MISCELLANY.

PROFESSOR BUSII,

DISTRIBUTION OF NEW CHURCH BOOKS.

BUFFALO, N. Y., Dec. 8, 1851.

Can

Dear Sir,-It is my intention to visit the towns between this and Albany. you give me the names of persons interested in the N. C. who live on the railroad or within twenty miles of it? If you will do so, you will confer a favor, and assist me in performing a use. Also, please give me any information which you think

will be of use.

Please send the Repository for Nov. and Dec. to Buffalo. The package of back numbers which you sent to Detroit was received. You may consider me a subscriber for next year, and I will try and send you the money soon.

If you think the following report will be of use, you may print it in the Repository. Several persons who read the former reports have requested me to continue

them.

I think one of the most important uses for the New Church to perform at the present time is the distribution of the books. If all the persons who are now interested in the New Church were asked what first directed their attention to the Heavenly Doctrines, a large proportion of them would reply that it was something which they read. And nearly all would say that they obtained most of their knowledge of the Doctrines from books.

During the last six weeks I have sold 264 books for $92 53. The books sold are as follows: 8 True Christian Religion; 17 Book of Doctrines; 23 Heaven & Hell; 8 Divine Providence; 8 Divine Love & Wisdom; 2 Apocalypse Revealed; 4 Conjugial Love; 9 Sacred Scripture, White Horse, and Summary of the Prophets and Psalms, bound together; 13 Earths in the Universe; 9 Heavenly Doctrine and Brief Exposition, bound together; 8 Last Judgment; 5 Life of Swedenborg, by Hobart; 18 Do., by Rich [Detroit edition]; 1 Worship & Love of GOD; 6 Way to a Knowledge of the Soul; 16 Books for Children; 15 Bush's Reasons; 9 Heat & Light; 1 Wedding Ring; 1 volume of Bush's Swedenborg Library; 2 Bush's Letters to a Trinitarian; 9 Antediluvian History; 2 Growth of the Mind; 2 Human Progress; 6 Two Worlds; 6 Weller on Marriage; 7 Religious Philosophy, including Des Guays, Parson's Essays, and Influx, bound together; 3 Regenerate Life; 6 Bruce on Marriage: 3 Dictionary of Correspondences; 15 Cosmogenia, or Philosophy of the World; 1 Index to the Arcana; 2 Religious Philosophy, by Des Guays; 3 Immortal Fountain; 1 Doctrine of the LORD; 1 Doctrine of Life; 1 Influx; 2 Coronis ; 1 name for the N. C. Messenger; 1 name for the Medium.

More than half of these were sold in Detroit, which proves that the circulation and reading of the books may be very much increased by carrying them to the peo ple, even in places where they are kept for sale.

One

suppose he He had none ex

man, a Newchurchman, bought between $3 and $4 worth; and I has not bought a N. C. book before in fifteen or twenty years. cept two or three volumes of Sermons. He has a family of children growing up around him, and these books will no doubt be very useful. The reason why he has not bought any before, is, that he has not felt able to pay the high prices which have been charged for them. And on this occasion he would not have bought more than one or two, if he had not been attracted by the low prices.

He showed his books to an acquaintance, and informed him of the prices, and this man came more than a mile one stormy night to find me, and get some books. He was afraid if he did not come then, that I should be gone, and he would lose the opportunity of getting them at those low prices. He also bought about $3 worth. A considerable part of the books were sold to those unacquainted with the Doctrines. Visiting on Jefferson Avenue, I sold some books to a young lawyer. Two or three days after I was visiting on another street, and called on a young man, who said he had borrowed one or two books of the lawyer, and was reading them."

He

also bought another book, and invited me to call again. These persons have not before read the N. C. writings.

