by every New Churchman. We would willingly transfer these interesting documents to our pages, but we doubt not that our readers will procure copies of the Minutes for their own perusal, especially as they contain a thorough revision of all the rules, regulations, and documents which relate to the working of Conference, and which may not be reprinted for many years to come.

SWEDENBORG ASSOCIATION.

In answer to numerous inquiries, the members and friends are informed that the Conversazioni for the coming season will be held, as before, at the Music Hall, in Store-street, and will probably commence in the early part of February next.

Persons desirous of obtaining tickets, are requested to make immediate application to the secretary, by communicating their names and the number they propose to take; the price will probably he fixed at the rate of five shillings for a single, and seven shillings and sixpence for a double admission to the course.

Those members and subscribers who reside at a distance from London, and, in consequence, may not yet have received the report of the Council, are informed that they may obtain the same by applying to the secretary and enclosing two postage stamps. E. RICH, Secretary.

64, Hatton Garden, Dec. 20, 1847.

As there is no way by which this wish can be so fully complied with as by its appearing in the pages of your Magazine, I send it for that purpose, if you should deem it proper to be inserted.

I am, yours, very truly,

JAMES S. HODSON.
London, December 17, 1847.

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL AND YOUTH'S TEMPERANCE JOURNAL.-We have seen the first number of this publication. It begins at the beginning; it goes to the cradle, and takes the child from the earliest period, under the benign influence of temperance. That habits and propensities, which form the plane of drunkenness, are often early acquired and developed, is notorious. The customs of society, in so-called civil life, have, to a great extent, been destructive of the development of temperance in the young. The mission of the interesting and cheap periodical before us, will, we hope, under the blessing of Providence, counteract the deadly effects of drunkenness, by destroying the dreadful habit in its germ.

INTELLIGENCE FROM GERMANY. -Our readers have been previously informed, that our indefatigable friend Dr. Tafel, of Tübingen, has been put in possession, through the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, of the manuscripts of Swedenborg, called the Adversaria on Genesis and Exodus. These MSS., the

To the Editor of the Intellectual Repository. SIR,-When I reprinted Bush's "Statement of Reasons," much blame was thrown upon me for thus interfering with the author's privilege, and depriving him of the profit which would be derived from the sale here of the American edition; and a reverend gentlemen, to whom I applied to edit the work, declined doing so on this account. Now, at the time, the New Church public was very anxious to possess the work, and I obtained, accidentally, a small supply, which was soon disposed of, and finding that no further supplies arrived, I reprinted it, and it met with a ready sale. I communicated with Mr. Bush on the subject, and have this day received from him a letter, in which he says:-"I wish our friends in England to understand that I am fully satisfied with the conditions on which you have published the 'Statements."

pages, has been printed and received for sale in this country, will constitute about three additional thick octavo volumes to the works of Swedenborg. The substance of these Adversaria, which consists of a running commentary on the text, is deeply interesting to the learned inquirer, who desires to trace the progress of Swedenborg's spiritual illumination.

INTELLIGENCE FROM GLASGOW.

To the Editor of the Intellectual Repository.

SIR, Yesterday evening, I delivered a lecture on the Mission of Swedenborg, in the large hall of the Mechanics' Institution, Glasgow, which was well filled, and my lecture listened to with much attention. About a month ago, I stated my intention of delivering this lecture to the secretary of the London Missionary Society, requesting a supply of tracts, but as the secretary did not reply to my letter, I distributed 300 of my own, and selected

No. 11 of the Glasgow series, entitled "The Three Principal Objections against the Claims of Swedenborg to Supernatural Communication stated and examined." I have every reason to hope that this lecture will induce inquiry into the merits of New Church theology, and I have the satisfaction to say, that already I have been waited upon by a lady for information. She purchased a series of tracts, and I advised her to apply for the loan of Swedenborg's works to the Glasgow Society, meeting in Brunswick-street. After a pleasant conversation with her, we parted, with a promise on her part to read attentively Swedenborg's works. I am, &c.

DAVID GEO. GOYDER. Glasgow, Dec. 20th, 1847.

LIFE AND CHARACTER OF SWEDENBORG.

