understand these mysteries, but he desires us to understand them as one of the conditions of our salvation; for the term mystery, as employed in the New Testament, does not signify something that cannot be discerned, but it means a divine truth, which is revealed and manifested to the understanding of man.

Truth, unless it be understood, cannot become an element of faith; since faith, properly considered, consists of divine truths, which are only truths to the mind in proportion as they are understood. Faith, without a discernment of truth, is merely historical and persuasive, and possesses no spiritual life, no power to resist evil, no efficacy to purify the mind, no soul-inspiring confidence, no cheering hope, no stay and staff in temptations. No man is taught of the Lord through his Word until he can see the light of truth by his own eyes,— by his own rational discernment. Some believe in truth because a distinguished human authority or some church-creed has proclaimed it to be truth. But such belief is hollow and worthless, so long as the mind does not itself intellectually discern the truth it professes to believe. The "circle of life" in such case is not complete; and unless this circle is completed, full conjunction with the Lord cannot be established, and his divine life and blessing cannot circulate in the mind and life of man. His "covenant of peace" does not yet exist, because the faculties of the soul do not, as yet, coöperate in correspondence and harmony with the divine attributes and requirements of our God. It is chiefly owing to the fact that divine truth has not been raised from the mere store-house of the memory into the rational sphere of the understanding, that so much prejudice, bigotry, and superstition in religion has existed, that Christianity has been changed into a howling wilderness of dissension, persecution, and death.

But here we come to an important point in the circle. How can truth be raised into the rational discernment of the mind? We have stated above that if the objects which truth reveals are not pleasant to the intellectual eye, and agreeable to the mental taste, the light of truth will not be welcome to the mind. But all delight, whether it be pure or impure, is the manifestation of the love which actuates the soul. It is consequently love in the will, which is the vital principle, the spring of all action, and the moving power in the life of man. It is this from which the circle begins, and in which it terminates. For here all the ends, aims, and objects of man's life are found. A circle is a series of perpetual ends, which never terminate, and which are all governed by the centre as the supreme end, from which all points in the circle have

proceeded, and to which they perpetually tend. This is an emblem of the Lord's Kingdom, which is a kingdom of ends and of uses, governed by the Lord himself as the SUPREME END of all.

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Now, in order to raise truth from an object of mere knowledge into the understanding, the will, and the life, it must undergo a process correspondent to that by which the corn in our garners is thrashed, ground, fermented, kneaded, and baked, before it can be eaten and appropriated to the life of the body. For this is the circle through which our daily bread must pass before it is prepared as food for man. These operations are consequently mentioned in the Word as correspondent emblems to the mental process by which divine truth is prepared to nourish the soul with the bread of life. Gideon was thrashing wheat when the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour." (Judges vi. 12.) It was not of chance that Gideon was thrashing wheat when the angel appeared unto him; it was of Providence, to teach us, by correspondent emblems, that when man is labouring for the meat that perisheth not," the Lord is present with him, and ready to deliver him from his spiritual enemies, as Gideon was then prepared as an instrument to deliver the people of Israel from the Midianites. We become "mighty men of valour" in proportion as the divine truth is elevated by a pure affection into the rational mind; not that the valour is from ourselves, but from the Lord alone, who, by his Divine Truth, is Omnipotent. The process of grinding is representative of a still higher elevation of divine truth in the mind, of its arrangement according to heavenly order, and of its being more fully prepared for the uses of spiritual life. Hence we read so much in the Word respecting a mill, and grinding at a mill. Hence also the people of Israel were commanded to grind the manna "in mills, and to beat it in a mortar, and to bake it in pans, and to make cakes of it," (Numbers xi. 8.) before it was ready for use. The process of fermentation or leavening, by which the meal must be leavened before it is fitted for the uses of life, denotes the purification of truths, as received by the mind, from the fallacies of the senses, and from impure motives and sentiments in the will. For during the first periods of the reception of truth, many impure things of this kind adhere to our ideas and sensations which are removed by a process of spiritual fermentation, which is effected in proportion as we act from motives originating in genuine love and charity. Hence the Lord compares "the kingdom of heaven to leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal." (Matt. xiii. 33.) But the final finish in the

"circle of life," is the doing of truth.

This is the end for which truth

is given. It bears no fruit until it is realized in the life. Here the circle is completed. "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." (John xiii. 17.)

MINUS.

MATERIALS FOR MORAL CULTURE.

[Continued from page 52.]

CCXLIX.

"UNCEASING Occupation of the mind upon some given subject, and with a view to the happiness of others, is one of the best means of drawing off the attention from personal sufferings, and of preventing the affections from becoming either chilled or selfish."*

CCL.

The Lord is the inexhaustible Spring of the waters of life: the world of human minds constitutes the vast moral meadows to be irrigated by its streams: and each human being is a channel through which the waters of blessing are intended to flow forth, while every open channel receives its bountiful share of " the flowing treasure as it passes through". All that is required of every man is, to keep this channel clear of obstructions, and this is done by shunning all evils as sins against God. The motto of every New Churchman especially should be, "Keep the channel open!" -the channel of a purified will, and an enlightened understanding.

