The "Fruit of the Vine," or pure unfermented or unleavened wine, has been organized by the Lord in the vegetable kingdom; it therefore not only contains water, but also organized nourishment for the structures of the body, which supply in a most remarkable degree the wants of the body, like a mother's milk to her infant child; it therefore most beautifully symbolizes blood, and corresponds to spiritual truth, united with good from the Lord, which nourishes and builds up the spirit of man, when he drinks or appropriates it, or when he lives as divine truth teaches, shunning evils as sins against God. It is consequently used appropriately in the Most Holy Supper.

It has been my aim above to simply give the reader a glimpse of this most wonderful and beautiful of all sciences, and really the foundation of all sciences-the science of correspondence between natural and spiritual things. He who reads carefully and without prejudice the "Apocalypse Revealed" and the "Arcana Celestia," with a desire to know and live according to the truth, cannot fail to see that the Sacred Scriptures are plenarily inspired, and are a special revelation from God to man; and that, different from all merely human writings, they contain within the letter a connected spiritual sense. That the science of correspondences was once understood by the inhabitants of our earth, is to be seen in the relics which remain in a more or less perverted form in the hieroglyphics of Egypt, the idolatry among many nations, and sun-worship, where the spiritual signification has often been lost and men have come to worship the natural objects instead of the spiritual, which they represent. The mythological writings of many nations, and even Masonry, contain remains of this once well known science. The first chapters of Genesis and the entire Word are written in strict accordance with this science. The first chapters of Genesis, like the Parables of our Lord, were not intended to be understood literally; the very names therein show this clearly. A tree of life, a tree of knowledge of good and evil, a talking serpent, how can any man for a moment suppose these to be natural trees and a natural snake? Do serpents ever talk? the garden eastward in Eden, and an Ark which would not hold the hides and teeth of all the animals on earth—were these to be understood literally?



CHAPTER VI.

A NEW DAY TO OUR EARTH.

"'Behold He cometh with clouds,' signifies that the Lord will reveal Himself in the literal sense of the Word, and will open its spiritual sense at the end of the church."—A. R. 23.

A church, we are taught, comes to its end when the true doctrines of the Word are falsified by its members, to justify evils of life; or when the members of a church who are in the love of ruling over others in civil and ecclesiastical affairs, for their own aggrandizement, or for vain show, or who love money or sensual gratification without regard to use, strive to justify the gratification of their perverted loves and appetites by an appeal to the Sacred Scriptures, and thus frame creeds and doctrines which exalt faith and ceremonials above a life of charity, and when men come to live in accordance with such false doctrines the church comes to its end. At the same time, there remain some who are still in the good of life, or striving to live good lives in obedience to the Divine commandments. Such comprise the common people who receive the Lord with joy at His coming, and follow Him, among whom a New Dispensation of Divine Truth commences. Such may be found both among the clergy and laity. The end of the world is the end of the Dispensation or Age, and not of the material earth—"The earth endureth forever."

We are told by Swedenborg that the angels rejoiced greatly that it had pleased the Lord to reveal a knowledge of correspondences so deeply concealed during some thousands of years; "and they said it was done in order that the Christian Church which is founded on the Word, and is now at its end, may again revive and draw breath through heaven from the Lord."—Conjugial Love, 532.

So we are not to look for the destruction of the prevailing religious organizations, but for the rejection of their false and irrational doctrines, and the receiving of new light and life from the Lord. And how is such a result to be brought about?

It was apparently the opinion of Swedenborg that his writings would be read by the clergy, who would teach the doctrines therein contained to their congregations; and thus the glorious truths for this new Era or crowning Church would be spread among the people; for, in speaking of the descent of the New Church, or New Jerusalem, from God out of Heaven, he says it can only take place "in proportion as the falses of the former Church are removed; for what is new cannot gain admission where falses have before been implanted, unless those falses are first rooted out; and this must first take place among the clergy, and by their means among the laity."

That Swedenborg's anticipations are surely and somewhat rapidly being realized at this time seems beyond question; for over 30,000 clergymen of the various religious denominations of our country have already sent for and obtained Swedenborg's "True Christian Religion" and "Heaven and Hell," and over 25,000 have received his "Apocalypse Revealed." It is known that large numbers are reading the above works with great interest, and that hundreds if not thousands are full receivers of the doctrines therein contained, and that they are teaching them to their people as fast as they find they can receive them. In fact, many of Swedenborg's writings were translated into English by the late Rev. John Clowes, Rector of St. John's Church, Manchester, England, who, for many years, without ever being required to sever his connection with the Church of England, openly and boldly taught the doctrines revealed through Swedenborg. Mr. Clowes says:—

"Nothing, therefore, can be plainer than that the New Jerusalem Dispensation is to be universal, and to extend unto all people, nations, and languages on the face of the earth, to be a blessing unto such as are meet to receive a blessing. Sects and sectarians, as such, can find no place in this General Assembly of the ransomed of the Lord. All the little distinctions of modes, forms, and particular expressions of devotion and worship will be swallowed up and lost in the unlimited effusions of heavenly love, charity, and benevolence with which the hearts of every member of this glorious New Church and Body of Jesus Christ will overflow one toward another. Men will no longer judge one another as to the mere externals of church communion, be they perfect or imperfect; for they will be taught that whosoever acknowledges the incarnate Jehovah in heart and life, departing from evil, and doing what is right and good according to the commandments, he is a member of the New Jerusalem, a living stone in the Lord's new Temple, and a part of that great family in heaven and earth whose common Father and Head is Jesus Christ. Every one, therefore, will call his neighbor Brother, in whom he observes this spirit of pure charity; and he will ask no questions concerning the form of words which compose his creed, but will be satisfied with observing in him the purity and power of a heavenly life."

"The Gentiles," says Swedenborg, "cannot profane the holy things of the Church like Christians, because they are not acquainted with them." "They are afraid of Christians on account of their lives." "Those who have lived well, according to their religious principles, are instructed by the angels, and easily receive the truths of faith, and acknowledge the Lord," "for they have not formed for themselves any principles of falsity opposed to the truths of faith, which would need to be first removed."

"Although Gentiles are not in genuine truths during their life in the world, they receive them in the other life from a principle of love."

"The Church of the Lord exists with all in the universe who live in good according to their religious principles, and acknowledge the Divine Being; and they are accepted of the Lord and go to heaven."

The above is in strict accordance with all that Swedenborg has written; for he says:—

"In the spiritual world to which every man goes after death, it is not the character of your faith into which inquiry is made, nor of your doctrine, but of your life, whether it has been of this character or that; for it is known that such as a man's life is, such is his faith—nay, more, such is his doctrine; for life forms its doctrine and faith for itself." (D. P. 101.) "For the good of life according to one's religion contains within it the affection of knowing truths, which such persons also learn and receive when they come into the other life." (A. C. 455.)

"Evils which belong to the will, are what condemn a man and sink him down to hell; and falsities only so far as they become conjoined with evils; then one follows the other. This is proved by numerous instances of persons who are in falsities, and yet are saved." (Ibid. 845.)

"It has been provided that every one, in whatever heresy he may be as to the understanding, can still be reformed and saved, provided he shuns evils as sins, and does not confirm heretical falsities in himself; for by shunning evils as sins the will is reformed, and through the will the understanding, which then first comes out of darkness into light. There are three essentials of the Church: the acknowledgment of the Divine of the Lord, the acknowledgment of the holiness of the Word, and the life which is called charity. According to the life, which is charity, every one has faith; from the Word is the knowledge of what the life must be; and from the Lord are reformation and salvation. If the Church had held these three as essentials, intellectual dissensions would not have divided but only varied it, as light varies its colors in beautiful objects, and as various diadems give beauty in the crown of a king." (D. P. 259.)

Here, then, we have a broad spirit of charity which acknowledges every man as a brother who believes in a Supreme Being, shuns evils as sins, and strives to live conscientiously and honestly according to the light he possesses.

As many who will be likely to receive this pamphlet may know little, if anything, in regard to the claims which Swedenborg makes, that he was the human instrument chosen by The Lord through whom to reveal to the world the truths of a New Dispensation, even of the Second Coming of the Son of Man, it may be well to allow this chosen servant to speak for himself as to his mission. He says:—

"I have been called to a holy office by the Lord Himself. I can sacredly and solemnly declare that the Lord Himself has been seen of me, and that He has sent me to do what I do, and for such purpose has opened and enlightened the interior part of my soul, which is my spirit, so that I can see what is in the spiritual world and those that are therein; and this privilege has now been continued to me for twenty-two years. But in the present state of infidelity, can the most solemn oath make such a thing credible or to be believed? Yet such as have received true Christian light and understanding will be convinced of the truths contained in my writings, which are particularly evident in the book of 'Revelations Revealed.' Who, indeed, has hitherto known anything of importance of the spiritual sense of the Word of God, of the spiritual world, or of heaven and hell; the nature of the life of man, and the state of souls after the decease of the body? Is it to be supposed that these, and other things of like consequence, are to be eternally hidden from Christians?"

