his neighbour, and would suffer any privation, rather than any should suffer wrong through him. He was also ready to acknowledge, that his neighbour might be actuated by the same principle, till he was unhappily compelled by experience to admit the contrary. Hence he was wronged by many, though he wronged none. He could not bear to hear his neighbour spoken ill of; but when speaking of his failings, he would cast over him the mantle of charity, and pity his case most earnestly. Witnessing his even deportment through life, one might be led to think that he had no evils to contend with,nothing within to disturb his peace; but such was not the case, for none could more readily acknowledge and lament his hereditary evils,-none could be more earnest in describing man's fallen state, and the necessity for continual watchfulness and combat against evil. He would often deplore the delusion some were under, that they could instantaneously be made pure from all defilement, knowing and acknowledging that there was always something to do to prepare for the blessed abode prepared for us,-evil affections to subdue, errors to correct, and to bring out more and more fully into life the divine principles taught in the Gospel. It is impossible for me to describe all the christian graces and virtues that adorned the character of our departed friend; but the principal feature in his truly amiable character was reverence for the Lord's name and all the holy things of the Church. Hence, when speaking of our doctrines, he would often exclaim, with a countenance beaming with joy, "The doctrines of the New Church are beautiful; they exalt the Lord so highly in our estimation." He would also express his surprise, how any one could speak of Him as an arbitrary and revengeful being. A consequence of this deep veneration was a strict attention to the duties of the Sabbath. Never was he known to be absent without a particular cause. If his seat was vacant at any time, it always excited a general inquiry. During his latter years his principal reading was the Word and the writings of Swedenborg. He might often be found completely absorbed with the "Arcana" before him; and to speak to him and gain his attention at such times, was like calling him from another state of existence. This was evident from a peculiar expression of his countenance at the moment you gained his attention. The heavenly instruction thus obtained was ultimated in his life and conversation, and thus became permanent. Though he had no particular literary talent, his conversation was marked with wisdom, his remarks were given in words few and simple, and he was always listened to with confidence that what he had to offer was genuine instruction. In discussion his arguments were mild and convincing, but he would never discuss the doctrines with any one if he found them insincere, "for," as he would say, "the doctrines will do us no good if we are not willing to be guided by them." What he was as a husband and a father is too much for me to describe, but it will long be remembered by those who were acquainted with his peaceful and happy home! He was conscious for the last few years that his life would not be long in this world, as he found his physical powers gradually decreasing. He was at length laid prostrate by a severe bilious attack. For five weeks his death was expected every hour both by himself and his friends, during which time, at intervals, he suffered severe pain, but no murmer escaped his lips. It was truly affecting to hear him address those around him, with such earnestness did he recommend to them the doctrine and life of the New Church as a preparation for the grand crisis at which he himself had arrived. When the writer was speaking to him respecting the New Church doctrines he exclaimed,-" Oh, but for the glories of the New Church I should now be miserable, but now I am happy. I have nothing to fear, but every thing to hope; the brightest prospect is before me!" Thus he continued to the end, suffering with patience, and patiently waiting for his departure to another and better world. The great respect in which he was held by his neighbours was evinced by the number of those, besides his relations, who put on mourning, and paid their last respects to him by follow ing his body to the grave. A funeral discourse was preached on the occasion by Mr. W. H. Griggs, of Brightlingsea, from the words of the Psalmist :"Mark the perfect man and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace." The chapel was filled to overflowing; many could not get admission. Mr. Griggs took the opportunity of pointing out the true nature of heaven and its enjoyments, showing plainly how our departed friend was well prepared to enter heaven and partake of its eternal joys. The members of the St. Osyth Society feel conscious of the great loss they have sustained; but it is hoped that this privation will induce them to apply to the Lord more earnestly for the heavenly graces and virtues of which our departed friend possessed so great a share. We may all study his character with safety: and may we all profit by the good example he has left us ! R. G. Died October 7th, 1854, at Bristol, aged 41 years, Elizabeth, the beloved wife of Captain Corcoran. This departed friend was the eldest daughter of Edward Preston, Esq., of Rose Hill, Eccles, and survived her mother, whose obituary appeared in this Magazine for April last, only the short period of a few months. The deceased, having from the time of her marriage accompanied her husband to various parts of the globe, where his regiment was stationed, became, through her exemplary Christian conduct, universally respected and beloved. The soldier's wife found in her a sincere friend, the widow a sympathising heart and a charitable hand, and the orphan a kind protector. We have heard it stated, that her respected husband and herself adopted, as a sacred rule, the duty of assembling their household together, whether in camp or on march, morning and evening to read a portion of the Word, and to implore the Lord's mercy and protection in the trials and temptations incidental to a military life. Her affectionate husband and the three children she has left, experience in this bereavement an irreparable loss; but they find consolation in the Lord's words, where He says,- "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." J. H. S. Died, at Haslingden, on the 31st October, in the 48th year of his age, Mr. Thomas Cooper, leaving a widow and numerous family to mourn his loss. It is about sixteen years since our departed brother first became interested in the doctrines of the New Church, and from the time, shortly afterwards, of his joining the society at Haslingden, until his death, he was most regular in his attendance at service, and ever ready to promote the cause of truth and goodness. The zeal and energy of character which distinguished him, were well known to a large circle of friends. His short illness was sustained with fortitude, and he died in calm reliance on his Divine Saviour. The Rev. Dr. Bayley, on Sunday November 19th, improved the occasion of his departure into the spiritual world, by preaching a funeral discourse on the following text: "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God; a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." J. R. Died, at