addressed the meeting; nor must we neglect to name the beautiful sacred songs contributed by our friend Mr. Piper, which interspersed the speeches, and gave to the meeting alike such variety and harmony.

We may here remark that the Rev. W. Ray, Messrs. Fletcher, Mc. Lagan, and Catcheside, in conjunction with the Rev. E. D. Rendell, are in the course of fulfilling appointments to the Carlisle society, under the auspices of the National Missionary Society.

DERBY.-On Christmas-day the annual tea meeting in connection with the Derby Junior Members' Society was held in the school-room underneath the chapel, when upwards of 180 persons were present. The room, which was tastefully decorated, presented a very pleasing appearance; and the cordial thanks of the meeting were given to the various friends who had assisted on the occasion, especial allusion being made to the valuable services rendered by Mrs. Roe. After tea, the Rev. J. Hyde took the chair, and opened the proceedings by an appropriate speech. He then introduced Mr. E. Austin, of London, formerly their secretary, who adverted at length to the grand event they that day celebrated. After interesting speeches from Mr. Madeley and Mr. J. K. Morley, secretary of the Hockley society, who stated that the Hockley friends were actively endeavouring to advance the good cause, and that several gratifying results had already attended their efforts,-the chairman introduced the Rev. W. C. Quant, minister of the Church of England, and chaplain of the Derby Union, who expressed his pleasure at being present amongst Christians whose views were of such a tolerant character. He rejoiced that they did not wish to persecute those who differed from them, but willingly gave them credit for sincerity, believing that the religion of the Gospel was one preëminently of charity. He fully concurred in the remarks of the first speaker as to the Divine Unity. He had always taught his hearers to look alone to the Lord Jesus Christ, and to view Him as the only Saviour from sin. If those present continued faithful to that great truth, their church would prosper, because it would be founded on a rock. He reciprocated the kindly feeling that had

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been manifested towards him, and regarded them as members of the universal church of Christ. He loved them all as brethren; and prayed that they might daily grow in heavenly virtues, and hereafter dwell in the midst of angelic scenery infinitely more beautiful than that which surrounded him. The address was listened to very attentively, and the admirable sentiments enunciated afforded great delight to every one present.

Valuable remarks were then made by Mr. Barton, Mr. Wall Cooke, of Birmingham, and Mr. Clemson. The meeting terminated by a cordial vote of thanks to the chairman, whose labours, it is cheering to find, seem highly appreciated by the members of his congregation. At intervals during the evening the proceedings were agreeably diversified by some of the friends exercising their musical abilities. About £10. was realised by a Christmas tree towards a fund established for the purpose of building a new school-room. The assembly was eminently successful, and all retired more than ever impressed with the beauty and value of the glorious truths they are privileged to possess.

BIRMINGHAM-NEW CHURCH MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY, SUMMER-LANE.— The first annual meeting of this society (adjourned from December 29th, 1863) was held on the evening of Tuesday, January 5th, 1864. The chair was occupied by the Rev. E. Madeley, president, and the business of the meeting was commenced by the secretary reading a report, which spoke well of the doings and success of the society during the past year, and of the liberal support it had received from the church and its friends. The treasurer's report shewed that the state of the society's financial

affairs was very satisfactory. Reports were also given of the elocution, drawing, and French classes in connection with the institution, which have all been making rapid progress. Specimens of drawings by members of the drawing class were exhibited, and consisted of original designs and drawings from nature, all of which were of a superior order and tastefully executed. After

electing committee and officers for the present year, the meeting was brought to a close by a vote of thanks to the retiring officers, and also to the president, whose kindness in attending the meetings and directing the efforts of the society contributed greatly to its success. The society has now become so firmly established as to justify great hopes of its usefulness.

A. WINKLEY, Sec.

HASLINGDEN, DEARDEN GATE.--The Rev. W. Woodman gave two very able lectures in our small place of worship, on the following subjects:-1. "Why the Lord was pleased to be Born on this Earth and not on another." 2. "Marriage; its Divine Origin, Spiritual Nature, and Pre-eminent Uses, as explained by Swedenborg, calculated to elevate the Human Mind and Practice above the unhallowed Passions and their pleasures, the indulgence of which have proved so baneful to society." The attendance was very good indeed, and consisted mainly of young men, whose attention, while the lecturer was proceeding, gave every evidence that they were much interested, and I have since learned that both lectures had given general satisfaction.