Again, in the "True Christian Religion," at a later date, toward the close of his life in this world, he says:—

"I foresee that many who read the relations after the chapters, will believe that they are inventions of the imagination; but I assert in truth that they are not inventions, but were truly seen and heard; not seen and heard in any state of mind buried in sleep, but in a state of full wakefulness. For it has pleased the Lord to manifest Himself to me, and to send me to teach those things which will be of His New Church, which is meant by the New Jerusalem in the Revelation; for which end He has opened the interiors of my mind or spirit, by which it has been given me to be in the spiritual world with angels, and at the same time in the natural world with men, and this now for twenty-seven years."

In a letter to the King of Sweden, with characteristic simplicity and boldness, he says:—

"When my writings are read with attention and cool reflection (in which many things are to be met with hitherto unknown) it is easy enough to conclude that I could not come to such knowledge but by a real vision and converse with those who are in the spiritual world. I am ready to testify with the most solemn oath that can be offered in this matter, that I have said nothing but essential and real truth, without any admixture of deception. This knowledge is given to me by our Saviour, not for any particular merit of mine, but for the great concern of all Christians' salvation."

When asked why a philosopher was chosen to this office he replied:—

"To the end that the spiritual knowledge which is revealed at this day might be reasonably learned and naturally understood; because spiritual truths answer unto natural ones, inasmuch as these originate and flow from them, and serve as a foundation for the former."

To the Swedish clergymen who visited him a short time before his death, and who urged him to recant what he had written if it was not true, he replied, with great zeal and emphasis:—

"As true as you see me before you, so true is everything that I have written, and I could have said more had I been permitted. When you come into eternity you will see all things as I have stated and described them, and we shall have much to discourse about with each other."

Here, then, we have in this illustrious seer the unparalleled instance of a man, not in the enthusiasm of youth, but at the mature age of fifty-six years, standing among the first in the philosophical world, with reputation unsullied, high in office in his native country, with proffered promotion, giving up all, and proclaiming to the world that he was called by the Lord to the important office of revealing new truths of vast moment to his fellow-men—even the truths of a new dispensation, or of the second coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Now, I appeal to you, one and all, Clergymen of the Christian Church, of every name, to obtain and read his writings. In the good Providence of the Lord, three among his most important works can be obtained without money and without price by the clergy and theological students of our country, by simply ordering them and sending the postage—as will be seen on the second page of the cover of this pamphlet.

Swedenborg does not require or desire you to believe anything contained in his writings on his simple declaration, but you are to believe the statements made, and doctrines proclaimed, in his writings, only as you perceive them to be true, and in strict accordance with the Sacred Scriptures. What have you to lose by reading his writings? Thousands of laymen and clergyman testify to you that they have found the greatest help and strength from reading them, even where they may not have read enough to fully recognize his claims.

Canon Wilberforce, of Southampton, England, one of the most distinguished clergymen of the English Church, visited this country a few years ago; and while he was here, being a prominent temperance man, the National Temperance Society gave him a reception, during which some one introduced me to him as a believer in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. Stopping a moment, and looking steadily at me and those in the immediate vicinity, he exclaimed, most emphatically: "Emanuel Swedenborg has done the Christian Church an immense service! an immense service!! especially in his explanation and illustration of the doctrine of the Lord." These words were spoken manfully and boldly in the presence of members and clergymen of his own and other Churches. The doctrine of the Lord is the chief corner-stone of the New Jerusalem now descending from God out of Heaven. Let that doctrine be accepted by our Churches, and their creeds, so far as they are based on a tri-personal God, will need no revision; they will disappear.

"All things," says a great authority, "are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." (2 Cor. v: 18, 19)

The late Professor George Bush and a large number of distinguished scholars and clergymen, after a most thorough and careful examination of Swedenborg's writings, assure us that in them they find the truths of a New Dispensation, even of the Second Coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven. The light of a New Day is shining. Christian brethren, will you close your eyes against it?

Was there ever any greater need of a new revelation from God to teach men anew that, if they would reach heaven and happiness, they must repent and shun evils as sins against God, and strive to live a life according to the commandments? Look at the fearful evils which prevail in our beloved country; the love of rule, civil and ecclesiastical; the miserly love of money, selfishness, vanity and sensualism, in their worst and most degrading forms! Customs and habits prevail which threaten the extinction of at least the Protestant portion of the community in large sections of our country. A Catholic bishop stated, a few years ago, that one quarter of the inhabitants of New England are Catholics, and that one-fourth of the population give birth to 70 per cent. of the children born in New England. More recent inquiries, it is stated, show that the average number of children in a family among the Canadian French settled in New England, averages 5; whereas among the native New Englanders the average number of children in a family is 1-1/2. It is not difficult to see by whom the land of the Puritans will be ruled within the next quarter of a century. Seventy years ago, the average number of children to a family among New Englanders was fully equal to the number among the French to-day. Why this change? Fashionable habits of dress—tight lacing, which is worse to-day than ever before—has, to a large extent, destroyed the ability of the New England and other native American women to bear healthy and well-developed children, and to properly nurse them after they are born. Among our present deformed women, child-bearing is attended with much more danger and suffering than among well-developed, symmetrical, and beautifully formed women. No man who desires peace, health, and happiness in his home, and desires to leave children behind him, and to thus perform the most important use which can be performed in this life, should ever think of marrying a small-waisted woman.

Then again, to have a good family of children is thought not to be fashionable, among those who are led by fashion, as it interferes too much with one's selfish pleasures, they think; most dearly do they pay in after life, if they live many years, for their folly. Children are a blessing; and yet the most unnatural and injurious measures are adopted to prevent bearing children, even to the destroying of the unborn. The Catholic Church, through the confessional, holds some restraint over Catholics; but what restraint do our Protestant Churches hold over their members in regard to such evils? Look at the miserable caricatures of the female form printed in our fashionable magazines, and even in our daily papers, and sent forth and freely spread before our young girls, for them to pattern after, and thus deform themselves.

Look at the drunkenness, the leaden and congested faces of our steady drinkers of intoxicating drinks, and the innumerable deaths and the wretchedness and sorrow which follow such drinking; and remember that the chief support of such drinking at this day is the use of the drunkard's cup instead of "the fruit of the vine" as a communion wine in so many of our churches, and the example of so many of our clergy, backed up by the prescribing of such drinks by so many of our doctors. Do away with these two chief supports, and prohibition would be enacted and enforced throughout our land within five years.

Look at the use of tobacco, which is to-day recognized as one of the most deadly poisons, which when used by the young prevents the development of the human body, and at all ages causes innumerable diseases and deaths and an inability to withstand the encroachment of other causes of disease; and the smoke and saliva from the nostrils and mouths of those who use it, which are so unpleasant and disagreeable to those who are not accustomed to them, but who yet are so frequently compelled to breathe a polluted atmosphere. Please read the following and tell us whether to thus prevent the development of the body and lessen one's ability to withstand the causes of diseases should be shunned as a sin against God or not:—

SMOKING AND PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT.

From the records of the senior class of Yale College during the Past eight years, the non-smokers have proved to have decidedly gained over the smokers in height, weight, and lung capacity. All candidates for the crews and other athletic sports were non-smokers. The non-smokers were 20 per cent. taller than the smokers, 25 per cent. heavier, and had 62 per cent. more lung capacity. In the graduating class of Amherst College of the present year, those not using tobacco have in weight gained 24 per cent. over those using tobacco, in height 37 per cent., in chest girth 42 per cent., while they have a greater average lung capacity by 8.36 cubic inches.—Medical News.

Just see the countenance which is given to this habit by too many of our clergymen—the example which they set! Yes, in many of our denominations, young men who are known to be smokers, or chewers of tobacco, with their breaths smelling of this filthy, poisonous weed, are deliberately licensed and ordained by Clergymen, when it is known that they will go in and out before young and old, setting them an example which will unquestionably do untold injury to the rising generation, and confirm old smokers and chewers in their injurious and destructive habits, and thus be instrumental in destroying many lives. What are the fathers and mothers in our churches thinking about when they consent to such an example being set before their children? Is it not time that they awake to the importance of choosing and introducing into office their own ministers, instead of entrusting this duty to the clergy? Swedenborg has given us the true signification of ordination by the laity. In speaking of the ordination of the Levites by the laity he says: "By the sons of Israel laying their hands upon the Levites was signified the transference of the power of ministering for them, and the reception of it by the Levites, thus separation."—A. C. 10,023. It will be seen that it was not Aaron the priest who laid his hands upon the Levites when they were introduced into the office of the priesthood, but the laity, or the children of Israel; and we can all see how appropriate and significative the ceremony was; and it was strictly in accordance with republican usages of this day. It does not exalt the officer above the office which he fills.

