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PROGRESS t 
 
 IN 
 
 SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. CHAUNCEY "^ILES 
 
 AUTHOR OF "THE NATURE OF SPIRIT," "THE INCARNATION AND ATONEMENT,' 
 " HEAVENLY BLESSEDNESS," ETC. 
 
 A MEMORIAL VOLUME 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 AMERICAN NEW-CHURCH TRACT AND PUBLICATION 
 
 SOCIETY 
 
 2129 CHESTNUT STREET 
 1895 
 
Copyright, 1895, 
 
 BY 
 
 American New-Church Tract and Publication Socibty. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 Biographical Sketch 5 
 
 I. — Progress in Spiritual Knowledge ..... 67 
 
 II. — The Doctrines of the New Church a Spir- 
 
 itual Science 80 
 
 III. — God and Man 94 
 
 IV. — The Divine Method of Creating 108 
 
 V. — Man a Form Receptive of Life 120 
 
 VI. — The Kingdom of God within You 135 
 
 VII. — HuM.\N Beauty: Its Origin, Nature, and 
 
 the Means of Acquiring it 147 
 
 Vlll.— The Origin of Evil 161 
 
 IX. — Sin and its Punishment 176 
 
 X. — The Divine Mercy in Suffering and Evil . 194 
 
 XI. — The Atonement : Who made it, Why it 
 
 was Necessary, How it was Effected . . 205 
 
 XII. — The First and Second Death , 224 
 
 XIII. — Heaven 240 
 
 XIV. — Children in Heaven 257 
 
 XV. — The Ministry of Angels to Infancy .... 267 
 
 XVI. — Nature a Divine Language 282 
 
 XVII. — Parables 292 
 
 XVIII. — The End of the World 305 
 
 XIX. — The Second Coming of the Lord 322 
 
 XX. — How to get the Most Good out of Labor 
 
 and this World 343 
 
 XXI. — Peace in the Lord 359 
 
 3 
 
CHAUNCEY GILES.* 
 
 IT is beautiful, when in the peaceful days at the close of 
 a long and useful life the thoughts look back over the 
 way which has been travelled, delighting to see the hand 
 of Providence in events which at the time seemed unim- 
 portant and often unfortunate ; and when they turn from 
 such memory of the past to anticipation of renewed life 
 in the higher world where the same Divine hand will be 
 more plainly felt and followed with more perfect trust. 
 So it was with the Rev. Chauncey Giles, who passed into 
 the spiritual world at his home in Philadelphia, Novem- 
 ber 6, 1893. 
 
 Mr. Giles's earliest memories took him back to the 
 hills of western Massachusetts, where he was born, in 
 Charlemont, on the banks of the Deerfield River, on the 
 iith of May, 1813. The region is picturesque, and to 
 one who visits it in simimer is most attractive ; but the 
 hills are rocky for the plough, and farming, the business 
 of the people, is laborious. The winters, too, are long 
 and cold, and for months the ground is buried in snow 
 and the river is frozen with clear ice, often several feet in 
 thickness. 
 
 The parents of the friend whose life we are recording 
 
 This biographical sketcli is reprinted with slight change from 
 The New-Church Reineiv of January, 1894, by the permission of 
 the publishers. 
 
6 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 were John and Almira Avery Giles. They were people 
 of ability and of more than usual cultivation and refine- 
 ment. The father was educated as a physician, but ill 
 health prevented his following his profession. His son 
 Chauncey was the eldest of seven children, and as a boy 
 he became accustomed to hard work, and felt early that 
 some share of responsibility rested upon him for the 
 support of the family and the education of the younger 
 children. 
 
 The life in Charlemont was such as belonged to the 
 "good old times" in New England. Children enjoyed 
 out-door sports, especially skating and coasting in the 
 winter. For those a little older, hard work was relieved 
 by the diversions of singing-school and apple-parings and 
 quilting-bees, and by an occasional holiday, notably 
 Thanksgiving Day and the General Muster, when they 
 gathered from far and near to the yearly parade of the 
 men liable to military service. Sundays were kept with 
 the Puritan strictness, and the family spent a long day at 
 the distant meeting-house. From sunset Saturday even- 
 ing it became sinful to lau;^h or play or even to walk in 
 the fields for pleasure. The constraint was relieved at 
 Sunday's sunset, when the women brought out their 
 knitting and children began their games. Books were 
 very .scarce in those days. There was no periodical 
 literature, with the exception of a small weekly paper 
 which was taken by only a few people. The Bjble and 
 hymn-book with the longer and shorter catechism, and 
 perhaps "Pilgrim's Progress" or Baxter's "Saint's 
 Rest" were all that came within children's reach. A 
 copy of the Spectator was read ami re-rcad by Mr. Giles, 
 
CHAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 7 
 
 and even a volume from his father's medical library was 
 tried in the hunger for new thoughts. It was at one of 
 the General Musters, while still quite a boy, that he 
 bought a copy of Cowper's " Poems" and of Milton's 
 "Paradise Lost," and he spent many a long winter even- 
 ing reading them over and over again by the bright fire- 
 light. Mr. Giles well remembered the intense delight he 
 used to feel when as a small boy he would pore o\'er the 
 pages of a large Bible in a neighbor's house, and the 
 wonderful charm of the story of Joseph arranged for 
 children, a copy of which came into his hands. 
 
 The first instruction Mr. Giles received was from his 
 father, and what was lacking in aids to learning was made 
 up in earnestness. He has told me how he was accus- 
 tomed to do his "sums" with a bit of charcoal on the 
 hearth before the fire, and how dearly he prized his first 
 slate earned by chopping a cord of wood. Years after, 
 contrasting the circumstances of his own early life with 
 the larger opportunities of another, Mr. Giles said, "I 
 had no books, no social influence that tended to develop 
 a taste for literature, or cultivate what I had naturally. 
 It seems as though I was like a tree or shrub in the 
 woods. I was shut out from the light ; I had no cult- 
 ure ; I grew without any direction or assistance." In 
 writing of the "good old times," Mr. Giles once said, — 
 
 "They were good times in many essential respects. The people 
 were industrious, frugal, and in the most important affairs of life 
 they were intelligent. If they did not read so much as we do, they 
 thought more. They did not depend so much upon others to do 
 their thinking. They were more self reliant. Their means of social 
 culture were limited, but they made the best use of those they pos- 
 sessed. If they endured many liardships, they acquired strength by 
 
8 PJWGRESS LV SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 them, and in the struggle for Ijfe they gained many of its blessings, 
 and learned how to appreciate them." 
 
 Mr. Giles once referred to these early days in remarks 
 made in the Argyle Square church in London, and said 
 tliat from his earliest recollection he had desired to be a 
 minister, but the idea seemed so improbable and absurd 
 that he said little of it. His father once spoke to him of 
 a situation as a clerk in a store, but he declined it because 
 he did not want to be a merchant. A little later than 
 this, when he was at home on a vacation from Bennington, 
 where he was attending the academy, his father asked him 
 what he intended to do for a living when he had finished 
 school. The young man asked, ' ' What do you want me 
 to do?" His father said, "I would like to have you 
 study law." After a few moments' silence he replied, 
 with a look full of haj)piness and .satisfaction, "Well, 
 if I study law, it must be the law of God." This deter- 
 mination did not leave him, though for many years 
 its realization was deferred till he was led to those doc- 
 trines of light and comfort whicli the Lord desired him 
 to preach. 
 
 The education begun at home under the father's care 
 was continued at a " select school" near by. Some time 
 also was spent with a clergyman of the neighborhood, 
 who gave what instruction he could in return for work 
 upon his i)lace. It was a happy day to the young man 
 eager for education, when the opportunity offered to leave 
 his labor in the field, to attend the Mt. Anthony Academy 
 in Bennington, not far away across tiie Vermont line. 
 About this time he showed his power of aj)plication by 
 mastering the Latin grammar in nine days. It is .said of 
 
CHAUXCEY Gir.F.S. 
 
 9 
 
 him as a young' man that "when he was engaged in study 
 he was obhvious of everything- about him." At the 
 academy Mr. Giles came under one whom he regarded 
 as a real teacher. He did more than impart a knowledge 
 of Greek, which was his subject ; he showed how to study 
 and made study delightful. At Bennington Mr. Giles 
 prepared for Williams College, at Williamstown, near by 
 among- the Berkshire Hills, and entered as a member of 
 the class of 1836. He was now nineteen years old. The 
 question of support was still a serious one, and he met his 
 necessary expenses chiefly by teaching in the intervals of 
 college work. Mr. Giles remained with his class till the 
 middle of the junior year, when his health failed — his 
 eyes especially were much affected — and he was unable 
 to continue the double labor of studying and teaching. 
 This illness was, I believe, due to an incident of one of 
 the college vacations. He was at home in the hay-field, 
 and the other mowers were crowding him in his mowing, 
 thinking they would "take down this college youth a peg 
 or two." It was a very hot day, and, having worked till 
 he was exhausted, he drank from an ice-cold spring. 
 Trouble in his head resulted, which for years caused much 
 suffering and interfered seriously with his work. This 
 was probably the origin of a singing or roaring in the 
 head from which he was never wholly relieved, and which 
 at times gave great annoyance. 
 
 Mr. Giles received the degrees of A.B. and M.A. from 
 Williams College in 1876, although he never finished the 
 college course. In 1886 he was present at the reunion 
 of his class on the fiftieth anniversary of its graduation. 
 In college Mr. Giles is remembered by classmates as 
 
PROGRESS LV SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 "more than an average scholar, not brilliant, perhaps, 
 bvit studious, prompt, and accurate. He was a good 
 declaimer, and in the debating society was alert and one 
 of the best speakers. He was strong on temj^erance 
 and on the anti-slavery question, which was much dis- 
 cussed in those days. In manner he was rather retiring, 
 somewhat shy, friendly with all but familiar with only a 
 few." It is a fact that from boyhood throughout his life 
 Mr. Giles shrank from meeting strangers, and only with 
 great effort went into company. 
 
 The interruption of the college course was a great 
 disappointment to Mr. Giles. His desire to be a minis- 
 ter was the motix e of his study ; and now as he was 
 about to enter on his chosen work he was compelled to 
 stop his preparation and give his strength to teaching. 
 But in after-years he saw the Lord's providence in this 
 disappointment, for it prevented his confirming himself 
 in the doctrines of the Congregational Church, which 
 were all that he then knew, and kept his mind open to 
 receive and teach the truths of tlie New Church. 
 
 After leaving college Mr. Giles was again in Benning- 
 ton, a teacher in the academy where he had received his 
 own preparation. At this time religious subjects were 
 nuich in his mind. "He was struggling with the hard 
 dogmas of the church," says one who was closely asso- 
 ciated with him as a fellow-teacher, " and was at times in 
 a sceptical mood, and more than a mood. He was very 
 conscientious and his mental sufferings were great, and 
 that for years." Probably states of mind were now be- 
 ginning of which Mr. Giles himself speaks in his little 
 book, "Why I am a New-Churchman." He could not 
 
CHAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 II 
 
 believe the doctrines commonly taught concerning heaven 
 and hell and an arbitrary judgment. 
 He writes, — 
 
 " Doubts haviiij; been raised about the truth of one doctrine, they 
 led to the examination of other doctrines and doubts about their 
 truth. I did not doubt because I desired to do so. On the con- 
 trary, I clung to every point of the old faith with the greatest 
 tenacity. I clung like a drowning man to the last plank, until I was 
 torn from it, or it failed me, and I sunk into the depths of despair. 
 I have no language that is adequate to express the darkness and 
 horror and agony of the state I lived in, if it could be called living, 
 for years. One hope alone sustained me. I did not doubt the exist- 
 ence, the wisdom, and goodness of God. ... I settled down to the 
 duties and necessities of life with the purpose of faithfully doing my 
 work and awaiting whatever the future might have in store for me." 
 
 A season of feeble health and of rapid changes followed, 
 when Mr. Giles travelled some and taught schools for a 
 short time in several different places. He was for a while 
 a teacher at West Hampton, Mass. Afterwards he taught 
 in Fishkill on the Hudson. He visited Philadelphia, and 
 spent a winter in Middletown, Pa., on the Susquehanna 
 River. He was at this time drifting with no definite aim, 
 and his movements were influenced by a seemingly very 
 trifling thing. It was in after-years a striking example to 
 Mr. Giles of the Lord's use of the smallest means to give 
 direction to our whole life. When a mere school-boy 
 studying his geography he had been attracted by a de- 
 scription of Tennessee, and made up his mind that some 
 day he would visit that State. It so happened that he 
 never saw Tennessee, but for years the purpose was in 
 his mind, and more than once influenced his movements. 
 
 From Middletown Mr. Giles journeyed through Penn- 
 
PROGRESS I.y SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 sylvania and New York, by the slow means of travel 
 which existed before the days of railroads, with the inten- 
 tion of going to Michigan, and then visiting Tennessee. 
 He was moving westward on the Erie Canal. The 
 weather was rainy and unpleasant and the company on 
 the canal-boat disagreeable, and he yielded to the sugges- 
 tion of a fellow-traveller to stop o\ er for a day at Palmyra. 
 At the hotel where he lodged he saw in a newspaper an 
 advertisement for a teacher. He applied for the position, 
 found friends as if by accident, and was soon settled as 
 principal of the Palmyra Academy, an institution which 
 ranked high among the schools of the State. In Palmyra 
 Mr. Giles met the one who became his wife and his faith- 
 ful companion in the trials and successes of his life. He 
 used to speak pleasantly of his great indebtedness to a 
 rainy day, but he spoke reverently, for he saw in it the 
 hand of Providence. 
 
 Mr. Giles had been in charge of the Palmyra Academy 
 hardly more than a year when he accepted a more re- 
 munerative but more laborious position in the Collegiate 
 Institute in Rochester, N. Y. This position he held only 
 a year, and in May, 1840, he was again in Palmyra, 
 teaching a " select school." But in October of the same 
 year, suffering much with his head and dissatisfied with 
 the success of his .school, he went to Cincinnati. The 
 intention of visiting Tennes.see, formed as a boy, was not 
 forgotten. While in Cincinnati, he one day packed his 
 bag and was going down the .stairs to take the steamboat 
 for Nashville, when he was stopped by a stranger who was 
 looking for a teacher to open a school in Hamilton, Ohio, 
 a town some twenty-five miles north of Cincinnati. Mr. 
 
CIIAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 13 
 
 Giles was persuaded to postpone the trip to Tennessee, 
 and the end of November found him settled in a new 
 home. It seemed again a mere chance which brought 
 him to Hamilton, but it was there that he became ac- 
 quainted with the doctrines of the New Church. 
 
 The pages of journal written in Rochester and Palmyra 
 and during the first years in Hamilton show states of 
 mind which are a surprise to those who have known Mr. 
 Giles only since the truths of the New Church became 
 his constant encouragement and delight. He was op- 
 pressed with a sense that he was accomplishing nothing. 
 He was conscious of abilities, and was desirous, perhaps 
 ambitious, to make them influential ; but he seemed to 
 himself to make no progress from year to year. His 
 discouragement was in part due to feeble health, for dur- 
 ing these years he suffered almost constantly from head- 
 ache, which at times made work impossible. It is plain 
 also that his depression was somewhat morbid. He 
 underrated the value of his work as a teacher, and was 
 oppressed with a sense of failure where others saw useful- 
 ness and success. The contrast of such gloomy, despond- 
 ent states, which were natural to Mr. Giles, with the 
 hopeful confidence which has been so characteristic of the 
 latter half of his life, shows what the New Church was to 
 him, and goes far to explain his intense desire to spread 
 its light to others. At that time he knew nothing of 
 Swedenborg and his writings, but we find him reading 
 Carlisle and Coleridge with some satisfaction. Though 
 fully occupied in his schools and with no expectation of 
 ever being anything but a teacher, his thoughts dwelt 
 often on religious subjects, and his old fondness for the 
 
 2 
 
PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 profession of a minister appears in the interest with which 
 he listened to various preachers, and in the extended 
 criticisms of their sermons and deUvery which he entered 
 in his journal. He would observe the effect of a speaker 
 upon the audience and the cause of his success or failure. 
 Self-consciousness in a speaker and any appearance of 
 study for effect were elements of weakness. To him an 
 unassuming modesty, made earnest by sincere conviction, 
 was the truest eloquence, and if art were used, the audi- 
 ence at least must be unconscious of it. 
 
 But there were still ten years of teaching before Mr. 
 Giles became himself a minister. These were, in a double 
 sense, years of preparation, for the methods of instruction 
 and of gentle control which he employed in school were 
 what were needed in the church, and at the same time 
 tlie doctrines of the New Cliurch were brought to his 
 notice and gained a stronger and stronger hold upon his 
 undenstanding and his affections. 
 
 Mr. Giles began his charge of the Hamilton and Ross- 
 ville Female Academy in December, 1840, and continued 
 it till the summer of 1845. In August, following his 
 settlement in Hamilton, he revisited Palmyra, where he 
 was married on the 8th of September to Eunice Lakey. 
 Her parents, many years before, had come to western 
 New York from Franklin County, Mass., where also was 
 Charlemont, Mr. Giles's native town. It would be 
 pleasant to write of Mrs. Giles and of the cjualities which 
 have endeared her to her many friends. In writing of 
 Mr. Giles from this time, we write of both, for they were 
 united in all that we describe. In 1891 their Golden 
 Wedding was celebrated, and in the same year Mr. Giles 
 
CHAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 wrote of his companion of fifty years, "She is and has 
 been a good, faithful, and devoted wife. If I have gained 
 any success and been of any use in the world, it is due to 
 her as much as to myself." 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Giles took their journey from Palmyra 
 by the best means of travel which then existed, the canal 
 from Rochester to Buffalo, steamboat to Cleveland, and 
 from there the stage, day and night, to Hamilton, in all 
 a journey of a week. The winter climate of southern 
 Ohio in those days was soft and mild, a pleasant contrast 
 to the harsh winds of western New York. But Hamilton 
 was unhealthy. It lay on the low banks of the Great 
 Miami River. There was a large basin of standing water 
 for the supply of a canal, and when afterwards water was 
 taken from the river for power, the air was poisoned with 
 miasms from the old river-bed. Sickness was very prev- 
 alent, especially the ague. For a long time after going 
 to Hamilton Mrs. Giles was very ill, and before they 
 moved from the town Mr. Giles was brought to death's 
 door by a congestive fever. But in spite of their trials 
 the years in Hamilton were remembered with deep grati- 
 tude. 
 
 What a contrast it was to their first journey West, 
 when fifty-one years later Mr. and Mrs. Giles took train 
 in Philadelphia to attend the New-Church Convention in 
 Cincinnati ! We quote Mr. Giles's description to illustrate 
 both the natural and the spiritual development of fifty 
 years : 
 
 " The train left at 4.25 p.m. The day was cool and bright. The 
 car ran so smoothly that it seemed to be at rest almost. The 
 country is looking very beautiful. The apple-trees are in their glory. 
 
i6 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KXOIVLEDGE. 
 
 As we rushed past them tliey seemed to spring out of the earth in 
 the beauty and glory of their wedding robes. The earth and the sky 
 were glorious in the smile of the Lord. How beautiful the earth is ! 
 What variety of color and form ! Surely, we ought to see the Lord's 
 wisdom in everything. How much it would add to the interest of 
 everything around us if we regarded it as the Lord's work to-day, 
 as His gift to us, as a token of His love for us ! It would give a new 
 and charming significance to everything if we could see His love in 
 all the means He has provided for our happiness. The ride through 
 the heart of Ohio was beautiful, very beautiful, and I enjoyed it, 
 every minute of it. As we passed Zenia and Morrow and other 
 places, many old associations, some sweet, some bitter, were revived. 
 How wonderfully the Lord has led me ! How little I dreamed w-hat 
 He had in store for me when I was working my way along by teach- 
 ing school ! Truly, He leads us by a way we know not." 
 