Kersley, November 26th, aged 25 years, Alice, wife of Charles Jackson. She had been a scholar in the Kersley Sunday school, and a member of the congregation. On the Saturday, when in apparently perfect health, she was seized in the evening with a fit, and was a corpse in less than twentyfour hours. Cave and Sever, Printers, Palatine Buildings, Hunt's Bank, Manchester. THE human mind, from its earliest developments, is actuated by a desire for knowledge. In the child we observe a strong tendency to know, by sensuous experience, every thing that comes within the sphere of its apprehension This thirst after knowledge is by creation deeply implanted in the human mind, and we may say that it is the primary characteristic of our mental nature. In the animal we observe no such tendency; its instinct soon arrives at maturity, beyond which no progress is made. It is not so with man; the affection of knowing increases with his development, and gains strength by the food which nourishes it; the more it knows, the more it desires to know; and knowledge becomes as necessary to our mental, as food is to our bodily life. In this fact we perceive, as Swedenborg says, a most striking difference between an animal and a man. This difference at once shews the great superiority of man, and is, at the same time, a proof of his immortality, that by creation, he is connected with the infinite Source of all knowledge, and intended to be conjoined with Him in the con. scious reception and love of what is Good and True from Him. This desire in man after knowledge becomes more intense as he rises from the lower to the higher degrees of his life. Whilst in the sensual or lowest degree, he only cares about that knowledge which relates to his [Enl. Series.-No. 14, vol. ii.] G bodily life, and to the gratification of his senses. As he becomes rational the horizon of his knowledge extends, and his inquiries take a wider survey, and are more penetrating in their investigation. He inquires into the nature of his own being, the end for which he exists, the destiny for which he is intended, and the means by which all these objects can be attained. He also inquires into the origin, nature, and uses of the things around him, and interrogates nature in her inmost penetralia and recesses, that he may become acquainted with the powers and forces by which her phenomena are produced, and her operations conducted. Nor does he rest here, even though he should arrive at satisfactory conclusions respecting these investigations; he is nevertheless not satisfied in himself. He pushes his researches to the remotest bounds of human knowledge, and inquires into the FIRST CAUSE of all things, and can only find satisfaction and repose in the knowledge of God, and of his relation to Him as his Maker and continual Preserver, "in whom he lives, moves, and has his being." These are the objects into which the rational mind of man desires to look; nor can it rest satisfied until it has acquired some certain and reliable knowledge on these important questions. Prior to the fall of man, in the most ancient church, called Adlam, there is no doubt that the human mind arrived à priori at a knowledge of these great subjects. For the life of Love from God, acting in the heart of man, would enkindle the light of Truth and intelligence in his understanding, which would enable him, as it were, by instinctive perceptions, to know, when he beheld the objects of nature, their quality and uses, and their relation to himself. He would thus be led to look through nature up to nature's God, in whose bosom of Love and Wisdom, or of Goodness and Truth, he would find security, peace, and bliss. "His soul would be as a watered garden," and the delights and charms of Eden would be his happy allotment. But this delightful harmony and peace, in which all man's faculties and degrees of life, the sensual, the rational, the spiritual, and the celestial, were in such heavenly order, that it might truly be said, that "the kingdom of God was within him,”—all this Eden-state of things was destroyed by the Fall. The pleasures of the external man originating in the love of self and of the world, were preferred to the delights of the "inward man,” (Rom. vii. 22; 2 Cor. iv. 16.) originating in the love of God and of the neighbour, and all man's relations were changed, his relation to his God, to heaven, to his fellow man, to the world, and even to himself, were entirely altered. He was no longer in any respect, except as to his external bodily form, the same man. And even his external form was degraded in appear ance, and in the quality of its life, by the deterioration of its blood,— henceforth liable to disease and the pains and sufferings of a lingering death. In this state man lost his intuitive perceptions of the TRUE, and he had to arrive at intelligence, afterwards denoted by the term philosophy, by an à posteriori way, and not, as in his former or proper state, by an à priori way. All "Truth now springs up out of the earth;" (Psalm lxxxv, 11.) that is, all truth now comes to man by an exterior way, "out of the earth,”—by the way of the senses, called the à posteriori way, and not from within, or the à priori way of the internal perceptions. The Understanding was consequently separated from the Will; and man has now first to form his Understanding from Truth, before he can acquire a Will for Good; whereas in his former state, his Will was first formed by Good, and the Understanding was formed from the Will, as flame is formed from heat. Now, although the order of man's mind, and the harmony of his faculties, has been destroyed, yet the appetite and thirst after knowledge remains, though not so pure and vigorous as before. Truth, especially Divine Truth revealed in the Word, is the chief agent and instrumental means by which man is regenerated and restored to order and happiness. Man, therefore, by this appetite, desires to know every thing that concerns his well-being, both as to body and soul. When he begins to think and reflect on himself, his origin and destiny, on the wonderful structure of his body, and the powers of his mind,—on the objects and phenomena of nature and on the Creator, and strives after clear and consistent ideas on these subjects, he is said to philosophize, or to speculate, that is, to look about, within and without his mind, for results and conclusions that are satisfactory to his rational perceptions. The aggregate of these results and conclusions is called philosophy, and his mind rests in them as in its proper abode. For the mind, without some system of thought in which it can find itself at home, is like a man who has no house to dwell in. Hence it is that the genuine doctrine of Truth is called "the City of God," in which God can dwell with his people and they with Him. Every man, whether he reflects upon it or not, has a system of thought in which he loves to dwell. If this system is not formed from principles of the TRUE, it will be formed from the fallacious suggestions and persuasions of the FALSE. In ancient times, subsequent to the "golden age," or most ancient church, the mind sought its refuge and abode in hieroglyphics and mythologies. These are the most ancient forms of human thought; and their nature and meaning can be detected and explained only by the |