Is there a race of men on earth to-day who stand in greater need of light on spiritual subjects, and of the services of good, earnest, clean, pure-minded Christian Missionaries, who shall call men and women to repentance, and by precept and example lead them to shun the fearful evils named above, and many others, as sins against God, more than the people of the United States? Look at our children, many of whom, if they live at all, grow up with crooked legs and spines, delicate muscles and irritable brains, imperfectly developed jaws and consequently crowded teeth, which commence decaying and torturing the young before they are twenty years old, instead of lasting during life as they should; all of which results principally from feeding children with starvation bread, or superfine flour bread, cakes, and puddings, instead of the "full corn in the ear," or unbolted flour or meal, as the Lord has organized it in the kernel of grain. Many years ago scientific investigation demonstrated the fact that the portions of the grain which nourish the brain, muscles, and bones is principally confined to the dark, hard portion of the kernel immediately beneath the hull; this is not easily pulverized or rolled into superfine flour, and if it were the flour would not be white; but it goes principally into, the second and third runnings or as canal, shorts, and bran, and is fed to the horses, cattle, and hogs, causing them to be well developed, strong, and healthy, while our children, for the want of it, are half starved. Even a dog, it has been found by experiment, will starve to death on superfine flour bread, but will live well enough on Graham or unbolted flour bread. I have seen a child come near starving to death on such bread, and only rescued her from impending death by mixing mashed potatoes with the flour from which the bread was made. The little girl thought she could eat no other food but such bread, and if she ate anything else she threw it up. And yet, strange to say, I have known in one or more institutions under the care of physicians, which were devoted to the treatment of deformed and crippled children, superfine flour bread to be given them to eat.

It is fashionable and customary to use superfine flour bread; and as a physician, and an employer of men, I know how difficult it is to induce or persuade fathers and mothers, even for the sake of their children, to use Graham or unbolted flour bread, cakes, and puddings, which will give nourishment to the brain, muscles, teeth and bones, and all the fat and heat-producing material they need, instead of superfine white flour bread, cakes, and puddings, which give comparatively little more than fat and heat-producing material.

I remember very well when my wife and myself were traveling in Egypt up the Nile, and were at ancient Thebes, mounted on donkeys, going to the tombs of the kings, the young Arab girl, with a vessel of water upon her head, balanced by the ends of the fingers of one hand, who ran beside us over the sand, stones, and hills; for she was one of the most beautiful and symmetrical female forms I have ever seen. There was no contracted waist or humped shoulders, but a beautiful female figure, full of life, with splendid teeth and sparkling eyes. And on a visit to the house of our Arab dragoman, or guide, we saw how the flour or meal was made upon which that young girl was fed. In the court-yard two women were grinding at a mill as they ground thousands of years ago. There were two circular mill stones, perhaps 20 inches in diameter, standing in a basin; through the centre of the upper stone there was an opening through which the wheat was poured, and upon two sides were erect wooden handles, by which the women turned the stone round and round, and back and forth, and the meal escaped into the pan at the circumference. I said to our dragoman: "We have not had a bit of good bread in Egypt. We have been stopping at hotels where they think they must give the Americans and Englishmen white bread. Now, I wish you would bring me some bread made from that flour to-morrow morning;" and he brought us some bread, and it was by far the best bread that we had in Egypt.

The fearful evils which I have hastily named in the preceding pages, and many others which cause the prevailing deformities, diseases, insanity, and premature deaths, are not to be dragged along into the Church of the New Jerusalem now descending from God out of heaven; but our race is to be purified, renovated, and developed into a healthy, noble, symmetrical, graceful manhood by the new inflowing of truths from the Lord, pointing out the evils and falses which are causing the present suffering and wretchedness, and calling on men and women to shun such evils and falses as sins against God. A reformation from worldly motives is but "skin deep," and generally only results in the changing of one bad habit for another. Men and women must be earnestly called to repentance, and to the absolute necessity of shunning the evils which prevent the development of the body, impair health and reason, and so fearfully shorten the average duration of human life, as sins against God, which will tell on their eternal destiny. The fact that individuals who drink intoxicating drinks, smoke or chew tobacco, or deform their bodies by tight dressing, sometimes live to old age under otherwise favorable circumstances, amounts to nothing. The simple question is, do such habits shorten the average duration of human life? If they do, they are a violation of the laws of God as manifested in the organization of the human body and in His Word.



CHAPTER VII.

THE WANTS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

The Christian Church at this day, first of all, needs true doctrines which are in harmony with the Sacred Scriptures, and which all men who are willing to see and obey, using the reason with which God has endowed them, can accept and see to be true.

Second, such a law or principle of interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures, that when they are interpreted in accordance with it, every man and woman who is willing to see and obey the truth will find there is actually no conflict between the Word of the Lord and His works, and no real contradictions to be found in the Sacred Scriptures.

In the writings of Swedenborg the Lord has shown us that "all religion has relation to life, and that the life of religion is to do good;" and that, if we would enter into the heavenly life, or have heaven within us, we must strive faithfully and honestly to keep the commandments, not simply in external acts, but also in our motives, thoughts, and words, as well as in act. In the writings of Swedenborg the Lord has clearly revealed Himself and has come down to the comprehension of man—God in Christ and in His Word.

The Science of Correspondences enables us to see that the first eleven chapters of Genesis are purely allegorical, and in their spiritual and true sense treat of the regeneration of man, and his fall through the seduction of his lowest or sensual nature and appetites, as men are seduced to-day; and of a flood of evils and falses, similar to the flood which threatens to overwhelm the Christian world, at least in our land, at this day; and a New Church as an ark of safety. While the Science of Correspondences shows that there are no more contradictions in the Word of the Lord than in His works, there are apparent truths and real truths in both. It is an apparent truth that God is angry with the wicked every day; but the real truth is that God is never angry, but when man disobeys His laws and brings upon himself consequent suffering, it appears to him that God is angry. So it appears to us that night and darkness are caused by the going down of the sun, but the real truth is that the sun always shines and that night and darkness are caused by the earth's diurnal revolution on its axis. It will therefore be seen that if the Sacred Scriptures are the Word of God and in accordance with His works, they must contain both apparent and real truths.

No man who has ever diligently and faithfully, without prejudice, read the Sacred Scriptures in the light of the Science of Correspondences, as revealed by the Lord through Emanuel Swedenborg, has ever failed to be satisfied that the Sacred Scriptures are Divine and plenarily inspired, and that they differ as much from the writings of men as do the works of God from the works of men. At this day, when so many of our clergy and intelligent laymen are beginning to doubt the special inspiration of the Sacred Scriptures, a knowledge of the Science of Correspondences, in accordance with which they were written, is wanted above every thing else, that the Christian Church "may revive again and draw breath through heaven from the Lord."

The Lord speaks to man in parables, and "without a parable," we read, "spake He not unto them." The Lord intimates in many passages that the Sacred Scriptures, or His words, contain a spiritual sense, as in the following: "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." "The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life."

"The early Christian Fathers, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen, understood that the Sacred Scriptures have a spiritual sense; and Origen—when that shrewd enemy of Christianity, Celsus, ridiculed the stories of the rib, the serpent, etc., as childish fables—reproaches him for want of candor in purposely keeping out of sight, what was so evident upon the face of the narrative, that the whole is a pure allegory."—Noble's Plenary Inspiration.

"The idea of a spiritual sense in every part of the Scripture was the generally received doctrine of the Primitive Church—believed and taught by Origen, Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Jerome, Augustine, Pantaenus, Tatian, Theophilus, Pamphilius, Clement and Cyril of Alexandria, and nearly all the early Christian Fathers. And the same belief has been held by many eminent theologians ever since. Dr. Mosheim, speaking of the illustrious writers of the second century, says: 'They all attributed a double sense to the words of Scripture; the one obvious and literal, the other hidden and mysterious, which lay concealed, as it were, under the veil of the outward letter.' But the Fathers had no recognized rule for eliciting the spiritual sense. Each one's own spiritual perception was his only guide. A hundred different expositors, therefore, might give as many different expositions of the same text."—Rev. B. F. Barrett.

Every natural object is the form and embodiment of some spiritual idea or principle; and therefore it is the most perfect expression or type or picture of that idea.

"Inasmuch as the end of the creation is an angelic heaven out of the human race, and thus the human race itself, therefore all other things that are created are mediate ends, which being referable to man, look to these three things of man, his body, his rational part, and his spiritual part, for sake of conjunction with the Lord. For a man cannot be conjoined to the Lord unless he be spiritual; nor can he be spiritual unless he be rational; nor can he be rational unless his body is in a sound state. These things are like a house, of which the body is the foundation, and the rational is the house built upon it; the spiritual comprises those things which are in the house, and conjunction with the Lord is being at home in it."

Here are outlined clearly and distinctly three fields for much needed labor.

We see above, clearly taught by Swedenborg, that "a man cannot be spiritual unless he be rational, nor can he be rational unless his body be in a sound state." The reason is plain: for the natural corresponds to the spiritual; natural diseases and natural causes of disease correspond to spiritual diseases and spiritual causes of spiritual disease.

Swedenborg says that: "Diseases correspond to the lusts and passions of the mind; these, therefore, are the origins of diseases; for the origins of diseases in general are intemperance, luxuries of various kinds, pleasures merely corporal; also envyings, hatreds, revenges, lasciviousness, and the like; which destroy the interiors of man, and when these are destroyed the exteriors suffer and draw man into diseases, and thereby into death."— Arcana Coelestia, 5712.