 In the spring of 1843, Mr. Giles's father and mother 
 and sisters came to Hamilton from Massachusetts. His 
 father died there the following year. Two of the sisters 
 afterwards removed to Decatur, 111., and their mother 
 made her home with them until her death at the age of 
 ninety-two. 
 
 We are given a pleasant glimpse of Mr. Giles's school, 
 and of Mr. Giles as a teacher, by one who joined him as 
 assistant when he had been two years in Hamilton. 
 
 She writes, — 
 
 " The first thing I observed in his school was the perfectly good 
 understanding apparent between teacher and pujiils, and the cour- 
 tesy and kindness manifested in their intercourse with each and all. 
 It resembled tiie home-life in a well-trained family, I thought. Then 
 my attention was called to a wonderful clock which was said to 
 govern the school. A doul)le stroke sounded two and a half minutes 
 before the hour or luilf hour. The children knew that they had 
 liberty to speak quietly if they wished to, and the classes took tlu'ir 
 places for the ne.xt recitation of their own accord. Another double 
 stroke announced the hour, and all was still again. Mr. Giles's 
 
CHAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 17 
 
 teaching was noticeable for its thoroughness. His object seemed to 
 be to cultivate a love of knowledge, to form a habit of acquiring it ; 
 and at the same time he tried to make it practical in every possible 
 way. He sought to develop the mind and character in a natural and 
 orderly manner, instead of forcing and cramming for display or 
 present results. To illustrate : In teaching a class of beginners in 
 arithmetic, he kept them practising notation and numeration until 
 they each and all could write and read numbers with the greatest 
 ease and correctness. Meantime, to keep up the interest, the e.xer- 
 cises were varied by some e.vamples in addition or by learning the 
 tables, etc. They practised on each one of the ground rules in the 
 same way until they could add and subtract, multiply and divide, 
 as fast as they could see the figures. As there are not examples 
 enough given in any arithmetic to cultivate such facility, examples 
 were improvised or taken from other books. 
 
 " By this time the multiplication tables and the other tables were 
 as familiar to the children as A, B, C. They take pride in buying and 
 selling wood and coal, building and furnishing houses, making dry- 
 goods and mantua-makers' bills and settling them, all of which they 
 find interesting and rather amusing exercises ; and incidentally the 
 idea enters their minds that this study may be of some use to them 
 in the future. Of course it takes time to go through the arithmetic 
 in this way, but it was never necessary to go through a second time, 
 and as they were not hurried on from one thing to another before 
 becoming perfectly familiar with it, they found the study easy and 
 delightful, instead of hard and disagreeable. And they were thor- 
 oughly equipped for the higher mathematics, both by their habits of 
 study and the amount of knowledge already acquired. 
 
 " The classes in natural sciences were encouraged in the study of 
 principles presenting themselves in ordinary life. The children be- 
 came enthusiastic in studying out the mechanical principles involved 
 in the ordinary implements used in their homes and the streets, and 
 the chemical changes taking place under their own eyes. 
 
 " The idea that a school-book ever exhausted a subject was never 
 tolerated, or that of finishing one's education on leaving school. 
 The school course was looked upon as only the introduction to an 
 education, — a learning how to learn. If the taste for knowledge has 
 been quickened and develojjed in the school, and habits of acquiring 
 b 2* 
 
i8 
 
 PROGRESS LV SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 it are formed there, the bushiess of education is merely well begun. 
 Mr. Giles's methods of teaching were, perhaps, better adapted to 
 the development of a well-rounded, harmonious character than to 
 e.vtraordinary acquirement in any one direction. 
 
 " His schools were the most perfect specimens of true democracy 
 I was ever brought in contact with. The only distinction recognized 
 seemed to be moral worth. So far as one could see, all were on a 
 perfect equality. The efforts of the teacher and his interest in their 
 individual progress were unwearied. His patience was not exhausted 
 by the dullest, nor were his interest and pride centred upon the 
 gifted. All he asked was that each should try to improve and do 
 the best he could. You could never guess who were the children of 
 rich or influential patrons. Some of the children of one of the rival 
 churches in town, it is said, were once upon a time told by their 
 parents to notice and see if the teacher were not partial to so and 
 so's children of the other church. In a few days the children re- 
 ported that they had watched carefully and did not see any par- 
 tiality. It seems quite surprising, under the circumstances, that tiie 
 children should recognize Mr. Giles's sense of justice. 
 
 "In the primary department Mr. Giles did not insist upon the 
 little ones silting up straight and still by the hour, neither did he 
 e.xpect them to give their attention to any particular subject more 
 than a few minutes at a time. Their lessons were very short and 
 rehearsals frequent, and their slate and pencil were always at hand 
 ready for use ; and they did use them a great deal. There were 
 generally on one of the black-boards some of the capital letters 
 written, or some simple drawing easily imitated, a cuj), slate, or 
 book, which they might copy if they chose. They had learned a 
 variety of pretty little songs for children which they delighted in 
 singing, and singing and marching were much relied upon to relieve 
 the little ones of the weariness of long sitting. Mr. Giles's sister 
 Caroline had charge of this department for a time in Hamilton. 
 To see her with her fine voice leading the children's voices in their 
 marching music was something one would not willingly forget. 
 The children were as happy as birds, and as musical. One of the 
 mothers remarked that she did not know but it was e.xtravagant to 
 send all of her children to Mr. Giles, but when she saw the little 
 ones so happy she felt she could well afford the extra expense. 
 
CHAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 19 
 
 'Why,' she added, ' tliey sing themselves to sleep every night and 
 awake in the morning singing, and liuring the day it must be a seri- 
 ous discomfort that a song will not dispel.' " 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Giles, when they came to Hamilton after 
 their marriage, boarded with a Mr. Garrison, a tailor. 
 Mr. Garrison was a New-Churchman and he lent them a 
 book of Swedenborg's. It was " Conjugial Love." As 
 Mr. and Mrs. Giles sat talking in their room one evening 
 the book lay on the table, and as he spoke Mr. Giles 
 carelessly turned the leaves. He glanced down at the 
 book and his eye fell upon the word ' ' heaven' ' in one of 
 the "Memorable Relations." He read a few Hnes to 
 see what the author had to say of heaven. The conver- 
 sation paused as he read on, and when he closed the book 
 it was with the remark that if the crazy man had written 
 nothing worse than that they must have slandered him. 
 Mr. Giles has often referred to the act of the tailor in 
 handing him this book as the greatest service ever ren- 
 dered him by any man, and has used it to encourage 
 others to do like services. 
 
 This beginning of interest in the doctrines of the New 
 Church was in the latter part of the year 1841. The first 
 mention of Swedenborg in Mr. Giles's journal is Decem- 
 ber 31, 1843, when he writes,-^ 
 
 "If there is anything in the history of the past year worthy of 
 notice, it is that I have become interested in the writings of Sweden- 
 borg. They have opened new views of life to jne. The world wears 
 a new face. If they are true or false, they will exert a most impor- 
 tant influence upon my life." 
 
 The next day he adds, — 
 
 " If I mistake not, the new ideas of life which I have obtained 
 from the New-Church works will assist me much in overcoming 
 
20 PROGRESS IX SPIRITUAL KXOIVLEDGE. 
 
 many defects in my character. I think they will give me new 
 strength of purpose, and perhaps in time enable me to overcome 
 and correct some original deficiencies in my nature. I must set my- 
 self seriously at work, and though I put no confidence in myself, yet 
 there is One who has strength, and who is ever willing to impan to 
 others if they are willing to receive it. ... I think the idea that a 
 kind Providence watches over us and directs all things for our good 
 — an idea which has now become a part of my life — will do much to 
 strengtiien me in remedying some of the greatest defects in my 
 character." 
 
 We see the practical nature of Mr. Giles's interest in 
 the doctrines of the New Church from the first. They 
 attracted him because they promised to give help to 
 overcome his faults and to lead a truer life. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Prescott, or Prescott Hiller as he was 
 afterwards called, was the minister of the New-Church 
 Society in Cincinnati in those days. Mr. Giles heard him 
 sometimes when in Cincinnati, and Mr. Prescott preached 
 in Hamilton occasionally. Both being cultivated men 
 and interested in education, they became warmly attached 
 to each other. A letter of Mr. Prescott' s is preserved, 
 dated May ii, 1843, in which he says, referring to a visit 
 to Hamilton, — 
 
 " There was a gentleman there who interested me still more than 
 the others. He is a Mr. Giles, a teacher, formerly from Massachu- 
 setts. I have been introduced to him and already feel well ac- 
 quainted with him. He is an uncommonly fine man, one after your 
 own heart on the subject of teaching. He is devoted to it, and 
 means to make it his profession. He keeps an academy here, and 
 the best school in town. I visited the institution and was charmed 
 with his manner of teaching and governing. I am sure you would 
 be pleased with his acquaintance. I have had a great deal of con- 
 versation with him. He is already half a New-Churchman in his 
 views. He has also read a little— part of the ' Divine Love and Wis- 
 
CHAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 21 
 
 dom' — and is much pleased with what he has read. He is now read- 
 ing ' Heaven and Hell.' I think lie must become a New-Cluirchman 
 in time." 
 
 On the other hand we find appreciative mention of Mr. 
 Prescott in Mr. Giles's journal. He speaks of seeing 
 Mr. Prescott in Cincinnati, and hearing him preach from 
 " the Parable of the Sower." " His sermon was a very- 
 good and profitable one." Later, when living in Leb- 
 anon, Mr. Giles writes, — 
 
 " Mr. Prescott came to town and has preached several discourses 
 on the doctrines of the New Church. It is cheering and comforting 
 to hear him. I always gain new strength every time I have an 
 opportunity of hearing him, and when he goes away I feel refreshed 
 and can enter upon the duties of life with new vigor." 
 
 Hamilton is the place which Mr. W. D. Hovvells has so 
 picturesquely described in "A Boy's Town." Mr. How- 
 ells's father was one of the few New-Churchmen in Hamil- 
 ton, and for a time he used to meet regularly with Mr. 
 and Mrs. Giles in their rooms on Sunday for a simple 
 service. Occasionally one or another was in town who 
 joined in the worship ; but those were days of small 
 meetings, when four was a large congregation, and five 
 was a crowded house. 
 
 While in Hamilton a feeling of dissatisfaction with 
 teaching as a permanent profession was working in Mr. 
 Giles's mind, and in the spring of 1844, when he was 
 thirty-one years old, he yielded to the advice of friends 
 and began to study law, still continuing his school. This 
 was a line of .study which, if it had been continued, would 
 have led Mr. Giles away from his real life work, and he 
 afterwards saw the hand of Providence in the family cares 
 and the illness which cut short the study of law after a 
 
PROGRESS IX SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 few weeks, and turned his attention more deeply to the 
 new spiritual truths. ' ' I have been reading some of the 
 New-Church doctrines lately," he writes in October, 
 1844, "and if I have health this winter, I think I shall 
 investigate them more fully than I have yet done." 
 
 Mr. Giles speaks, in " Why I am a New-Churchman," 
 of the increasing light as he continued his study : 
 
 " In this state of darkness and negation the doctrines of the New 
 Church found me, as it seemed to me then, by the merest accident, 
 but as I have since learned to know and believe, by the providence 
 and infinite mercy of the Lord. They came at first as a ray of light 
 which excited interest and attention. Whether it was a solitar\- ray 
 that gave a little light on one special subject and was limited to that, 
 or a star that was to usher ni a new morning and a new day, I did 
 not know. But it was precious in itself, and I rejoiced in it. . . . It 
 was not a solitary ray. It came from a central sun. Special truths 
 harmonized and threw light upon one another. Each one was seen 
 to be a part of a rational and ordered system. Confidence was 
 increased and the way of progress became assured. Mysteries with 
 regard to man's spiritual nature, which had been involved in impene- 
 trable darkness began to give up their secrets. Problems which I 
 had supposed to be beyond the reach of the human mind to solve 
 began to yield to the power of the new truths and assume rational 
 forms. The darkness that brooded over the chaos of conflicting 
 opinions was gradually dispersed, the illusions and fallacious appear- 
 ances with which the natural mind invests and perverts the form and 
 nature of spiritual truth were gradually dispelled. I could truly say, 
 ' Whereas I was blind, now I see.' " 
 
 Mr. Giles writes in his journal, — 
 
 " I do not regret coming to Hamilton, though my lot has been one 
 of suffering must of the time since I came here ; sickness and I know 
 not what has laid me low and kept me so, but I have become ac- 
 quainted with the New-Church doctrines, and I think I have found 
 in them what will be of more value to me than physical health or 
 wealth." 
 
CHAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 23 
 
 Lebanon was a town of about the size of Hamilton, in 
 an adjoining county. " It was a charming town, which 
 from early times had always enjoyed an enviable reputa- 
 tion for the intellect and cultivation of its people." A 
 new academy had been built in Lebanon, and they were 
 looking for a principal. It was suggested to Mr. Giles to 
 apply for the position, but he was in feeble health and 
 disheartened. He always remembered with gratitude the 
 encouragement received at this time from one of his early 
 New-Church friends. "Go," Mr. Ross said, " and you 
 will get it. " " Why do you say I shall get it ?" " You 
 will get it because you have some ability as a teacher, 
 and you want to be useful ; and when a man wants to be 
 useful, the Lord opens the way for him." Thus encour- 
 aged, he applied, and, although the competition was sharp, 
 he got the position and opened the school in Lebanon 
 September i, 1845, continuing in charge till January, 
 1848. 
 
 Very pleasant memories of this school linger in the 
 minds of many who there came under Mr. Giles's care. 
 One of his pupils speaks most affectionately of Mr. Giles, 
 and says, ' ' Lebanon has never had a teacher so accom- 
 plished as he, nor one whose memory is so warmly 
 cherished." The same friend tells an interesting inci- 
 dent. The academy was new, and the grounds nearly 
 bare of trees. The first spring after going to Lebanon, 
 Mr. Giles one day took the boys to the woods, with a 
 large wagon and picks and spades. There was much fun 
 among the boys as each took up a tree and planted it on 
 the academy grounds under Mr. Giles's direction. As 
 the planting was going on, Mr. Giles suggested that 
 
PROGRESS IX SPIRITLAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 some day they might come with their children and sit 
 under the shade of their trees. They were a bright, 
 ambitious, studious set of schohu's, and many of them 
 have since held positions of trust and influence. One at 
 least, in fulfilment of Mr. Giles's prophecy, has taken his 
 son to the scene of his own school-days, and sat with him 
 in the shade of the tree which he planted. 
 
 In Lebanon the school was large from the beginning, 
 and the duties were exacting. The same friend who has 
 given us the glimpse of the school at Hamilton was still 
 associated with Mr. Giles, and tells us of the wise and 
 pleasant ways in which he awakened a love of learning, 
 and developed the character of the young people under 
 his care. He organized a club which met in the long 
 winter evenings and served a good use in the days when 
 books were less common than now, in awakening an 
 interest in historical and literary subjects. Music was an 
 important feature of the meetings, as it was of the school 
 exercises. Mr. Giles had a happy way of overcoming 
 the difficulties of writing compositions by asking the 
 children to write descriptions of familiar and interesting 
 things. Their exercises were sometimes given the form 
 of letters to real or imaginary people. 
 
 " The school ilay always began with devotional exercises, reading 
 from the Word, music, and prayer, which was often followed by what 
 was called a little morning talk, which never occupied more than five 
 minutes and seldom more than two. A jiractical suggestion was 
 olTered, current events alluded to, or the effects of some historical 
 event were noted. The death of some distinguished man was men- 
 tioned, discoveries and inventions were spoken of, anything having 
 a tendency to expand and broaden the visible horizon of these active- 
 minded young people was seized and utilized for this purpose. If the 
 
CHAUXCEY GILES. 
 
 25 
 
 children asked hard questions, he did not hesitate to say tliat he did 
 not know but would look into it. 
 
 " He took educational journals and kept himself abreast of the 
 times in his work. Methods of interesting his pupils were a constant 
 study with him. His heart was in his work, and of course from year 
 to year he was constantly perfecting himself in it." 
 
 For a time health wa.s better and hfe happier in Leb- 
 anon than in Hamilton, and interest in the New Church 
 wa.s growing. May 16, 1846, Mr. Giles writes, — 
 
 " It is impossible for me to believe as I once did. The doctrines 
 of the New Church have thrown new light upon the Word, upon life, 
 upon everything, and I hardly know what my duty is with regard to 
 an open profession of adherence to those doctrines." 
 
 January i, 1848, he notes that a small society of the 
 New Church has been formed in Lebanon, and that Mrs. 
 Giles and he have added their names as members. 
 
 While living in Lebanon the interest in the New Church 
 was much strengthened by acquaintance with Mr. and 
 Mrs. David Espy, who lived some miles nearer to Cin- 
 cinnati, at Twenty Mile Stand. They were people of 
 lovely character, and beautiful examples of the life to 
 which the doctrines of the New Church should lead. 
 
 In the latter part of the stay in Lebanon the .sky be- 
 came overcast. Mr. Giles had suffered severely with 
 pleurisy and with terrible neuralgic pains in his thigh, 
 which interfered with his work in school. The ist of 
 January, 1848, found him much disheartened, and he 
 resigned his charge of the Lebanon Academy. It was 
 decided to open a family boarding-school for boys, — they 
 had already made a home for a few scholars, — and it was 
 hoped that Mr. Giles might be so far relieved from care 
 that he would recover his health. A pleasant location 
 ^ 3 
 
26 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 was found at Yellow Springs, a summer resort on the line 
 of the Little Miami Railroad, which had been lately built, 
 and they moved to the new home in April, 1848. A year 
 was passed in this place. Mrs. Giles gave the boys a 
 good and happy home. Mr. Giles, though suffering 
 intensely much of the time, was with them in their out- 
 door amusements, arranging e.xcursions into the country, 
 which was full of flowers, and visits to mills and factories 
 in the neighborhood. He also gave what personal care 
 he could to their instruction, taking them into the house 
 when he became unable to go to the school-room, and 
 hearing them in bed when he was unable to sit up. After 
 a time, through long and painful treatment, his suffering 
 was relieved. 
 
 A page of the journal kept in Yellow Springs gives the 
 first suggestion of Mr. Giles's becoming a New-Church 
 minister. He writes March 3,1849, — 
 
 "This morning I received a letter from the Rev. J. P. Stuart, in 
 which he announced his intention to visit us again soon. He has 
 hinted several times that I would sometime preach New-Church doc- 
 trines. If I was free from debt and qualified, I should like nothing 
 better. But I am neither. [For some years he had been burdened 
 with debt incurred by endorsing for another.] My intellectual cul- 
 ture has been too meagre, and my habits of thought and reading too 
 desultory, to enable me ever to be an able expounder of the doctrines 
 of the New Church. But if I was going to preach at all, I should by 
 all means wish to preach them. They are so consistent with the 
 nature of man and with themselves. There seem to be no weak 
 points in them. They meet every want of the human heart. They 
 embrace every idea that is rational concerning God and the si)iritual 
 world, and embrace in their noble philosophy every atom of matter." 
 
 This was a season of great discontent with himself, of 
 many regrets that he was not more useful and that he had 
 
CIIA UNCE Y GIL ES. 
 
