principle of virtue and goodness which has entered from the Lord into the formation of our character, is an effect of truth loved from a proper affection, and applied to life. We begin our existence in the most imperfect state of being; we are, in every sense, helpless and dependent; even the very common functions of life we must learn to perform. But our imperfection, says the enlightened Swedenborg, is our perfection; since beginning in the most imperfect state, we can proceed, throughout time and in eternity, to acquire a continually increasing measure of intelligence, wisdom, love, faith, and charity,and consequently of happiness. Such is the wonderful constitution of man; his interior faculties,—his rational, spiritual, and celestial degrees of life are constantly capable of development throughout eternity, and as they are developed they are replenished and filled with the life of love and wisdom from the Lord. The animal, on the contrary, is not a subject of instruction; it is gifted with instinct, from which it is initiated into the uses of its life; it arrives at a term which it never passes; its perfection, as the same author observes, is its imperfection; it possesses no rational spiritual and celestial degrees of life; it can never rise above nature; it can never think of God; it is not a subject of moral and spiritual order, and it is, consequently, not immortal. The grounds of our immortality are evident, when we reflect on the distinction between man and an animal. For as we can rationally think of God and love Him, we are the subjects of His order and influx in a much higher sense than can possibly be predicated of an animal, and are, consequently, created in His image and likeness, that we may enter into a holy covenant of conjunction, through faith and love, with Him, and thus never die; for it is this faculty, whether we use it or abuse it, that constitutes us immortal.

The great basis of all religious, moral, and spiritual life in the mind, is the clear conviction of our immortality. This conviction is now based, by the doctrines of the New Church, on the firmest rational grounds, and the evidences of this great fact are so demonstrated as to speak home to the mind with the utmost power and conviction. We can now, with certainty, look forwards to a life after death as the immediate continuation and sequence of this;—to a life respecting which a great amount of rational and spiritual light is opened to the inquiring mind. I need scarcely describe to you how valuable this knowledge is, and how much it will distinguish the coming age from the dark and ignorant times that are now passing away. This knowledge, so consistent with the enlightened teaching of Scripture, and so consonant to all our rational perceptions, presents a new lever to the hand of religious

intelligence and of moral power; you are aware, from your knowledge of mechanics, that the weight a strong man is not able to move by his hands alone, is easily removed by a youth with the aid of a lever. Thus a new lever, or a powerful machine, has been entrusted to our hands by the superior knowledge of things, especially of interior and spiritual things, as unfolded in the writings and doctrines of the New Church. By this lever obstacles both of evil and error can now be more effectually removed than ever; but before this powerful aid can be employed, we must awaken to a rational perception of its worth and excellence. And the chief object of these letters is to direct your minds to a possession of these saving means, and to the enjoyment of the blessings thereby procured.

Our physical helplessness and dependence in infancy and childhood, to which I have adverted, and which especially characterize man, when compared with other living existences endowed with instinctive life, teach us a striking and salutary lesson, shewing that our first station in life is the type and index of our utter intellectual and spiritual helplessness in ourselves, and of our entire dependence on the Lord for every, even the minutest particular of our existence,—of our life, health, intelligence, and salvation. This is the first station in the regenerate life ;—it is the starting point, and the salutary sensation it awakens accompanies us through life, manifesting itself in increasing intensity and depth of feeling, and in firmer and more vivid convictions of absolute dependence on the Lord for every thing good that we enjoy. Our natural birth is an image and correspondent to our spiritual birth; our natural helplessness and dependence correspond to the same states spiritually considered. But you will probably say,-this sentiment of our helplessness and dependence is inconsistent with the idea of manliness, and should, consequently, be discarded from the mind. In reply, permit me, my young friends, to state, that we can only become manly, in a true and proper sense, in proportion as we depend upon Him who is the only MAN, and derive all our principles of manliness from Him alone. For a man is not a man from any thing inherent in himself, independently of the Lord, from whom he derives every thing that makes him a man. He is not, properly speaking, a man who is one merely as to physical structure; but he is a man who possesses the rational, moral, and spiritual principles that constitute him a man, all which are derived from the Lord, who is the only MAN. Hence the first great condition of all religious instruction, and of all saving wisdom, is to acknowledge the Lord, in his divine Humanity, in which He is our Mighty God, our Everlasting Father, and our Prince of Peace. To this great, essential,

primary idea of God, you are led by the Lord from your earliest infancy; for, when you learn to say the prayer which He Himself has taught us, you form an idea of Him from your father upon earth, which idea, by an easy transition, is transferred to our Father in heaven; and although this idea, at first, is necessarily very contracted and imperfect, yet, as far as it goes, it is true and acceptable to the Lord, and forms the basis and receptacle of all heavenly intelligence and wisdom in the mind. This idea should, of course, increase in spirituality and fulness, which it will do in proportion as you increase in wisdom, and in favour with God and man,—that is, in the love of the Lord and of your neighbour, and find your chief pleasure in studying the eternal truths and realities of His Word and Kingdom.

