Page images
PDF
EPUB

In classic strains, the boast of other years,
And hence the far-famed music of the spheres.
For seven bright spheres the sun thus caused to roll
Around himself, then sire, their life and soul;
Each, in his movement, like an angel, sings.
His grateful homage to the King of kings.

But think not vainly that the human race
Is limited to such contracted space;

Dream not that those bright orbs were set on high
To run their various courses through the sky
For ornaments alone; ignoble thought!
To reason, listen, and be better taught;
Know that Eternal Love conceived the plan,
And love eternal rests, at last, on man;
For each effect its energies produce,
Is wrought by wisdom and its end is use;
Hence learn that every moving, twinkling light,
That decks the azure vault of heaven at night,
Is round a central sun resistless hurled,
Itself a ponderous globe, a peopled world;
A world, perhaps, unstained by crime or blood,
Where social love prefers its neighbor's good;
Where every joy derives its sweetest zest
From the fond wish of making others blest;
Where heaven-born Charity exerts her powers-
A world of bliss-as man might render ours.
Such peopled orbs, in countless numbers fly,
In never-varying order through the sky;
And all, with one accordant voice, proclaim
The power which made, and still supports their frame.

Presumptuous atheist! if such wretch exist,
Can thy vain reasoning proof like this resist?
Say, can these planets in harmonious dance,
Perform their revolutions thus by chance?
Perish the thought! rouse from thy native sod,
Renounce thy error, and confess a God!
For though with every mortal honor clad,
"An undevout astronomer is mad."

Conviction seals thy lips-presume no more!
But in mute wonder, tremble and adore!

sense.

EXTRACT.

"Unto the church of Ephesus write." What is understood by the angel of each church, cannot be known from any other source than from the internal sense of the subsequent things which are written: it is said from the internal sense, because all things which are in the Apocalypse are prophetic, and things prophetic are not explicable, but by the internal Who that reads the prophets does not see that there are arcana therein, which are more deeply hid than in the plain sense of the letter; and inasmuch as those arcana cannot be seen by the natural man alone, therefore they who account the Word holy, pass by those things which they do not understand, acknowledging that there is an arcanum therein which they do not understand, and which some call mystical. That this is the spiritual principle of the Word, is known to some, inasmuch as they think that the Word in its bosom is spiritual, because it is divine; still, however, it has been hitherto unknown that this is its spiritual sense, and that the Word in this sense is understood by the angels, and that by this sense there is conjunction of heaven with the man of the church.-A. E. 65.

CORRESPONDENCE.

LETTER FROM A NEW ENGLAND SUBSCRIBER.

DEAR SIR: I perceive by the last No. of the Repository, that all who do not give timely notice to the contrary, will be expected to subscribe the coming year. Having for some time past resolved to subscribe for no publication that agitates slavery or the Maine Law, I must decline the Repository at present.

[ocr errors]

REMARKS.

Your friend, &c.

If we yield to a prompting to say a few words in reply to the above, we trust that none of our readers will for a moment suppose that personal pique has aught to do with our response. If one hundred, or five hundred, of our subscribers had each written us a letter couched in the same terms, just at the time we were commencing the discussion of the Aphorisms," it would have had no imaginable effect upon our purpose. We had counted the cost, and were prepared to meet it. The word was to be spoken, and it has been. The whole matter is before our readers, and for several months has invited their verdict. The mere fact of any one's taking exceptions to our course, either in the outset or in the sequel, leaves us in imperturbable good nature, as far as our own feelings are concerned. As we feel no regrets, so we cherish no resentiments. Whatever comments may be made on our course-whatever names may be withdrawn from our list-it has no effect to disturb our equanimity, as long as we are conscious of having aimed at a good end. But there is sometimes a debt of charity due to those to whom we owe nothing else, and in the present instance we feel that we shall be doing a kindness to a brother, whom we have always been disposed to respect, by turning his attention to the real spirit of the above letter, as it will appear on a somewhat closer inspection than he has probably given it.

For the offence of discussing the moral character of slavery, as it exists in our country, the writer of the letter feels bound, in conscience, to inflict upon us a certain degree of punishment. This punishment, indeed, is slight in itself, extending only to the amount of the writer's subscription, which is hereby withdrawn. But the thing to be considered is the principle-the animus-which dictates the step. If it could be supposed, for a moment, that this one subscription were our only source of dependence for a living, it is obvious that for the same reason for which he withdraws his name now, he would withdraw it then, and it is vain to deny that this would be on the part of the withdrawer a real punishment for an apprehended offence. So far as he acted consistently he would say to himself, "The continuance of my support to the editor goes so far to enable him to bring forth matter in his pages which is offensive to me because I sincerely think it to be injurious to the best interests of truth and righteousness; and as I am not permitted to be an aider and abetter in any thing evil, therefore, it behoves me to withhold that share which I have heretofore contributed to the editor's means of doing harm to the Lord's church and kingdom. So far as in me lies I am bound to endeavor to render him powerless in the execution of his evil designs, however strongly he may be persuaded in his own mind that he is doing right." This is evidently the real, though, perhaps, unuttered logic, by which an intelligent and conscientious Newchurchman is to be supposed to justify to himself such a decision as that embodied in the above brief epistle.