 27 
 
 had so little system or jierseverance in his efforts to edu- 
 cate and train himself. But the sunshine of trust in 
 Providence soon returned. Occasional visits from Mr. 
 Stuart were a source of much i)leasure and comfort. 
 Reed's "Growth of the Mind," Noble's "Lectures," 
 and Swedenborg's tract on "The Infinite" were among 
 the books which were read with pleasure. "I consider 
 the greatest blessing of my life," Mr. Giles writes, March 
 25, 1849, "that I became acquainted with them [the 
 doctrines of the New Church]. They have removed the 
 darkness which enveloped many objects, and made them 
 a matter of reason, when before they were only cognizant 
 to the eye of faith. They have done more than this. 
 They have presented the Lord in such a light that the 
 whole universe has become changed, and is radiant with 
 His love." 
 
 Mr. Giles had not been long in Yellow Springs when 
 a proposition was made to him, through the father of 
 one of his scholars, to remove his school to Pomeroy, a 
 mining town on the Ohio River. In April, 1849, he took 
 his family to Pomeroy, and the old Pomeroy mansion, in 
 a commanding position above the river, was prepared for 
 the uses of home and school. The Pomeroy family, the 
 owners of the mines, were cultivated people, and their 
 large "connection" formed a delightful society into which 
 Mr. and Mrs. Giles were cordially received. This was 
 their home till their removal to Cincinnati in the autumn 
 of 1853. The stay in Pomeroy was delightful in many 
 ways. The home was charming and healthful, the society 
 was pleasant, the school prosperous, and when leaving 
 was spoken of, Mr. Giles was told that if he wished for 
 
28 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 more money, he could remain and have whatever he 
 wanted. A friend who had charge of the common 
 schools of Pomeroy during Mr. Giles's stay, and had 
 good opportunity to know his abilities as a teacher, says, 
 "As an educator he had no superior and few equals. 
 He held to the view that love and justice will control 
 where force would fail. ' ' 
 
 Mr. Giles continued his study of Swedenborg. After 
 a time there was opportunity to be useful in conducting 
 services, and a friend suggested that he obtain a license 
 as a reader. Accordingly he was ordained May 23, 1852, 
 with authority to lead in worship, and on Sundays he 
 conducted services in turn in several places within reach 
 of Pomeroy. At Rock Spring, two miles from Pomeroy, 
 he preached in summer in a barn ; at Rutland, seven 
 miles distant, in the Universalist church ; and at Kygers- 
 ville, twelve miles away. He held service also occasion- 
 ally in the school-room at Pomeroy. In undertaking this 
 work Mr. Giles expected to read the sermons of others, 
 but he had not read more than one or two when he began 
 to write for himself The first attempt pleased him so 
 little that he threw it away. The first sermon of his that 
 was heard was from the text, "The leaves of the tree 
 were for the healing of the nations,"' delivered in 1852. 
 Mr. Giles used often to recall a meeting at Rock S])ring 
 at which he delivered this sermon. It was in a log house 
 on a sunnncr evening. The only light was a tallow candle, 
 around which the insects fluttered, and all that he could see 
 of his audience was their eyes shining out of the darkness. 
 
 The Sunday rides to the places of meeting are remem- 
 bered with pleasure by one who often accompanied Mr. 
 
CIIAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 29 
 
 Giles. There were others who attended the services in 
 the several places, and enjoyed the same sermon four 
 Sundays in succession. Mr. Giles had preaclied in this 
 way for a year, when there was desire that he should per- 
 form the marriage service and administer the sacraments. 
 He was therefore ordained with the full powers of a min- 
 ister of the New Church, May 29, 1853, ^'''c R^^- 
 David Powell, in Cincinnati, who also performed the first 
 ordination. Thus far he had given most of his time and 
 strength to his school, and the preaching took a second- 
 ary place. The time was near when he must choose 
 between the two. 
 
 In the summer of 1853, Mr. Giles took some of his 
 scholars to their home in Cincinnati, for the vacation, and 
 was invited to preach one Sunday for the New-Church 
 Society. He often recalled with amusement the disap- 
 pointed look of the congregation when he, a school- 
 teacher from the country, entered the pulpit. But it gave 
 place to intense interest before he finished. From that 
 time his call to Cincinnati was talked of He continued 
 his journey to St. Louis, where he was engaged to 
 preach for a few Sundays, and returning, he took back 
 his boys to Pomeroy for the opening of the fall term. In 
 September an invitation came to Mr. Giles from the First 
 New-Jerusalem Society of Cincinnati, to officiate as their 
 minister for one year at a salary of one thousand dollars. 
 
 The question was a hard one. On the one hand were 
 a pleasant and healthful home, and an assured support in 
 a profession in which he had long experience. On the 
 other hand were city life, a greatly reduced income, and 
 a profession which was almost untried, and for which he 
 
 3* 
 
3° 
 
 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL k'NOWLEDGE. 
 
 had no regular preparation, but which offered the possi- 
 biUty of greater usefuhiess. He decided in favor of the 
 change, and removed with his family to Cincinnati in 
 November, 1853. 
 
 From a worldly point of view the step was most unwise. 
 Some of Mr. Giles's friends almost doubted his sanity ; 
 others were sorry for the change, knowing his excellence 
 as a teacher, and feeling that his best use was in that pro- 
 fession. But the step was taken, and Mr. Giles entered 
 into the active work of a large and long-established 
 society, at forty years of age, with no theological training, 
 with less acquaintance with the doctrines of the church 
 than many in the congregation, having written but twelve 
 sermons, and having seen the sacraments administered in 
 the New Church but a few times. He began at once to 
 preach twice each Sunday. He was called here and there 
 to long distances to attend funerals. Within the society 
 he found conflicting elements to harmonize and an almost 
 utter lack of young life. It was not an easy task which 
 he had undertaken. 
 
 Mr. Giles, in beginning his work in Cincinnati, made 
 special effort to meet the needs of the young people and 
 to interest them in the services and in the practical uses 
 of the church. His long acquaintance and experience 
 with his scholars prepared him to succeed with the young 
 people and the children of the church ; and his cheerful- 
 ness and pleasant humor helped to endear him to them. 
 His efforts were successful, and the society was soon 
 -Strengthened by a large body of active and earnest 
 younger members. The affection of the young people 
 for Mr. Giles and their devotion to him were very strong 
 
CHAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 31 
 
 in Cincinnati. One of the "young people," writing of 
 a time a little later, when Mr. Giles lived at the top of one 
 of the hills which circle Cincinnati about, says, — 
 
 " It was a walk of a mile and a lialf from where most of us lived 
 to the hills, and another half-mile climb to the house, up a steep path 
 with rough stone steps a part of the way. It was before the days of 
 inclined planes or even of street-cars or omnibuses. And every 
 week a party of the young people would go over this toilsome route 
 to see him and have a meeting of a young people's class." 
 
 Mr. Giles's relations with the little children were also 
 very happy. He was usually present in the Sunday- 
 school ; for a time he was the superintendent. But his 
 part at the Christmas and Easter festivals was what the 
 children especially enjoyed. The stories, " The Wonder- 
 ful Pocket," "The Magic Shoes," and many more, 
 which have since been printed in several little volumes, 
 and which have interested so many children, were most 
 of them written for these occasions. They are especially 
 dear to those who associate them with Christmas happi- 
 ness and Mr. Giles's charming manner in addressing the 
 children. There was never in the stories any exciting 
 plot, and rarely much action or incident, but they always 
 expressed some truth of our inner life in simple and 
 amusing form, in which it was at once recognized by the 
 children. "Those who were scholars then and have 
 since grown into mature men and women tell us they 
 were the most interesting stories they ever listened to, 
 and they never lost a word of them as they were read." 
 So writes one who heard them, and adds, "I think 
 there never was a man that came closer to children than 
 he did, and when he spoke every one listened. These 
 
32 
 
 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 little stories were gems that every child remembered, and 
 on any Christmas could tell just what the preceding 
 Christmas gift was and all about it." The custom of 
 putting thoughts for the children in story form at Christ- 
 mas and Easter was one which Mr. Giles continued, and 
 his stories were enjoyed no less by the children in New 
 York and Philadelphia. 
 
 As for the old dissensions in the Cincinnati Society, 
 Mr. Giles treated them as he almost always did such 
 things, — he ignored them altogether. He declined to 
 listen to complaints of one against another. He was 
 watched to see with what party he would side, but it was 
 as it had been in school when the children tried to detect 
 partiality, — there was none to find. Under such treat- 
 ment dissensions could not live. 
 
 At the end of one year's ministry in Cincinnati, the 
 society voted to employ Mr. Giles for another year. As 
 the second year drew to its close in the autumn of 1855, 
 Mr. Giles received an invitation to go to Boston to act as 
 assistant to the Rev. Thomas Worcester. The invitation 
 was declined, but the thought of losing Mr. Giles seems 
 to have awakened the Cincinnati Society to the need of 
 making his relation with them more permanent, and they 
 asked him to become their pastor. He accepted the 
 position October 6, 1855. He records in his journal his 
 desire and intention to be a devoted pastor, to enter upon 
 a more thorough course of study, to perfect himself as 
 much as possible as a preacher, and to become better 
 acquainted with the peojile, and strive to do all that he 
 can for their si)iritual good. 
 
 The work in Cincinnati was laborious. It was usual 
 
CHA UNCE V GIL ES. 
 
 33 
 
 for Mr. Giles to teach a class in the Sunday-school ; 
 ' ' hear a class, ' ' he always said, which suggests that with 
 him scholars were not passive listeners. The morning 
 service followed. In the afternoon he often drove to 
 Glendale, a suburb of Cincinnati, and preached, returning 
 to lecture in the evening. For a time he gave lectures 
 Wednesday evenings, and a class of ladies met Saturdays 
 at his house. Calls to attend funerals were frequent ; it 
 was the exception when a week passed without one, and 
 on many Sundays a funeral was attended before morning 
 service or between services. It was not the custom in 
 those days to take long summer vacations, and the work 
 in the hot weather, with short intermission, was exhaust- 
 ing. For some years Mr. Giles suffered with his throat, 
 and feared that the trouble would interfere with his work. 
 The most serious interruption was in the winter of i860, 
 when on account of feeble health he visited New Orleans, 
 being absent two months. 
 
 In 1858 a new responsibility came to Mr. Giles in his 
 election as president of the Urbana University. He 
 never made Urbana his home, but for several years exer- 
 cised a general oversight of the institution and visited it 
 occasionally. 
 
 A tone of discouragement is noticeable in Mr. Giles's 
 private record of his early ministry, but it was not felt by 
 others. His influence in the society, in the Sunday- 
 school, and at home was uniformly cheerful. He was 
 dissatisfied with his extempore speaking, and thought 
 himself too old to learn to do it well. He also concluded 
 rather hastily in those days that he never should be able 
 to write an interesting course of lectures. He was some- 
 c 
 
PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 times disheartened when the attendance at service was 
 small, and would fear that his usefulness in that place was 
 nearly ended. Indeed, he never could quite overcome a 
 little depression when he was obliged to speak to ' ' empty 
 benches." 
 
 Mr. Giles wrote, August 9, 1863, when thirty years of 
 his best work were still before him, — 
 
 "I now begin the work of another year with many doubts and 
 misgivings and with Httle apparent strength for the work. I do not 
 think I shall accomplish much, and I fear I shall not do much more 
 in this world. How little, oh, how little I have done ! — almost nothing 
 it would seem. And I feel that my powers are failing in some 
 respects. I may preach better perhaps. But I do not know. There 
 ought to be ten or fifteen years of good hard work in me yet." 
 
 But another spirit was gaining strength which over- 
 came any natural despondency. A week later than the 
 above he writes, — 
 
 " I am trying to bring myself into a state to do my duty and leave 
 the results with the Lord. I know that the Lord requires only my 
 duty. Results are with Him alone. We have nothing to do with 
 them." 
 
 To this trust was added, as years went on, an undoubt- 
 ing confidence in the triumph of the truth, and in the 
 real success of every effort to advance the cause of the 
 Lord's church, which was inspiring to all who felt its 
 influence. 
 
 Mr. Giles, soon after he became a minister, was recog- 
 nized as one of the ablest preachers in the New Church. 
 His preaching from the first possessed the same elements 
 of strength which afterwards made it so effective in other 
 fields. He felt the need of ' ' more plainness and direct- 
 
CHAUXCEY GILES. 
 
 35 
 
 ness in preaching and talking about the spirit;" and 
 spiritual things, as he spoke of them, became substantial 
 realities. Subjects often treated in a vague and abstract 
 way he made clear by regarding them from universal 
 principles. He was fond of speaking of religion as a 
 spiritual science, and of showing that spiritual truth has 
 the same logical unity and the same certainty as truth of 
 natural science. Knowing that the same Divine laws 
 rule in all realms of the creation, in mind and matter, in 
 heaven and earth, he looked to nature and to natural life 
 for illustration of spiritual truth. He had remarkable 
 facility in such illustration. He also made frequent use 
 of the principle that the Lord works always like Himself. 
 By studying His methods in a plant which we hold in 
 our hand we may learn of man's regeneration. "How 
 often," writes a friend, "has he taken as his illustration 
 an egg, a seed, the eye, a watch, an engine, and presented 
 it in such a way that the spiritual truth he wanted to teach 
 blossomed in the mind as he talked of the natural image !' ' 
 Mr. Giles had no taste for minute study of fine points, 
 and never burdened his sermons with them, but set him- 
 self to teach the great essential principles of the New 
 Church with all possible clearness and force. A hopeful, 
 joyful spirit pervaded his preaching, — a deep sense of the 
 wonderful goodness of the Lord and of the beauty of the 
 heavenly life. He did not threaten and condemn, but 
 won the heart to the goodness of living with the Lord. 
 He was not discouraging to weak and sinful souls, but 
 inspired them with new hope and resolution. Mr. Giles's 
 manner in the pulpit was simple and earnest ; his voice 
 was of unusual strength and of a sympathetic quality. 
 
36 
 
 /'A'OCy^'£SS AV SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 There were times when the tenderness of his own feeling 
 made it difficult for him to speak. Some would say that 
 Mr. Giles was persuasive. It was not so in any artful 
 sense, but his manner was tender and at the same time 
 expressive of his own intense conviction of the truth of 
 what he said. 
 
 Mr. Giles was always in the effort to improve his 
 preaching-, and often expressed the belief that there are 
 new and better ways of presenting spiritual truth yet to 
 be discovered. Early in his ministry he wrote, — 
 
 " I am more and more dissatisfied with tlie effect of preaching ; it 
 does not seem to me to be as efficient and well directed as it ought 
 to be, certainly not if its main object is to teach spiritual truth. No 
 system of science could be taught in such a hap hazard manner witli 
 any success. There is certainly great room for improvement in my 
 mode of preaching, and I mean to effect it." 
 
 A year later he writes, — 
 
 " It does seem as though more might be made of the sermon in 
 the New Church. But I have not found the way yet, and I do not 
 know who has. \'ery little good seems to grow out of it yet." 
 
 And once more, — 
 
 " I am satisfied that ordinary sermons are but little use. They 
 are too fragmentary. They give truth in bits without showing its 
 relation. W'e are yet far from the true method, and I am too old to 
 do much in finding or practising a better." 
 
 It was probably his desire to make preaching more 
 connected and systematic which led Mr. Giles often to 
 write sermons in connected series, keejiing the thought 
 of the congregation upon one subject for a considerable 
 time. The ex])ressions of dissatisfaction are interesting 
 as illustrating Mr. Giles's desire for improvement, for he 
 
CIIAUNCKY GILES. 
 
 37 
 
 did not become too old to enjoy trying new tilings and 
 new ways if they gave promise to be better than the old. 
 But no one will accept his own estimate of his preaching. 
 
 Though Mr. Giles excelled as a preacher, he was per- 
 haps equally helpful to the church in other ways. He 
 was always a peace-maker. His almost overwhelming 
 sense of the greatness of the work intrusted to us by the 
 Lord made all personal feelings and dissensions seem 
 wholly out of place. All our time and strength are 
 needed for the work. He was wonderfully successful in 
 finding money for church uses, and he did it not by beg- 
 ging, but by helping people to realize that they have no 
 money of their own, but that what they have is intrusted 
 to them by the Lord to make useful. 
 
 Mr. Giles was a leader always, but a leader whose rule 
 was scarcely felt. He never forced his will upon others, 
 but taught the true principles of action and waited 
 patiently. He prepared the ground and sowed the seed 
 and gave it time to grow. An example of this is found in 
 his relation with the first church of which he was pastor. 
 
 The Cincinnati Society, when Mr. Giles became its 
 pastor, was not connected with the General Society of 
 the New Church in Ohio, nor with the General Conven- 
 tion in the United States. Mr. Giles believed that asso- 
 ciation is orderly and useful ; that so a power and free- 
 dom of action are gained which an individual or a society 
 does not enjoy which stands alone, but he was willing to 
 wait till the usefulness of union commended itself to 
 others. He had himself been received as a member of 
 the General Convention at the meeting in Boston, June 
 30, 1855. In 1857, through Mr. Giles's influence, the 
 
 4 
 
PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 Convention met in Cincinnati ; and September 5, i860, 
 [lis patience was rewarded by the society's voting to join 
 the General Society of the New Church in Ohio, which 
 was a member of the General Convention. ' ' This I 
 have long desired, ' ' Mr. Giles writes, ' ' and I have no 
 doubt it will be of great use to the church generally. ' ' 
 It is remarkable that a similar experience was repeated in 
 New York, and again in Philadelphia. The society in 
 New York had withdrawn from the Convention, and had 
 worked alone twelve years when Mr. Giles became its 
 pastor. Some one remarked to Mr. Giles when he went 
 to New York, "You need not expect to induce this 
 society to join the Convention ; it never will." To 
 which he replied, " I shall not try to induce you, but you 
 will do it." A year later the society joined with others 
 in the neighborhood to form the New York Association, 
 which after another year united with the general body of 
 the church. The situation in Philadelphia was peculiar. 
 For years the President of the Convention was pastor of 
 a society which was not connected with that body ; but 
 patient waiting and the principle of use prevailed. 
 
 The society in Cincinnati, at the time of Mr. Giles's 
 coming, occupied a church on Longworth Street, which 
 was dark and noisy and unsuital)le. Mr. Giles was ear- 
 nest that they should have a better home. Finally he 
 preached a sermon in which he contrasted the elegance 
 of the people's dwellings with the poorness of the house 
 provided for the worship of the Lord. A friend remarked 
 to him at the close of the service, " Mr. Giles, that ser- 
 mon will do one of two things : it will drive you out of 
 this church, or the whole congregation." It had the 
 
CHAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 39 
 
 latter effect, but not immediately. The society took up 
 the question in earnest in the spring of i860. A lot on 
 one of the most central corners in the city was bought, 
 and plans were being considered when the breaking out 
 of the Civil War put a stop to all enterprise, and the 
 ground was returned to its f®rmer owners. But before 
 Mr. Giles left Cincinnati a better home for the society 
 was provided. The church on the corner of Fourth and 
 John Streets, now occupied by the society, was bought, 
 and January 17, 1864, it was dedicated. 
 
 At the same time that the new church was being pre- 
 pared, Mr. Giles was considering a proposition to remove 
 to New York. He had declined the invitation to Boston 
 some years before, and had already declined an invitation 
 to New York. This time he decided to go, and on Feb- 
 ruary I, 1864, presented his resignation, to take effect 
 the 1st of the following May. The reasons which led to 
 this change are shown in letters written by Mr. Giles to 
 the society. Referring to the lighter work in a new field, 
 he says, — 
 
 "This would give me leisure for more pastoral duty and time to 
 prepare some works for the press, which I have long contemplated 
 and which men of good judgment tliink might be of much use. And 
 it is a question with me whether I might not be more widely and 
 permanently useful to the church if by using the materials already 
 accumulated I could find time to prepare my discourses with more 
 care, and address a wider audience through the press." 
 