NORWICH.-The members and friends of the New Church society in this place have been cheered by a visit from Mr. Potts, of London, who preached at their place of worship on the morning of Sunday, the 2nd January, and delivered three lectures, on the evenings of Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. The congregation on Sunday evening was exceed ingly good. The lectures were lucid expositions of the subjects of Temptation, Free-will, and Providence, and gave general satisfaction. On the following evening (Wednesday), about thirty-five of the members and friends held a social tea-meeting, at which Mr. Potts was present, when a number of addresses were delivered, and a variety of psalms

chanted and hymns sung. The meeting was of the most heart - cheering character, and will, we doubt not, exercise a lasting influence for good in the society. The members desire to express their thanks to the London Missionary Society for the aid and encouragement afforded them by this visit of Mr. Potts.

TRANSLATIONS OF SWEDENBORG AND POCKET EDITIONS.-To the Editor.-To have correct translations of the writings of Swedenborg has, from very early times of the church, been considered of the utmost importance, and is a subject that has engaged much of the attention of the Committee of the London Printing Society, as appears by their reports down to the present time; and many efforts have been made to carry out the object. We are now enabled to aid in this purpose by offering to the church an entirely new translation of the little work, "On the Sacred Scripture." It was made by the Rev. J. C. Rowlatt, and found among his papers after his decease. A more competent person for the task could perhaps scarcely be found at the present day: an M.A. of one of our Unversities, one of the masters of the High School, Glasgow, and editor of a Greek Grammar, imply an adequate amount of erudition, which, added to an intelligent knowledge of the doctrines of the church, would complete the qualifications requisite for the important duty he has performed. His talents were once employed in the service of the London Printing Society, in the translation of "Swedenborg on the Athanasian Creed (extracted from the "Apocalypse Explained), but the remuneration required being deemed greater than the Society could afford, his further employment was dispensed with.

This edition of the Sacred Scripture has the advantage of convenience of size, which is that of fcap. 8vo. Being bound in cloth limp, it forms a very neat little pocket volume; and selling for only one shilling, is particularly suitable for a present to young people.

A pocket edition of the "Four Leading Doctrines," with which the present work is uniform, appeared in 1831, and was followed, in 1832, by "The Intercourse." Their appearance was much approved, but untoward circumstances prevented such editions being proceeded with at the time. The idea, however,

has revived, and a return to such editions has been recently much agitated, and its execution as frequently deferred, till at length a few friends, anxious to make a commencement, have by their united contributions raised a great portion of the amount necessary for publishing the present work.

Few members of the church are cognizant of this matter, six only having been applied to; but if there should be any who, now being apprised of it, are willing to give their aid, they will be kind enough to communicate with,

Portugal-street.

Yours respectfully,

HODSON and SON.

MEMORIAL TO THE LATE REV. Wм. MASON. To the Editor.-Permit us, through your columns, to inform the friends who have subscribed to, or who are interested in, the memorial to the late Rev. William Mason, of the results of our efforts in this matter. An arrangement has been entered into with Messrs. J. S. Hodson and Son, for the publication of an edition of "The Help to Devotion," to be entitled "The Memorial Edition." A short time previous to his removal, Mr. Mason revised this work for the third edition; and we propose that the arrangement and matter shall remain as he left it. The Rev. E. Madeley has kindly consented to furnish a biographical notice of our departed friend, which will form also a suitable preface to the book. The price at which this valuable work is now selling is three shillings per copy; the memorial edition, bound in cloth and lettered, will be charged one shilling and sixpence for single copies, or fifteen pence per copy for five copies and upwards. We only regret that the edition is limited to 500 copies; but think that the sale of even this number of Mr. Mason's favourite work will form a memorial far more useful to the church, far more worthy of support, and certainly more in accordance with all that we know of the opinions and sentiments of our departed friend, than the erection of a costly monument. A circular will be forwarded to the secretary of each of the societies, and to various of the isolated receivers of the heavenly doctrines; and we respectfully urge upon the friends the importance of possessing copies of this "Help to Devotion," not only as a memento of one of the great and good

