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MEMOIR OF SWEDENBORG.

IT has too generally happened, that those whom Divine Providence has from time to time raised up to be the great teachers of mankind, have been abused or neglected by the age in which they lived. This was the case with the apostles of the Christian Dispensation, and even with its Divine Founder Himself. Of Him they said, "He hath a devil and is mad: why hear ye Him?" And in like manner, of his apostle Paul it was affirmed, that "much learning had made him mad;" and he was obliged to defend himself against the charge-"I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness."* In the course of years and of ages, it came at length to be clearly seen and fully settled, that the apostle indeed was not mad, as was thought, but spoke in reality the words of truth and soberness, and that truth, too, inspired from heaven. And we, who have been brought up in this belief, and who live in an age when that faith has been long established, are apt to wonder at and censure the incredulity of those who made such charges, and who were unwilling to receive the glorious truth of the new Dispensation then presented to them.

But, indeed, it is to be feared, that we are but little wiser, in this respect, than they were. The men of the present day are hardly more disposed to receive or listen to what is new, however true it may be,-than were the men of a former age. Prejudice is still alive, * Acts xxvi. 25.

and ever ready to do its wonted work of shutting up men's eyes and ears,-now, as then. What men have been accustomed to believing and holding, they wish still to believe and hold, and nought else. What is old is good and true; what is new, they think, must be false: "no man having drunk old wine," saith the Scripture, "straightway desireth new, for he saith the old is better." Thus it is. Men, in the mass, are creatures of habit and custom; they do as they have done, and walk in the way of their fathers; or if they chance to hear something new that strikes them as true and reasonable, they fear to receive it, till they first inquire whether " any of the rulers have believed on him." Few there are, who have sufficient independence of mind, to think and judge for themselves; and still fewer, whose love of truth so far transcends selfish and worldly considerations, as to render them willing to incur the risk of temporal loss, or of odium amongst friends and acquaintances, in order to obtain it.

There has seldom been a more favourable opportunity of observing the truth of this view, than exists in our own day, and at this moment. There has appeared in the world, within a century past, a writer, such as-for height, depth, and extent of intellect and learning combined, or for the importance and grandeur of the truths he has set forth-it may unhesitatingly be said, has not before appeared amongst men; one, whose teachings comprehend the essential principles of all religion, philosophy, and science, bound together into one grand system; one, who has undertaken and successfully executed the great and difficult task of reconciling reason and revelation, of harmonizing the Word with the works of God;-who, beginning with the Deity Himself, the Creator and Source of all things, has pictured forth His essential nature, character, and

mode of existence, with as much distinctness, exactness, and fulness of portraiture, as it is possible for the ⚫ finite faculties of man to conceive of in relation to the infinite Divinity: then, descending from the Creator Himself into the first sphere of His creation, the spiritual world, he has not only described the scenes, but stated and explained the laws of that world, entered into a consideration of the very substances of which it is composed, and demonstrated the nature, character, and kind of existence of the intelligent beings who inhabit it; the joys of heaven, the pains of hell are set forth, neither vaguely nor fantastically, but soberly, rationally, and clearly; the writer explaining, at every step, causes and principles, while describing appearances and effects. The teacher, then, comes down to earth-the natural world; and armed as he is with stores of universal science, master of the three kingdoms of nature, he is able to penetrate into the essential principles of matter, and point out the presence and operation everywhere of powers from the spiritual world, giving matter all its life, strength, and organization; showing thus, the connection between the two worlds, and declaring at the same time the laws of that connection; and withal, never forgetting to direct the attention of the observer to the lovely image of the Creator stamped on every part of his creation, and the distinct traces of His handiwork everywhere discernible, thus ever teaching his reader reverently to "look through nature up to nature's God." Thus has this writer given to the world a complete system of religious philosophy.

But his services to mankind do not stop even here: this is but a part of his work. Having given religion and spirituality to philosophy and science, he now brings reason and philosophy to religion, and makes them what they were meant to be, her handmaids, not

her antagonists. With a mind enlightened from above, he is enabled to penetrate into the mysteries of the Word of God, to unfold its hidden meanings, to lay down rules of interpretation which have power to draw forth the true sense of every passage, and thus perfectly to reconcile all the parts of the great Book of Divine Revelation with each other, and at the same time with the works of the same Great Author, as displayed in the outward creation. Then, from the Word of God thus rightly and spiritually understood, he draws forth a system of theology, which is rational, beautiful, and in all its parts consistent with itself, with the Divine character, and with all we know of the nature of man. He clears away mists, he solves difficulties, he reconciles seeming contradictions, and makes, thus, the profoundest theology an intelligible thing, and religion an eminently practical one. Then, in the third place, from the pure fountain of a true theology, he elicits a sound system of morals and of social laws; showing, that love to God and love to the neighbour, which are the essential principles of all true religion, are also the only fountains of pure morality, and the only bonds which can hold society in order and in happiness; and consequently that the reformation of society must commence from within not from without, and is to be effected consequently by the inward regeneration of its individual members, not merely by an outward re-organization of classes. In the developement of these views, moreover, in regard to God's Word, to theology, and to morality, the aid of science and of reason are everywhere called in; atural knowledge and spiritual knowledge are con3.ected together: heaven and earth are shown to be a one: God's Word and God's Works are demonstrated to be everywhere in harmony, the creation of the same lland, the production of the same intelligent and

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