 He speaks most affectionately of his relations with the 
 Cincinnati Society, — 
 
 " I feel bound to the society by many strong and tender ties, and 
 the thought of leaving you is always attended with pain. I have 
 
PROGRESS LY SPIRITUAL KXOIVLEDGE. 
 
 preached for you nearly one-fourtli of the existence of your society, 
 and I cannot recall an unpleasant word that has passed between me 
 and any member of the society or congregation during this time." 
 
 His letter of resignation shows that the consideration 
 mentioned in the former letter prevailed, — 
 
 " I know I could not much longer perform the duties which the 
 society requires and which the wants of the church demand. My 
 health is good now, but I know that I have not the power of pro- 
 longed labor that I had a few years ago, and I see unmistakable 
 signs that the power is constantly diminishing. I think I can be 
 more useful to the church and to my family to accept the way Divine 
 Providence has opened for me, to get relief from the great and con- 
 tinued pressure of writing, and so use my remaining strength and 
 direct it in such channels that it may be the most available for the 
 use of the church." 
 
 The last months of Mr. Giles's stay in Cincinnati were 
 especially happy ones. The society was occupying the 
 pleasant church lately pro\ ided, the attendance at wor- 
 ship was large, and many persons united with the church 
 by baptism or confirmation. On Sunday, April 17, thirty 
 persons, ten adults and tw enty children, were baptized ; 
 and on the following Sunday, which was the last on which 
 Mr. Giles preached as pastor of the society, eighteen per- 
 sons were confirmed. ' ' It was a most beautiful and 
 interesting sight," he writes, "and rejoiced my heart 
 greatly. I seemed to be reaping the harvest of my past 
 labors." The Holy Sup])er was administered to one 
 hundred and twenty-five conmumicants, although the day 
 was stormy. " This is four or five times as many as were 
 present when I administered it the first time. The Lord 
 be praised for it all." 
 
 While connected with tlic Cincinnati Society, Mr. Giles 
 
CHAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 41 
 
 received the powers of Ordaining Minister or General 
 Pastor at the meeting of the General Convention in Phila- 
 delphia, June 14, 1863. 
 
 The affection between Mr. Giles and the Cincinnati 
 Society was strong and always continued so. There was 
 in it something of that friendliness which belongs to a 
 new country where people have been drawn closely 
 together by the hardships of pioneer life. But a short 
 time before his death he wrote, — 
 
 "I cannot tell you how much it gratifies me to know that I still 
 hold a warm place in the hearts of my old and new friends in Cin- 
 cinnati. I think the members of the New Church there seem nearer 
 to me than they do at any other place. They were my first love in 
 the church, and I think of them as they were when we lived there 
 and they became a part of my life " 
 
 The work in New York began in May, 1864, and con- 
 tinued for nearly fourteen years. It could hardly be 
 called lighter than the work in Cincinnati. It did, how- 
 ever, lead to the printing of articles and books, the use 
 which Mr. Giles had especially in view in making the 
 change. Until this time very few of Mr. Giles's sermons 
 or lectures had been printed, though for years the manu- 
 scripts had been borrowed and read in several small socie- 
 ties which were without ministers. 
 
 The winter after going to New York Mr. Giles lectured 
 in the church on Thirty-Fifth Street on Sunday evenings, 
 from October to March. He began in November a series 
 of six lectures on the spiritual world. The first lecture 
 of the series was entitled ' ' The Answer of the New- 
 Jerusalem Church to the Questions : What is Spirit ? 
 What is the Spiritual World ? Where is it ? and What 
 
 4* 
 
PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 are its Relations to this World?" Mr. Giles notes that 
 the house was completely filled and some went away. 
 The church was crowded throughout the course. After 
 the delivery of the first lecture the suggestion was made 
 that it should be printed and be ready for distribution the 
 next Sunday evening. This was done, and the experi- 
 ment seemed so useful that it was continued through the 
 course, five hundred copies of each lecture being printed 
 for free distribution. These lectures as printed from week 
 to week became afterwards the basis of the little book 
 " The Nature of Spirit, and of Man as a Spiritual Being," 
 which has proved the most popular of any book of the 
 New Church. It has been issued in several languages 
 and editions, and its circulation has probably reached one 
 hundred thousand copies. The lectures were written 
 from week to week for the next Sunday's use, w'ith no 
 thought of making a book ; and when they were first 
 published Mr. Giles was too busy to revise them, and 
 they were seen through the press by a friend. This was 
 characteristic of Mr. Giles's literary work. Of all that 
 he has published very little has been written originally for 
 that purpose, or has received the careful finish which an 
 author expects to give to a book. He wrote right along, 
 with a plan of what he intended to say, but allowing his 
 subject to grow and develop as he went ; and as it was 
 written, so it usually stood, with little change or revision. 
 
 In closing the lectures of the first winter in New York, 
 Mr. Giles says, — 
 
 " They have been the most successful course I have ever delivered. 
 The attendance has been good throughout, and the interest quite 
 profound. Kleven of them have been printed and very extensively 
 
CHAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 43 
 
 circulated through the country. Tiiey have oeeii read in many 
 societies and sent to a great number of individuals, and I trust 
 something has been done to help forward the cause of humanity, 
 and to establish the kingdom of God upon earth." 
 
 The success of the first season's lectures in New 
 York led to a bolder attempt the following year to bring 
 the truths of the New Church before the public. The 
 great hall of the Cooper Union was secured for a course 
 of five Sunday evening lectures. The subjects were 
 "Death," "The Resurrection of Man," "The Life of 
 Man after Death," " Swedenborg, " and "The New 
 Church a New Dispensation of Divine Truth." The 
 hall was well filled at every meeting ; probably fifteen 
 hundred people were present at some of the lectures, and 
 the attention was good. But the visible effect of the 
 lectures was disappointing. A few persons were drawn 
 to the society, and doubtless a use was done in intro- 
 ducing the New Church to the community and removing 
 prejudices against it. "Mr. Giles did his work well," 
 writes a friend ; "his heart was in it ; he was satisfied ; 
 for, as he encouragingly said, ' No one knows the result 
 of the planting.' " 
 
 Further remembrances of Mr. Giles in New York by 
 the same good friend are too pleasant to withhold, — 
 
 " There was nothing dramatic in the life of Mr. Giles, neither did 
 he pose for effect before the world. His motives and purposes were 
 far beyond such littleness. His purely pastoral life can be com- 
 pared to the smooth flowing of a brook through grassy meadows 
 and flowering shrubs. The turbulent stream from the mountain- 
 side had no counterpart in his nature. This phase of his being is 
 beautifully illustrated by his writings : classic in style, apparently 
 simple, they have a power and directness which go to the very core 
 
PROGRESS LV SPIRITUAL k'XOU'LEDGE. 
 
 of his subject, sounding deptlis of truth brought to the surface by 
 great minds only. Dignity and self-control governed his character, 
 while composure and gentleness marked his daily life ; add grace 
 and a quiet humor in his intercourse with others, and the true 
 gentleman is in view. The world is the better for his living, and 
 the New Church a gainer by his faith and love for her doctrines, 
 which were intense. 
 
 "His calmness and self-possession may be illustrated by two inci- 
 dents in his New York pulpit. The usual services had been com- 
 pleted, and he rose up to deliver his sermon, but could not find the 
 manuscript ; all of his jiockets were explored in vain. He quietly 
 left the desk, went to his house a square off, returned with the 
 missing manuscript, and delivered a very able sermon, not at all 
 disconcerted by the singular circumstance. The congregation 
 waited his return quietly, but with a bit of su])i)ressed amusement. 
 
 "On another Sunday morning the congregation had assembled, 
 the time had arrived for the service, but Mr. Giles had not been 
 seen. One of his sons was sent to look him up. He was found in 
 his study writing, and deep in thought ; when told the congregation 
 was waiting his presence, 'Bless my soul!' was the reply. His 
 opening words at the service betrayed no flurry over the delay." 
 
 It wa.s tlurinij his stay in New York that Mr. Giles 
 delivered in the church on Tliirty- Fifth Street his lec- 
 tures on " Our Children in the Other Life." They were 
 at first printed as leaflets, and have now for many years 
 been pul)lished in more convenient form. They are full 
 of comfort. With the tenderest sympathy they lift up 
 the thought to iieaven, and tell of the homes prepared 
 l)y the Lord for -His little ones, where, secure from every 
 danger, they develop imder angels' care in the eternal 
 spring. They have brought consolation to thousands 
 of sorrowing hearts. 
 
 A new avenue of usefulness was opened to Mr. Giles 
 in 1865, when he was as.sociatcd with Mr. Thomas 
 
CIIAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 45 
 
 Hitchcock in the editorial charge of the New-Jerusalem 
 Messejigcr. From May i, 1873, to January, 1878, Mr. 
 Giles was sole editor. He was also editor of the Chil- 
 dreyi' s New- Church Magazine from 1868 to January 30, 
 1872, when it was discontinued. This editorial care 
 added greatly to his labor. There is no more exacting 
 master than a periodical, which must be ready each week 
 on time whether there are contributions or not, whether 
 one is sick or well. Mr. Giles often was obliged to write 
 a considerable part of the paper himself and for a time 
 he attended also to the details of proof-reading and the 
 making up of the paper. He also contributed generously 
 to the Children s Magaziyie, and told to a wider circle 
 of children such pleasant and instructive stories as had 
 been enjoyed by his Sunday-schools. 
 
 In 1875, while Mr. Giles was pastor of the New York 
 Society, he was elected president of the General Con- 
 vention of the New Jerusalem in the United States, suc- 
 ceeding the Rev. Thomas Worcester ; and he held the 
 position until his death, a period of eighteen years. In 
 the general body of the church, as in the societies with 
 which he was connected, Mr. Giles was a warm supporter 
 of practical uses and a leader in them. The missionary 
 cause was especially dear to him, and the printing and 
 publishing of the doctrines. His earnestness in the 
 work of the church, his confidence in the support of the 
 Divine Providence, and in the ability of the people to 
 supply the means to do their part, were inspiring, and 
 led to substantial results. Mr. Giles's annual addresses 
 as president of the Convention presented in practical 
 ways the principles which should guide the church in its 
 
46 PKOGKESS IX SriRirrAL KXOIVLEDGE. 
 
 work. The address seemed to sound the key-note of 
 the session, and it was a note of harmony and practical 
 usefulness. His very earnestness that the church should 
 be at work actively furthering the great uses intrusted 
 to it made Mr. Giles impatient of obstruction, and even 
 of parliamentary forms, when they seemed to retard the 
 uses which he had so much at heart. He recognized 
 this quality in himself as a defect in a presiding officer, 
 and it was his custom of late years to intrust the con- 
 duct of the business to the vice-president. He thought, 
 however, and probably with truth, that his own ignorance 
 of rules had been useful to the church in leading to less 
 regard for mere technicalities. Mr. Giles's presence 
 always seemed to give deliberations a higher tone, and 
 when he spoke it was often to lift discussion above minor 
 difterences to the more spiritual plane of use, where all 
 could unite, and where the light of heaven shines. Mr. 
 Giles's influence in public meetings and at all times was 
 for peace. He avoided controversy, especially upon 
 sacred subjects, usually preferring that attacks upon 
 himself or his views should go unanswered. He bore 
 no malice towards those who opposed him, and remem- 
 bered nothing against tliem when they showed a desire 
 to join helpfully in the common work. 
 
 The same year that Mr. Giles became president of the 
 Convention he made his first trip abroad. He landed in 
 Liverpool, and, after some pleasant days in Scotland, 
 went to London, where he received a warm, even en- 
 thusiastic, welcome at the Argyle Square church. He 
 found himself at once among friends, for his sermons, 
 and especially the lectures on "The Nature of Spirit" 
 
CIIA UNCE y GIL ES. 
 
 47 
 
 and on "The Incarnation and Atonement," had been 
 widely read on the other side of the water. The mem- 
 bers of the New Church in England were glad to see 
 and hear and know personally one whose writings they so 
 highly valued. Mr. Giles felt very deeply the kindness 
 shown him on this and subsequent visits, and close friend- 
 ships were formed with his English brethren. Writing 
 home to the Messenger, from England, he once said, — 
 
 " I found I was not a stranger. I could not make myself one. 
 They not only took me by the hand, but by the heart. I was a 
 friend and a brother and at home. A feeling would sometimes 
 come over me that I must have seen them and known them before. 
 I hope the cordiality of my welcome and the impossibility of feeling 
 that I was among strangers may be accounted for by the great law 
 of spiritual association, according to which those of a homogeneous 
 nature feel as though they had always known one another when 
 they first meet. I am sure I shall always remember their kindness 
 and unremitting eftbrts to make my visit a pleasant one, with pro- 
 found gratitude. I feel that I have been greatly benefited by my 
 intercourse with them. It has enlarged the horizon of my thoughts 
 and affections, and enriched my mind with many charming scenes 
 and pleasant memories, which will be a comfort and delight during 
 my whole life." 
 
 On his first visit, in 1875, Mr. Giles attended the New- 
 Church Conference in Manchester, as the official mes- 
 senger of the Convention, and received the kindest hos- 
 pitality. He continued his journey to the continent. 
 Availing himself of the kind escort of a friend to Ger- 
 many, he afterwards wandered alone into Italy, and, 
 tempted from place to place, feeling that this was prob- 
 ably his only chance to see the historic cities, he visited 
 Venice and extended his journey to Rome, seeing some- 
 thing of Switzerland and Paris before his return. 
 
48 PKOGRKSS LV SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 But the first trip to Europe was not the last. Mr. 
 Giles visited his friends across the Atlantic five times in 
 all. In 1878, which was the summer following his re- 
 moval from New York to Philadelphia, he made his 
 second voyage, accompanied by his wife and youngest 
 son. The chief mission of this visit was to the New- 
 Church friends in Paris. It is difficult for us in a country 
 where religious thought and expression are so free, to 
 realize the discouragements under which the little circle 
 of New-Churchmen in Paris were struggling, oppressed 
 by the influence of the Church of Rome, and by the 
 government, and by their own fears. Mr. Giles was 
 much touched by their position, especially by the noble 
 and untiring efforts of Mile. Holmes, now Mme. Charles 
 Humann. He secured the kind offices of the United 
 States government and obtained a letter to the French 
 government from President Hayes, testifying to the 
 orderly character of New-Churchmen in our country, 
 which was the means of securing permission for the 
 little circle in Paris to meet for worship unmolested. At 
 this visit Mr. Giles assisted in the organization of the 
 Paris Society, addressing them through an interpreter. 
 The little circle, lonely, timid, and oppressed, received 
 strength and hoj)e from Mr. Giles, with his free Amer- 
 ican .spirit, and his sublime confidence in the truths of 
 the New Church and their triumph in the world. There 
 was a delay of several weeks in receiving the necessary 
 permission of the government, and the time was spent 
 in part in travel. The journey included a trip to Scotlantl 
 with a tleliglitful visit in Paisley. Mr. Giles was again 
 cordially welcomed in London ; he attended the Con- 
 
CHAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 49 
 
 ference in Salford, and before sailing for home he re- 
 ceived the warmest expressions of affection and esteem 
 in Birmingham and Manchester. 
 
 The following year Mr. Giles again made a vacation 
 trip to England, accompanied by one of his sons. The 
 experiences of this journey are fully recorded in a series 
 of interesting letters written by Mr. Giles to the Mes- 
 senger. He preached on the steamer on the outward 
 voyage, as he did on several of his voyages, and this time 
 awakened a somewhat remarkable interest. He attended 
 the Conference in Dr. Bayley's church in London. He 
 visited Paris again, and encouraged the faithful little 
 group of New-Churchmen in that city, baptizing some 
 of their number. Before sailing for home he visited the 
 beautiful church lately finished at Birmingham. The next 
 year, 1880, Mr. Giles crossed again, accompanied by Mrs. 
 Giles, and they enjoyed many pleasant experiences among 
 their new and old friends in Birmingham and Manchester, 
 and attended the Conference in Liverpool. The journey 
 was extended to the continent, and Mr. Giles visited Mr. 
 Mittnacht in Frankfort. 
 
 The last trip to Europe was in 1883. The chief pur- 
 pose of the visit was to dedicate the new church nearly 
 completed by the society in Paris. Mr. and Mrs. Giles 
 sailed to Antwerp. Some time was passed at Aix-la- 
 Chapelle, where Mr. Giles sought relief from rheumatism 
 by using the hot baths. They visited England and found 
 themselves among old friends, and afterwards crossed to 
 Paris, where the new church was dedicated by Mr. Giles, 
 assisted by the Rev. John Presland, of London. 
 
 These visits abroad, which were enjoyed through the 
 
PROGRESS IX SPIRITUAL KXOIVLEDGE. 
 
 kindness of a friend, gave Mr. Giles rest after seasons of 
 hard work, and the memory of them was a constant 
 pleasure to him. They served also a very real use to the 
 church in England and America, in strengthening the 
 bonds of sympathy between its branches. 
 
 The first visit abroad was made while Mr. Giles was 
 pastor of the New York Society, but before his second 
 visit he had removed to PhiladeljDhia. In performing the 
 double duty of pastor and editor, Mr. Giles worked be- 
 yond his strength, and in the autumn of 1877 he was very 
 ill. Before his health was fully restored he received an 
 invitation from the First New -Jerusalem Society of Phila- 
 delphia to become its pastor, and he began w-ork in the 
 new field the ist of January, 1878. There was an ap- 
 parent lack of worldly wisdom in the change. The society 
 in Philadelphia had been through hard experiences, and 
 at this time was weak and distracted by conflicting ele- 
 ments. Its most earnest and devoted members were 
 discouraged, and many persons who were stanch be- 
 lievers in the New-Church doctrines held aloof from the 
 society. There was little interest in the public worship, 
 and the means to support it were raised with difficulty. 
 Of this society Mr. Giles was in\ ited to become pastor, 
 at a salary much less than he was receiving in New York. 
 Why did he accept ? " Because," to use his own words, 
 ' ' I had an assured feeling, that amounted to a certainty, 
 that it was a call of the Divine Providence, to do a work 
 for the New Church which I could do in no other way. 
 I had no expectation of doing anything more than help 
 you to become more united and work together more 
 harmoniously and efficiently for your own spiritual good 
 
CIIAUNCEY GILES. 51 
 
 and the prosperity of the church. But so sure was I that 
 it was a call from a higher source than your society, that 
 I had no doubt, and no hesitation in accepting it." Mr. 
 Giles also had in mind some books which he had not 
 found leisure in New York to put on paper. 
 
 What Mr. Giles hoped for in coming to Philadelphia 
 he saw accomplished, and much more. But he was far 
 from taking credit to himself It was the Lord's work, 
 and if he was the leader in it, he was supported by faith- 
 ful, devoted helpers, without whom nothing could have 
 been done. 
 
 It is useful to notice the more important steps by which 
 harmony and active life grew in the society. A begin- 
 ning must be made. It chanced to be the decoration of 
 the windows of the church which the society then occu- 
 pied, on the corner of Broad and Brandy wine Streets. 
 Next the purcliase of a new organ was undertaken, with 
 many misgivings. " The difficulties of paying for it," to 
 use Mr. Giles's words, "were not overestimated. The 
 whole machinery and all the motive power of the society 
 were brought into requisition to raise the money. We 
 had suppers and sales, strawberry festivals and concerts 
 and lectures until every one was weary of them, and al- 
 most of the organ itself, which began to remind us of the 
 necessity for renewed effort to pay for the music. I think 
 the movement was useful to the society. It was move- 
 ment, and that of itself was worth more than the organ. 
 It awakened a more general interest in the society, brought 
 its members together and gave them some practice in 
 working together, and prepared them to take another 
 step when the time came for it." 
 