Now we trust that we shall ever be disposed to accord all due respect to the actings of an intelligent conscience, and more especially when its dictates have respect to the great

principles of truth and life inculcated by the New Church. But in the present instance we cannot avoid the impression that a very one-sided view has been taken of the question of duty-that some important considerations, entitled to weigh in this connection, have been left out of sight. It does not appear that any other fault is found with the Repository than that it has agitated the subject of slavery-for that of the Maine Law has never been broached in our pages, nor had we thought of doing it. It is perhaps reasonable to suppose that the letter-writer is willing to give the editor credit for meaning well to the cause of the New Church, and possibly for performing towards it some valuable service. Now, supposing that on this particular topic he is altogether in the wrong—that he has utterly mistaken the spirit and drift of the Divine precepts as they bear upon this special form of evil, yet when he has exhibited evidence of upright intentions-when he has given vent to no violent tirades against slaveholders, but, on the contrary, has made charitable allowance for the circumstances under which they are placed-when he has obviously aimed to make the nicest distinctions, and to fix the evil of the institution precisely where it belongs, not upon the involuntary relation which a man may chance to sustain to it from the fortuities of his birth and his subsequent lot, but upon the voluntary and deter mined perpetuation of a system of wrong doing, against which every principle of humanity and justice reclaims,-is he not entitled to the fairest construction of charity on the part of a brother? This is what we have done, and the spirit in which we have done it. And now we ask whether a mind leavened with the charity for which it professes such a tender concern can see nothing redeeming in all this? Is the offence com mitted so very heinous that nothing will satisfy the offended brother or the injured church, but the absolute discontinuance and extinction of the work which has been the organ of the unintentional mischief, and that, too, notwithstanding the various good uses it may have otherwise performed? Does the law of charity actually demand the infliction of so severe a sentence ?-for, on the part of the censor, it amounts to nothing short of this, as such would inevitably be the effect if he were the sole subscriber, or if every other sub. scriber should do what his example would clearly inculcate. Have we so grossly misconstrued the spirit and genius of the New Church as to suppose that some tender sympa. thy-some generous encouragement-would be prompted towards one who was, on the whole, palpably aiming to do right, and to do good, notwithstanding an occasional lapse of judgment? Has the spirit of charity no instincts that shall plead a kindly tolerance of involuntary error, when it recognizes a ruling impulse in the right direction? Granting, then, all that is virtually assumed in the above communication, to wit, that we have labored under a radical mistake as to the true light in which American slavery is to be viewed, we still put the question home to the author, whether the punishment he would inflict is not altogether disproportioned to the offence, and consequently, whether there is not in the spirit which would exact that punishment, as much that goes counter to the law of love as in the conduct which draws forth his displeasure?

But we have been all along speaking hypothetically. We do not admit in truth, though we have done so for the sake of the argument, that our views on the subject are erroneous; and from the stand-point which we occupy we feel at liberty to hold up our friend's letter in some new lights. "Having for some time past resolved to subscribe for no publication that agitates slavery," &c. On this ground, accordingly, he refuses to subscribe for the Repository, which he does, of course, with our full consent. But it is well enough for all parties to understand that we have " agitated” the subject of slavery no otherwise than by discussing it in its moral aspects; consequently, the objection is evidently pointed against the discussion of the theme in any form whatever. This objection can justify it. self, only on one or the other of two grounds; either that the nstitution is intrinsically and unqualifiedly good, and therefore to be exempt from all criticism or censure; or, granting

it to involve some evil elements, that still it is so governed under the auspices of the Divine Providence that it is at once indecorous and useless to say anything in derogation of it. That either of these positions should be assumed by a Newchurchman is to us astonishing. As to the first, one would think it had but to be named to be reprobated at once; and yet we should equally repudiate the position that slavery contained within itself nothing but evil. As to the second, it is evident that the principle would warrant the most unlimited tolerance of evils without the least breath of remonstrance, and how this differs from a downright Mahometan fatalism we are unable to discover. To this principle we shall accede when we make the Koran instead of the Bible the man of our counsel, and not before.

Our remarks have extended far beyond the limit originally intended; but we would fain show to our brother the import of his objection to the Repository. To say nothing of his presuming upon the continuance of the discussion in our future issues, whereas we have no intention of broaching it again ourselves, it is clear that his sentiments are calculated to give a death-blow to all free discussion in the New Church, and to all wholesome reprehension of what is wrong in spirit and practice. For ourselves, while the loss of a subscriber is intrinsically of very little account, it grieves us to think of its being done on such insufficient grounds. If he has read what we have written on the subject he knows that we have condemned nothing but the actual evil involved in the system of slavery; and would he make this a criminal offence for which we are to be mulcted to the utmost amount which he has it in his power to inflict? We would commend this view of the matter to his special consideration. If he would not have what is really and intrinsically evil, rebuked, repented of, and forsaken, he of course would have it upheld and perpetuated; and how far this is removed from actually assuming the responsibility of the evil, we would gladly be informed.

