester, on the 20th of April last, aged 73 years.

This respected minister was born at Hayfield, in Derbyshire. His boyhood was distinguished by fearlessness of danger and resoluteness of disposition, with which were combined strong religious feeling and deep reverence for the Word of God. This feeling brought him in early life into close connection with the Church of England, and he became a very active and much-respected member of the congregation as sembling at St. James's, Manchester, under the pastoral care of the learned Dr. Cornelius Bayley. His mind was at this time strongly imbued with the Solifidian doctrines then prevalent; and when the doctrines of the New Church were presented to him by a friend, he manifested the greatest unwillingness to receive them. He had, however, some time before been brought into apparently accidental contact with infidelity in its most naked form. He was shocked by what he regarded as its profaneness, and its daring denial of the truth of the Bible and the coming of Christ in the flesh; but he was also confounded by its sophistries, and unable to repel them from the armory of his then religious faith. This circum. stance had shaken his confidence in the popular doctrines, yet still, when a wise and merciful Providence brought to his view a brighter and more perfect system of truth, he clung with all the tenacity of a man fearful to lose his all, to the system in which he had been trained. He disputed every inch of ground, frequently suffering severe mental conflict, and often fervently praying to the Lord to lead him right.

When at length convinced of the truth, he became anxious to extend a knowledge of it to others; and the Missionary Institution, commenced soon after, afforded him the opportunity. This institution was established by a

resolution of the Manchester Conference of 1815, and was designed to spread the doctrines through the united kingdom, by means of a travelling missionary ministry. The first missionary employed was the Rev. Mr. Proud, whose increasing years rendered him unable to continue the arduous duties of the office in the winter months. To supply his place, Mr. Bradley was appointed as an assistant missionary, and continued in this field of labour from November, 1816, until his appointment as minister of the society at Newcastle-on-Tyne, in the early part of 1819. A considerable portion of this time was spent at Sheffield and Leeds, the Leeds Society dating its commence ment from his labours. In addition to these towns he preached to all the societies then existing in the North of England, and gave lectures in many towns and villages where the doctrines had not been previously preached. Among the latter places were the important seaport towns of Whitby and Scarborough, which he visited on his return from the north, January, 1819, and of which, from an oversight of the committee, no account appears in the Missionary Report. At Whitby he ob tained permission to preach in the Presbyterian Chapel, through the influence of the late Lieut. Linklater, R.N.; and was also introducd to the minister, the late Dr. Young, a man of great learning and high respectability, with whom he held a lengthened conversation on the doctrines. At Scarborough he met in private, several respectable parties resident in the town and neighbourhood, and also preached twice in a private house. And at Pickering, while on the same mission, he gave two lectures in a public room, which were very respectably attended and well received. In the missionary field Mr. Bradley was ever an acceptable labourer. No better evidence of this can be afforded than the affection still cherished for him, by

those members of the church who witnessed his labours. He had become familiarized by practice with the most popular evidences of the leading doctrines, and these he presented with singular clearness of statement and eloquence of delivery. Those who have only heard him in the ordinary ministrations of the pulpit will form a very imperfect idea of him as a missionary lecturer. His whole soul was in the work, and he spake as one deeply impressed with the truth, and most anxious to impress others. "Whether that gentleman's doctrines be true or not," said one of his hearers on leaving his lecture room, "he is certainly a most able man,” an assertion cheerfully assented to by the person he addressed.

His labours in the missionary field were followed by his pastorate at Newcastle: which, though not unfruitful in results, was far from happy to himself. His whole life in this town seems to have been a painful struggle. The Temple, erected chiefly through his energy and perseverance, was literally "built in troublous times." He was encouraged to undertake this work by the munificent assistance of the late Mrs. Birch, or Norman, and assisted by other valuable contributions from zealous members of the church; but had throughout to contend with difficulties which would have discouraged and overcome many less earnest men. Nor did the completion of the work issue in comfort to himself. The unfortunate differences with the Conference respecting the investment of the Temple, led to the temporary removal of his name from the list of ministers. The Conference, a few years afterwards, on restoring him to his former place, generously acknowledged "that he had been actuated by none but the most upright motives." From Newcastle he removed to Leeds, and from thence, after a brief sojourn, to Hull, where he became the minister of the chapel in Princess-street, Daggerlane. His pastorate at Hull was short, and was distinguished by nothing so much as the warm friendship of some of his flock. From Hull he removed to Salford. Here he resumed his connection with the Manchester and Salford Missionary Society, and visited as he had opportunity the several societies in the immediate neighbourhood of Man

chester. About sixteen years ago, he was appointed registrar of the Ardwick Cemetery, the duties of which office he satisfactorily fulfilled until within three years of his death; when, through repeated attacks of paralysis, he was obliged to retire from all employment, and remained in his sick-chamber, constantly attended by his devoted and affectionate wife.

Whilst at Newcastle he published his "Course of thirteen Lectures on the most important Theological Subjects.” It is a goodly octavo volume. Besides this volume he has published a few tracts and sermons, and occasional papers in our periodical publications. As a writer he is not faultless, but the slight blemishes in his volume of Lectures, are more than compensated by the varied statement, solid arguments, and sound doctrine with which it abounds.

Mr. Bradley was of a very Catholic spirit and social disposition. On his return to Salford he entered heartily into all the social meetings of the Church in Manchester. He delighted in every opportunity to aid and encourage the young in their efforts to gain a knowledge of the doctrines, and their endeavours to disseminate them. In this respect the present writer is his debtor. He interested himself at all times in everything relating to the New Church. His delight was to serve her and witness her progress. His feelings were eminently missionary. Many examples of noble sentiments and sound views on this subject might be gleaned from his reports. The following, in which he seems to have anticipated his present state, will suitably close this notice. The sincerity of the sentiments in Mr. Bradley's case was attested by his whole life :-"The visible effects of missionary labours may not be so abundant as we could wish. And though, in this respect, we may labour, and others may enter into our labours, yet will we not rejoice the less on that account. The seeds of Divine truth now sown may, in a future generation, bear abundant and precious fruit; nor may we be deprived of the benefits thereof, as the joy of angels is increased by the improved states of mankind on earth. 'Our labour then cannot be in vain in the Lord."

Dalton.

R. S.