(From the Manchester Guardian.) On Wednesday evening, Nov. 17, a lecture was delivered in the New Jerusalem Temple, Bolton-street, Salford, by the Rev. T. O. Prescott, of Cincinnati, America, upon the life and character of Swedenborg. The lecture was in the nature of a sermon in the opening and concluding portions, the intermediate parts consisting of a biography of Swedenborg, and a rapid description of his principal scientific and theological works. The text was selected from Rev. xxi. 5, "And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new; and he said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful." It must be understood, said Mr. Prescott, that the New Church did not regard itself merely as a sect of the Protestant Church; it claimed in reality to be a new and distinct Church. By the New Church was meant, not merely an external institution, but a new dispensation of truth. Truth was the church,-not buildings, not a hierarchy, not an assembly of men; and the essence of the church was truth joined with love. To establish a new church, then, was to send forth into the world a new dispensation of truth clearer than the last, for mankind's progress was onward and upward. After this followed a notice of the peculiar views held by Swedenborgians of the office of our Lord and the declaration that his truth must be conveyed to man by a spiritual medium, though that medium must be a man. The doctrines of the New Church, therefore, though in the highest degree spiritual, were not mystical; they were not

doctrines which man was required to acknowledge or believe without understanding. They were rational as well as spiritual; and their revelation of the truth was suited to the age in which it was made. The present age was remarkable for reflection and inquiry; it was an age in which the faculty of reason was pecuculiarly devoted to the development of truth. It would not, therefore, be just or benevolent, or in accordance to the divine character, to forbid the application of the reason to the highest and most important of all subjects,-religion. Heretofore there had been good reasons for revelation being obscured; the Bible had comparatively been a sealed book; a great dark curtain had been hung between man and the scenes of his future and eternal existence. But revelation was now made plain, the sealed book was opened wide, the curtain was drawn up, and the joys and glories of Heaven and the eternal world were displayed before man's intellectual sight. The Lord had come the second time, in his true divine character, through the spiritual sense of his own Word, to establish a new church upon earth, the doctrines of which were rational, such as men could understand, and in accordance to natural truth, to philosophy, to spiritual truth, to the highest and most exalted religion. Such being the character of the New Church, the medium for communicating its doctrines to the world was next considered. That medium should be a man above all others of elevated religious sentiment, and of the purest moral character. Like Paul, he should be a man of a naturally powerful mind, of high and clear intellect, and a profound thinker. He should be a philosopher with a turn of mind to investigate the causes and the principles of faith; a man of thorough education, with extensive knowledge upon which alone could be based any enlarged view of men and things, of creation and its Creator. Such a man was found in Emanuel Swedenborg, a man who combined all the characteristics of a messenger of the New Church, with the qualifications required to place it before the world. Mr. Prescott here introduced Swedenborg's biography, and mentioned his principal scientific works in chronological order, from one or two of which he introduced short extracts, to show, from his character as a philosopher and man of science, that he could not be regarded as a mystic or a visionary. In 1748, Swedenborg published, in London, his re

markable theological work, in which he professed to lay open to the world a new spiritual sense of the Holy Scriptures, not by conjecture or probabilities, like other commentators, but by taking the common literal sense of each chapter, verse, and word, and showing that there was, beyond that, another and a spiritual signification within. And what was still more remarkable, all the internal and spiritual significations of any passage or verse made, when put together, complete sense; so that in this way each verse was shown to have two distinct senses, entirely different from each other, yet each complete and perfect in itself. Reasons were given by Swedenborg, of the most satisfactory character, for his interpretations; every interpretation was shown to be based upon principles which could not be overthrown; and it was remarkable, that throughout the whole of the twelve volumes of his great theological work, the Arcana Colestia, there was no mystery, no contradiction, but the whole was one uniform work. This spiritual sense was enlarged upon, and a few illustrations given of it from particular passages in the Scriptures; in connection with it the science of correspondences was explained; and the lecturer, from the whole, strongly

urged that they could not be considered as a mere human invention, because, if they were, their fallacy would long ago have been detected. The character of Swedenborg was a conclusive answer to the possibility of their having been mere inventions; and the account he gave of them himself, in 1771, was sufficient to prove that he received them from the Lord, and from the Lord alone, whilst reading His Word. Mr. Prescott defended Swedenborg's looking into the spiritual world by a reference to the conversion of St. Paul, and the revelation of John; and said the object of Swedenborg's mission was of sufficient dignity and importance to mankind to warrant such a divine manifestation. In other words, the doctrines of the New Church were such as to warrant a direct revelation from above. This, indeed, was the true question, and the only question; und this question every man must answer for himself. For himself, he believed the doctrines of this New Christian Church such as to be altogether' worthy of an immediate revelation from heaven, and from the Lord Himself. An earnest exhortation to inquire into these things closed the lecture, which occupied more than an hour, and was attentively listened to by a large auditory.

Married, at the Temple, Heywood, by the Rev. R. Storry, of Grove Place, Dalton, on Wednesday, December 1st,

1847, Mr. Giles Pilkington, of Haslingden, to Miss Sarah Wild, second daughter of John Wild, Esq., of Heywood.

