Lutheran Society, at Baltimore, whose congregation had been previously, to some extent, imbued with New Church sentiments. Mr. Brickman having, however, felt it to be his duty to become baptized into the New Church, this has rendered it necessary that he should be separated from his clerical colleagues, and he has become the pastor of a small but regularly organized society of about twenty Germans, who occupy the very building in Baltimore in which the Rev. Mr. Hargrove organized the first New Church society in the United States. It would seem that the number of Germans who are receivers of the doctrines in America, is becoming very consider able; and it has been suggested that a society should be established for the purpose of printing the German translations of the writings of Swedenborg, which would probably have its centre in Cincinnati.

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Dr. Leonhard Tafel, the younger brother of Dr. Immanuel Tafel, of Tubingen, to whose learning, activity and intelligence the New Church is so much indebted, has been appointed Professor of Languages in the New Church University at Urbana. He is said to be remarkably popular and successful" as a teacher; and the number of students in connection with the University has increased thirty per cent. over what it was last year. Dr. Leonhard Tafel was, we are informed, "born a teacher; and from his first entrance into that office, he made it his object to improve upon the old method of instruction. For thirty years he laboured incessantly to bring this matter to a state of perfection;" and he has published several text-books for instruction in the Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, English, and Italian languages. He is a Doctor of Philosophy, and well known amongst classical scholars for his able notes on an edition of Livy, which was published in the same year in which he took his doctor's degree. He has also translated many works from the English and French into German, as well as the History of Dio Cassius, and the Anabasis of Xenophon; and he was secretary of the General Conference of the New Church in Germany and Switzerland, prior to his departure for America.

Should any minister be coming to town, we shall feel obliged by having

his services on any Sabbath he may be here; and a communication on this subject will be thankfully received. H. B.

LECTURES AT BOSTON, IN LINCOLNSHIRE, BY THE REV. J. H. SMITHSON.

In the extensive county of Lincoln there are at Louth, Gainsborough, Great Grimsby, Brigg, and Bostonzealous receivers of the doctrines of the New Church. There are also some in the villages adjacent to these towns. These brethren, thus scattered and isolated from each other, have formed themselves into an association, for the purpose of concentrating their energies and their means for active usefulness in making these doctrines known to others, and in spreading the light of pure Scriptural Truth as far and as wide as they possibly can. Louth is the "basis of their operations" in their attacks upon the surrounding darkness and sensualism; and our esteemed friend, J. Bogg, Esq., resident at Louth, is the point of union and centre of activity, being at the same time the treasurer and the secretary of the Lincolnshire Association for promulgating, through missionaries and tracts, the doctrines of the New Church.

On Saturday, Nov. 25th, the Rev. J. H. Smithson departed for Louth, with the intention, according to appointment, of proceeding, on the following Monday, to Boston, to commence a course of four lectures in the Town Hall of that ancient borough, famed in the olden time for its puritanism and religious zeal. The lecturer spent the Sunday at Louth, in the household of Mr. and Mrs. Bogg, which is truly a "household of the Faith," for rarely has it been the lecturer's lot to spend a day under a roof where there was so much intelligence and love in respect to the truths and doctrines of the New Church. In the morning, we assembled together, with some friends in the neighbourhood, to worship the Lord, and much edification appeared to be the result. In the evening we assembled again, to partake of the Lord's Holy Supper. Twelve persons, we think, including the minister, met on this occasion, and truly, as a feast of mutual love and of heavenly intelligence it was experienced by all. Whilst thinking of the ignorant

prejudices actuating the mind of the many in this neighbourhood against the knowledge of the pure truths of the Word, we were reminded of the Lord's words—“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." On the following day, as stated, the lecturer proceeded to Boston, about thirty miles distant, to deliver his lectures, which commenced on the Monday evening. The following were the subjects of the lectures :-I. "Jesus Christ the One Person of the Trinity, in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwelleth bodily." II. "The Word of God and its Divinity demonstrated against all Infidel objections." III. "The only way of Salvation; or, How is the Sinner justified before God?" IV. "The Resurrection, and the Nature of the Life after Death." On the bill it was stated "that the lecturer would be happy to reply to any relevant questions that might be put in writing at the close of each lecture." We have received the following account of the lectures from a gentleman who was most actively and kindly engaged in assisting the lecturer during his stay at Boston.