But we leave our friend to the sober reflections of his own mind, and "in the multitude of his thoughts within him," we would hope that the question might find place whether it were not a more genuine work of charity to endeavor to convince an erring brother of his mistake by rational arguments than to come upon him in the first instance by an unrelenting punishment, as if the case were too aggravated to admit of any extenuation.

LETTER FROM REV. H. WELLER.

To the Editor of the Repository,

DEAR BROTHER,-I perceive in your No. for October, a communication from our brother Worcester in relation to a passage in the Adversaria, to which I had made some allusion in an article in "The Crisis." I should not have troubled you with a word on the subject had it not appeared to me likely that Mr. W.'s letter might lead some to suppose that I was a "writing medium," and sought to affix something of a similar character to Swedenborg. I do not mean that any such impression was intended to be conveyed, for as a reader of "The Crisis," our brother must know that it is very different-that all external manifestations from the spirit world are constantly treated as disorderly, although they may be the beginning which may lead ultimately to orderly internal conscious intercourse between the two worlds. And the allusion to the passage in the Adversaria was simply to show that similar imperfect disolerly processes must have been experienced by E. S. in the gradual progress of his spiritual development.

For myself, it is well known that I never wrote by control of the hand (except in two or three instances, or when I willed that a signature should be written), but that I did write while in a state of vision and occasionally at other times, by dictation. But after the extraordinary states intended to instruct me in various things relating to present spiritual phenomena had passed off, I utterly repudiated and do now repudiate all direct interference of spirits of whatever character they may be. The

great leading law of spiritual influences is that enunciated by Swedenborg, "that man is governed by the Lord through spirits." Therefore the Lord alone is to be sought unto, for He alone orders and adjusts all the thousands of agencies that contribute to keep the world in order.

In your own editorial you have quoted a passage from "The Crisis," which standing apart from the scope of the whole article may appear startling and repulsive to some of your readers. Yet I am persuaded that taken in connection with the whole' it presents nothing that need to shock an untrammelled mind. However I am con tent to let "The Crisis" speak for itself-not from the affectation of a dignified silence, but because I verily believe that questions of life are ultimately decided by perceptions flowing from good-and not by any external reasonings. Your experience undoubt edly is true that the most marked indifference to the living, regenerating power the doctrines will be witnessed among those who cherish a light esteem of Swedenborg's authority, from an overweening conceit of the all-sufficiency of their own reason, intuition, or illumination." For the sake of the very existence of the Lord's church, let us hope that there are those who neither look to themselves nor to Swedenborg pre-eminently, but who regard the Lord and His Word above all things.

[ocr errors]

And now that I am writing, permit me to express my earnest hope and trust that your periodical will be amply sustained. Without blinking the question of its im perfections (for what of human is perfect?) I must say that I should regard its discontinuance as the falling of a great light from our spiritual heaven. And I know of nothing in the present state of New Church literature that can begin to supply its place. And this feeling I find very general among our friends at Laporte, from which place I have just returned. You may reckon upon all your subscribers there, and 1 should hope here also, although I have not had, nor shall have time to canvass this district for you. But I will endeavor to stir up some one to do the work, as my own time is fully occupied with new arrangements of a business character, by which the publication of The Crisis" will be established permanently at Laporte, whither a part of my family will be settled, and where, for awhile, I shall be compelled to spend a great part of my time. Therefore, for the present, all communications will be addressed to Laporte.

GRAND RAPIDS, Oct. 23, 1852.

Yours, very truly,

HENRY WELLER.

of

MISCELLANY.

DISSOLUTION OF THE CENTRAL CONVENTION.

To the Editor of the New Church Repository,

I thank you for inserting, at my request, on the cover of your October number, the Circular calling an extra general meeting of the Central Convention in this city, on Thursday last.

The meeting was held at the time and place appointed. There were in attendance, at first, only seven members-another from New York came in just before the close of the Thursday session. The President took the chair, and a Secretary was appointed. The meeting was then opened by a clergyman in attendance reading the first Psalm, and repeating the Lord's prayer. The Chairman of the Ecclesiasti cal Council now read an extended Report accounting for the death of that Council by marasmus, detailing its proceedings since the last annual meeting, which was held in Philadelphia in June, 1849, and stating the objects for which this extra meeting was now called.

The principal object for calling this extra meeting was to get authority for the inauguration of the Rev. Rufus Dawes into the second grade, or the Pastoral office, of the New Church ministry. The collateral object was to determine whether the Central Convention was alive or dead.

The Report was accepted for consideration. A motion was made to authorize the ordination of Mr. Dawes; but as it was questionable whether a body could give

« PreviousContinue »