For this reason, if a man is to be reformed and regenerated, his reformation must commence by his shunning natural falses and bad habits of life, which correspond to his spiritual evils.

Swedenborg's writings give us a wonderful insight into the causes and cure of both spiritual and natural diseases, as we shall hereafter see, and many suggestions which it would be well for us to heed. He says:—

"The man who is willing to be enlightened by the Lord, must take especial heed lest he appropriate to himself any doctrinal which patronizes evil; for man in such case appropriates it to himself, when he confirms it with himself, for thereby he makes it a principle of his faith, and still more so if he lives according to it. When this is the case, then evil remains inscribed on his soul and his heart; and when this effect has place, he cannot afterwards in any wise be enlightened by the Word from the Lord; for his whole mind is in the faith and in the love of his principle, and whatsoever is contrary to it, this he either does not see, or rejects, or falsifies." (A. C. 10,640.)

Every one can see how true this is in regard to evil habits which destroy health, reason, and life, such as the prevailing use of tobacco and the drinking of intoxicating drinks. If a man drinks thoughtlessly, without knowing any better, he can be taught and shown that it is wrong and a sin to drink poisonous fluids which are entirely unnecessary, and which endanger health, reason, life, and the welfare and happiness of all associated with him, and actually destroy vast multitudes of those who drink them moderately. All children and young persons who are free from bad examples and false teachings can be taught and can readily see that it is wrong and a sin to use such drinks; but let a man strive to justify such habits by the Sacred Scriptures, and to make them accord with his religious principles, and we all know how difficult it is for him ever to see the truth upon this and kindred subjects.

MUCH-NEEDED INSTRUCTION.

Inquiry should be made into the natural causes of disease, into which spiritual causes flow and cause the suffering, wretchedness, and premature deaths which prevail, and men and women should be led by precept and example to see them as evils and to shun them as sins against God. Swedenborg says:—

"Thus, by washing the feet, is meant to purify the natural principle of man; for unless this principle appertaining to man, when he lives in the world, is purified and cleansed, it cannot afterwards be purified to eternity; for such as the natural principle of man is when he dies such it remains; for it is not afterwards amended, inasmuch as it is that plane into which interior things, which are spiritual, flow in—it being their receptacle; wherefore when it is perverted, interior things, when they flow in, are perverted like it." (A. C. 10,243.)

There are two great hindrances to the reformation of the world at this day; the first is false teaching in regard to evils, by which unlawful indulgences are justified, and in moderation held to be good; for by this the individual is strongly confirmed in their favor and prevented from seeing the truth. The second is the love of the evil which the truth condemns, which closes the mind against the truth, and, as it were, binds and imprisons the individual (see A. C. 5096). It must be self-evident to every intelligent Christian that if it is wrong to deliberately appropriate falses and evils "temperately" or moderately to the building up of our spiritual organizations, it is equally wrong to appropriate temperately those natural substances which correspond to falses and evils in a vain attempt to build up healthy natural bodies. Total abstinence in both cases is the only law of life. The lover of intoxicating drinks can never be radically reformed or regenerated until he resolves, with the help of the Lord, to stop drinking intoxicating drinks and sets himself honestly about it; so the thief must stop stealing, the vain woman must stop her tight dressing and habits of idleness; and so of all other evils affecting physical and spiritual health and life.

But to-day the great difficulty is, that multitudes of the young and of all ages become "bond-servants" to evil habits, which impair health and reason and shorten life, through ignorance, hereditary inclination, and the bad example of others. And how are they to regain their freedom, and the innocent to be protected from contamination and from a like slavery? The truth can alone make them free; and even when received by the willing and obedient, line upon line and precept upon precept may be required. And they will often have to endure many a hard struggle; and those who are free should have sympathy and charity, and judge them not. Men, women, and children must be taught that they have no right to follow habits which will endanger health and reason, and which observation and carefully collected statistics show will shorten the average duration of life; for to thus act is to violate the command, "Thou shall not kill." The causes of ill health, deformity, and the prevailing insanity and premature deaths must be sought out and exposed, and a call to repentance must be made.

In the good providence of the Lord, we have men who, by education, diligent investigation, and careful observation, are most admirably adapted to give the needed instruction—physicians. Let physicians arm themselves with true doctrines, with the spiritual sense of the Word, with the Science of Correspondences and a knowledge of natural sciences, and they will be able to combat the prevailing evils as no other men can; and they should lead in all the great necessary reforms of this age that have regard to physical health, life, and morals. In almost every society of our Churches of any size will be found one or more medical men who have devoted their lives to the study of anatomy, physiology, the causes of disease, diseases and their cure, and the effects of poisons and the bad habits of dress, and other habits injurious to health; and they are able to speak with authority in regard to the prevailing evils of life, which are so destructive to our race. These men, thus providentially prepared, should be called into the field as lecturers. There is not a religious society which does not actually need the services of such teachers; and we can send no other missionaries to those outside of our church organizations who will, to the same extent, command their attention and respect. In order that the body with its environment may be a fit dwelling place for the Spirit, there are provided—

"Uses for sustaining the body, comprising its nourishment, clothing, habitation, recreation and enjoyment, protection and conservation of state. The uses created for the nourishment of the body comprise all things of the vegetable kingdom which are good for food and drink; fruits, berries, seeds, pulse, and herbs; all things of the animal kingdom which serve for meat, oxen, cows, calves, deer, sheep, kids, goats, lambs; not to mention milk; also fowls and fish of many kinds." (D. L. W. 331.)

"Good uses," says Swedenborg, "are from the Lord, and evil uses are from hell. Evil uses were not created by the Lord, but they originated together with hell." (D. L. W. 336.) Among the evil uses he enumerates all kinds of poisons—in a word, "all things that do hurt and kill men." (Ibid. 339.) Here, then, is a criterion by which we must judge of the suitability of any article for nourishing and supplying the wants of our natural bodies. It should be evident to every one that substances which have their origin from hell, which, when used as we use legitimate articles of food and drink, seriously endanger, hurt, and kill men, should never be used for such purpose.

Who are better qualified to judge as to what are evil uses than the physician, who has made them the study of his life? The men and women who are violating the laws of life cannot see that such violations injure them; for such violations palliate the sufferings which they cause, and make the transgressors feel better every time they indulge. The true physician, by precept and example, is qualified to lead all who are willing to be led to a higher life and to protect the innocent and the young.

That such teachers are most important at this day is manifest "from the signification of physicians as denoting preservation from evils—the evils which obstruct conjunction. In the Word, physicians, the art of physic and medicine, signify preservation from evils and falses.... That in the Word, physicians, the art of physic and medicine, signify preservation from evils and falses, is manifest from the passages where they are named.... Hence it is evident what medicine signifies, viz., that which preserves from falses and evils; for when the truth of faith leads to the good of love, it preserves, because it withdraws from evils." (A. C. 6502.)

Here, then, we have the men suitable for this use. Shall we call them into the fields which are ripe and ready for the harvest?

A clergyman who has a knowledge of the medical profession and of medicine, in speaking of the importance of such teachers, says: "Moreover, from their relation to the sick and suffering, from their habit of analyzing the mental and moral states of their patients, and from the deep, tender sympathy which sincere, God-fearing physicians have for suffering human beings, they are placed in a much closer relation to the people than any other vocation could give them. How many persons have been comforted, strengthened, instructed, and turned to uprightness of life through the kindly ministrations of their physicians!"

And church organizations are languishing for the want of such teachers, and can never thrive in true doctrine and good lives, as they should, without them.

Surely every one can but see of what immense benefit such lecturers would be, especially to the young in our churches. One physician might be employed by and serve several societies, giving to the different societies once or twice a week a lecture in each society, fully illustrated by drawings, plates, stereoscopic and microscopic views, which would attract young and old, and fill our churches to overflowing with those who now attend no church; and the latter, when they found a physician, with the consent of the church, thus clearly pointing out the great evils of life which cause so much suffering, wretchedness, sorrow, and so many premature deaths, and calling young and old, from a religious standpoint, to shun them as sins against God, could but feel that our churches are striving to elevate humanity, and are a great blessing, and that it would be desirable to belong to them, and especially to have their children brought up under the influence of the Church.

Nearly the same could be said in regard to the important services which a second class of teachers of which I am about to speak could render. By the lectures of the two new life would be infused into our churches, and they would stand upon a sure foundation by manifesting love to God and man in our external natural lives, by teaching and leading men to act from spiritual motives, and to be willing to see their evils, and to commence by shunning well-known evils as sins against God. What a glorious day would this open up to our churches and for the elevation of our race through them!

THE SECOND CLASS OF TEACHERS REQUIRED.