Mr. Editor.

Sir, It is highly gratifying to me to be able to inform the readers of the Magazine, that the profound attention paid to the four excellent and instructive discourses, lately delivered in this town by the Rev. J. H. Smithson, and the eager desire manifested by the audiences to procure tracts at the close of each lecture, are not the only proofs that we have had of the interest felt in the subjects discussed; for others, equally pleasing, have been presented to our notice. A statement of some of these may not be uninteresting to the readers of the Repository, nor altogether out of place as evidences that the lecturer's labours amongst us have not only been appreciated, but are likely, also, to be followed by beneficial results. A gentleman, a member of the Wesleyan body, who was present at the first lecture, called upon a neighbour of mine a few days after, when the conversation turned upon the New Church, as being something novel to both parties. My neighbour inquired of his friend as to whether he had attended any of the lectures. The reply was, "Yes, I attended the first, and was somewhat

pleased with it. To many of the Boston public, the views of the lecturer, on the Nature and Person of Jesus Christ, may be singular and offensive; but it is my opinion that these views are, at the present day, laying firmly hold of the minds of thousands; for people are beginning to see, that if Jesus Christ be God at all, he must necessarily be the only God; and however strongly that view may be denounced from the respective pulpits of our town, there is no doubt the lecture on the Trinity will not be without its impressions on the intellectual perceptions of many."

Another gentleman, connected with the General Baptists, on being asked, at the close of the second lecture, by one of our friends, as to what he thought of the two he had heard, replied "They are just what we wanted in Boston; and I not only intend to hear the whole course, but most earnestly express a hope that we shall soon have another opportunity of hearing New Church lec. tures."

At the termination of the last lecture, two ladies, members of the Baptist church, came forward, and voluntarily contributed towards the defraying of the expenses of the lectures. One gave us the liberal sum of 10s.; and the other, 2s. 6d. But besides this signal manifestation of their approval of the lectures, we had the satisfaction of receiving from their lips many expressions of praise and admiration of the New Church doctrines, so far as revealed to them through the medium of the lectures. They also assured us, that they sincerely hoped that Boston would again, ere long, be visited by some New Church minister, that they might thereby have the privilege of learning more of the beauties of New Church teachings.

An intelligent gentleman, holding an important public office in the town, called upon me a few evenings ago, and in the course of our conversation we touched upon the lectures. This gentleman, though professedly a member of the Unitarian congregation, is in reality a Materialist. Our conversation respecting the lectures bore more particularly upon the last one. He said "I do not believe in the existence of a spirit-world; but I must acknowledge that the view of that world, as set forth by Mr. Smithson, is by far the most rational I ever met with; and, indeed, I have no hesi

mistake? Mr. Clissold's object was doubtless the same as Swedenborg's in the case he mentions, namely, to prove that the doctrines taught by Swedenborg are those of true Christianity, or to shew that the persons called Swedenborgians are really Christians; and certainly that glorious title should not be put aside for any other. But in repudiating the name Swedenborgian, is there no danger of the distinctive character of Christianity, as taught by Swedenborg, being lost sight of? Is the great difference between the New Dispensation and that of the first Christian church sufficiently kept in view? Is the Herald of the Lord's Second Coming to be ranked among such men as Arius or Marcion, Luther or Calvin? It is true that Swedenborg was not an inventor of doctrine, but a restorer of it, yet he did more than restore doctrines to what they were among the early Christians. The science of correspondences was lost, he informs us, long before their time; and though they may have believed in the Divinity of the Lord, the doctrine of the Divine Human was not understood in that fulness (showing us plainly of the Father) in which it is put before us in the writings of Swedenberg. Instead of Swedenborgian Christians, we may prefer to be called New Church Christians; but though correct, there is an ambiguity in that designation which it will require a long time to remove. In the meantime, while it is highly desirable to convince the world that Swedenborgians are Christians, it seems equally desirable to guard against the conclusion that true Christians are not Swedenborgians. We have a Swedenborg Printing Society, of which Mr. Clissold is a distinguished member, and at the anniversary of which the address in question was delivered; is it desirable to inform the public that the members of it are not Swedenborgians?

NEW PUBLICATION.

AMICUS.