On the 8th and 9th of Nov. I attended the Calhoun County N. C. Quarterly Meeting in Battle Creek, and sold $16 worth of books. I also sold $6 worth in the cars on my way out, and $1 worth returning. I first went through the cars and distributed about 100 of the "Address to the People of Michigan and Northern Indiana;" and as I passed through again to get my books, a gentleman saluted me, and inquired if I was not "acting contrary to N. C. principles, by trying to disseminate the Doctrines in this way." Said he, "I have recently been in Massachusetts, and was there informed by a N. C. minister that they do not approve of this mode of operations; that the brethren in the West sometimes, do it, but in the East they do not regard it as judicious." I remarked that we believe these are important truths, designed for the good of all who can receive them, and that therefore we think it is our duty to use all proper means to make them known, for there are some in every community who can receive them. He replied, "I think so, too, and I believe these writings have been kept too much covered up under a bushel, and that they ought to be brought out, and made generally known." He bought a copy of Heaven & Hell, and recommended the books to the gentleman sitting with him, and he bought the Life of Swedenborg, by Hobart. I conversed two or three hours with other persons, and sold books to at least a dozen individuals. One gentleman bought $2 worth, and was very glad to get them.

At the meeting one of the brethren informed me that a book which I sold in a village a short time before, had "set one man all on fire." Said he "It was just the thing for him; he read it, and believed it, and went to a Newchurchman to borrow more." I was informed that the book which he bought was the Last Judg ment, which proves that we cannot tell which book will be most useful. I seldom sell the Last Judgment as an introductory work, but if persons want it I let them have it.

I am selling the books at low prices. True Christian Religion, $1 25; Heaven & Hell, 50 to 60 cents; Book of Doctrines costs me 52 cents, and I frequently sell it for 50. Hobart's Life of Swedenborg costs 50 cents, and I often sell it for the same. The Heavenly Doctrine, bound with the Doctrine of the LORD, or Brief Exposition, in neat red and blue cloth, costs 24 cents, and I sell it for 25. I design to make the books pay for themselves. Perhaps I receive from 5 to 10 per cent. more than the cost. I intend to report accurately at some future time. If the use cannot be sus

tained without high prices, I think it cannot be with high prices; for if the books should be held at the former retail prices, the sales would be very much diminished. Since April 1, I have sold 1961 books for $573; but if they had been held at the usual retail prices, I think I should not have sold more than 1200 books for $400. I depend for support upon the contributions of those who favor the use. An account of receipts and expenses has been kept, and will probably be reported at some future time. In behalf of the use. I acknowledge with gratitude the assistance which has been rendered by brethren in Ohio and Michigan, and also in Chicago. On my way from Detroit I spent a short time in Cleveland and vicinity, and sold $14 worth of books. A person to whom I sold books last summer informed me that they have been very useful. He lent them around, and one man has become a receiver of the Heavenly Doctrines, by reading the books, and conversing with the lender.

That these books may lead many to the Fountain of Love and Wisdom, and thereby make them happy, is the desire of

Yours, sincerely,

H. M. SAXTON.

MISS BREMER ON THE SPIRIT KNOCKINGS.

NORTH SWANZEY, Mass., Dec. 31, 1851.

BR. BUSH-In the Dec. number of the Repository, Miss Bremer gives her opinion, very frankly, of the "Spirit Knockings." Now, opinions never alter facts. It is wonderful how a little popularity will give to some folks great boldness, not to say impudence. It may be asked, what does Miss Bremer know about the laws of order and spiritual manifestations? It is very easy to go with the popular cry, it is all humbug, or, at most, evil spirits. But it will not be very easy for one like me to give heed to the scandals of a mere novel reader and writer, against the spiritual manifestations which our blessed Lord has been pleased to vouchsafe to my fellowcountrymen, in this our glorious day. It is said that by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every thing shall be established. Now, the writer of this article, through the mercy of the Lord, has three ways by which he knows, that good spirits may, and do, knock to him, and may also knock to others; and he may add, a fourth way, which is proof of the verity of the thing. And, moreover, those who have evil and low spirits knocking to them, call them in by the means of the low physical and spiritual company which they call about them. The three senses, i. e., seeing, hearing, and feeling. The writer of this article, has seen, heard, and felt spirits for more than thirty years, both obscurely and clearly. In the mean time, rappings have been in my study, on my table, on my books and writings. The spirits seen, have testified; the spirits heard, have testified; and the spirits felt have testified to the verity of the spirit rappings. We could, if called upon, give tomes of testimony to the verity of the phenomenon in question. Hundreds come to hear us preach from time to time, being sent there by the Lord through the medium of rapping spirits, which spirits, as far as we are concerned, always bear testimony in favor of the N. C. doctrines. Hundreds of N. C. books have been bought in pursuance of the advice of rapping spirits. The possibility of spirits rapping audibly is proved from the writings of Swedenborg, by the Rev. S. H. Worcester, of Framingham, and we think the proof incontestible. The word of the Lord, as well as the Word of the Apostles, prove the verity of the spiritual rappings.