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men of the church, but for its intrinsic worth and usefulness; and we also suggest the suitability of the work for presentation, either to acquaintances, or to young receivers of the truths of the New Church, or as Sunday-school prizes. The small number which the subscriptions have enabled us to print will render advisable an early application to Messrs. Hodson for copies. We shall also be able to place a simple stone, appropriately inscribed, at the grave where the mortal remains of Mr. Mason are interred. We beg, on behalf of the friends of the late Rev. William Mason, to heartily thank the subscribers to this object; and hope that our efforts, which have been with us a real labour of love, will prove acceptable, and that our decision in the matter will meet with their entire approbation.-We are, dear sir, very respectfully yours,

JOHN HYDE,

REV. MR. MADELEY'S PROPOSED NEW WORK.-To the Editor.-I beg, through your medium, to thank all those friends who have kindly contributed by stamps, money, and post-office orders, to the Rev. Mr. Madeley's proposed new work "On the Science of Correspondences." When these subscriptions are brought to a close, I will forward the same, with the names and amounts of the donors, to Birmingham, to Mr. Madeley. The list will remain open until the beginning of March. The lady at Tunbridge Wells will be glad to know that the stamps she forwarded on the 11th January, with a kind but anonymous note, have been received. Those friends who are desirous of knowing if I will take the same trouble in bringing out the Rev. Mr. Smithson's proposed work on the Prophets, are informed that I will do so with all my heart, and shall be most happy to devote even a double amount of time and energy, if these are required, to help forward the completion of Mr. Smithson's work. I know of no work so imperiously demanded in connection

with the New Church as this. And while the Divine Providence has spared his valuable life to do it, most happy shall I feel if the same confidence is reposed in me in reference to Mr. Smithson's work as has been so generously done in regard to Mr. Madeley.—I remain yours faithfully and affectionately,

THOS. LEWEN MARSDEN. Grove-place, Dalton, Huddersfield, January 14th, 1864.

INQUIRY INTO THE DUTIES AND OBLIGATIONS OF LEADERS.-To the Editor.Some years ago I was requested to accept the office of leader of a small society of the New Church. To this request I assented, without either stipulation on one part or conditions on the other. It is not my intention on the present occasion to say anything concerning the manner in which the duties of that office have been discharged, but simply to call your attention to a fact which it is quite possible you and many of your readers already know. The late Mr. Mason, at the request of a lady now deceased, drew up a paper on the Duties and Obligations that devolve upon all who become members of a society of the New Church. The Conference afterward adopted this, and advised its being placed in the hands of all who became members of a society of the New Church. The Conference, by this resolution, shewed their appreciation of its merits, and I believe further experience has confirmed most of its readers of its suitableness for the purpose for which it was intended. I have read and admired its good advice over and over again, and on more than one occasion, when musing on its contents, some unseen agency has raised the question in my mind-"Have any of the writers of the New Church compiled anything similar for the guidance of leaders?" My acquaintance with the literature of the New Church is not sufficient for me to give a positive answer to the above question, but I beg leave to say that I have looked over all that has come in my way without finding anything directly to answer the question. In the absence, then, of any answer, it returns again and again, and often brings with it another, which asks"How can a man perform the duties of any office, if those duties have never been defined?" You will now have some idea of the situation in which I find my

self placed, and it is possible, perhaps probable, that there may be others in a similar situation. Will you please, then, either direct my attention to where what I want may be found, or will you open the pages of the Repository and allow some one of your able correspondents to start from the excellent copy of Mr. Mason for members, &c., and favour me and others with a similar one for the use and direction of leaders?-I remain, yours truly, A LEADER.

P.S.-The following sentence, from the first page of the Repository for the present month, is somewhat confirmatory of my argument:-"We cannot rightly attend to our duties unless we are correctly informed concerning them."

CHATTERIS.-Through the kindness of the Missionary society, the Rev. E. D. Rendell and Mr. Potts have been enabled to visit the Chatteris society, which desires to thank those gentlemen for their services, and also the Committee for defraying their expenses. Mr. Rendell is so well known to the church, that it is hardly necessary to say that his lectures were masterly expositions of the New Church doctrines; but this is not the case with Mr. Potts. The friends were agreeably surprised, for they did not expect to hear the truths of the Word explained in such a clear and forcible manner as they were by Mr. Potts, considering the short time he has been engaged as a teacher. The society will be disappointed if he is not appreciated by the church generally.