Physicians as teachers in our churches should have for a special work the teaching of truth as to the physical life of man in connection with his spiritual life—the laws of health, the causes of prevailing diseases, deformities, insanities, and premature deaths, together with the methods and the duty of shunning them as sins against God. But there are other evils and questions which require careful consideration in our churches, such as the true relation, according to the laws of justice, mercy, and right, which should exist between men as neighbors, citizens, and Christians; and the clear light of this New Day should be brought down to guide men into a life of peace and harmony and good-will in this wilderness state of the world. Important questions are pressing for a solution, and for a careful consideration, by the religious teachers of our churches, such as the ecclesiastical and civil government best adapted for men of different countries and races, especially for our own country and churches; the relation of capital and labor; the right of single individuals to hold an unlimited amount of real estate, and transmit it to their children; the rights of corporations and of women; and our duties to others in all the relations of life. Fortunately, we have in our churches legal men or lawyers, who, while familiar with the doctrines of the Church, have devoted their lives to the consideration of such questions. It would not be difficult to point out several members of the legal fraternity belonging to our church organizations who would be able to perform a great use to the Church as lecturers and acting as missionaries among those who do not attend church as opportunity may offer. They would enter into a field of usefulness almost altogether beyond the reach and influence of our present ministers. Their advice, their counsel, their discourse, in their legal practice, are channels for the introduction of Christian thought and doctrine otherwise closed. There is one passage in the Writings which indicates this use:—

"And strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die—that hereby is signified; that the things which pertain to the moral life should be vivified, appears from the signification of strengthening, as denoting to vivify the moral life by truths; for truths from the Word vivify that life, which, when it is vivified, is also strengthened, for it then acts as one with the spiritual life." (A. E. 188.)

To meet and vivify the moral life of man with truths from the Word is a use eminently adapted to the position and mind of the legal profession. We need the services of such ministers, especially at this day, when we inherit from the fallen churches of the past an inclination to the love of spiritual and temporal dominion or rule, and the love of money and of vain show without regard to use. The evils that result from the gratification of such perverted affections must be fearlessly exposed, and a call to repentance made, before the injustice, oppression, and wrong which exist all over the world can be materially lessened. Lawyers, by making a special study of the Word in connection with their professional-studies, could not fail to impart much valuable instruction both to the Church and the world.

Christian physicians and lawyers would take hold of men in their present low state, showing them what acts are evil and wrong, and why they are so; and would call on them to repent and stop doing the evil acts which the truth condemns, fully realizing that a man must cease doing evil before he can cease thinking and willing evil; or, in other words, that reformation must commence on the natural plane, and from the highest motives of which the individual at present is susceptible.

It is the duty of our clergy to teach spiritual truths and the spiritual sense of the Word, and to lead men and women to live good lives, in obedience to the Divine commandments, from spiritual and celestial motives. But it is difficult for them to fill the entire field where religious instruction is needed, for we are living in the midst of the most direful evils of life, which must be put away before the New Jerusalem can descend and have an abiding place with men. Evils so terrible as to destroy vast multitudes of men and women of all ages, and even innocent children, all around us, too frequently go unheeded by our clergy and the periodicals under their charge. I know that in this respect there are some noble exceptions among our clergy and editors; but however willing and anxious they may be, it is impossible for one man to possess the knowledge and to impart all the necessary instruction as perfectly as three men thoroughly educated and trained for the different fields for labor could do it.

To recapitulate: The physicians are required to teach and to lead men to obey, from a principle of obedience, the spiritual and natural laws of health and life; the lawyers are required to teach and lead men by spiritual truths to act from a principle of justice, truth, and neighborly love in all their relations with others; our ministers are required to teach and lead men to act from love to the Lord and thence the neighbor, and to do right because it is right, and to administer the ordinances of the Church.

While some church organizations are laboring earnestly for the reform of men and women addicted to evils, and are striving to guard the innocent and young; and while in many of the churches in England they are organizing their temperance societies and "Bands of Hope," many of our organizations are as silent as the grave in regard to these evils. Can our churches prosper without teachers who are able to point out the evils of life which are so destructive to our race, and who are sufficiently free themselves to be able earnestly and consistently to call men to repentance, and to lead them to live orderly lives?

Various denominations of Christians, in sending forth missionaries to distant lands, have, of late years, been sending, among others, some well-educated physicians as missionaries, and have found them very efficient in reaching and influencing the people among whom they labor. May not all take a hint when some of the religious organizations around us are beginning to see the advantages of sending out medical missionaries? If we would reach the Gentiles, or non-church goers, in our midst, should we not follow their example? A vast number of children and young people are growing up in our country, who are more ignorant of the spiritual and natural laws of health and life than many in Gentile lands; many of them rarely read or hear the Sacred Scriptures read, and do not even know the Ten Commandments.



CHAPTER VIII.

METHODS FOR RESTRAINING AND CURING SPIRITUAL AND NATURAL DISEASES.

As there is a correspondence between the natural and spiritual causes of disease, so there must be a correspondence between the methods of restraining and curing natural and spiritual diseases.

First: Spiritual diseases or evils are restrained by punishments which, by force, as it were, counteract the inclination to do evil; corresponding to this method we have the Antipathic method of restraining natural diseases, which is one of the prevailing methods; for instance, for constipation cathartics are given, for a diarrhoea astringents, and opiates are given to forcibly relieve or restrain the symptoms of disease. Every one can but see that such remedies for the cure of natural diseases, like punishments for the cure of spiritual diseases or evils, are but palliative; for the reaction, if reaction ensue, is not in the right direction. It is true that a cure sometimes results in spite of the treatment, especially in transient cases, the vital forces restoring health during the temporary restraint of the diseased action; but in many cases the constipation is only aggravated by cathartics, and diarrhoeas are not benefited by astringents; and the evil man often becomes more vicious after punishment.

Second: Spiritual evils are often restrained by exciting one passion to restrain evil acts in another direction; for instance, acquisitiveness and vanity are often excited to restrain evil men from evil acts, which might result from hatred and a desire for revenge, thus calling off the attention from the prevailing evil inclination. Corresponding to this method of restraining spiritual diseases we have the Allopathic method of restraining diseased action in one organ by exciting diseased action in another organ or part, as is done when a cathartic is given for disease of the head or lungs, or when a blister is applied to the skin in case of internal diseased action; thus, as it were, calling off the attention of the vital forces from the diseased structures, and thus palliative relief is often obtained in natural as in spiritual diseases.

Third: Either from afflictions, suffering, disappointments, or from voluntarily hearkening to the truth, a man begins to feel a desire to change his life, and looking to the Lord he repents and resolves to obey the Divine Commandments by shunning evils as sins against God. But when he commences to do this, evil spirits flow into his mind and tempt him to again do evil acts; if the temptations are too strong he falls, but he may fall to rise again; he will either do this by renewing his resolution to overcome the evil inclination, or he will fall to rise no more, and keep on in his old course of life, perhaps worse than before. Thoughts come before actions; if a man, when tempted to do evil, resists the thoughts of doing the evil acts, every one can see that he is striking a blow at the perverted affection through which he has been tempted to do evil; consequently the step toward a cure is far more radical and permanent than it would have been if he had done the evil act.

Children and the young should be taught that to violate the Divine Commandments is a sin against God, and that they should resist their hereditary or acquired inclination to speak wrong words or do evil acts the moment such inclinations are manifested in their thoughts, which is far better than to allow them to move them to do evil acts. The cure of spiritual diseases by the resisting of temptation is a genuine method of cure. Corresponding with this for the treatment of natural diseases, we have their treatment by the use of Homoeopathic remedies. Only spirits of a similar inclination can tempt a man to do an evil act and thus manifest his unsubdued inclination to him, which enables him to see and overcome the inclination by resisting it. So, on the natural plane, it is only a poisonous substance or remedy, which is capable of causing a similar disease to the one existing, which can manifest the disease to the vital forces and thus enable them to react against the disease. But if the dose of the remedy given is too large it will aggravate the disease, as a cathartic dose of a cathartic remedy will aggravate a diarrhoea; but the vital forces may react and overcome the disease, or they may not, and the disease continue even worse than before. It is the reaction of the vital forces that overcomes the diseased action and effects the cure, and not the remedy, any more than it is the evil spirit that tempts man that overcomes his spiritual evils during regeneration. As it is not necessary that the temptation should be so strong as to make a man take the first step toward performing an evil act, to enable him to resist it if he will the moment the inclination is seen in his thoughts, so it is not necessary that a dose of a Homoeopathic remedy should be so strong as to aggravate the natural diseased action in the slightest degree before it can be seen by the vital forces, and a reaction follow. The size of the dose must be determined by experience; but we know that its effects need only to equal the effects of temptations which proceed no further than the thought of doing evil before reaction may follow, therefore we can form no conception of the minuteness of the dose which may be sufficient for a cure to follow.