CCLI.

The two remarkable exhortations, "Rejoice evermore;" and, "Pray

* This valuable suggestion is found in the "Memoirs of a Working Man." (Knight's Weekly Volume.) The Rev. J. Hunter, Vice-Principal of the training school for National Schoolmasters at Battersea, in reviewing this work in a Monthly Publication, remarks,—“In a humble residence, in the vicinity of London, JAMES CARTER, the subject [and writer] of these Memoirs, is now passing his days in premature old age. He is still, however, a working man, so far as bodily suffering permits him to continue his occupation of a tailor [and often, it might have been added, suffering also from severe privations]." Mr. Hunter closes his review thus :-"We conclude our observations on this very interesting volume, by acknowledging the great satisfaction we have derived from the circumstance of its having obtained a very extensive circulation,-a circumstance gratifying to the author's purest wishes, and vindicating and recompensing that encouragement which the publisher has extended to an amiable, intelligent, and exemplary man." The writer of this note adds, that Mr. Carter is the author of some admired sonnets in the Repository for 1838: 9, and is well known to the London ministers of the New Church. He was formerly of Colchester.

without ceasing;" most happily blend in the divine sentiment," Keep the channel open," by which divine blessings flow through man, to man. When deserted by friends, because they have deserted "their first love;" when plundered by those whose hypocrisy first becomes known when hope of further plunder ceases; when depressed by sickness-agitated by anxieties-ruffled by present trials of our patience, or assaulted by inward enemies, how effectually may the benevolent and well-instructed mind be restored to its balance by the potent words, "Keep the channel open"!

CCLII.

Luke xiv. 26, 27, 33.-The irrational construction of such passages as these in favour of asceticism, is abandoned by protestants. But how generally is it omitted to substitute for it, the only rational construction, namely, that as ends of life, all natural objects must be abandoned, and become merely desirable means, subordinate to spiritual ends or uses. It is not seen that much anxiety about earthly riches must, in the same degree, lower the estimate of heavenly wealth; that much desire for worldly influence must proportionably lessen the desire for the Divine approbation; that much interest in bodily food and dress must, in the same degree, abate the desire for "the bread of life," and "the garments of salvation ;" and, what is particularly applicable to the present sensual generation, that in the same degree that the natural beauty of the female person is prominently presented to the imagination, as that which most distinguishes the sex, there exists a practical incapacity to estimate the spiritual beauty of the female mind. The tendency so common in young men to prefer one female to another merely on account of personal advantages, is a sad mark of the natural strength of "the flesh," and the weakness of "the spirit."

CCLIII.

To the wicked, the smallest grief is a reality, while their joys are all unrealities. On the contrary, the greatest grief felt by the regenerate man is an unreality, while the least of his proper joys is a reality. It is the chief object of desire with the latter, to live in the light of the Divine countenance; his greatest suffering is caused therefore, by the (apparent) hiding of it, which is an unreality; this suffering at its greatest height induces despair; but this being an unreality, entirely ceases when the temptation ceases, so that no trace of it is left. The above contrast is seen in the fullest light when it is remembered, that in heaven there is eternal, and therefore real joy; while in hell there is eternal, and therefore real woe. Nothing transient can properly be called real.

CCLIV.

Every just idea of anything is "a truth," which truth is of a quality varying according to the nature of the thing, and the degree of completeness of the idea of it. The confirmed affection to the thing thus presented by truth, is "a good," varying in quality according to the quality of the truth; for good derives its quality from truth.

CCLV.

Aristocratic breeding and genteel manners are in high repute, but what are they? They are at best the successful imitation of that pleasing exterior which naturally springs from simple benevolence and good sense. It is better, as well as easier, to take our pattern from within, and thus from heaven, than to take it from the world of genteel pretension without us; as it is better to be good and kind, than merely to seem so.

CCLVI.

In saying "Watch and pray," our Lord seems to have placed watchfulness before prayer in order to instruct us that doing is of more account with Him, than saying. For the same reason repentance is placed before faith, when Jesus, in his preaching, exclaimed, "Repent ye, and believe the gospel." A principle of practice, or good, must precede prayer and faith, or the prayer will be an act of hypocrisy, and the faith be dead and cold.

CCLVII.

Where lies the great difference between earth and heaven? On earth, we have the Lord for our reward, and duty as the means of enjoying that reward; and what can heaven yield beyond this?—except, indeed, the absence of all indisposition to duty. If, then, we can get rid of this indisposition on earth, earth will become a "heaven below; " supposing, that is, we are free for the time from the outward ills of earth, or are enabled to rise above them.

CCLVIII.

In heaven there are no mere pleasures;-no delight but the delight of duty, given by the Lord. In assenting to this proposition, we say, in effect, that to become fit for heaven, our affections must be weaned from all mere pleasures; or that all our outward gratifications must be sanctified by a regard to the proper use of recreation, namely, that our vigour in the discharge of duty may be re-created. Duty is the activity of love, and delight is only felt when love is active.

CCLIX.

What is spiritual is abstracted from what is sensual; it is an abstract