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For Thou art ever near, we know,
Although through shadows self-exhaled
In bated light we ofttimes go,

As though Thyself Thy face hadst veiled.

The sunshine of our brightest hours
We cannot make,-'tis Thine to give.
None of the springs of life are ours;
Only as we receive we live.

Thou orderest our path not less

When clouds impend and light hath fled; Yea, 'tis some part of consciousness To feel regret that we are dead.

Break the dumb spirit's silent seal!

Teach us, "Lord, teach us how to pray;" Reveal the wants we want to feel,

And breathe on us thine "Ephphatha."

Once more Thy mercies press their claim,
And grateful thoughts of praise suggest,
For love still new and yet the same,

Through daily work and nightly rest.

Blest be the power that lights the mind
With skill all nature's means to use,
And keeps the conscious will inclined
Wisely 'twixt good and ill to choose.

Blest, too, the wisdom and the love

That made the joys of home our right, Where holiest bonds the easiest prove, And duty melts into delight

Where love and innocence unite

To purge the heart of self's crude leaven, And spheres of sweetness and of light

Make home the heavenliest type of heaven.

God of all good in heaven and earth!
Attune our hearts to hymn Thy praise;

"A wise and understanding mirth"
That heeds Thy will and loves Thy ways.

No mysteries that darken sooth,-
No fictious forms of faith be mine.

Thou art the Way, the Life, the Truth,—
Thou art the One, and Thou the Trine.

Thou First and Last-the great I Am,
Light of the golden mercy-seat,
Jehovah, God of Abraham,

Messiah, Saviour, Paraclete,—

All names of love,-yet all being said,
One name remains, to us before
All others, Jesus! who wast dead,
Yet liv'st and reign'st for evermore.

Now, Lord, I give my powers to sleep:
Shall here or there the waking be?
It weighs not,-Thou my soul wilt keep:
"When I awake I'm still with Thee."

SWEDENBORG SOCIETY.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

THE Sixty-seventh anniversary of this Society was held at the Society's House, 36 Bloomsbury Street, London, on Tuesday, June 19th—the Rev. Dr. BAYLEY, of Kensington, occupied the chair. There was a good attendance, and the meeting from first to last was of a most interesting and harmonious character.

The CHAIRMAN opened the proceedings with prayer. Messrs. E. C. CLARKE and J. L. GRUNDY were appointed Scrutineers of the Ballot for the new Committee.

The SECRETARY (Mr. T. H. Elliott) read letters of apology for absence from the Rev. Mark Wilks, Rev. W. Bruce, Mr. Broadfield, and Mr. E. Austin.

The CHAIRMAN then addressed the meeting as follows:

"These annual gatherings of our Society are very delightful, as affording us an opportunity of meeting the members in general and regarding with them the progress of our noble work. For we should not be ashamed nor afraid to recognize with the deepest humility and gratitude that, by the mercy of the Lord, the books which are disseminated by this Society are mainly instrumental in opening the higher glories of the holy Word to mankind, and through its portals infusing a higher light, and a grander love.

"In the Revelation, chapter v., St. John says he saw in the hand of Him that sat upon the throne a book written within and on the back side, but sealed with seven seals.

"Proclamation was made for some one to open the book and to loose the seals thereof, but no one was found by whom this opening could be effected.

"The tender-hearted John wept that no one could be found to open

the book and read or look upon its wonderful contents. He feared that for want of knowledge the people would perish.

"Happily, however, the Lamb came and took the book into His own hands, disclosed its sacred contents, and all heaven joined in the anthem of praise, and said, 'Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof.'

"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.'

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'Now, this sublime scene was a foreshadowing of what we are witnessing in the present day. The Word was somewhat read in the centuries preceding the present era, as to what was written on the outside, but no one could open it to read the glorious contents of the inside. And, yet, there was the greatest need. Gradually the rulers of Christendom withdrew the Word from the people, so that they could neither read the inside nor the outside, and foolish legends and absurd superstitions were substituted for the radiant Word of life. Darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people.

"At length arose the protest against this obscuration of the Word, and the Divine Volume was restored, but with the stipulation that the readers must only look at the outside, and at a small portion of that. That they might look at the word faith, and at the word salvation; but they must beware of glancing at good works, or at imagining that salvation had anything to do with conduct, or that justice, virtue, or the good affections of a regenerated soul had anything to do with heavenly life or everlasting happiness.

"In the meantime, while good works were denounced from the pulpit, evil works were rampant: the dark places of the earth were full of cruelty.

"Around these two great sections, or parties, a third has gradually gathered.

