42 INCIDENTS IN THE JOURNEY TO TUBINGEN lated four volumes of the Arcana, and not all of the other printed works of Swedenborg. The number of German books on hand was comparatively manageable. We were at first astonished at the magnitude of the affair with which we had to deal. We went to our hotel, and for a time felt the difficulty so great that all we could resolve to do was, the next and following days, to apply ourselves, with the assistance of the family, to take account of what there was, and to continue until we could make an inventory. This we did, and day after day toiled at it until a complete account could be made out and sent to London. The result your readers are in possession of from the circular of the Swedenborg Society, so far as taking the Latin works, and liberating Madame Tafel from the burden of them, and placing at her disposal at least £500., and more if the liberality of the church enabled us to do so. To assist in the disposal of the German works, we proposed that they should be lowered in price considerably, and the Swedenborg Society should grant £10. to advertise them extensively. We also took the charge and expense of the volume of the Index Biblicus now in the printer's hands, and also that of the reprint of the Apocalypsis Explicata. These proposals on our side were gladly and gratefully accepted by Madame Tafel and her family, and ere we left for Stuttgart, we took occasion to present, in a kind and solemn manner, the address of condolence from the New Church in England, which was printed in your October number. Madame Tafel replied to the address with deep emotion, and acknowledged the kindness which had dictated all that had been done in terms of the most touching character, assuring the deputation that the fraternal regards and attentions of the New Church in this trying period of her hour of mourning would ever be remembered with esteem and affection. We took our leave, grateful that the Lord had enabled us to be of use in a cause so really deserving of our best help, and trusting that our brethren at home would enable us to make good all that we had ventured to propose to be undertaken. Having accomplished what required our joint judgment, although much of a detailed character remained to be done, we parted at Stuttgart, Mr. Watson to join some friends who awaited him at Heidelberg, and Dr. Bayley to return to Tübingen and finish what remained to be done, which took several additional days, and what is added relates only to himself. "On the Sunday, September 27th, 1863, I went to Reutlingen, where I had long known Gustav Werner resided, a college friend of Dr. Tafel, and, like himself, unable to sign those formularies which contain the erroneous system of the old dispensation. I had also known that this excellent New Churchman had for many years been fostering institu OF MESSRS. BAYLEY AND WATSON. 43 tions for educating and employing the poor and helpless, especially poor orphan children, and I resolved to see all he was doing for myself. I passed a most interesting day. Werner is a man probably 57 years of age; his wife about the same, an admirable help-meet for him. On reaching the small town of Reutlingen by rail, I inquired for the institution, and soon found it. Werner was known and universally respected. He commenced more than twenty years ago, having no children of his own, to take in and sustain some orphan children. He had more and more who applied, and he took them in, and preached in the churches, and had collections for their support. This continued and grew until he found it necessary to strike out some employment for the young people, and he took some land and sold the produce. He believed that he ought not to turn any suffering applicants away if they would learn, work, and be obedient to the rules. He preaches the principles of the New Church, and the spirit of those principles reigns in all the arrangements of his institution. This institution has grown until, at Reutlingen, there are 644 poor persons, 131 children under 14 years of age. There are twenty-four branch institutions, including, in the whole, 1,746 persons. These are clothed, fed, lodged, and cared for bodily and spiritually. They pursue trades of different kinds. At Reutlingen there are mechanics' shops, moulding shops, furniture shops, agriculture, and agricultural machine making, cloth weaving, stocking weaving, ribbon weaving, engraving, jewellery, bookbinding, the grinding of corn, and some other businesses besides school-teaching. Over all is the spirit of love. "I heard Mr. Werner address his congregation, consisting of part of his institution, and of people from the town who joined them. He was earnest, clear, and eloquent. He preached the necessity of regeneration, and I felt delighted with what I heard and saw. After the sermon we had a long conversation. He had long known me by name, and welcomed me gladly. He took me over the institution, and then asked me if I would dine with his large family, and on their humble fare. He stripped some of his clothes to make himself like a waiter, while he served out the meat. They sung a grace; four hundred sat down together, and I sat and ate with them, and rejoiced that the Lord had filled this good man with His Spirit to accomplish so great a use. I took my leave in the evening, accompanied by Mr. Hahn, one of the committee, whom I found to be an intelligent New Churchman, and returned delighted to Tübingen on foot, the distance being only some seven miles. "J. BAYLEY." INQUIRIES, WITH ANSWERS. 