The following passage from the Freeman (a newspaper circulating amongst the Baptist denomination) for Aug. 19, shews a remarkable approximation to the views of the New Church respecting the Second Advent of Christ and the New Jerusalem. It is contained in a review of Dr. Vaughan's "Lectures on the Revelation of St. John":

"We would fain linger on our author's beautiful exposition of 'the Millennium,' in chap. xx., proving, as we think, irrefragably that the period that is now is the period of the reign of Christ.' But in regard to questions of interpretation, we only add that probably Dr. Vaughan concedes too much to popular views when he makes the New Jerusalem an emblem, strictly, of the future heaven. We submit, that as the reign of Christ

is truly existent here and now, notwithstanding human imperfection, so the 'holy city' may in like manner be said to have already come down from heaven to earth. The vision is that of the church in its true and glorious ideal. That church is now among us, albeit invisibly. That the scenery of the vision demands some corresponding earthly reality, is in our view proved by xxii. 2. The leaves of the tree are not only for the refreshment of the saved, but for 'the healing of the nations'; shewing thus that even round about the New Jerusalem there are nations that require to be healed, and therefore of the sinful and the miserable."

COLONIAL.

NOVA SCOTIA, COLCHESTER COUNTY, Dec. 16, 1863.-My dear Sir,-With the last mail from England I received the October No. of the Intellectual Repository, containing your communication to the editor respecting the box of books which the friends of the church generously contributed, and forwarded to me without expense. I infer that you have not received my letter acknowledging the receipt of the box, and expressing our thanks to you, and through you to those friends who have so signally favoured us. The valuable package came safe to hand, in good condition, towards the close of August last. Immediately on its arrival I wrote you a letter of acknowledgment, and specially mentioned our indebtedness to the Rev. Mr. Wrighton and Mrs. Clark,-to the former for so large a contribution of Swedenborg's works in Latin and English; to the latter for such an assortment of Juvenile Magazines, &c. As we have a Sabbath school of twenty-five children, the Juvenile Magazines prove of incalculable use. The Swedenborg Society also have our heartfelt thanks for their valuable present. The hymn-books were very timely, and are highly prized. It was quite an event in the history of our society when we exchanged the rude measure of the Scotch version of the Psalms for the sweeter numbers of the Conference Hymn-books. Our only regret is that we cannot furnish a hymnbook to each worshipper. Could you but peep into our rude wooden temple in the wilderness, and see groups of two and sometimes three backwoods-men holding a hymn-book between them,

Kindly remember us to our friend Mr. Hiller, also to Mr. Bruce and family. Say to Mr. Hiller that I am in the receipt of his last letter, and will answer it by and by. Will you have the kindness to say to Mr. Bruce that we seldom receive the Intellectual Repository. Sometimes we get two copies of the same No., and months intervene before the favour is renewed. Last mail we had one copy of the October No.

With regard to the progress of the New Church in Nova Scotia, we have reason to thank the Lord, and take courage. Ten years ago it was wholly unknown in these regions. I had the honour to be the first to proclaim the heavenly doctrines in Nova Scotia. Now we have a regularly organised worship, and many scattered receivers over two counties. Public attention is being called to our existence. We are known in law in the registration of marriages as the NEW CHURCH.

During the summer I had occasion to preach for three consecutive weeks in Halifax, the capital of our province, for the Universalist minister, who is a reader of Swedenborg. He was sick, and sent for me to supply his pulpit. My preaching was very acceptable to his people. I had occasion to preach a funeral sermon while with them, and fully declared the true doctrine of the Resurrection, which I am happy to state was fully endorsed by the entire congre.. gation.

Last winter I accepted the situation of provincial temperance lecturer for three months. During these three months I visited six counties, travelling seven hundred miles. I lectured five nights out of every week, reserving Saturday and Sunday for myself. I devoted the Sunday to preaching the Word. Providence opened the way, and Sunday generally found me in a pulpit, at the invitation of the resident minister, where for the time being I tarried for the night. In this way I came into contact with a great many people, and opened the Word in its spiritual sense to many who had never heard it before. Over snow-covered regions, during our