"These say to the One Great Body, We cannot accept your puerile stories at all, and your pretence of infallibility is pitiable. Besides, you block the way of progress. Those who see most of you like you the least. We want something Divine. That which is divine, will show its divinity by its perfection. The perfection of Divine works increases as it becomes more interior. You declare the Word to be Divine, but have it wrapped up in the cloth of mystery, and you cannot open it to the people. What you do show is a dark lantern and the flaunting of gaudy theatrical parade. Do take this worn-out apparatus out of the way. Open the Divine Book if you can, and let us behold its inner glories and perfections. 'And no man was able to open the Book.' To the other resolute body, who say there is no inside to the book, and you must only see a very little of the outside, the increasing third party exclaims, How can you call that Divine which has only an outside as human works have, and in outside completeness falls so much short of them? cannot believe in your six days of Creation, we know that the formation of the earth has taken millions of years. We cannot

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accept your account of an universal flood. We know that no such occurrence has taken place. We see nothing in your account of the kings of Israel more holy than in the histories of other kings and countries. Open the Book if you can, and let us see things truly Divine. 'And no man was able to open the Book.' The Johns of mankind—those who know that they have passed from death to life, because they love the brethren, hear these things and weep. Those who desire to behold a heaven upon earth are filled with sorrow. Now, however the hour has come, and the Lord has opened the Book. "He has opened the Book, by disclosing the Divine key. Lord by His servant Swedenborg, a man prepared for the purpose, as He always acts by those whom He prepares as His instruments, has pointed out this key, and laid it open to mankind. He has again unfolded the knowledge of the spiritual body and the spiritual world, and shown the correspondence between them.

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"The books which constitute the literature of this Society have to spread this precious gift in the world. How completely this Divine key opens the Book, a few illustrations of experience will clearly show.

"One of the most learned and copious writers on natural history, whom we have had the pleasure of meeting in this room, declared that when he read for the first time the summary of the spiritual meaning of the days of Creation in the first volume of the Arcana, paragraphs 4, 5, it was as if a gleam of light flashed into his mind, and he said to himself, That is plainly the very truth, and so simple. He thought, What have I been doing all my life not to have conceived that beautiful series of truths before? The Lord had opened to him the Book and loosed the seals thereof.

"A distinguished geologist, recently departed, a great benefactor to one of the universities, having the spiritual view of the early chapters of Genesis unfolded by Swedenborg placed before him, after reading them carefully, declared to a friend of my own, that he was now completely satisfied upon that subject,-his difficulties had departed, his mind was at rest. 'The Lord had opened to him the Book and loosed the seals thereof.'

"Just as all scientific truth, when once pointed out to mankind by some human instrument enlightened by the Lord, can be realized again and again by others, and becomes the common property of mankind, so is it with the Science of Correspondences. Once known and loved, then lost, and now revealed again, all may realize it.

"All literature, all oratory, all poetry touches the hearts of men, just as they abound in apt and striking similes. Shakespeare delineates this universal characteristic when he says of the meditative mood:

And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in every thing.'

"Ancients and moderns, divines, philosophers, and common people,

have alike recognized the analogy between states of mind and the phenomena of nature. But only in the works of Swedenborg has it been fully restored and systematized for vigorous use in the Church.

"DR. CHANNING, the spiritually-minded and eloquent advocate of a more elevated Unitarianism, writes, "The sublime capacity of thought discerns the harmonies between the world within and the world without us, and finds in every region of the universe types and interpreters of its own deep mysteries and glorious inspirations.'

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"ROBERTSON of Brighton not only proclaimed the same great truth, but declared that on that very principle the Lord Jesus gave His wisdom to mankind. He says in his sermon the spiritual harvest, "There is a close analogy between the world of nature and the world of spirit. They bear the impress of the same hand: and hence the principles of nature and its laws are the types and shadows of the invisible. Just as two books, though on different subjects, proceeding from the same pen manifest indications of the thought of one mind, so the worlds visible and invisible are two books written by the same finger and governed by the same idea. It was on this principle Christ taught. Truths came forth from His lips, not stated simply or on authority, but based on the analogy of the universe.'

"DR. WORDSWORTH, the present Bishop of Lincoln, says, "The mere literal interpretation of the Pentateuch must lead to scoffing and scepticism. How superfluous, unaccountable, and incredible are the miracles if regarded merely as incidents in the records of the Hebrew nation. If we dwell on the letter of the Old Testament, and do not endeavour to penetrate beneath the surface into its spiritual meaning, we shall not be firm believers in it, nor make others to be so, but perhaps cavillers against it.'

"ARCHBISHOP TRENCH, the present Archbishop of Dublin, in his work on the parables remarks, "The parable or analogy to spiritual truth appropriated from the world of nature or man is not merely illustration but also in some sort proof. It is not that these analogies assist to make the truth intelligible, or, if intelligible before, present it more vividly to the mind, which is all that some will allow them. Their power lies deeper than this-in the harmony unconsciously felt by all men, and which all deeper minds have delighted to trace between the natural and spiritual worlds; so that analogies from the first are felt to be something more than illustrations happily but arbitrarily chosen. They are arguments, and may be alleged as witnesses, the world of nature being throughout a witness for the world of spirit, proceeding from the same hand, growing out of the same root, and being constituted for that very end. All lovers of truth readily acknowledge these mysterious harmonies, and the force of argument derived from them. To them the things on earth are copies of the things in heaven. They know that the earthly tabernacle is made after the pattern of things seen in the Mount (Ex. xxv.

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