FROGI^ESS JN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 When ISIr. Giles had been in Philadelphia a year the 
 society recast its by-laws, providing for quarterly business 
 meetings, and for a Church Committee of nine members, 
 who should meet weekly with the pastor, to care for the 
 spiritual welfare of the society. In the Church Committee 
 almost every new movement originated, and was carefully 
 considered before being presented to the society. Mr. 
 Giles kept the committee on the alert to find new and 
 better ways for the society to do its work. It must move 
 on, it must improve, or it would go backward. The 
 freest expression of opinion was encouraged in the com- 
 mittee, but its members learned to differ kindly, and to 
 set aside personal preferences for the good of the society. 
 The same spirit extended to the larger body.- No im- 
 portant step was taken in the committee or in the society 
 till it could be taken with practical unanimity. 
 
 In the autumn of 1879 the New Church in Philadelphia 
 came into unexpected prominence. It had already been 
 found that Mr. Giles's lectures attracted larger audiences 
 than the church building could well accommodate, and in 
 opening the autumn course it was decided to secure the 
 hall of the Young Men's Christian Association, where 
 Mr. Giles had once before lectured. Unexpectedly the 
 hall was refused on the ground that the New Church is 
 not "evangelical." The first lecture of the proposed 
 series, on "Spiritual Death," was accordingly advertised 
 to be given in the church, though the advertisement re- 
 ferred to the disappointment in not obtaining the hall. 
 Dr. E. L. Magoon, pastor of the Baptist Church at Broad 
 and Brown Streets, generously, and not without bringing 
 censure upon himself, offered Mr. Giles his church. He 
 
CHAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 53 
 
 put his offer in writing, and with characteristic bluntness 
 addressed Mr. Giles as "My dear F"ellovv-Sinner, " say- 
 ing, ' ' They may deny that you are evangelical, but they 
 will admit that we are all sinners. ' ' The newspapers of 
 the city published the incident widely, which gave op- 
 portunity to make it generally known that "the doc- 
 trines held by Swedenborgians are evangelical in the 
 sense of affirming and teaching the supreme and sole 
 Divinity of Jesus Christ, and the absolute dependence of 
 every one upon Him for salvation ; the absolute neces- 
 sity of faith in Him as the Redeemer, Regenerator, and 
 Saviour of men ; and the verbal and plenary inspiration 
 of the Sacred Scriptures." Dr. Magoon's church was 
 crowded to overflowing on two Sunday evenings to hear 
 Mr. Giles. It was impossible to invite the crowds now 
 attracted to the lectures to the little church at Broad and 
 Brandywine Streets, and the course was continued in the 
 Horticultural Hall, then the largest hall in the city. It 
 needed a strong voice to fill the hall, and a clear pres- 
 entation of the truth to hold the attention of the in- 
 creasing audiences which gathered to hear. But Mr. 
 Giles was fully equal to the occasion. 
 
 The same winter Mr. Giles delivered in the church a 
 series of discourses on " The Garden of Eden," and the 
 house was overcrowded throughout the course. These 
 were followed by another series of discourses upon the 
 Lord, beginning with one entitled "Who was Jesus 
 Christ?" delivered April 4, 1880. We note the subject 
 and the date, because in connection with this lecture a 
 new step was taken, which, though small in itself, led to 
 great results. 
 
 5* 
 
FROGi^ESS IX SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 In a Church Committee meeting Mr. Giles asked what 
 new work could be thought of to extend the influence of 
 the society, and keep the interest of its members awake 
 and active. He mentioned the plan of publishing a few 
 discourses from week to week as they were delivered, 
 which seemed to work well and to be useful in New York. 
 Mr. T. S. Arthur said, "Let us try it for two or three 
 weeks at least." It was done, and the first discourse 
 printed was the one named, of which many thousands 
 have since been distributed. From that time it became 
 a custom with the society to publish Mr. Giles's discourse 
 of one Sunday for distribution the next Sunday. Hun- 
 dreds were taken away each week, and some persons 
 who did not attend the church received them regularly. 
 The members of the society made it their duty to dis- 
 tribute the sermons wherever they might be useful. 
 
 The large attendance to hear Mr. Giles was meantime 
 suggesting the necessity of a new and larger church. 
 Reminding the people some years later of the beginning 
 of this movement, Mr. Giles said, "None of you will 
 forget how impossible of accomplishment it seemed at 
 first to almost every member of the society. It was too 
 absurd to consider for a moment. There was not sufii- 
 cient money in the society to do it. Those who put the 
 mildest construction on the idea regarded it as most 
 visionary and impractical, and if it had been pressed at 
 first with any degree of pertinacity it would have been 
 promptly rejected. But the seed was quietly planted 
 and bc.san to grow." 
 
 By the ist of June, 1881, a lot had been bought, and 
 March 11, 1883, the church at the corner of Twenty- 
 
CHAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 55 
 
 second and Chestnut Streets, now occupied by the Phila- 
 delphia Society, was dedicated. It is a beautiful church 
 of ample size, with a connecting building in which are a 
 cheerful Sunday-school room and parlors and library and 
 book-room. The whole, when finished, cost about one 
 hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and there was prac- 
 tically no debt upon it at its dedication. Still better than 
 this was the harmony which prevailed throughout the 
 work. Mr. Giles writes, — 
 
 " There were differences of opinion about some minor matters of 
 detail, but they were amicably adjusted to the general satisfaction 
 of all. It is said that no workman in the erection of the buildings 
 was seriously injured. The same can be said of the feelings of the 
 members of the society. It is not often that so large and important 
 an enterprise is carried to completion with so little friction and with 
 such apparent ease and general satisfaction." 
 
 The success in raising the large sum of money was due 
 largely to Mr. Giles's teaching that we are stewards of 
 the Lord's goods, which it is a duty and privilege to use 
 for the best interests of His kingdom. The money for 
 the church was more cheerfully and probably more easily 
 raised than the money for an organ had been a few years 
 before. The harmonious spirit of the work was also due 
 largely to Mr. Giles's wisdom. When small differences 
 arose he laid personal preferences aside, and helped the 
 society to decide every question on the ground of use. 
 Should there be one reading-desk or two ? Mr. Giles 
 was here to preach the truth ; he would do it from a 
 music-stand if need be. Let not any trifling external 
 thing cause the great spiritual use to be forgotten. 
 
 In a little more than five years Mr. Giles had brought 
 
56 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 the Philadelphia Society from a state of discord and in- 
 activity to one of harmony and usefulness. It had left a 
 small and unattractive church for one commodious and 
 beautiful. It had become known and influential in the 
 city. And not in the city alone. A characteristic of 
 Mr. Giles, to which some members of the society attrib- 
 ute its prosperity under his care more than to any other, 
 was his desire to reach out to help others besides our- 
 selves. He recognized it as a law of life and growth that 
 what we have must not be enjoyed selfishly : it must be 
 passed on for the blessing of others. 
 
 Mr. Giles saw great value in the library and reading- 
 room connected with the church, and did all that he 
 could to develop their usefulness. Here members of the 
 congregation and strangers could find New-Church books 
 and tracts ; and here they could meet for study and vari- 
 ous church interests through the week. The uses of the 
 book-room were organized under the name of the New- 
 Church Book Association of Philadelphia, of which Mr. 
 Giles was made president. The work of the American 
 New-Church Tract and Publication Society was also 
 transferred to these rooms, and Mr. Giles rejoiced to see 
 its increasing business giving regular employment to 
 many of the young people of the church. These active 
 uses he saw would do much to strengthen the love for 
 the church and to e.xtend the influence of Sunday through 
 the week. 
 
 The Tract Society had been organized in 1865, some 
 years before Mr. Giles came to Philadelphia. And 
 through the generous co-operation of the publishing 
 house of J. B. Lippincott & Co., at a time when the 
 
CHAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 57 
 
 works of Swedenborg were almost unknown to the pub- 
 lic, and were regarded with prejudice by religious 
 teachers, the society had done a great use in publishing 
 the books in handsome form through the usual channels 
 of trade. Mr. Giles was connected with the society from 
 the time of his coming to Philadelphia, and upon the 
 death of Mr. T. S. Arthur, in 1885, he became its presi- 
 dent. During the years of his association with the so- 
 ciety, and largely through his influence, its work greatly 
 increased, especially in the publication and distribution 
 of tracts. The printing of Mr. Giles's sermons from 
 week to week led to a regular weekly distribution 
 through the mails, \\hich in time became so large that 
 in 1888, for convenience and economy, the tracts were 
 given the form of a periodical, with the title of The 
 Helper. The work continued to grow, till a recent re- 
 port of the Tract Society showed an average distribution 
 of Helpers and other tracts for the year of over one thou- 
 sand a day. The publication of books was meantime not 
 neglected. In all this work Mr. Giles was the leader. 
 He always advocated printing as the most economical 
 and effective means of reaching the public, and did much 
 to awaken the church to the importance of this mode of 
 teaching. In recording their appreciation of Mr. Giles's 
 service in its work, the managers of the Tract Society 
 said, "He has furnished the most useful sermons and 
 lectures and books for publication ; he has, by his broad 
 sympathies and by his knowledge of the church through- 
 out our country and abroad, done more than any other 
 to lift the society's work above mere local uses to such 
 as are of service to the church at large. His annual re- 
 
58 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 ports, so full of love for the cause and of confidence in 
 its success, have called forth a general co-operation in 
 the work of the society, till it now has friends and sup- 
 porters wherever the New Church is known." 
 
 The last years of Mr. Giles's ministry were passed with 
 the Philadelphia Society, who were his devoted friends 
 and his faithful helpers in every enterprise. As his 
 physical strength grew less with advancing years, he 
 felt the need of a helper in his work. In May, 1885, the 
 present writer was called, and for eight years and a half 
 was his assistant and a member of his family. Mr. Giles's 
 kindness in this relation was most generous and abso- 
 lutely unfailing. He gave wise counsel, yet allowed the 
 fullest freedom. He was patient with shortcomings, and 
 was always ready with sympathy and encouragement. 
 
 For some years Mr. and Mrs. Giles spent their sum- 
 mer vacations at Lake George, in New York State. 
 Comfortably housed in "The Sagamore," Mr. Giles en- 
 joyed the society of friends who had cottages near by, 
 or who came and went among the summer guests. The 
 hotel stands on an island in the lake. The green lawn 
 which slopes to the water is shaded by forest foliage, 
 through which the sunshine falls upon the grass and white 
 birch stems. Across the water rise wooded mountains, 
 and in the lake are islands crowned with forest trees 
 which dip their overhanging branches. The air is cool, 
 and the scene one of peaceful beauty. Mr. Giles rested 
 in the shade or enjoyed a drive over the hills with friends ; 
 or he would row out into the lake, and, fastening his 
 boat to an overhanging tree, spend an hour in reading. 
 He wrote long and careful letters to his friends, full of 
 
CHAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 59 
 
 the peaceful beauty of his surroundings, and including, 
 as his letters always did, uplifting, encouraging thoughts. 
 
 Sunday frequently gave opportunity for the work he 
 loved. Service, for some seasons, was held in the woods 
 near the hotel, where the tree-trunks and arching branches 
 were the cathedral columns and roof, and the squirrels 
 listened with the audience. In later years, services were 
 held in a room of the hotel, and Mr. Giles took his turn 
 with other ministers. 
 
 The enjoyment of natural beauty was very deep with 
 Mr. Giles. It was to him not merely natural beauty, but 
 he saw in everything tokens of the Lord's love and wis- 
 dom. This habit of thought, which grew with every 
 year, had much to do with the ready illustration of spir- 
 itual truth by objects and phenomena of nature, which 
 added so much of clearness and beauty to his preaching. 
 He delighted also, as he looked upon the flowers or the 
 ripening fruit, to think, " The Lord is doing this for me 
 to-day. See His love and wisdom working before my 
 very eyes." 
 
 On an August day, in his quiet retreat, Mr. Giles wrote 
 in his journal, — 
 
 " Another of those calm, sweet, peaceful, and lovely Sabbath days. 
 A perfect type of peace and heaven. I have never seen such days 
 anywhere else. There are quiet and bright days everywhere. But 
 here are so many concomitants, so many things that conspire to the 
 same end. The lake sleeping and gently breathing in the bosom of 
 the hills. The hills, steadfast and quiet in their strength, looking 
 down and smiling upon the lake. The trees that stand as sentinels 
 to guard the islands and lawns, and with tlieir shade and beauty 
 make secluded places for the people to sit and muse and let the 
 beauty of the earth and the glory of the heavens melt into the soul. 
 
6o 
 
 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 The fleecy, gently-moving clouds whose motion suggests peaceful 
 rest. All nature suggests harmony, innocence, and peace." 
 
 One July day he wrote, — 
 
 " The ground is covered with the blossoms of the chestnut-trees. 
 The workmen are raking them off, and they make quite a windrow. 
 They have done their work, and now they pass away and cease to 
 hinder the work of forming the fruit. Is it not so with the natural 
 facts, the material ideas, in the growth of our own minds and in 
 every deed we do? We gain the reason, the way of doing things. 
 We learn facts ; we arrange and compare them, and use them in 
 accomplishing our work. But when we begin to work our mind is 
 not occupied with the reason, but with the work. The natural ideas 
 and reasons have faded away, and are set aside. The same prin- 
 ciple applies to the decay of the material body. It is a blossom 
 which performs an essential service, and when it has finished its use, 
 when it has done all it can for us, it fades and falls away, and leaves 
 us free from its encumbrance. 'We all do fade as a leaf In this 
 way we can see in nature as in a perfect mirror the principles and 
 the methods of Infinite Wisdom in accomplishing His purposes. The 
 Lord is continually working out the problems of life before our eyes." 
 
 Equally beautiful thoughts of the Lord's ever-present 
 love were suggested by the white summer clouds : 
 
 " They moved so gently, and their soft edges, bright with the glory 
 of the sun, melted into each other so tenderly, that they seemed the 
 perfect type of peace. I like to think that the Lord is doing all this. 
 He is in all His works. His tender mercies are over all His works. 
 How different nature looks when we regard it as what the Lord is 
 doing now !" 
 
 It was a trial to Mr. Giles to spend weeks and months 
 of every year in what seemed useless idleness. But he 
 found comfort in the reflection that our spiritual growth, 
 like the growth of a tree, is gentle and unconscious. It 
 must have its times of rest : 
 
CHAUNCRY GILES. 
 
 6i 
 
 " If a tree could keep a daily record of its life, what could it say? 
 ' A day of sunshine. I felt warm and comfortable. A pleasant breeze 
 moved my leaves and sent a gentle thrill through my body. But I 
 have done nothing but breathe and e.vist. I do not see that I have 
 done any good or gained any strength. Some children did come 
 and play in my shade, and a lady remarked how tall and beautiful I 
 was. So by the silent growth of many years I have been able to 
 perform some use.' So it must be with men. They are collecting 
 the natural and spiritual substances which the Lord forms into ves- 
 sels for the reception of life from Him." 
 
 The peaceful beauty of the mild summer days con- 
 stantly turned Mr. Giles's thoughts to the land of eternal 
 spring. Again and again he spoke of it : 
 
 " How beautiful it will be to live where the climate is exactly 
 suited to our tastes, where the restraints of time and space and a 
 suffering body are removed, and there is the freest opportunity for 
 the development and exercise of every good affection ! And that 
 life is eternal, everlasting ! The spiritual world grows nearer and 
 more substantial every day. The idea is overwhelming. To live 
 forever! To find employment and the means of happiness, an em- 
 ployment which does not weary, and which is a constant source of 
 ever-increasing delight ! Can it be possible ! How good and mer- 
 ciful the Lord must be ! Why am I not more grateful ? Why does 
 not my heart open to His love? Why am I not more devoted to His 
 service? I am old and weak, and yet I might do more. I must 
 do more." 
 
 Rheumatism had caused Mr. Giles almost constant 
 pain for many years. In the winter of 1890-91 he ex- 
 perienced for some weeks extreme suffering. Twice 
 within a few years a slip on the ice resulted in serious in- 
 juries. But, in spite of suffering and advancing years, 
 Mr. Giles retained remarkable strength and vigor. As 
 late as November, 1889, he made a missionary trip to 
 Savannah and Jacksonville, and the meeting of the Con- 
 
 6 
 
62 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 vention in 1893 was the first at which he was unable to 
 be present and take an active part. 
 
 Mr. Giles observed the failure of his physical powers 
 not wholly with sadness, though it was a sore trial to him 
 to give up any useful work. It was interesting to him to 
 study the gradual process by which one is withdrawn 
 from the natural world. ' ' A man is born into the world 
 gradually," he would say, " by the development of his 
 natural senses and faculties through many years. So he 
 dies by the gradual closing of the means of communica- 
 tion with the outward world. ' ' He noticed the increasing 
 difficulty of remembering words and bits of knowledge, 
 and saw that in writing he could draw only from that 
 which had become, as it were, a part of his life. He felt 
 that he was gradually coming into the state which be- 
 longs to the spiritual world, where the external memory 
 is closed and one retains only what has, by his living it, 
 become a part of himself 
 
 It was impossible for Mr. Giles to be idle. He was 
 very industrious, and his heart was in his work. He 
 studied and wrote as much as he was able, sometimes all 
 day continuously, and for a few moments at a time when 
 he could not longer hold his mind to the work. He 
 sometimes set himself a stent, to do so much each day. 
 In the winter of 1889-90 he wrote the little book, "Why 
 I am a New-Churchman," in which he tried, by refer- 
 ence to his personal experience, to show others what 
 blessing may be found in the truths of the New Church. 
 The book was useful, but perhaps would have been more 
 so if he had not through modesty made the personal 
 references so brief Some of Mr. Giles's earlier books 
 
CHAUNCEY GILES. 
 
 63 
 
 we have mentioned. "The Nature of Spirit," "Our 
 Children in the Other Life," and "The Incarnation 
 and Atonement" were among those pubHshed while 
 he was in New York. "Heavenly Blessedness," pub- 
 lished in England, is a series of sermons upon the beati- 
 tudes, which I believe were delivered in Cincinnati. 
 ' ' The Second Coming of the Lord' ' and ' ' Perfect 
 Prayer," a series of discourses on the Lord's Prayer, 
 were published soon after coming to Philadelphia. 
 "Evolution" is a course of lectures delivered in Phila- 
 delphia, showing the origin of creation and development 
 to be from above and within. "The Forgiveness of 
 Sin," a study of the passage in Luke describing the 
 anointing of the Lord's feet, was among the later books. 
 "Why I am a New-Churchman" followed, and "Conso- 
 lation," a message of comfort to the bereaved. To these 
 must be added five volumes of children's stories, — " The 
 Valley of Diamonds," "The Gate of Pearl," "The 
 Wonderful Pocket," "The Magic Shoes," and "The 
 Magic Spectacles," — and sermons and lectures printed 
 separately, some three hundred in number. There were 
 also left in manuscript about five hundred and eighty un- 
 published discourses. From these the chapters of the 
 present book have been selected ; other series of dis- 
 courses may also be published as small volumes. 
 