That the Word of the Lord testifies to the spiritual rappings, is obvious from the following: "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for unto him who knocketh, it shall be opened. Behold! I stand at the door and knock; if any one will open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me." And in the Acts of the Apostles, it is obvious that the Apostles believed that angels knocked, in that they believed that it was not Peter that knocked, but his angel. This is a great subject but I must come to a close, by saying, had Miss Bremer, or any others, who ridicule the rappings, heard, seen, and felt, one half of what the writer of the above article has of that truly wonderful phenomenon, there would be no more ridicule heard from their lips or pen; but they would sit in silence, until they had learned a lesson from Him whose ways are past finding out, and who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers, a flame of fire, to minister to those who are heirs of salvation. ELEAZER SMITH.

The following is from a venerable clergyman of the Methodist denomination, whose correspondence bas before enlivened our pages, and whose reception of the doctrines is becoming daily, we believe, more full and decided. The query proposed at the close we regard as one of great practical moment, and we should be gratified to receive from some of our correspondents a thorough discussion of the subject as a question of N. C. casuistry, in the determination of which multitudes in similar circumstances feel a deep interest. C. PARK, Dec. 31, 1851. MY DEAR BROTHER, I think the New Church Repository ought to be sustained, to

the end that the true Philosophy and Theology of Emanuel Swedenborg may be extensively made known; and, particularly, that, as illustration from the Lord through his providences, and by his Word and Spirit, shall be given, it may be freely published for the benefit of the New Church itself. It has, almost from the beginning of my acquaintance with the New Church, appeared to me that the writers, since Swedenborg, have succumbed too much to the old church authorities.

What is it

to a Newchurchman what Paul and Peter and John have written as men not inspired with absolute truth? If their inspiration was not infallible, then their writings must be judged by the Word, and not the Word by them. They are not authority; they are to be received only so far as they aid to illustrate the Word. The Word is the standard of truth and the only standard; and Swedenborg is the only adequate expositor. The Word understood in the light of Swedenborg is the only safe guide to the New Church. If there shall be hereafter a revealer of the sense of the celestial, as there has been of the spiritual--when such revealer shall be able to confirm his mission by the diffusion of celestial light, as Swedenborg has his by the communication of spiritual light, we will then accept the addition, and rejoice in the greater fulness; but let the Church be on its guard in yielding to imaginations on this subject. The probability is, that the celestial church will, for the present, live in the heart of the spiritual church without distinct manifestation.

I am waiting for further light to know my duty. Where I am, I perceive I can be useful by gradually opening to my hearers, as they are able to bear it, Divine Truth. But it must be done without mention of the name of Swedenborg. Is it right to do good in this covert way? Shall I, in appearing less enlightened than I am, thereby injure my own state before God? I see not how I could reasonably hope to do much good as a publicly acknowledged Newchurchman. In my present relation I can declare and illustrate much truth to hundreds every Sabbath; but should I come out as a Newchurchman, so far as I can see, I could hope to preach to but few, if at all. Will it be better to do nothing than to do a little imperfectly? Am I, in the bad sense of that word, a hypocrite, if for good I appear to be what I

am not?

Yours, &c.,

C. P.

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

1.-LITERARY REMINISCENCES; from the Autobiography of an English Opium-Eater. By THOMAS DE QUINCEY. Boston: Ticknor, Reed & Fields. 2 vols., 1851.