But if a man would be restored to spiritual health by getting rid of his hereditary and acquired inclinations to do evil, he must acknowledge the Lord, diligently search His Word, and be willing to see and obey His commandments, which are the laws of spiritual health and life, and must be obeyed conscientiously, in intention, thought, word, and deed, if health is to be restored; otherwise, punishment, hope of reward, and temptations can only afford palliative relief at best. So in regard to natural diseases. If a man would be restored to physical health by getting rid of his hereditary and acquired inclinations to diseases, he must recognize that the laws of nature are the laws established for his good by the Lord, and he must diligently study the laws pertaining to health and life, and be willing to see and obey those laws as to sunlight, air, exercise, clothing, and in eating and drinking, etc., if he would be restored to health; otherwise, antipathic, allopathic, and even homoeopathic remedies will prove only palliative at best. If we expect to be well, spiritually or naturally, we must strive to know and obey the laws of health and life.

Temptations by evil spirits permitted and controlled by the Lord for the sake of removing many spiritual evils, and a corresponding action of homoeopathic remedies administered by a skillful hand, for the sake of removing natural diseases, are curative methods which belong to the New Jerusalem Dispensation, now descending from God out of heaven, making all things new—the Church of the future.



CHAPTER IX.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE CONTINUED—AND EFFORTS.

Soon after I commenced reading the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, while residing in Detroit, I was invited to attend a social gathering at the residence of one of the members of the congregation of believers in his writings in that city. During the evening, to my astonishment, fermented wine was passed around to the guests, of which quite a number partook. As already stated in the preceding pages, while a young man, through the efficient teachings of Baptist and Congregational clergymen and prominent members of the churches, and the results of drinking which I witnessed, I was providentially enabled to see that to use drinks which endangered health, reason, and life was wrong, and consequently a sin; and with many others I signed a pledge never to drink intoxicating drinks during health. The reader can imagine how I was shocked to see intoxicating wine presented and partaken of among gentlemen and ladies who professed to be receivers and believers in a new revelation of Divine truth from God to man. I immediately saw the clergyman of the society, and asked him if Swedenborg teaches that it is right and proper to drink an intoxicating wine. He replied that he did.

He and members of his society were holding Sunday afternoon meetings for the purpose of reading the writings and discussing such questions as might arise, which meetings I attended. I said to the reverend gentleman that I would like to have this wine question discussed at our next meeting, to which he assented. At that meeting, I brought up the medical and scientific aspects of the question, and endeavored to show that fermented wine was a dangerous poison, it having destroyed vast multitudes of the human race, and that it performed no use when taken into the stomach of healthy men and women; and, consequently, that it is wrong to drink a wine which does so much harm. The clergyman tried to justify its use by quoting certain comparisons which Swedenborg had made between the apparent combat which takes place during fermentation and the combat which ensues during the regeneration of man, and the clearness of resulting wine after fermentation and that of truth in the mind after regeneration, and also of the purity of alcohol after it has been through certain processes, which he named, compared with pure truth.

But we know that pure alcohol cannot be used as a beverage, and therefore it is certain that these comparisons were simply as to the clearness of fermented wine after fermentation, and the purity of alcohol after being purified; and that they have nothing to do with the inherent quality of these fluids, or their ability to affect man when he drinks them. We had an earnest discussion of the question from our different standpoints, but neither of us was satisfied with the result; and, consequently, we adjourned the discussion of the subject until the next Sabbath afternoon. In the meantime, the clergyman prepared a discourse, which he delivered on Sunday morning, in which he endeavored to show that fermentation was caused by an influx of angels from the highest heaven into the juice of the grape, stirring it up and cleansing it from "inherent impurities." Providentially, during the week, I had obtained a copy of Swedenborg's work on the "Angelic Wisdom Concerning the Divine Love and Wisdom," in which he teaches that all poisonous substances which do harm and kill man derive their life from or through hell. When we came together in the afternoon to discuss the question, we were about as far apart as it was possible to be, as the reader can readily see. He took the ground that fermentation was caused by influx from the highest heaven, and I took the ground that it was caused by influx from the lowest hell, and we had an earnest discussion; but he certainly did not satisfy me nor many of his audience, if any, that his position was true. How could he? for there is no doubt but that fermented wine has harmed and killed more of the human race in ages past than any other poison. As a result of that discussion, within my knowledge, fermented wine was never again used at the sociables of that society during my residence in Detroit.

Within perhaps a year after that discussion, I was baptized and united with the Detroit Society of the New Church. When I came to understand, from the writings of Swedenborg, the true signification of water and the ordinance of baptism—that water signified natural truth and that baptism introduced one into the Church, and signified that man is to be regenerated or purified by living a life according to the truth, and that the head represented the man—I did not regard immersion as so important as I had previously, consequently I was baptized by the application of water to the head. There is, I think, no serious objection to any one being baptized by immersion who prefers it. Children should, I think, be baptized into the Church, and be brought up to feel that they belong to the Church, and are expected to live the life of the Church. More and more have I seen the importance of bringing children up under the influence of the Church, where they should be instructed and entertained and thus kept away from bad company.

WHY A SEPARATE NEW-CHURCH ORGANIZATION.

Swedenborg made no attempt to organize the believers in the revelations made by the Lord through his instrumentality into a separate church organization, and nowhere in his writings does he express the opinion that such a separate organization would ever be needed or desirable. And he apparently expected that the prevailing false doctrines of the churches would, in the increasing light of the New Jerusalem, be seen to be false by the clergy of existing church organizations; and that through them the laity would be enabled to see that they are false, and thus they would be put away, as is manifest in passages which I have quoted elsewhere; also see T. C. R. 784.

When individual men or churches put away false doctrines, they are prepared, if in the good of life, to see and receive the truth; consequently Swedenborg says that although the First Christian Church has come to its end through false doctrines and evils of life, yet it is to revive again through the instrumentality of the newly revealed science of correspondences; consequently it is not to utterly perish, for there is a remnant within its borders.

Then the reader will inquire, "Why was an external New-Church organization ever formed?" We have not to look far to find the reason. First, there was a vast multitude of intelligent men and women who did not belong to any church organization, and when some of them came to see and believe the new doctrines, they naturally desired to be baptized and to join a church organization; but seeing clearly in the light of the new revelations that, according to the Sacred Scriptures, God is one in essence and in person, and that that one God was manifested to man in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that He made that human form Divine and is henceforth to be worshiped as one God in His Divine Humanity, and that a life according to His sayings and the commandments is essential to salvation, they could not join the prevailing churches, for they could not assent to their creeds.

Second. When, as soon occurred, both clergymen and laymen, belonging to various church organizations, began to read the writings, and to see that the Lord is in very deed now coming in the clouds of heaven, and desired to let the new light shine among their brethren, they found that they were often not free to do so without giving offense; and in not a few instances clergymen found that they were silenced as preachers, and sometimes both clergymen and laymen were expelled, for believing the Heavenly Doctrines instead of the creeds; consequently the receivers of the doctrines of the New Dispensation had no choice but to form a new church organization. But at this day there is a vast change, and I trust that from but a very few if any church organizations would a lay member be expelled for believing in the Supreme Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that the Sacred Scriptures are Divine and plenarily inspired, and that a life according to the Lord's sayings and His Commandments is essential to salvation. Consequently there are thousands of earnest receivers of the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem scattered throughout the various churches, gradually leavening, as I trust, the whole lump; and there are clergymen not a few who are gradually beholding, with more or less fullness, the light of this New Day; and as they receive it, large numbers of them are not slow to let the light shine among their fellow-men, as they are prepared to receive it.

The Lord has given to men freedom and reason, and they are responsible for their acts. To whom do a clergyman and members of a church organization owe fealty, to the Lord and His Word and the members of the congregations where they worship, or to a creed and church or a church organization formulated and organized during darker ages of the world and Church? Should men or should they not, when they behold the glorious light of the Lord's Second Coming in the clouds of heaven, stand in their place and proclaim the glad tidings to all who are willing to hear?

Swedenborg, in giving the spiritual sense of the second chapter of the Apocalypse, in No. 69 of the Apocalypse Revealed, says:—

"This and the following chapter treat of the seven churches, by which are described all those in the Christian Church who have any religion, and out of whom the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, can be formed; and this is formed by those who APPROACH THE LORD ONLY, AND AT THE SAME TIME PERFORM REPENTANCE FROM EVIL WORKS. The rest, who do not approach the Lord alone, from the confirmed negation of the divinity of His humanity, and who do not perform repentance from evil works, are indeed in the Church, but have nothing of the Church in them."

If all clergymen and members of our churches, the moment they begin to see that portions of their creeds are false and injurious in their tendency, instead of trying, by proclaiming the truth among their brethren, to have the false doctrines removed and true doctrines substituted, were to immediately forsake the church organization in which, in the good providence of the Lord, they stand, what hope would there be for the perpetuation of existing churches as Christian organizations at all? The great danger at this day is that false doctrines will be seen faster than true doctrines will be seen to take their place, and thus our churches and members will be left desolate and return to a Gentile state. For instance, if our clergy and intelligent laymen begin to see, as many of them seem to be doing already, that the doctrine of a tri-personal God, instead of a trinity in unity, and the doctrine of the vicarious atonement are contrary to the teachings of the Sacred Scriptures, and unreasonable and inconsistent, and do not at the same time see clearly the scriptural doctrine that God is one in essence and in person, and that in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ that one God was manifested for the purpose of reconciling the world unto Himself, such individuals are almost sure sooner or later to deny the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that the Sacred Scriptures are divine and special revelations from God to man, and consequently plenarily inspired.