 Mr. Giles was permitted to continue his active useful- 
 ness almost to the end of his earthly life. In the autumn 
 of 1892, on his return from Lake George, he began a 
 course of lectures on death and the spiritual world, which 
 were the last discourses that he delivered. On the 20th 
 of November he spoke extempore on "The World 
 
64 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 of Spirits," the introductory state of the other hfe, and 
 he was not again able to preach. He, however, per- 
 formed several services at the church and at his home 
 during the following winter. Easter Sunday, April 2, 
 he was present at church, and we find the note in his 
 journal, — 
 
 "I confirmed ten young ladies this morning. It was an inter- 
 esting sight. The Holy Supper was administered to over two hun- 
 dred communicants, the largest number who ever partook of it at 
 one time in our church, e.xcept at some meeting of the General Con- 
 vention. I am very thankful that I was able to administer it." 
 
 The last entry in his record of official acts is under date 
 of May 12, when he baptized a little child in his study. 
 It was the day after his eightieth birthday, and the flowers 
 which decorated the room in honor of the anniversary 
 added to the beauty of the simple and impressive service. 
 
 From time to time during the winter and spring, as he 
 had strength and relief from suffering, Mr. Giles worked 
 upon the little book, "Consolation," in the desire to 
 share with others the bright thoughts of death and heaven 
 and the confidence in the Lord's eternal mercy by which 
 he was sustained. As he received expressions of grati- 
 tude from friends and strangers for the help they had 
 found in his preaching and writing, he felt sincerely that 
 it was the Lord's doing, and was amazed that the Lord 
 had been able to make him an instrument in His work 
 of comforting and saving human souls. His cheerful- 
 ness and the pleasant humor which had always helped 
 to lighten care for himself and others were unfailing. 
 
 The summer came, and Mr. Giles was not able to go 
 to Lake George, but remained at home in Philadelphia. 
 
CHA L WCE V GILES. 
 
 65 
 
 He grew gradually more helpless in body, though his 
 mind was clear. He had known for some years that his 
 heart was weak and irregular in its action, and he ex- 
 pected that when he passed away from the natural body 
 it would be suddenly. "I think I can see signs of it 
 that are unmistakable," he wrote in April, 1891. "That 
 will be pleasant. I can conceive of no way in which the 
 transition could be more natural or more easily made. 
 But it will be as the Lord pleases, and not as I will." 
 
 Contrary to his expectation and hope, the failure of 
 physical strength was very gradual. It was at first hard 
 for Mr. Giles to be waited on, but with wonderful patience 
 he learned to intrust himself wholly to the Lord and to 
 those about him. He became truly as a little child, and 
 "of such is the kingdom of God." The interest in 
 things outside of himself, especially in the church, was 
 always active. On Sunday morning, the day before his 
 death, greetings were received by telegram from the 
 Boston Society, which was holding anniversary meetings. 
 He heard the message with interest, and desired a reply 
 to be sent. Mr. Giles counted it as one of the blessings 
 of his illness that it brought about him his children. He 
 had four sons and two daughters, all married and away 
 from home. It gave him delight in his extreme weak- 
 ness to remember the Lord's assurance that He gives 
 His angels charge over us to keep us. ' ' The Lord 
 needs means and instruments in caring for us," he would 
 say. ' ' My children and the good friends about me are 
 His angels on the natural plane." If now and then he 
 felt himself impatient for release, he would stop and count 
 his blessings, and say, ' ' What am I that I should long 
 e 6* 
 
66 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 for something better ; that I should feel that this world 
 is not good enough for me ? I am ready now to go or 
 stay, in the Lord's own time, as He wills." On the 
 6th of November, 1893, he passed quietly away. 
 Mr. Giles himself once wrote, — 
 
 " Death, blessed, lovely death, opens the prison doors to the soul, 
 breaks off our chains, and with gentle hand and smiling face leads 
 from this land of night and storms, from this cold, inhospitable, des- 
 ert land to a bright, eternal home ; a home in which we shall find 
 those who love us ; a home to rest in, a beautiful, lovely home to live 
 in, to love in, to find free pla}' for every faculty, ample means for 
 the gratification of every heavenly taste and the attainment of every 
 heavenly purpose. This is the blessedness to which death leads us. 
 
 " He is the most loving, gentle, and beautiful of the angels. He 
 comes to cherish, not to destroy ; to transplant, not to kill ; to 
 awaken us from sleep, and lead us into life." 
 
 / 
 
 William L. Worcester. 
 
PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 " I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear 
 them now. 
 
 " Hozvbcit ivhen he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he ivill guide 
 you into all truth : . . . and he will show you things to come." 
 — John xvi. 12, 13. 
 
 T N these words our Lord teaches us a lesson which has 
 a most important bearing upon the condition of the 
 human mind which is unfavorable to all progress in 
 knowledge. We are constantly tempted to mistake the 
 limits of our knowledge for the limits of the truth. The 
 more ignorant men are, the greater the temptation to do 
 it. It requires some knowledge to discover our own ig- 
 norance. Scientific men were much more disposed in 
 former times, when there was but little knowledge of 
 nature, to be dogmatic, and to claim that they had 
 reached the summit of knowledge and had explored all 
 the secrets of nature, than they are now. 
 
 We see the most remarkable exhibition of this tendency 
 in the disposition to limit knowledge upon the most im- 
 portant subjects of human interest, to what has already 
 been attained, to what was attained, we might say, cen- 
 turies ago. The belief among Christians is almost uni- 
 versal that we have reached the limits of our knowledge 
 of spiritual truth ; that no further progress is possible 
 while we remain in this world ; that the doctrines of 
 
 67 
 
68 rA:OG/^£SS IN SPIRITUAL KXOIVLEDGE. 
 
 Christianity, as they are accepted and understood in the 
 SQ-called evangelical churches, are absolute truths, which 
 cannot be superseded, and from which no advance can 
 be made. They are the limit of our possibilities. New 
 facts may be discovered about them ; there may be new 
 ways of stating them, new illustrations of their truth, but 
 there can be no advance beyond them. They mark the 
 farthest boundaries of our knowledge. So determinate 
 and fixed is this belief that it has passed into a maxim, 
 that "what is true is not new, and what is new is not 
 true." 
 
 If it is true that no farther advance in spiritual knowl- 
 edge is possible, it is well to know it, that we may not 
 waste our energies in struggling again.it the inevitable, 
 but may rest and try to content ourselves in the darkness 
 and uncertainty of our present attainments. If it is not 
 true, then we ought to know it, that, without fear of 
 danger to our eternal interests, we may freely and fear- 
 lessly examine all questions relating to our spiritual na- 
 ture, and use all the means in our power to advance into 
 clearer light and higher attainments. The bare possi- 
 l)ility that we can gain a clearer and more rational light 
 upon all the great questions of man's spiritual nature and 
 destiny ought to be sufficient to stimulate us to the dili- 
 gent use of all the means in our power to attain so im- 
 portant a result. Let us, then, examine the subject in the 
 light of reason and revelation, and see what groiuid we 
 have for believing that we can continually advance in 
 spiritual knowledge, into clearer light and more certain 
 attainments. 
 
 There is nothing in the present attainments in spiritual 
 
PROGRESS IiV S PI RITUAL KXOIVI.EDGE. 69 
 
 knowledge so complete and satisfactory as to lead to 
 the conclusion that nothing more is desirable. On the 
 contrary, the present state of religious thought proves 
 directly the contrary. There has never been a time, 
 since the truths of Christianity were first revealed, when 
 there was so much difference of opinion with regard to 
 them, and so little heartiness in their reception as stated 
 in the dogmatic forms of the various churches, as there 
 is now. The fundamental doctrines of Christianity as 
 they have been held, which hax e been regarded as es- 
 sential to salvation, are not taught with the clearness 
 and distinctness and directness in any of the churches 
 that they were formerly. The ministers themselves have 
 not the undoubting faith in them which the ministers of 
 former times had. The intelligent members of the church 
 do not believe them in their naked and unmodified form 
 as they were once believed. The doctrines formerly 
 accepted are not now held with that unquestioning belief 
 which a good Presbyterian lady once told me she had in 
 the Bible. " If the Bible had said that Jonah swallowed 
 the whale instead of the whale swallowing Jonah," she 
 said, " I would believe it." 
 
 There is an uncertainty, a diversity of opinion upon 
 what have been regarded as the fundamental doctrines 
 of Christianity which is increasing rather than diminish- 
 ing. The Trinity, the Atonement, the Resurrection, the 
 nature of our own existence after Death, the Inspiration 
 of the Bible, — questions which form the basis of all re- 
 ligious belief, are discussed with greater zeal than they 
 ever were, and there is a greater variety of opinion upon 
 these doctrines, among those who believe in them in 
 
PROGRESS LV SPIRITUAL k'XOWLEDGE. 
 
 some sense, than e\er before. The opinions range 
 through all shades from a merely nominal acceptance of 
 the doctrines to that belief which admits of no doubt be- 
 cause it admits of no examination. Is it rational to sup- 
 pose that this confusion of tongues, this variety of opinion 
 and even contradiction of belief, this uncertainty and 
 doubt upon questions which relate to man's highest in- 
 terests, is the best which man is capable of attaining? 
 Is he forbidden to advance beyond the twilight and con- 
 fusion of mere opinion ? It seems to be contrary to the 
 nature of the human mind and the purposes of the Divine 
 love and wisdom that it should be so. 
 
 But if any one is disposed to deny that there is this 
 diversity of opinion, and to assert that the fundamental 
 doctrines of Christianity, as formally held by Christians, 
 are generally accepted without any doubts as to their 
 truth, it still holds that they go only a very little way in 
 sj^iritual knowledge. It is acknowledged that the doc- 
 trines themselves are not and cannot be understood. 
 They are great mysteries which the human mind, in this 
 life, cannot fathom. The Trinity is a mystery, and the 
 more it is discussed and explored the greater the confu- 
 sion. The Incarnation of God, and the manner in which 
 He effected human redemption by assuming a human 
 nature, is a mystery which, it is generally acknowledged, 
 cannot be understood. The Resurrection is a myster)- 
 which must be simply accepted as a fact, but which can- 
 not be explained. We are taught that we are to live for- 
 ever, and at the same time we are told that we can have 
 no certain knowledge of the modes and forms and nature 
 of the life after death. These great facts are affirmed in 
 
PJtOGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 71 
 
 the most positive manner, and just enough is taught 
 about them to awaken interest and lead to their examina- 
 tion, and then we are told that they cannot be under- 
 stood ; we must accept them by an act of faith. Sup- 
 pose the doctrines are true, how little they have done for 
 man ! 
 
 Now, I ask, is it reasonable to suppose that the Lord 
 intended this to be the extent of human attainment upon 
 these great themes which relate to man's highest inter- 
 ests? Does it accord with the nature of the human 
 mind? Is it consonant with His oft-repeated declaration 
 in His Word that a true knowledge of God is of vital 
 importance to man, that to know Him aright is life ever- 
 lasting ? Does it seem to be consistent with the good- 
 ness and wisdom of God that He should tantalize us with 
 expectations which He forbids us to realize, and give us 
 problems impossible of solution, which rend the soul 
 in its efforts to reach the unattainable ? What else does 
 He leave in such a fragmentary and unsatisfactory condi- 
 tion ? It is like bringing the tree to leaf and bud, and 
 arresting its progress before attaining the glory of blos- 
 som and the blessing of fruit ; it is causing hunger and 
 thirst and providing no means to satisfy them ; it is giv- 
 ing to the material body the power of growing into the 
 beauty of womanhood and the strength of manhood and 
 withholding the means of growth, leaving it in helpless 
 infancy, cursed by eternal feebleness ; it is endowing 
 man with the power of perceiving a few rays of the morn- 
 ing twilight, and awakening in him the expectation of 
 the coming sun, and then leaving him in that expectation 
 while its coming is withheld. It is contrary to every 
 
PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 principle of the human mind, and to all the Divine 
 methods so far as we have any knowledge of them. We 
 conclude, therefore, that the Lord never intended to ar- 
 rest man's progress in the knowledge of spiritual truth, 
 and stay his footsteps on the threshold of knowledge, 
 while the whole universe of truth lies waiting to be ex- 
 plored. 
 
 But we are not left to conjecture or to our own reason- 
 ing upon this subject. The Lord has declared, as clearly 
 as human language can express a truth, that it is the 
 purpose of His heart to communicate His love and wis- 
 dom to men. He desires to communicate Himself He 
 gave the Word for this purpose. He came in the flesh 
 to be a light to the world. He attributes every loss and 
 sorrow to ignorance of Him, and every possible attain- 
 ment and joy to a true knowledge of His nature and re- 
 lations to men. 
 
 The words of our text are an explicit declaration of the 
 fact that progress in spiritual knowledge is possible. " I 
 have yet many things to say unto you." We cannot 
 suppose that these words applied to the disciples alone. 
 They must be of universal application. They are as true 
 of the highest angel as of the child just born. The Lord 
 is infinite, man is finite. The Lord has a perfect knowl- 
 edge of all causes in all their possible forms and relations 
 and effects to eternity. He knows the influence of every 
 affection, thought, and act upon our whole future, in all 
 its combinations and its relations to every other thought 
 and act and being. He sees the end from the beginning 
 of every particular in our lives. 
 
 How little the wisest men know, even of natural forms 
 
PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KXOVVLEDCE. 
 
 and substances ! Our knowledge is limited almost en- 
 tirely to appearances and to a few links in the chain of 
 cause and effect. We know that when light flows into 
 the eye we can see, but we do not know how such a 
 force, flowing into such a form, produces such an effect. 
 We know that the undulations of the air flowing into the 
 ear cause hearing ; we know some facts about the rela- 
 tion of the air to the ear, but why its inflowing should 
 produce the effect it does no one can tell. Great prog- 
 ress has been made in natural science during the last cen- 
 tury, but the relation of the known to the unknown is no 
 greater than the smallest fraction to the infinite. Swe- 
 denborg says that the wisest angels see that their knowl- 
 edge, compared with what there is to be known, is so 
 infinitesimal that they simply say they do not know any- 
 thing. Every finite intelligence, however great its ad- 
 vancement in knowledge, — and in the coming eternity 
 that knowledge must be so great that we have no words 
 to express it or power to conceive of it, — will stand upon 
 the shore, while the ocean of truth stretches away into 
 the infinite distance before it. The time can never come 
 when the Lord will not have many things to say unto us. 
 
 This idea, at the first view, may appear to be discour- 
 aging. Must we be learners forever? Shall we never 
 get to the end of our lessons ? What is the use of learn- 
 ing if we can never reach the goal ? We know it to be 
 true that the more we know the more we see there is to 
 be known. The higher we rise, the wider the horizon. 
 This should not discourage us, because the acquisition 
 of knowledge upon every subject which interests us is a 
 source of pleasure. Knowledge is also intellectual and 
 
 D 7 
 
PROGRESS LV SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 spiritual power and wealth. People never complain be- 
 cause they have more chances of gaining power and 
 riches. Every new truth enlarges man's means and 
 capacities for happiness. Why, then, should he desire 
 to have the sources of truth, and his ability to gain it, 
 exhausted ? The fact that they can never be exhausted, 
 that the Lord will always have many things to say to us, 
 is the hope and the assurance that the means of happi- 
 ness will never fail. 
 
 Limited knowledge does not necessarily imply false 
 knowledge. If we know but little, that little may be 
 true as far as it goes. When the school-boy has only 
 learned that two and two make four, he has not made 
 much progress in the science of numbers, but he has 
 learned something which he will never need to unlearn. 
 So it is with regard to every subject of human knowledge. 
 When we have learned the single truth that God is one 
 in essence and person, we have not advanced very far in 
 a knowledge of His attributes, but we have learned an 
 absolute truth which we shall never find occasion to 
 unlearn. It is as true for the highest angel as it is for 
 the little child. Every new fact adds new clearness and 
 interest to those we have already learned. For this 
 reason our interest in learning and our happiness in 
 gaining knowledge will continue to increase forever. 
 
 The fact, therefore, that the Lord has many things to 
 say unto us, and will always have many things to say 
 unto us, holds out to us the grandest hopes for the 
 future. He will always have something new to tell us, 
 and there will always be the zest and joy of learning 
 from Hini. He will alw.'iys have many things to teach 
 
PKOGNESS /.V SPIKITCAL KXOIV/.EDCE. 75 
 
 US about the laws of our own nature, aljout our relations 
 to others. He will always have many things to reveal to 
 us concerning His own love and wisdom, and His infinite 
 tenderness and care for us. He will always have many 
 things to reveal to us concerning the excellence and beauty 
 and grandeur of the world around us, and concerning 
 His infinite wisdom in adapting it to human wants, and in 
 making it a means of support and culture and happiness. 
 The instructed mind sees a multitude of substances and 
 forces and beauties in the material world which no one 
 saw a century ago ; and when we pass out of the twilight 
 of this dead, material world into the brightness and the 
 perfections of the substantial, living, spiritual world, He 
 will show us innumerable things ineffably more beautiful 
 and nicely adapted to all our wants, ministering to a 
 higher culture and a more exquisite happiness. 
 
 The reason is often asked why the Lord does not speak 
 to us more plainly. The question is often put to New- 
 Churchmen, why the Lord did not make known the 
 truths of the New Church before, if they are so great an 
 advance upon former knowledge upon spiritual subjects. 
 Our Lord gives the answer to all these questions in the 
 words, "But ye cannot bear them now." The Lord 
 reveals the truth to us as fast as we can bear it. What 
 He can tell us is not limited by His knowledge or power or 
 willingness to communicate, but by our ability to receive. 
 
 The word translated "bear" may mean to under- 
 stand. " I have yet many things to say unto you, but 
 ye cannot understand them now." We have conclusive 
 evidence in the Gospels that the disciples did not under- 
 stand many things which our Lord spake to them. This 
 
76 FJWGRESS LV SPIRITL'AL KXOIVLEDGE. 
 
 is true of all disciples. It is true of natural and of spir- 
 itual knowledge. When a child takes its first lesson in 
 mathematics, in its ignorance and innocence it might say- 
 to the teacher, ' ' Tell me all about the whole science of 
 numbers." The teacher could only reply, " I cannot do 
 it. " " Why can you not do it ?" " Because you cannot 
 bear such knowledge now. Mathematics is a great and 
 complicated science, and it requires much study and 
 severe discipline of the mind to understand it. I will 
 tell you about it as fast as you can bear it. ' ' 
 
 If this is true of a natural science, how much more must 
 it be true in relation to the great problems of man's 
 spiritual nature and destiny ! They lie above the senses 
 and the appearances of nature ; they relate to interior 
 and hidden things. Man's progress in the knowledge 
 of the outer world has been remarkably slow, though its 
 phenomena have been continually i)resent to the senses, 
 and its forces have been continually offering themselves 
 to his service, to fight his battles, bear his burdens, and 
 do his work. The wind and the rain, the sun and the 
 earth, were constantly whispering their secrets in his ear, 
 but he could not hear their voice. How, then, could w-e 
 expect that man could understand those higher truths 
 which relate to his spiritual wants and destiny? If it 
 was many thousands of years before man could discover 
 the forces in steam, the existence and use of magnetism, 
 and the nature of the substances which contain so many 
 elements which contribute to his comfort and happiness, 
 is it incredible that it should require an equal number of 
 years before he could be prepared to receive interior 
 spiritual truth ? 
 
PKOGA'ESS LV SP I RITUAL k'XOWLEDGE. 
 