3 4 0 4 4 O 30 0 0 A correspondent says "There appears to be a difficulty in reconciling Luke x. 13, 14, with God's impartial dealings with men, and with his good providence. If the works which were done in Chorazin and Bethsaida would have caused Tyre and Sidon to repent, and if by rejecting those works Chorazin and Bethsaida increased their damnation, why were they not done in Tyre and Sidon, so that they might have repented, and the sentence against Chorazin and Bethsaida been less severe?" To put this question is to inquire why the Lord did not come into the world many ages before the time of his actually appearing. The answer to this is, Because, had he come before iniquity was full, he would not have provided a remedy for the fulness of iniquity. So far was there from any want of justice or mercy in the Lord not doing his mighty works in Tyre and Sidon, there was a great degree of both. By coming in the days of Chorazin and Bethsaida, he provided for the salvation of all who were willing to be saved in Tyre and Sidon; but had he come in the days of Tyre and Sidon, he could not have made the same provision for such persons in Chorazin and Bethsaida. His redemption could reach no evils greater than those which his incarnation included. It is a mistake to suppose that those De Divina Providentia 0 4 0 Regum Animale, 3 vols....each 20 Camena Borea, L. Annæi Senæcæ, &c., Ludus Heliconius, Itinerarium, bound in 1 vol The same, separate 1 6 ...each 0 3 If any of the friends who subscribe desire to have the whole or any part of their subscriptions returned in books from the above list, the Committee will feel obliged if they will make the request with as little delay as possible. On behalf of the Committee, SAML. M. WARREN, Sec. who lived before his incarnation did not derive the full benefit of his redemption. That divine work provided for past generations as fully as for the generation then present; and those in Tyre who would have repented in sackcloth and ashes, could in no wise lose their reward in the other life. Even for the unrepentent sinners in Tyre and Sidon, it must be more tolerable in the day of judgment than for those of Chorazin and Bethsaida. But all these facts and declarations have a spiritual sense, which will no doubt add to the instructiveness of the passage. The writings contain no direct explanation of this verse, except (A. C. 239.) that Bethsaida signifies "damnation on account of non-reception of the Word." It was on account of its evil signification that when a blind man was brought to the Lord in Bethsaida to be cured, He first took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town, and then spat upon his eyes, and put His hands upon him, and restored him to sight. (Mark viii. 22.) Clowes, in his summary exposition of the passage, gives, as its spiritual meaning, that "it is better not to know the truth, than to know and still continue in evil of life, inasmuch as doctrine the most essential cannot deliver from condemnation, unless the life be formed accordingly." He thus considers Tyre and Sidon to re present those who do not know good and truth, and Chorazin and Bethsaida to represent those who know them, but do not live accordingly. This may no doubt be considered to have been relatively the state, and thence to be the signification, of the contrasted cities. Yet Tyre and Sidon, which are much treated of in the Old Testament, represented the knowledges of good and truth; but being on the sea coast, they represented knowledges of an external kind; and in an opposite sense, these knowledges destroyed. If such is their meaning in the present passage, the inference is, that the sin represented by that of Tyre and Sidon consists in rejecting the knowledges of good and truth, while the sin represented by that of Chorazin and Bethsaida consists in rejecting good itself and truth itself. The force of the Lord's words require us to believe that the men of Tyre and Sidon were great sinners, but not so great as the men of Chorazin and Bethsaida; for bad as it is to sin against knowledge, it is not so bad as to deny and reject the Word. There is a ground to work upon in the one case which does not exist in the other. Another correspondent, citing the Lord's words, (John xvii. 9.) "I pray not for the world," asks, "Is this utterance to be taken literally, or are we only to look to the internal for the Lord's meaning? I am not willing to think of the Lord as abandoning poor humanity, and neither, I think, did He, for on the cross He prayed for the very worst of mankind, those who were crucifying Him'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."" It is not necessary to suppose that the Lord's not on that occasion praying for the world implies that He abandoned it. When He sent out His disciples to preach the gospel, He commanded them, saying "Go not in the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." This did not imply that the Gentiles and Samaritans were abandoned or excluded from any participation in the blessings of the Gospel. The Word shows this. Therefore, He who prohibited His servants from preaching to the heathen, gave them a final command, imposing on them a perpetual obligation, to "go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." In fact, as judgment commences at the house of God, so does mercy. And the human analogy of this is that charity begins at home. Yet neither divine nor human benevolence stops where it begins, but when the centre is established in righteousness it extends its operations in all directions outwards. The limitation of the Gospel to Israel, and the Lord's praying for His disciples only, were but for the time, and for a wise and good purpose. When on the cross He prayed for His enemies, and after his resurrection he gave his disciples the command to preach the Gospel in all the world, he indicated that the time had come when redeeming mercy could go forth to men in all its fulness and power. No doubt a spiritual cause underlies all this, and a spiritual sense is contained in it as a consequence. Regeneration, we know, consists of two distinct operations; the internal is first re-formed, and afterwards the external through it. So was it in the Lord's Glorification. When the Lord uttered the prayer we are considering, his own Humanity was glorified as to the internal man, and thus he had provided for the regeneration of the internal man in creaturely humanity; then he prayed for his disciples, and not for the world. But on the cross the Lord's external man was glorified also; and that completed work provided for the regeneration of man wholly and universally. Then the Lord prayed for his enemies, and afterwards commissioned his disciples to go, not only to Israel, but to all nations. No doubt there is much more than this included in these circumstances; but thus far considered, there is enough to enable us to see a reason for, and a meaning in, our Lord's remarkable words-"I pray not for the world." GENERAL CHURCH INTELLIGENCE. HULL-AN APPEAL FROM THE SOCIETY. An interesting letter has been received from Mr. T. M. Best, in which, after sketching the early history and suspension of the New Church society in Hull, he writes as follows on the efforts made and now in progress to resuscitate the society : "Meetings were held to devise the best means of carrying out this object; and as a commencement it was thought |