Died, November 8th, 1847, of hydrothorax, Mr. Hugh Cunningham, one of the most upright and affectionate members of the New Church in the city of Glasgow. He was in the flower of his age, not being more than 32 or 33 years old. He has left a young widow and two infant daughters to mourn over his early removal. The manner in which Mr. Cunningham received the doctrines was singular. Early in 1841, he waited upon Mr. Goyder for his professional advice, which being given, Mr. G. seeing that he was a singularly upright and conscientious man, inquired where he worshiped, "Indeed, Sir," said Mr. Cunningham, "I go nowhere, and I have left my friends, because the doctrines I hear are repugnant to my feelings, and so contrary to my sense of justice as existing in the Supreme Being." Mr Goyder upon this

SO

invited him to attend his place of worship, which he did, and after about a year became a member. He was deeply attached to Mr. Goyder, whom he looked upon under Providence as the instrument of his salvation. It is impossible to speak in terms too high of his moral rectitude, and he was a most sincere, devoted, and affectionate receiver of the new doctrines. As his end drew near, his sufferings became more and more intense, and nothing that could be medically administered afforded the least palliation. He is gone to his heavenly reward, and the grave has closed over the mortal remains of one of the best members of the New Church in Glasgow. M. D.

Died, at Crosland Moss, near Huddersfield, Yorkshire, November 15th, 1847, Mr. John Hinchcliffe, aged 86 years. The

deceased was one of the first receivers of our heavenly doctrines in the part of the kingdom where he resided, having become acquainted with them through the publication of Hindmarsh's Magazine of Knowledge, in the year 1790. Though occupying a humble station in society, he had been enabled, by industry and frugality, to obtain most of the publications of the New Church, as they issued from the press; and by devoting a small portion of each day to reading, had secured an extensive acquaintance with their contents. He was of modest and retiring habits, but of kind and irreproachable conduct, and greatly esteemed by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance. He was the means of introducing the writings to the late Mr. G. Senior, whose zealous and untiring efforts for the establishment of the Church can never be forgotten by those who had the privilege of enjoying his ministry. The life of our departed friend was spent in useful activity, and when the infirmities of age rendered him no longer capable of active usefulness, he earnestly desired to depart to a higher sphere.

Dalton, Dec. 1847.

Died, at Fisher-row, Oxford, Dec. 2nd, 1847, in the 56th year of his age, Mr. William Fulcher, supervisor of excise, leaving a widow and eight children to lament the loss of his bodily presence. He was a kind husband, an inestimable father, an intelligent and useful member of the New Church. In the duties of his calling he manifested on all occasions the most impartial Christian integrity, and was greatly respected by all who knew him, as being in every respect a truly valuable man. He first became acquainted with the heavenly doctrines of the New Jerusalem at Birmingham, about 35 years ago, by means of the writings and ministry of the Rev. J. Clowes, late rector of St. John's Church, Manchester, who periodically visited Warwickshire. Having seen the light of Truth, and fully appreciating the good which he found in the above doctrines, to support and practice them became his greatest delight. As an able and successful advocate of New Church Truth, at Northwich, Stockport, Derby, Oxford, and other places, he will long be remembered; truly "the memory of the just is blessed." On his arrival in Oxford, about twelve months since, he at once began to labor for the spiritual benefit of the New Church Society, and on

New Year's Day was unanimously chosen to be their leader, in which office his influence, example, and advice were truly valuable. His fatal disease proved to be internal cancer, and his sufferings were very great, but he was enabled throughout to bear all with the greatest calmness, and submission to the Divine Will, being cheered with the certainty, upon the failing of his "earthly house," of a resurrection to real, substantial, and eternal life. On the Lord's-day previous to his death, he most devoutly partook of the Holy Supper; after which, raising himself up in bed, he gave an impressive address to several members of the church who joined with him in that holy ordinance. "Twelve months ago," said he, "I came to this town thinking to be useful. I have served 'the Great God and Saviour,' Jesus Christ a little, but I am now about to leave you; for what important reasons I cannot say, but all for the best and wisest ends. Cultivate a kind feeling of charity one towards another, in all humility. On all occasions be affectionately candid, seeking rather to do good than to gratify your own feelings. In all matters of difference let the minority cheerfully yield to the majority, and then, with the spirit of your great Master, an injurious rule will soon work its own overthrow, and the Church will be preserved," &c. Various passages of the Word gave him much delight. His address to his family was deeply impressive. To some who were present a few hours before he died, he said, “You look on me as a man dying, but angels are looking on me as a man rising." another time he observed-" My work was done before I reached Oxford. I am only come hither to die. I shall have my uses to perform in the Lord's heavenly kingdom." A short time before his departure, he desired his wife and friends present to sing the 589th Hymn, which was much felt by all, especially the lines, "So may we abide in union,

At