As the idea of our earthly father is peculiarly adapted to our helpless and dependent condition in infancy and childhood, so the idea of the Lord, as our heavenly Father, is especially adapted to our correspondent states, when we become his children by becoming regenerate and spiritual. It is thus that we may see the admirable order in which the Lord instructs and leads his intelligent creatures;-from what is obvious to their senses He leads them to what is rational and spiritual; so that what is natural forms a plane to what is rational, and this latter forms a plane to what is spiritual and celestial. I am aware that these terms require explanation, which in the course of these letters will abundantly appear; for you will at once perceive, that as man is an image of his Maker, there must be in his mental constitution an indefinite variety of things, which can be properly classed under the general heads termed rational, spiritual and celestial; all which are very distinct from each other.

Now, having seen the grounds of our immortality, you may easily perceive that every man is created for heaven ;-that the Divine Love of the Lord can, in the creation of mankind, intend no other end than that they shall be happy for ever in His Kingdom; and further, that the Divine Wisdom of the Lord can have no other purpose than to accomplish that end. Heaven, then, should to us be our being's end and aim; it should be sought for, and looked to, by us as the first, the primary, the essential object of our life;—thus the Lord says—“ Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness," &c. For we are always moved to action by an end or purpose, which is the main-spring of all our activities; and as the main-spring in machinery, as in a watch, is often concealed, so that its activities are only observed,—so the motive, or moving power, which is the end from which we act, is concealed in the inmost recesses of our conscious being, known only to the Lord and to ourselves when

we reflect upon that which prompts us to think and to act; and to employ often our reflective powers in this manner is one of the great practical duties of our life. In respect to this important subject, you will readily perceive that one of the laws which regulate ends and motives is this:— that a man can never rise above the end which he proposes to himself, and from which he acts; thus, if a man have wealth for an end (which is the most general form in which the inordinate love of the world is manifest), he can never rise above the world, and his mind will be worldly and selfish; for "where his treasure is, there his heart will be also." Whereas if he has heaven for an end, from which he acts as the standard of his life, his mind will rise above the world, and will become of the same nature as his end, that is, he will become heavenly and spiritual. To have heaven for an end, is to seek the Lord and His kingdom in the first place, and to love Him by keeping his commandments, that is, by shunning all evils as sins against Him. The doctrine of ends, causes, and effects, is extremely important, not only on account of its opening the door of superior intelligence to the mind, but especially on account of its practical tendency.

There is one thing, my young friends, which, as you will probably remember, marked your childhood and your early youth in a striking manner;—it was the desire of knowing. You will remember how often and with what eagerness you inquired into the uses, causes, and nature of the objects which struck and delighted your senses. This desire of knowing, which is so active in childhood and youth, and also throughout life, if not deadened and stifled by the love and practice of evil, is implanted by our Creator; or it is rather the result of His life-giving influx of Love and Wisdom, which is constantly acting into the soul, and is a striking demonstration, to all who reflect, of the great distinction between mankind and animal nature, and of the superior rational and spiritual degrees of life which a man enjoys above an animal, and which, properly considered, constitute, as before hinted, his immortality. Now this desire of knowing the causes and nature of things is active in our minds, not that we may merely know the causes and nature of earthly things, but of heavenly things also, and especially of HIM who is the Great First Cause, and of His Divine Nature. It is thus again that the Lord leads us from what is external to what is internal, from what is natural to what is spiritual, from the world to heaven, and consequently to Himself. Happy shall we be if we follow His Divine guidance! In my future letters I shall endeavour, my dear young friends, to point out other matters of great importance to your wisdom and salvation.

H.

REVIEW.

THE ECONOMY OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM CONSIDERED ANATOMICALLY, PHYSICALLY, AND PHILOSOPHICALLY. BY EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, late Member of the House of Nobles in the Royal Diet of Sweden, &c. &c. Translated from the Latin by the Rev. Augustus Clissold, M.A. Vol. II. pp. 426.

REMARKS ON SWEDENBORG'S ECONOMY OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. By JAMES JOHN GARTH WILKINSON, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, of London, and Translator of Swedenborg's “Animal Kingdom," pp. 86. London: Newbery, 6, King-street, Holborn. THE second volume of the "Economy of the Animal Kingdom," dc.* which concludes the work so far as it was printed by the Author, has now, some time, been published. The subjects of which it treats are :—

PART I.

Chap. VIII.-Introduction to Rational Psychology.

PART II.

Chap. I.-On the Motion of the Brain; shewing that its Animation ist coincident with the Respiration of the Lungs.

Chap. II. The Cortical Substance of the Brain specifically.
Chap. III.-The Human Soul-Index of Authors-List of unverified
Citations-Bibliographical Notices of Authors-Index
of Subjects-Appendix.

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It is probable, that amongst the author's manuscripts there may exist a continuation of subjects with which he intended to follow the Economy, &c., and as these manuscripts are now accessible to the "Swedenborg Association," we shall, if means be provided, be put by that useful institution into possession of all the scientific and philoso phical labours of Swedenborg. Circumstances, no doubt under the direction of Providence, have of late wonderfully conspired to facilitate the achievement of a purpose so long desired by many,—that of bringing out, to the fullest extent, the philosophical labours of Swedenborg. To this end the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, the curators of the author's manuscripts, have, as our readers have been frequently informed, kindly and liberally opened their treasures for the use of the Swedenborg Association" in London. But not only is a free access now afforded to these valuable manuscripts.-the intelligent and able * See a notice of the first volume of this work in our Periodical for December last.

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