 77 
 
 But the words " ye cannot bear them now" mean more 
 than inabihty to understand : they mean indifference and 
 hostility to spiritual truth. There is an inherent repug- 
 nance in the natural mind to spiritual truth. It is more 
 than ignorance, or incapacity, or indifference : it is hos- 
 tility ; it is opposition of nature. It is like the repug- 
 nance which we find in the material body to certain sub- 
 stances. We use this very term concerning them. We 
 say we cannot bear the smell or taste or sight of them. 
 The natural degree of the mind has fallen. All its 
 tastes have become perverted. It looks downward and 
 outward to material things. It does not act in harmony 
 with the spiritual mind. It does not like to hear any- 
 thing about a spiritual world. It cannot conceive of a 
 distinctly spiritual existence. Something akin to nausea 
 is excited by hearing about the spiritual sense of the 
 Word. 
 
 When our Lord said to His disciples that He had 
 many things to say unto them, He evidently did not 
 mean that he had many more natural facts to teach them 
 about Himself or His mission in this world, because He 
 never did speak much more to them about these things. 
 His meaning was more plain as He went on to say, 
 "But when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will 
 guide you into all truth. . . . He shall receive of mine 
 and shall show it unto you." He shall show you the 
 spiritual meaning of the words which ha\'e been spoken 
 unto you, for they are spirit and life. They could not 
 bear their spiritual import then. 
 
 Many Christian people are in the same state now. 
 They can talk about religion ; they can pray with fervor 
 
 7* 
 
78 r/x OGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDCE. 
 
 and sing with delight. But they cannot bear to think 
 that the Bible has a spiritual meaning. The idea that 
 the spiritual world is a substantial and really-existing 
 world ; that man himself, as to his spirit, is in the human 
 form and fully organized as a man seems absurd to them. 
 The idea that the old, familiar Bible is luminous with 
 infinite truth, and that they have drawn their doctrines 
 and formed their opinions from the appearances of truth 
 in the letter ; that their minds are veiled and over- 
 shadowed with the clouds of the letter, while the un- 
 veiled and glorious sun shines in clear radiance about 
 them, they cannot bear. But when the spiritual truth, 
 not the letter of it, but the Spirit of truth, comes, — and 
 He will come when men will open their minds to receive 
 Him, — He will show them many things which they never 
 dreamed of before. He will show them things to come. 
 These things are not natural events that will occur in the 
 church in after-times, as most commentators have sup- 
 posed, but spiritual things. A new and more accurate 
 knowledge of the Lord, — "He shall receive of mine, 
 and show it unto you ;" a more accurate and a larger 
 knowledge of our own nature and destiny. He will 
 show you things to come in the spiritual world. He will 
 reveal to you the laws of the spiritual uni\ erse, and show 
 you how surpassingly beautiful and glorious it is. He 
 will make real to you your eternal home, and lead you 
 into it. 
 
 When the Spirit of truth begins to shine in our under- 
 standings, a new and glorious day is dawning upon us ; 
 a sun is rising which will never set. As the mind opens 
 to the reception of this light, it enlarges, and can receive 
 
PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 79 
 
 more of the many things which the Lord has to say to 
 us. It also improves in strength and quality. It can 
 receive higher truths, clearer light ; it has a more com- 
 prehensive and delicate capacity for reception ; it can 
 receive larger and richer and more -exquisite joys. It 
 will continue to advance towards the Lord with con- 
 stantly accelerating velocity ; its power of reception from 
 the Lord will continue to increase, and yet the Lord will 
 always have many things to say that are more glorious 
 and that will fill the soul with a constantly deeper and 
 more exquisite joy. May we be among the number of 
 those who have clear eyes and listening ears and open 
 hearts to receive the many things which the Lord has to 
 say to us, and which His Spirit of truth is ever ready to 
 show unto us. 
 
THE DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH 
 A SPIRITUAL SCIENCE. 
 
 ''Behold, I make all things neiu." — Revelation xxi. 5. 
 II 7 E live in a miraculous aee. Our lot has been cast 
 
 in the midst of those tremendous changes in man's 
 spiritual condition which could be fitly typified only by 
 the most stupendous convulsions in the material world, 
 — by the darkening of the sun in the heavens, the falling 
 of the stars from their places ; by conflagrations and 
 cosmic storms ; and by the creation of new heavens and 
 a new earth. 
 
 It is our happiness as New-Churchmen to know the 
 meaning of these prophetic symbols, and. secure from 
 harm from these convulsions, and unterrified by the 
 noise and wild fury of old systems falling to ruin, and the 
 collision of chaotic forms of belief to stand upon the 
 new earth rising fresh and fair from the ruins of the old, 
 and to see the new heavens, clear and serene, overarch- 
 ing human life, — heavens whose moon is brighter than 
 the sun of the former age, and whose sun shines with 
 seven-fold splendor. 
 
 I ask your attention to one of the distinct and peculiar 
 characteristics of this age, one which clearly entitles it to 
 the claim of being the fulfilment of the Divine promise, 
 "Behold, I make all things new;" which will make it 
 
 So 
 
DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH A SCIENCE. 8i 
 
 enduring as the power of the Lord to create human souls, 
 will give it the excellence of heavenly graces, the beauty of 
 heavenly forms, the power and glory of Divine truth, and 
 imbue it with the blessedness of heavenly peace ; which 
 will make it the Lord's kingdom on earth. I say, " will 
 make it," for this new day of the Lord, even to the most 
 advanced minds, is yet only in the gray of the morning. 
 Its full-orbed sun is yet below the horizon, and the mass 
 of the people are still asleep in the shadow of the valley. 
 Some of them are indeed stirred by a new breath of 
 power, but "whence it cometh and whither it goeth" 
 they cannot tell. It is the unconscious influence of the 
 Divine force which precedes the light, which opens the 
 eyes and prepares them for its reception. But enough 
 of the light has been seen by some minds, watching for 
 the morning, to reveal its true nature and to give un- 
 doubted assurance that it is not the twilight of an age 
 passing away, but the morning of a spiritual age which 
 is new in spirit, new in form, new in power, and will be 
 new in life. The characteristic of the new age to which 
 I invite your attention is one peculiar to its genius, which 
 gives it a surpassing excellence. I propose to speak of 
 the truths of the New Church as a spiritual science. 
 
 By science I mean the laws of the Divine order as they 
 exist in the creation, the methods of the Divine wisdom 
 in effecting the purposes of the Divine love in their con- 
 nections and relations. The Lord's methods of working 
 in nature constitute natural science. When we discover 
 those methods and the relation of one substance and of 
 one form to another, and of causes to their effects, that 
 knowledge constitutes science. Science treats of sub- 
 / 
 
82 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 Stances and forces and fonns in their connections and 
 relations, and reveals the laws and methods by which 
 many things make one. Science is spiritual when it 
 relates to spiritual subjects. The same conditions are 
 essential to a spiritual as to a natural science. Let us 
 consider what those conditions are. 
 
 First, science must be based upon facts. It is as impos- 
 sible to construct a science without facts as it is to build 
 a stone wall without stones. Science cannot be con- 
 structed with fancies, or opinions, or of facts even as they 
 appear to the senses. Nor can it be formed by a mere 
 accumulation of facts. Science is formed by insight into 
 the intrinsic forms and qualities of isolated facts, by which 
 their relations to other facts are seen, and the higher laws 
 and qualities common to all the particular facts are dis- 
 covered. It is now known that all the kingdoms of 
 nature, and all the individuals in each kingdom, are 
 bound together, penetrated, and moved by substances 
 and forces of a finer and more subtile nature than the 
 coarse concrete forms which clothe and hide them. The 
 knowledge of these forces and the laws according to 
 which they act upon every particular object, and of how 
 the stone and plant and animal welcome and treat, re- 
 ceive or reject, use or reflect these, to them, heavenly 
 visitors, is the science of nature. 
 
 Spiritual science requires spiritual facts. These are 
 given us in the doctrines of the New Church. Sweden- 
 borg's introduction into the spiritual world, and his state- 
 ment, from living experience, of what is done there by 
 the Lord and angels and spirits, was just as necessary to 
 a spiritual science as a man's introduction into this world 
 
DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH A SCIENCE. 83 
 
 and the ability to see and hear what the Lord is doing 
 here, and what men are doing, and how they are doing 
 it, is an essential condition of any natural science. The 
 claim of Swedenborg to have done this, a claim to which 
 men take strong exceptions, is absolutely essential to the 
 work he performed. His doctrines of man's nature and 
 relations are not based upon fancies or opinions, but upon 
 facts, upon what takes place in the spirit. He has also 
 rendered to men this further service and given this larger 
 evidence of the truth of his claims ; he has shown us how 
 to descend from the palaces of spiritual truth into the 
 paradise of nature, and to find the higher laws of the 
 spirit ruling in corresponding forms and working by 
 similar methods in animal, plant, and mineral. 
 
 One of the causes which has made the endless discus- 
 sion of religious questions so fruitless in results is the 
 want of any fixed and clearly-defined subject of spiritual 
 knowledge. The New Church stands on the solid basis 
 of spiritual substance. It deals with realities. The 
 spiritual world is the real world, the spirit is the real 
 man ; its laws of culture and development are as definite 
 and immutable as the laws of nature ; they are also ascer- 
 tainable and capable of precise application. We have 
 the same basis for progress in spiritual knowledge and 
 life that we have for progress in natural knowledge and 
 life in this world. The spiritual body is presented to us 
 for examination, as real and substantial as the material 
 body which is presented to the physiologist for his study. 
 We are introduced into a distinct and substantial world, 
 and we are furnished with true principles for our guidance. 
 So far as regards a substantial basis, therefore, we are as 
 
84 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 thoroughly equipped for progress in spiritual knowledge 
 for the attainment of some distinct and desirable end as 
 the men of science are for knowledge of physical laws 
 and their use in our natural progress. 
 
 There is also no dearth of material for endless advance 
 in spiritual knowledge. The science of correspondences, 
 which reveals the definite relation between natural effects 
 and spiritual causes, opens in nature, and especially in 
 the natural symbols of the Sacred Scriptures, e.xhaustless 
 depths of spiritual knowledge. Every natural object and 
 act mentioned in the Scriptures is the outward form and 
 expression of a spiritual fact or a series of facts, one lying 
 within the other, and all so connected and related that 
 they reveal the means and the order of man's spiritual 
 creation and of his relations to the Source of life. We 
 shall never want for facts, therefore. Science will sooner 
 exhaust nature than any finite mjnd can exhaust the 
 forms of spiritual trutli contained in the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures. 
 
 The doctrines of the new age possess also in an eminent 
 degree the second essential of a true science ; they are 
 organized truth. They are not assertions made u])on 
 personal authority ; they are not detached and unrelated 
 truths ; much less are they conflicting statements which 
 destroy one another. They bear the same relation to 
 spiritual facts that a house does to the materials of which 
 it is constructed, or that the wonderful structure of the 
 body bears to the food which nourishes it. They are a 
 symmetrical whole, composed of intimately related parts, 
 a house fitted to be the home of heavenly afi'ections and 
 the 'ndwcUing life of the Lord. 
 
DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH A SCIENCE. 85 
 
 Science teaches us how to use facts. Rational knowl- 
 edge shows the ratio or relation of one thing or of one 
 being to another, by which the unity of life is discovered. 
 The plan and form and function of the various mental 
 faculties are show-n by true spiritual science. In this re- 
 spect we are better equipped for spiritual progress than 
 the scientific man is for natural progress. Here we find 
 again the inestimable service which Swedenborg has ren- 
 dered us. He has given us the laws of spiritual life as 
 they are derived from the Lord and exist in man. We 
 have only to learn them and to examine spiritual facts in 
 their light to see their true nature and relations. We 
 can verify the general law by particular facts. The prin- 
 ciple is seen at first in outline more or less distinctly ; 
 but every new particular fills up the outline, brings new 
 light to it, and is a new witness to its truth. Having 
 rational knowledge we know how to dispose of the facts 
 as we learn them. We see their relations to other facts 
 and to the central principle which underlies the whole. 
 They fall into their places and tend to unity. Beneath 
 the illusion of appearances we see order, harmony, and 
 the most powerful forces working according to immu- 
 table law for human good. 
 
 This is a new and distinct step, and gives man the same 
 help in spiritual progress that a rational knowledge of the 
 substances and forces of nature has given him in natural 
 progress. It forms a basis on which he can stand. It 
 gives him power to wield his materials, to build up his 
 life, and to come into orderly and helpful relations to 
 others. His knowledge changes from a thicket, in which 
 he gets entangled by a multiplicity of apparently unrelated 
 
 8 
 
86 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 and incongruous forms, to a garden widi sure paths which 
 lead from blossom to fruit, from labor to attainment. He 
 comes out of confusion and chaos into harmonious and 
 established order. 
 
 The doctrines of the New Church are a statement of 
 the laws of man's regeneration, spiritual culture, and 
 growth in heavenly life, and of his relations to the 
 Lord, to angels, spirits, and men ; to the spiritual world 
 on one side of his nature, and to the material world on 
 the other. They possess all the qualities of a true science 
 of the spirit ; they will meet every requirement for the 
 most varied and fullest development of our spiritual facul- 
 ties and the attainment of every natural, spiritual, and 
 heavenly good which man can conceive and the Lord can 
 give. 
 
 Science not only introduces us into a world of new 
 truths, gives us clearer light, enlarges the horizon of 
 thought, and reveals to us the beauty and harmony of the 
 Divine order, but it teaches us how to employ the sub- 
 stances and forces we have discovered for our own use. 
 We are all familiar with the achievements of natural 
 science in this respect. It has discovered and brought 
 into common use tireless forces of exhaustless power 
 which bear our burdens, run upon our errands, do our 
 work, and minister to our comfort in manifold ways. 
 Science has not only revealed them, but it has taught us 
 how to use them. It has harnessed them to our service ; 
 it has put the reins into our hands by which we can con- 
 trol and guide them. Spiritual science will render the 
 same service to us on the spiritual plane of life. It not 
 only introduces us into a new world of sjMritual truth, 
 
DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH A SCIENCE. 87 
 
 illuminates the understanding with its light, and charms 
 the soul with its beauty ; it not only places us in the 
 midst of the Divine harmonies and unveils the forms of 
 spiritual substances and forces as much superior to natural 
 forces in power and capacity for human good as the soul 
 is more excellent than the body, but it teaches us how to 
 use them to overcome our spiritual enemies, to remove 
 the obstacles to our progress, and to help us in the de- 
 velopment of our noblest faculties and the attainment of 
 our highest good. 
 
 There is conclusive evidence that men, urged by their 
 needs and stimulated by their hopes, are demanding a 
 knowledge of spiritual truth which is based on facts, 
 which is logically consistent, and leads to practical results. 
 Wearied with fruitless labor, distracted with doubts, tor- 
 mented by conflicting passions, despairing of help from 
 the past, hungry for meat that will feed their famished 
 souls, and with aspirations for a higher life than they have 
 found the method and means of obtaining, they are wait- 
 ing in despair or turning with hope to a new day. They 
 find that all things in the material world are related and 
 indissolubly bound together; that unconnected existence, 
 even for the stone, is impossible. They see method, 
 order, subordination existing in all things great and small, 
 and immutable law governing all the Lord's operations in 
 nature, and they logically conclude that the same prin- 
 ciples and methods rule in the realm of spirit. They see 
 that the Lord does not work at random in the creation 
 and development of the plant and the material body, and 
 they pertinently ask why He should do it in the formation 
 of the spirit. All the tendencies of the age, all its move- 
 
88 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 merits, its hopes, and even its doubt and denial and 
 despair, and all those subtile and delicate but powerful 
 currents which sway the feelings before they awaken 
 thought, which kindle hope and turn the face in the 
 direction of the new light, point with unerring finger to 
 a scientific and rational knowledge of spiritual truth ; 
 they prophesy the existence of an order, method, and 
 law of the spirit, of the same nature as those which exist 
 in the material universe. The claim that a spiritual 
 science is possible does not come from a few minds alone 
 disaffected with the confusion and comparatively fruitless 
 religious doctrines of the past ; it comes from every form 
 and movement in nature ; the stone embodies it, the 
 grass and the vine and every tree of the forest speak of 
 it, the instinct of the animal proclaims it. Every prin- 
 ciple in man's nature declares the possibility of a spiritual 
 science, because it is itself the embodiment of it. But 
 especially the rational faculties of the mind demand 
 rational knowledge as the eye demands light, the fin 
 water, the wing air, and the body food ; and whatever 
 the Lord has given man the power to want, He has pro- 
 vided the means to supply. The existence of a Divine 
 order in spiritual growth and attainment is certain, and 
 the ability of man to receive and understand the knowl- 
 edge of it and come into the life and joy of it is as sure 
 as that plants will blossom and bear fruit, and that seed- 
 time and harvest will continue. 
 
 Let us then notice some of the effects which a rational 
 knowledge of s])iritual truth and a life conformable to that 
 knowledge must legitimately and certainly produce. For- 
 tunately we are not left to conjecture concerning these 
 
DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH A SCIENCE. 89 
 
 results. We have a complete demonstration of the power 
 of rational knowledge in the miracles which science has 
 wrought on the natural plane of life. If a true knowledge 
 of the forms, forces, and qualities of nature can change 
 the face of the world, modify all human conditions, and 
 bring into the service of man a multitude of powerful, 
 tireless forces to bear his burdens, run upon his errands, 
 and in manifold ways minister to his wants, what limits 
 can we assign to the power of a rational knowledge of 
 spiritual substances and the laws of their activities and 
 relations? The results of such knowledge must be as 
 much greater and more beneficent in the spiritual realm 
 of life as the knowledge itself is higher in degree and 
 more excellent in its forms. It is not possible to over- 
 estimate its beneficent effects, for it is a knowledge of 
 causes, of vital forces ; it deals with the sources of power ; 
 it is the true knowledge of God and of man and of their 
 relations to each other. 
 
 The effects of a rational knowledge of spiritual truth 
 will be both negative and positive. The truth not only 
 gives man power and light, but it frees him from many 
 obstacles to his progress. The truth makes him free. 
 
 It frees him from groundless fears. When we do not 
 know the way we fear that every step may lead to danger. 
 It is natural for us to fill the unknown with terrors. Be- 
 fore the light of science had dawned upon the earth, any 
 deviation from the accustomed order of nature, as an 
 eclipse of the sun or moon, filled the minds of men with 
 superstitious fears. They trembled at the dire calamities 
 which they supposed such phenomena to forebode. The 
 same occurrence now gives pleasure to millions, and is 
 
 8* 
 
PROGRESS AV SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 the means of much useful knowledge. In spiritual life 
 men are tormented and held in cruel bondage by ground- 
 less fears. There is the fear of coming evils which never 
 come and have no existence ; the fear that the Lord is 
 our enemy when He is our infinite and unchangeable 
 Friend ; the fear of death as the most terrible calamity, 
 when it is an orderly step in life ; and a multitude of other 
 fears, wholly groundless, which destroy man's peace and 
 paralyze his power. A knowledge of spiritual truth will 
 disperse the darkness of ignorance in which these spiritual 
 fears are bred, chase them away as the coming sun dispels 
 the night and all its hideous forms. 
 
 Again, genuine spiritual knowledge will free the mind 
 from doubt. Man's progress in spiritual life is constantly 
 retarded by doubts. He goes to and fro instead of mov- 
 ing on to new attainments ; he stands still instead of 
 advancing ; he rejects the truth when offered to him ; his 
 steps are halting, his courage weak ; he hesitates and 
 lingers and is distracted by conflicting influences, misses 
 the chances of life, and fails of any great attainment in 
 spiritual development, because he is not sure of the path 
 which leads to it. The misgivings, the fears and tor- 
 ments which the noblest minds have suffered from this 
 cause are one of the most mournful phases in the sad his- 
 tory of humanity. Men do not doubt about what they 
 know ; it is when they do not know, or when they see in 
 the twilight only the flitting forms of appearances that 
 they doubt. Genuine knowledge carries the conviction 
 of certainty with it. This is the effect of the doctrines 
 of the New Church upon those who know them. This 
 benign power will increase until all doubts are dispelled, 
 
DOCTRliXES OF THE NEW CHURCH A SCIENCE. 91 
 
 and man will walk in the freedom and joy of the new 
 light, with firm and sure steps, in a straight path to the 
 attainment of the highest ends. 
 