The doctrines which are false in the prevailing church organizations must go—they are going—from the minds of their members if not from their creeds. Then are these organizations to become Gentile and stand like the remnants of the Ancient Church, which we behold in southern and eastern Asia? I think not; for we are told, as has been already stated in the revelations made by the Lord through Emanuel Swedenborg, that the science of correspondences was revealed that the Christian Church "may revive and again draw breath from the Lord through heaven." Gentiles received the Lord at His first coming with joy; and so I believe the Gentiles in and out of our church organizations will receive Him now as He comes in the clouds of heaven. In the light manifested in the Sacred Scriptures by the aid of the science of correspondences, every willing and obedient man and woman is able to see that God is one, and that the Lord Jesus Christ, or God in His Divine Humanity, is that one God and the only Being whom men should and whom angels do worship. Then of what unspeakable importance it is that the attention of all clergymen and laymen be speedily called to the writings for the Church of the New Jerusalem which is now descending from God out of heaven!

After practicing medicine for ten or twelve years, and on accepting the chair of "Theory and Practice of Medicine" tendered by the Western Homoeopathic College at Cleveland, Ohio, I commenced, as it were, the study of the practical department of my profession anew, in order to prepare myself for filling the chair profitably to the students and creditably to myself. While preparing forgiving lectures, and especially in after years while away from my active medical practice at Detroit, giving a course of lectures at Cleveland every winter, I began to study and investigate in my leisure hours the causes of diseases. Step by step I pursued my investigations, until I became satisfied that most of the deformities, diseases, and insanity which exist have been caused by the violation of the physical and spiritual laws of our being which could have been avoided in the past, and which can and must be in the future, if our race is to be restored to a state of healthy, symmetrical, and noble manhood. Consequently I came to the conclusion that it is far more important that men, women, and children should be taught the laws of health and to understand the causes of the prevailing deformities and diseases, and how to shun them, than it was for them and their children to get sick, deformed, and suffer, and often to pay their hard-earned money to doctors for the uncertain chance of being cured—in fact, that "an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure."

As a result of my investigations I wrote a series of articles for the Detroit Tribune on the bad habits which cause diseases, insanity, and deformity; and, as opportunity offered, I gave lectures upon such subjects; and finally I wrote a work entitled the "Avoidable Causes of Disease," of 348 pages, of which I printed several editions, the first of which was in 1859, and furnished to different publishers, and advertised to a limited extent; after that it was published for several years by Messrs. Mason Brothers, of New York; after which it came into my hands again. I also wrote a pamphlet of 48 pages on "Marriage and its Violations," which, for a time, was bound separately, but afterward was bound with the "Avoidable Causes of Disease." In all, eleven editions of the work have been printed; the last edition was printed by Messrs Boericke & Tafel, of Philadelphia, who will probably publish any future editions which may be demanded.

I soon found, what my publishers found after me, and other writers and their publishers have found, that it does not pay to advertise books which contain the greatest amount of practical and useful information which is calculated to benefit readers, especially if they call in question the bad habits and evils of life in which so many people indulge; consequently, feeling that a work treating of diseases and their cure, in which I could advertise my first work and call special attention to it, would sell more readily, I wrote a book of 404 pages, entitled "Family Homoeopathy," in which I took great pains to carefully describe in few words the various diseases, and gave as definite and positive instruction as was practicable to guide laymen, so that harmless homoeopathic remedies might take the place of drastic drugs and injurious domestic remedies, which are so frequently used when it is thought not necessary to call a physician, or before his arrival when called. At the end of this volume I inserted a carefully prepared table of the contents of the "Avoidable Causes of Disease," occupying three pages, and referred not unfrequently to that work when treating of various diseases.

With but very slight efforts, and no advertising on my part, "Family Homoeopathy" sold very well—principally through the different homoeopathic pharmacies in our country; and this increased the sale of "The Avoidable Causes of Disease" very materially, as I expected it would. Seventeen editions of "Family Homoeopathy" have been printed and sold, the last edition by Dr. E. R. Ellis, of Detroit, Michigan, who will continue to print and supply applicants as wanted.

SPIRITUAL CAUSES OF DISEASES.

As I continued my investigation into the causes of disease, and especially as I read the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, I began to see more and more clearly that diseases, to a large extent at least, have a spiritual origin, and that the great obstacles to the removal of their causes lie in the false doctrines of Christian churches. When selfish men who were leaders in the churches desired to exercise their love of rule in spiritual and natural things and to exercise despotic power, when they desired to reduce other men to slavery and to hold them as slaves, or when they desired to gratify other perverted passions and sensual appetites, they all went to the Bible and strove to justify their conduct from its pages, with the expectation of reaching heaven at last; for this purpose it required the invention of special doctrines, and these they taught to their children, and thus the Word of God was made of no effect by the traditions and doctrines of men.

Unfortunately for the Protestant Church, early in its history, instead of "If ye would enter into life, keep the commandments," there was substituted the doctrine of justification by faith alone; which led men, especially the young, to hope that by getting religion and having faith, they could at any time escape the legitimate penalties which are attached by the Lord to evil doing. No young man, religiously brought up, expects to go to hell; but he intends to repent and be converted before he dies; he often thinks he will "sow his wild oats" first, instead of earnestly and faithfully striving to keep the Divine commandments from his youth up. Evil thinking and doing develop an infernal life within him, which often gradually gains strength until he is ruled by his perverted appetites and passions; and day by day his ability to regain his freedom grows less.

When the priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church began to teach men that the punishment which rightly inheres to the doing of evil can be escaped by confessing to the priest, doing penance, and receiving absolution, and that every Catholic priest has from the Lord the power to forgive sins and to grant indulgences, then the hope of escaping the penalties of sin by something short of keeping the Divine Law in everyday life was held out to the young of the Catholic laity, similar to that which the doctrine of faith alone offered to the young of the Protestant world; and the results have been similar. We know, however, that among religious teachers there are many to-day in all of the various sects of Christians who have put away, or are gradually putting away, or materially modifying, the perverted doctrines of the past. As an illustration of the changes which are taking place, I clip the following from an English paper, recently received:—

"The Rev. T. Vincent Tymms, the new Principal of Rawdon College, preaching to his late congregation at Clapham, said:—

"'From the first day I stood in this pulpit until now, I have desired to tear away from every heart that obscuring veil of pagan thought which first attributes a wrathful justice to the Father and a tender mercy to CHRIST, and then represents the Son as dying to soothe the anger and satisfy the relentless demands of the Father. Such unholy and revolting ideas are the leaven of heathenism, not the unleavened bread of Christian truth.'

"This is from the first of 'Three Farewell Sermons,' published by Messrs. James Clarke & Co., Fleet Street, E. C."

More and more, as time progressed, I began to realize that there was very little chance for any radical improvement of our race until the false doctrines which have come down to us from the dark ages were put away; and knowing that in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg we have a new revelation from the Lord, even the truths of his Second Coming in the clouds of heaven, which are destined to make all things new by leading men back to a life of obedience to the Divine commandments; and, furthermore, believing the most important missionary field to-day in the world to be among the clergy of our country, I wrote an "Address to the Clergy" of 24 pages. This Address I sent to over 50,000 clergymen. A few years before I wrote that Address, the late Mr. L. C. Iungerich, of Philadelphia, through the book publishing firm of J. B. Lippincott & Co., of that city, had offered to clergymen who would order and send the stamps to pay the postage, Swedenborg's "True Christian Religion," and afterward he added the "Apocalypse Revealed;" and the New Church Tract Society added to the above works "Heaven and Hell,"—all to be sent free to clergymen on receipt of postage. Several thousand copies of the above works had been sent when I wrote and sent out my Address. Upon the second page of the cover of my tract was a notice of the above-named gift books; and my aim was to hastily call the attention of clergymen to them, and to give them some idea of the claims of Swedenborg's writings to their attention, and to encourage them to send for and to read the books thus providentially within their reach. As a result of receiving the Address, thousands of clergymen sent for and obtained one or more of the above books.

When I commenced sending the above-named Address to the clergy, I resolved to devote one-tenth of my income to the work of spreading a knowledge of the doctrines of the New Jerusalem and of an orderly life among my fellow-men. I can truly say, and will say for the encouragement of others, that as I have given I have received; for never had I prospered financially as I have since that resolution was made and lived up to. After having secured a competency for myself and family I did not stop at one-tenth of my income.