War, Cholera, and the Ministry of Health. An Appeal to Sir Benjamin Hall and the British People. By James John Garth Wilkinson, M.D., author of "The Human Body and its connexion with Man." Lon

don: Robert Theobald, 26, Paternoster Row. W. Headland, 15, Princess-street, Hanover Square; and 39, King's Road, Brighton. 1854. "This work shews, by the medical failure in the Black Sea, in the Crimea, and elsewhere, that the office of State Medicine is vacant, and that homoeopathy alone is competent to fill it. Furthermore that homoeopathy is the only known system which can successfully meet the wants of armies, navies, and the masses, in extensive public casualties, and great epidemics. Also that the medical question, both in war and peace, is second in importance to no question which can occupy the attention of financiers and statesmen. Finally, that homoeopathy is the one thing needful for the constitution of a true Ministry of Health, and for the prosecution of sanitary reforms equal to the wants of the age."

MEANING OF ACTS I. 11.

To the Editor.

Sir,-You will oblige by informing me how I am to understand the statement in Acts i. 11, which reads as follows:"This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Now, this appears to me to be an announcement that the Lord, at his second advent, would, "in like manner" as he was seen in Person going up into heaven, come again, that is, in Person, contrary to what we read in the New Church doctrines, in which it is said that his Second Coming is not in Person but in Spirit," that is, in the power and glory of his Word by the opening of its Spiritual Sense. An explanation of this passage would greatly oblige yours, &c.,

INQUIRER.

[We beg first to remind our Correspondent, that the entire transaction was seen in the spiritual and not in the natural world. This is evident not only from the fact that the Lord, after His ascension, could only be seen by the opening of the spiritual sight of those who beheld Him; but also from the circumstance that "two men in white apparel," that is, angels, announced this declaration to the disciples, whose spiritual senses were consequently opened

to see and to hear what was said and done. Secondly, when a general judgment is executed in the world of spirits, (which is the scene of all judgments,) the Lord comes as the "Son of Man," in Person," with his holy aagels in the clouds of heaven," as described in Matt. xxiv. 30; (see especially Earths in the Universe, 171.) and thus, "in like manner" as he was seen in Person when "a cloud received him out of their sight." But to men still living in the world, or to the church on earth, he does not comeas taught in the doctrines of the New Church-again, in Person, but in Spirit, that is, in the life and spirit of His Word, by the opening of its spiritual sense, and

the consequent effects of this opening, which in due time become manifest in the church on earth, and which are now every year, especially by the universal spread of the Scriptures, becoming, in a thousand ways, more and more manifest in the world. The Apostle teaches us plainly "that the Lord came once to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." (Heb. ix. 26.) Now this term once, anaέ, implies, as Dr. Doddridge correctly says, once for all, that is, that He could only come once in Person to men upon earth, and that, consequently, His second coming would be, not in Person, but in Spirit.—Ed.]

* See Doddridge's Commentary on this passage.

Died, at St. Osyth, July 9th, Mr. James Chaplin, in the 70th year of his age. Our much lamented friend had been a receiver of the New Church doctrines for nearly forty years. He was one of the earliest receivers of our doctrines in this village. From receiving some views of the New Church through Mr. Munson, by whom the doctrines were introduced into this place, he was led to read our author's writings for himself, the first of which was the "Doctrine of Life." Our friend was delighted with this work, and his happy mind instantly responded to the heavenly instruction therein given, and he at once declared, "if this is a true specimen of Swedenborg's writings, I am sure he is right." His mind, however, was very sensitive, and he was fearful lest he should imbibe any thing contrary to the will and Word of God. He therefore prayed earnestly to the Lord that he might be guided aright. His prayer was answered by a genuine, internal, rational conviction, which gave

him the utmost satisfaction. The consequence of this earnest seeking after true religion, was a steady reception of our heavenly doctrines in the heart and life.

The writer has heard him speak of his progress in the regenerate life, from the time when, from the gloomy picture of the future life which he had received from the fallen church, he often wished he had never been born, till, from the glorious realities of another world revealed to him in our heavenly doctrines, he could lift up his heart in rapture to his Maker, and praise his holy name for creating him a recipient of those heavenly principles which constituted him an immortal being, capable of enjoying everlasting bliss.

From a youth our friend's conduct was always consistent, and in after life his fair externals embodied those divine principles of love and charity which characterise the true Christian. As a man he was peculiarly upright, paying the strictest regard to his dealings with