The name and fame of De Quincey may be so little familiar to our readers that many of them may be obliged to tax their own "literary reminiscences," and tax them in vain, too, to call up such a celebrity to their minds. Even those who may have heard of or read the "Confessions of an Opium-Eater," one of the most remarkable books in the language, may not have been aware of De Quincey's being the author, as it is in fact but within a comparatively recent period that he has taken that place in English literature which he is doubtless destined long to hold. His works have appeared within a year past from the press of Ticknor & Co., Boston, in the most exquisite style of typography, and are rapidly working their way, by their incomparable grace and nervousness of diction, to the very apex of popular favor.

It is singular enough that the work before us opens with the dedication of twelve pages to the subject of Swedenborg and one of his most distinguished advocates, and it is this fact rather than its literary merit which has won it a notice in our book

department. We like to keep our readers advised of all the various phases which the New Church or its apostles may from time to time assume in the estimate of the world and its wise ones. The commencement of the "Reminiscences" presents us with the following specimen :

"It was in the year 1801, whilst yet at school, that I made my first literary acquaintance. This was with a gentleman now dead, and little, at any time, known in the literary world; indeed, not at all; for his authorship was confined to a department of religious literature as obscure and as narrow in its influence as any that can be named-viz. Swedenborgianism. Already, on the bare mention of that word, a presumption arises against any man, that, writing much (or writing at all) for a body of doctrines so apparently crazy as those of Mr. Swedenborg, a man must have bid adieu to all good sense and manliness of mind. Indeed, this is so much of a settled case, that even to have written against Mr. Swedenborg would be generally viewed as a suspicious act, requiring explanation, and not very easily admitting of it. Mr. Swedenborg I call him, because I understand that his title to call himself Baron,' is imaginary; or rather he never did call himself by any title of honorthat mistake having originated amongst his followers in this country, who have chosen to designate him as the 'Honorable' and as the Baron' Swedenborg, by way of translating, to the ear of England, some one or other of those irrepresentable distinctions, Legations-Rath, Hofrath, &c., which are tossed about with so much profusion in the courts of continental Europe, on both sides the Baltic. For myself, I cannot think myself qualified to speak of any man's writings without a regular examination of some one or two among those which his admirers regard as his best performances. Yet, as any happened to fall in my way, I have looked into them; and the impression left upon my mind was certainly not favorable to their author. They labored, to my feeling, with two opposite qualities of annoyance, but which I believe not uncommonly found united in lunatics-excessive dulness or matter-of-factness in the execution, with excessive extravagance in the conceptions. The result, at least, was most unhappy; for, of all writers, Swedenborg is the only one I ever heard of who has contrived to strip even the shadowy world beyond the grave of all its mystery and all its awe. From the very heaven of heavens, he has rent away the veil; no need for seraphs to 'tremble while they gaze;' for the familiarity with which all objects are invested, makes it impossible that even poor mortals should find any reason to tremble. Until I saw this book, I had not conceived it possible to carry an atmosphere so earthly, and steaming with the vapors of earth, into regions which, by early connexion in our infant thoughts with the sanctities of death, have a hold upon the reverential affections such as they rarely lose. In this view, I should conceive that Swedenborg, if it were at all possible for him to become a popular author, would, at the same time, become immensely mischievous. He would dereligionize men beyond all other authors whatsoever."

This paragraph, occurring as it does in the very outset of the work, when the reader's interest is fresh, his attention awake, and his memory tenacious, is well calculated to fix upon his mind a prejudicial impression, that he will scarcely fail to carry with him through life, unless circumstances should chance to throw in his way some such correction as we could fain wish to administer in the present connection. The critique is not intrinsically of much weight, nor entitled to disturb the confidence of those who have done what the writer evidently has not-to wit: given Swedenborg's writings, to a greater or less extent, a thorough and candid examination. But the extract has an invidious and disparaging air about it, calculated to produce an injurious impression upon the casual reader, of which every fair mind would be glad to be disabused if it could be. With this aim we are prompted to offer a few per contra remarks.

The Reminiscent appears to be solicitously on his guard against giving Mr. Swedenborg more than his due, on the score of honorary compellation, as he is careful