The result of sending the Address was so satisfactory that I wrote and compiled a work of 260 pages, entitled, "Skepticism and Divine Revelation," with the intention of sending it to the clergy. My aim was to present a hasty view of the application of the science of correspondences in the interpretation of the first chapters of Genesis, and some other parts of the Word, and to meet the arguments of skeptics, and thus to show that the Sacred Scriptures are Divine revelations from God to man, and plenarily inspired, consequently differing as much from the words of man as God's works do from the works of man. In that work the attention of the reader is called to the creation of the world, the creation of man and woman, Eve, the Garden of Eden, its trees and river, the fall of man, the serpent, Cain and Abel, the flood, Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the flood of waters, the Ark, the Tower of Babel, Sun worship and idolatry, spiritualism, the little reliance to be placed upon communications from spirits, and why. Next, the doctrines of the New Jerusalem—God, the Incarnation, the Divine Trinity, sacrificial worship, the Cross, a true and heavenly life, the end of the world and Second Coming of the Lord, the resurrection, state of infants in the other life, the state and condition of the Heathen and Gentiles in another life, the New Jerusalem—the Church of the Future—the Crown of all Churches, the Divine promise to those who receive the New Jerusalem at the Lord's Second Coming as revealed through Emanuel Swedenborg.

Such were the subjects discussed in the light of the revelations made by the Lord's chosen servant. My aim was to produce the best work I could. Consequently, when I found in the writings of others passages, or even whole sections, in which the ideas that I desired to present were as well or better conveyed than I thought I could present them, I selected them, giving the writers credit for the same, and the sixteenth and twenty-third chapters were written at my request by the Rev. William B. Hayden, who assisted me materially in seeing the work through the press. About one-half of the matter in the volume was selected from other writers.

I commenced to send this work in editions of 10,000 to the clergy of our country, and when I had sent about 50,000, I had the "Address to the Clergy" printed and bound with it, and both were sent to the Catholic clergy, to whom the Address had not previously been sent. From that time both works have been printed and bound in one volume. About 65,000 of the above works, containing a notice of the gift books, named in preceding pages, on the second page of the cover, have been sent to the clergy of America, about 10,000 have been sent to physicians, and as many more have been circulated among laymen. The sending of this book to the clergy immensely increased the orders for the gift books.

The above works have been translated into the German language, and about 48,000 copies sent to German-speaking clergymen in Germany and other parts of Europe, and in our own country. They have been translated into the Swedish language, and about 6000 copies have been sent to the clergy of Sweden and Norway and circulated among the laity; and they have been translated into Italian, and 10,000 sent to and circulated in Italy. And more recently they have been translated into French, and 20,000 printed which are now being sent to the clergy of France and the French-speaking clergy of other European countries, and of our own country.

Then, I have aided materially in sending other works to the clergy of our country, either explaining or containing the doctrines of the New Jerusalem, upon the second page of the covers of which will be found a notice of the gift books offered to clergymen. I aided with money the Swedenborg Publishing Association in sending Rev. Mr. Ravlin's "Progressive Thoughts on Great Subjects" to all the clergy of our country whose names could be had; and, later, I have aided the American Swedenborg Printing and Publishing Society in sending, first, "The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrines;" second, "The Doctrine of the Lord;" third, "The Doctrine of Life"—all three Swedenborg's own works—to all the clergy in our country whose names could be readily obtained; in all 82,500. So that almost every clergyman in our country has had an opportunity to acquire some knowledge of the doctrines and revelations made by the Lord through Emanuel Swedenborg for the benefit of men in this new age—doctrines very different from those formulated in the creeds of bygone centuries—and thousands of our clergy are beginning to realize, that we must return to the rational and plain doctrines taught in the Sacred Scriptures, and summed up by the Lord when on earth in the Two Great Commandments, Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy might and strength, and thy neighbor as thyself, and that we must commence the new life by repentance, or by being willing to see our evils and to shun them as sins against God.

As a result of the efforts made by others and myself to make known to the clergy the offer of the gift books, 32,831 clergymen have sent for and obtained "The True Christian Religion," 30,887 have obtained "Heaven and Hell," and 25,522 have obtained "The Apocalypse Revealed," according to the report of the Trustees of the Iungerich fund (May, 1891).

COMMUNION WINE.

For several years after I joined the Church I paid little attention to the subject of communion wine. But at last an article appeared in a New-Church paper, in which the writer claimed that fermented wine was a good and useful article to be used as a beverage, and he tried to justify its use by the teachings of the Church. Such views were so contrary to what I regarded as true, that I immediately commenced a more careful and critical examination of the writings of Swedenborg, to ascertain what is taught therein as to wine. I soon found that he distinctly recognized two kinds of wine, as does the Bible: one kind unfermented, a good and nourishing fluid to which he always gives a good signification when its use is not abused; and the other kind, known by its effects on man when he drinks it to be fermented, to which he has never given a good signification when it is clear from the context that reference is had to fermented wine. And I will here say that my opponents in the Church have done precisely what the advocates of slavery, intoxicating drinks, and skeptics have done in their appeals to the Bible to sustain their views. They find here and there a comparison and passage which, by placing their own construction upon them, they think will justify their views, while they totally ignore a large number of passages which most clearly and positively teach a totally different doctrine; and they ignore scientific facts, the well known effects of drinking fermented wine, and the testimony of ancient writers whenever such testimony does not accord with their own views. Thus they uphold the use of the drunkard's cup as a beverage and even as a sacramental wine; and within my knowledge more than one poor man in our Church who was struggling to reform his life has been led back by partaking of it to drunkenness.

A distinguished clergyman said in a letter to the writer:—

"I can never forget the experience already related to you when Mr. ——, my wife's brother-in-law, a gentleman of classical education, had become a sober man through my efforts and received the heavenly doctrines ... Then came the Lord's Supper and we had fermented California wine. I handed him the cup, he drank, and after church he fled to some place where wine could be had, came home late in the evening drunk, and continued drinking for three months, until he died one evening after being brought home beastly drunk. Unfermented wine is no seducer, and had Mr. —— been given such in the Sacrament, he might be living, a sober man, to-day. Your books on the 'Wine Question' deserve, therefore, all that you have done and expended under the Lord's guidance for their publication and circulation, and God only knows how much good they will yet have to do."

Another clergyman wrote:—

"I was called to officiate at the funeral of a child. The parents—who were non-professors of religion—became much interested in the New Church. I furnished them suitable reading matter and visited them occasionally. Within a year they united with our Society. The man had formerly been a drinking man, but had ceased entirely. They were regular attendants on our church services. He was a mechanic. His well-behaved life restored public confidence in him, and he soon found constant employment at his trade. After about two years he felt a desire to take the Lord's Supper. I did not dissuade him; for, as he had abstained so long and faithfully, I felt sure he would continue. He presented himself with the communicants. Upon receiving the cup he took a sip and moved to return the cup to me; but suddenly, the old appetite being touched by the alcoholic spark, he returned the cup to his lips—it was about two-thirds full-and nearly drained it, as though urged on by demons. Poor man! Realizing what he had done, and evidently feeling disgraced, he at once arose and left the temple. From that time he returned to drink, and I have been unable to regain sufficient influence over him to effect his return to our services.

"Another man in my Society formerly drank to excess. I dare not encourage him to come to the communion. A majority of our members favor intoxicating wine for the Lord's Supper. How they can do so after witnessing its dreadful effects, I cannot understand. But the light is spreading, and may the Lord hasten the full day."

O Lord! how long? how long shall such evils continue in our churches?

Of course I replied to the article in the New-Church paper alluded to above, and others replied to me, and I to them in return; but it was not long before notice was given that the discussion would cease, and that with three unanswered articles against me in one number of the paper, and that in a paper edited by a clergyman, and published by the General Body of the Church. Well, looking for the welfare of the Church and its members which I loved, I could not stand still and see such false and dangerous views boldly and dogmatically proclaimed in the most extensively circulated periodical of the Church without doing my best to counteract them. Consequently I wrote a reply in a tract form, and sent it to every New-Churchman whose name I could obtain. This was but the beginning. An article appeared in another periodical of the Church to which I was allowed to reply; but the discussion was soon closed, and I was given no chance to reply to the last communication, and a reserved communication which was published afterward. Finding that there was no chance to present the temperance side of the wine question fairly before the readers of these two periodicals, I was led to write several pamphlets in reply to such articles as appeared in favor of the use of fermented wine, in which I endeavored to present fully and fairly, generally in the language of its advocates, their views of the question, and I endeavored to answer them in the light afforded by the Sacred Scriptures, the writings of the Church, ancient history, science, and well-known facts as to the manufacture and preservation of unfermented and fermented wines in all ages.

Several pamphlets were published in reply to the advocates for the use of fermented wine in our New-Church periodicals in the course of five or six years, of which about 10,000 of each were printed and sent to all Newchurchmen whose names I was able to obtain in this country, England, and elsewhere, hoping to reach as far as possible the readers of the writings of my opponents and others. The following are the names of the pamphlets written, printed, and sent, viz: "Pure Wine, Fermented Wine, and Other Alcoholic Drinks," published in 1880; "The Wine Question in the Light of the New Dispensation," in 1882; "Reply to the Academy's Review," in 1883; "Intoxicants, Prohibition, and our New-Church Periodicals," 1885, to which was added "Deterioration of the Puritan Stock," 1884; making in all, with index, 736 pages.