 A result of rational knowledge is constant increase of 
 light. Every new truth verifies the principle to which it 
 relates. Every new truth is a new star in the firmament 
 of the mind. All progress in knowledge, natural as well 
 as spiritual, is from evening to morning, and from morn- 
 ing to bright day. Many have accepted the doctrines of 
 the New Church, at first with a hope tremulous with fear 
 that they might come to a point where they would find 
 their way obstructed with insoluble problems and dark- 
 ness again gathering over them. But it has been their 
 blessed experience to find the way becoming clearer ; 
 difficulties vanish, problems Vvhich were supposed to be 
 beyond human skill to solve yield readily to the new 
 power, paths open into broad spaces which seemed closed 
 to human approach, mysteries are understood, and light 
 increases at every step. When we come into the harmo- 
 nies of the Divine order we begin to see truth in the light 
 of truth. Genuine truth is its own witness ; it shines with 
 its own light, it reveals its own nature, and it fills the 
 mind with light. This is the history of science, and it 
 accords with the experience of every man and woman 
 who has come into the light of the new age. 
 
 This gradual and constant increase of light also pro- 
 duces a conviction, which finally amounts to a certainty, 
 that we are on the right road to the attainment of the 
 end we are seeking. When we discover new truths in 
 harmony with those already known, we get new and 
 stronger confirmations of what we have already learned ; 
 
PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 we are attracted by the new beauty, we are stimulated 
 to new activity, we are always attaining ; new gates open 
 into broader fields of truth, and the certainty of convic- 
 tion that we are on the right path which leads to the ever- 
 receding goal of perfection fills the mind with a sweet and 
 profound peace. We are coming into the order of the 
 Divine wisdom ; we see the way to make ourselves a part 
 of the Divine harmony. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact in the history of humanity that 
 men have regarded those who were the most friendly to 
 them as their direst enemies, and those steps in life which 
 have been provided by infinite love and wisdom for their 
 highest good as the most terrible calamities. They have 
 fled from their friends, they have been blind to the richest 
 treasures of truth which lay before them, they have been 
 tormented with groundless fears, have wandered in dark- 
 ness when the light was shining all around them, and 
 have been crushed with self-imposed burdens when al- 
 mighty power was offered to lift them from their shoulders. 
 The rational knowledge of the new age clears away all 
 these shadows, dispels the appearances which have sur- 
 rounded human life with illusions, and places man in the 
 midst of forces of omnipotent power friendly to every 
 human interest, and teaches him how to use them for the 
 development of the highest plane of his being. It gives 
 him definite, practical knowledge. It reveals to him the 
 true ends of life, puts the means of attaining them into 
 his hand, and shows him how to use them. It must, 
 therefore, render him the same service as a spiritual being, 
 as a citizen of a spiritual world in which he is to find his 
 home and to dwell forever, that a knowledge of the finer 
 
DOCTRINES OF 77IE NEW CHURCH A SCIENCE. 93 
 
 substances and forces of nature has rendered him as a 
 material being and son of earth and time. It must change 
 the whole aspect of human Hfe ; it must give an immense 
 impulse to progress in spiritual knowledge ; it must give 
 fulness, clearness, directness, and precision to every effort 
 for spiritual culture ; it must bring man into such relations 
 to the Lord that he will know what to do and how to do 
 it to come into orderly relations with Him, and to open 
 every faculty of the soul to Divine influence, to be with 
 the Lord where He is, and thus to dwell in the centres 
 of life and move in the peaceful currents of the Divine 
 order to the attainment of new joys and the rest of an 
 ever-deepening peace. It must make all things new. 
 
 We stand in the morning of this new day ; its privi- 
 leges and its responsibilities rest upon us. No men ever 
 had greater interests committed to them ; no men ever 
 possessed larger means and grander opportunities for 
 their own spiritual attainment and to make themselves a 
 blessing to humanity. Much has been given to us ; much 
 will be required of us. Let us be faithful to our trusts ; 
 let us counsel wisely and labor diligently to make known 
 to men those spiritual and Divine truths in which the 
 Lord is making His second coming to men, and by which 
 He will subdue all things unto Himself. 
 
GOD AND MAN. 
 
 " So God created man in his own image, in the image of God 
 created he him." — Genesis i. 27. 
 
 'X'HERE are two vital questions which He at the founda- 
 
 * tion of every religion and give quality to it. These 
 questions are, first, Who is God, and how shall we 
 think of Him ? Second, What is man, and how are God 
 and man related to each other ? Neither of these ques- 
 tions can be understood without some knowledge of the 
 other. They are reciprocally and intimately related. It 
 is impossible to gain a true idea of God without some 
 true knowledge of man, and it is impossible to gain an 
 adequate conception of man's nature without some cor- 
 rect knowledge of God. Man was created in the image 
 of God. We rhust, therefore, look to man to get our first 
 hints of the form and nature of God. I propose to state, 
 as far as I can in limited space, what the New Church 
 teaches upon this subject. 
 
 The doctrines of the New Church are Unitarian in the 
 assertion that there is one and only one Supreme Being. 
 They are Trinitarian in teaching the Divinity of Jesus 
 Christ. They difier essentially from both in showing that 
 the whole Trinity is embodied in the one person of our 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and that these three 
 essentials of His nature constitute His Divine personality. 
 This is in accordance with all that He says about Himself 
 in the whole of Scripture when rightly understood. The 
 
 94 
 
GOD AND MAN. 
 
 95 
 
 apostle declares it in the plainest manner when he says, 
 " In him," that is in Jesus Christ, " dwelleth all the ful- 
 ness of the Godhead bodily. ' ' The Lord Jesus Christ 
 affirms it when He says, "The Father dwelleth in me." 
 " He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." " The 
 Father is in me, and I in him." By this He means that 
 there is a reciprocal and organic union between them, 
 like that which exists between man's soul or mind and his 
 body. The Father is the Divine nature as it is in its un- 
 created and infinite essence ; the Son is the human nature, 
 glorified and made Divine, both united in one person, 
 one being, and making one God, as man's spiritual nature 
 and his physical are united in one human being and make 
 one man. The Father, called in the Old Testament 
 Jehovah and God, is within the Son, as man's mind is in 
 his body. The Divine and the human natures are distinct 
 and yet so closely knit together that they form one person, 
 one being. This union is not one of sentiment, or agree- 
 ment in character or purpose, like that which may exist 
 between two men who desire to accomplish the same pur- 
 pose and agree in the means of doing it. It is an organic 
 union ; it is of the same nature as that which exists be- 
 tween the mind and the body, between will and act. Such 
 being the intimate, organic, perfect union between the 
 Father and the Son, we do not divide them in thought or 
 affection. When we think of the Son we think of the 
 Father, as we think of the whole man when we think of 
 his body. We think of Him in the human form, and we 
 have a distinct object of thought. When we love the 
 Son we love the Father, and we have a distinct object in 
 our minds for our affections to rest upon. They are not 
 
96 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 divided between two. They are centred in one. Only 
 one person can be supremely loved. 
 
 Having gained a distinct conception of the personal 
 unity of God, we can see that the Divine attributes can- 
 not be divided between two persons. They must all be 
 combined in one person, in the one person of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. Mercy and truth meet together in Him. 
 Righteousness and peace kiss each other in Him. Mercy 
 and justice join hearts and hands in His Divine person. 
 This new doctrine solves the problem of the unity of per- 
 son and the trinity in the Divine Being. It harmonizes 
 all the Divine attributes, and presents to us one Divine 
 Being in the human form, animated with human love and 
 doing all things for human good. We may no longer 
 pray to one Divine person to grant us favors for the sake 
 of another, for there is only one Divine person. We no 
 longer fear the wrath of an angry God, for there is no 
 angry God. Jesus Christ is Immanuel, God manifest in 
 the flesh, and He is not angry. His infinite heart is full 
 of love for men. We only fear to sin against such infinite 
 wisdom and unchanging love. Every one must be able 
 to see that such a clear, distinct, harmonious, rational 
 knowledge of God and His Divine attributes must clear 
 the mind of its doubts and conflicting opinions, must 
 quiet its groundless fears, and tend to bring it into har- 
 monious, orderly, and more intimate relations with Him 
 whom to know aright is life everlasting. 
 
 The New Church gives us new, rational, and satisfac- 
 tory knowledge concerning man as a spiritual being and 
 his relations to the Lord, who is his Creator, Redeemer, 
 Saviour, and the constant source of all his power and life. 
 
GOD AND MAN. 
 
 97 
 
 The human spirit has generally been regarded in the 
 Christian world as a force, as an unorganized, unsubstan- 
 tial, formless essence, as a breath, an influence, bearing 
 somewhat the same relation to the man himself that steam 
 bears to the engine. All conceptions of it have been 
 vague and unsatisfactory. There has been but little ad- 
 vance beyond the mere affirmation of its existence. Con- 
 sequently all ideas about its nature and modes of operation 
 have been vague, indistinct, and unreal. 
 
 The New Church regards the spirit in an entirely new 
 way. According to its doctrines the spirit is the man 
 himself in the human form, and the seat of all his power 
 and life. It is organized of spiritual substances, as the 
 material body is organized of material substances, and 
 possesses all the organs, external and internal, in general 
 and particular, that compose the material body. It has 
 a head, trunk, and limbs. It has eyes and ears, brain 
 and face and vocal organs, heart and lungs, arteries and 
 veins and nerves. The spiritual organs perform relatively 
 the same functions that the material organs perform. 
 Spiritual lungs breathe a spiritual atmosphere ; the heart 
 propels a spiritual blood through arteries and veins ; the 
 nerves give sensation and power ; the hands can grasp 
 spiritual objects, and the feet can walk upon a spiritual 
 earth ; the eye opens to the light which flows from the 
 spiritual sun, and the ear vibrates in harmony with the 
 modulations of the spiritual atmosphere. 
 
 As a whole and in each least part the spirit is in the 
 human form. The common idea has been that the body 
 was first formed and then the spirit was breathed into it, 
 as men make an engine and then set it in motion by 
 E s 9 
 
98 PROGRESS IX SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 steam. The new doctrine teaches that the spirit itself 
 moulds the body into its own form, weaves its fine and 
 delicate textures in its own loom, and clothes itself in 
 ever}^ least part with it, making it a medium of communi- 
 cation Avith the material world, the house in which it 
 dwells, a complicated and miraculous instrument adjusted 
 with infinite precision to all the forms and forces of mat- 
 ter, for the purpose of gaining natural ideas and delights 
 to serve as materials for the de\ elopment of the afit'ections 
 and the intellectual faculties. 
 
 But this is merely a temporary service. The material 
 body renders the same service to the spirit that the husk 
 does to the corn, the chaff to the wheat. The spirit is 
 immortal. It was made, and by its very nature ordained, 
 to dwell in a spiritual world corresponding to its own 
 nature. But it must have a basis to rest upon. It must 
 have vessels to hold its fine and fluent substances while 
 they are being prepared for distinct and permanent exist- 
 ence. 
 
 According to this idea the spirit is the real, substan- 
 tial man and the seat of all human power. It is the 
 spiritual eye that sees. The material eye only serves as 
 an optical instrument to bring it into such relations to 
 material light that images of material things can be 
 formed on its delicate canvas. The material ear cannot 
 hear. It is the spiritual ear within that becomes mo\ ed 
 by its vibrations and perceives harmonious or discordant 
 sounds. The same is true of all the senses. They are 
 simply the material instruments which the spiritual senses 
 use to gain entrance into the material world and accom- 
 modate themselves to its substances and forces. 
 
GOD AXD MAy. 
 
 99 
 
 Men have so long been accustomed to regard the spirit 
 as a formless essence, a merely abstract entity, that it is 
 difficult to disabuse their minds of the error and convince 
 them that the spirit is organic and substantial. It is gen- 
 erally supposed that the way to gain any true conception 
 of spirit is to deny it all the qualities of matter. It seems 
 to be taken for granted that only matter possesses sub- 
 stance and form, and that when we attribute these prop- 
 erties to spirit we materialize it. But this is not so. 
 There are some attributes that are essential to existence. 
 It is impossible to conceive of the existence of any object 
 that is destitute of substance and form. The essential 
 idea of existence is that of standing forth in substance 
 and form. Every one will acknowledge that God is the 
 most real and substantial being in the universe. He must 
 be substance and form in their origin and essential qual- 
 ities. There can be no power without some substance 
 that embodies it. It inheres in the nature of things and 
 in the nature of human conceptions, that if there is a 
 Divine Being, there must be Divine substances ; if there 
 are spiritual beings and a spiritual world, there must be 
 spiritual substances and spiritual forms. To deny their 
 existence is denial of God and of everything that is not 
 material. 
 
 But we have ocular demonstration that spirit is sub- 
 stance and form and possesses power. This is a kind of 
 testimony that men have often demanded. ' ' Show me 
 a spirit," they say ; "let me feel it. Let me see spirit 
 exert itself and produce some sensible effect." The truth 
 is, all that is done by the body is done by the spirit's 
 power. There is no power in the material substances 
 
lOO PROGRESS IX SPIRITUAL KXOIVLEDGE. 
 
 that compose the material body to organize themselves 
 into the human form and acquire the faculty of seeing, 
 or hearing, or feeling. Do oxygen and hydrogen and 
 carbon and the insensate, inorganic mould possess any 
 such power in themselves ? The material body is con- 
 tinually wasting away, and if it were not supplied with 
 new substances, it would soon become dissipated. What 
 power and miraculous skill weaves the new substances 
 into the old forms without any mistake, and preserves 
 the body from annihilation ? Can the food we eat do it 
 of itself? 
 
 But this is not all. When the spirit leaves the body, 
 all power and consciousness cease. The eye may be as 
 perfect in its organization as ever, but it cannot see. The 
 ear and the other senses have lost all power of conscious- 
 ness. Have lost it, do I say ? No, they have not lost it, 
 for they never possessed it. The material eye never 
 saw ; the material ear never heard ; the material hand 
 never felt ; the material heart never beat, of themselves. 
 If you were in a factory where all the wheels were hum- 
 ming with motion, would you not know that some power 
 not in themselves was dri\ ing them ? And if they stopped, 
 would you not know that tlie power had been withdrawn 
 from them ? Have we not just as certain evidence that 
 the organs of the material body have no inherent, self- 
 derived power in themselves to act ; that they must be 
 moved by some sj)iritual force ; and when that force is 
 withdrawn they must return to dust? It seems strange 
 that rational men will ask for evidence of the e.xistence 
 of sjiiritual substances and forces when they perceive 
 them in constant operation within and around them. 
 
GOD AXD MAN. 
 
 loi 
 
 We have the evidence of our own consciousness also 
 of the substantial and permanent nature of the spirit. It 
 is now a generally-accepted fact that thought and affec- 
 tion are indestructible. No one can divest himself of 
 ideas or truths he has once gained. They may be for- 
 gotten, as we say, but they remain in the mind and can 
 be recalled. If the mind or spirit were a mist or a form- 
 less es.sence, it could be dispersed like a vapor, and all 
 the ideas and affections that were embodied in it would 
 be dissipated. But they are not, and never can be. 
 Amputate a limb and it ceases to be a part of the human 
 body. But a thought or an affection cannot be ampu- 
 tated. Destroy the body and the spirit is not injured. 
 The material body is evanescent ; it is constantly passing 
 away like a flowing stream ; but the spirit remains un- 
 touched, substantial, immortal. 
 
 If the relation of the spirit to the body is such as I 
 have represented it to be, the spirit must be the man 
 himself It must be in the human form, because the 
 material body is cast into its mould. All the organs are 
 woven into a garment to clothe the organs of the spirit. 
 The spirit must therefore be composed of a series of 
 organic forms or organs, which, combined into one, be- 
 come the human form. What, then, is the spirit? It is 
 a human being in a human form as a whole and in its 
 least particulars. It is substantial, and the substances 
 of which it is composed are untouched by the dissolution 
 of the material body ; the human spirit endures forever. 
 
 Having gained a clear and true idea of what the human 
 spirit is, and of the distinction between the spiritual body 
 and the material body, we have gained the point of view 
 
 9* 
 
I02 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 from which we can see the trinity and unity in man which 
 are essential to personal beings, and from this we may see 
 more clearly the nature of the Divine trinity in the one 
 person of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 We have good grounds for looking to man to find the 
 trinity in God, because man was created in the image 
 of God and after His likeness. If man was made in the 
 image of God, we must find in him a likeness of God. 
 God must be in the human form. The Divine nature 
 must be composed of attributes corresponding to those 
 which compose man. The Divine faculties must sustain 
 the same relations to one another which human faculties 
 sustain. If there is a trinity in God, there must be a 
 trinity in man. If there is a trinity in man, there must 
 be a trinity in God. If the trinity in man makes one 
 person, one human being, the trinity in God must make 
 one Divine Person, one Divine Being. If this trinity in 
 God makes three persons, each composed of the same 
 substance and possessing the same attributes, the trinity 
 in man must make three persons, each composed of the 
 same substance and possessing the same qualities. An 
 image must have the same form as the original, and so 
 far as it is an image it must be like it. 
 
 What are the three essential factors of a human being ? 
 Are they not the soul or spirit, the body, and the power 
 of the man reaching forth to affect objects and beings 
 outside himself? These three are perfectly distinct. 
 The spirit is not the body, and the body is not the spirit, 
 and the influence or operation of the man is not the spirit 
 or the body. But the three make one person, one man. 
 If cither were absent the other two would not be a man. 
 
GOD AND MAN. 
 
 We may regard the subject in another way. Man is 
 essentially composed of love, intelligence, and the union 
 of these factors in thought or deed. The love or will is 
 not the intellect, and neither of them is thought or act. 
 Love does not make a man ; action does not make a 
 man. A human being is the product of the three. But 
 the three do not make three persons. There is the same 
 trinity of Divine love, Divine wisdom, and Divine opera- 
 tion in God. 
 
 To return to man, the image of God. The spirit or 
 soul is the father of the body. It begat it and formed it 
 and continually creates it. If the material body had 
 consciousness and power of its own, it could truly say, I 
 came out from the spirit. I can do nothing of myself. 
 The spirit does the works. It could say everything that 
 the Saviour says concerning His relations to the Father ; 
 and yet the spirit and the body make one man, as the 
 Father and Son make one God. 
 
 Look at the subject in another way. The soul is in 
 the body. Jesus Christ says, "The Father is in me." 
 " No man cometh unto the Father but by me." There 
 is no way in which we can get access to a man's mind or 
 spirit but by his body. If the body could speak, it could 
 say in truth, No one can come to the spirit but by me. 
 I am the way, and the only way. 
 
 Here is a larger and more important truth than may at 
 first appear. By coming to the Father something more 
 is meant than coming to Him in space, as one man ap- 
 proaches another. It means that we cannot come to 
 Him in thought, — that is, we cannot think of Him truly 
 in any other way than as He is manifested in Jesus 
 
104 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 Christ. How is He brought forth to view in Him ? In 
 the human form, as a Divine Man. The agnostics are 
 right when they say that God as an infinite and formless 
 spirit, "without body, parts, or passions," is unthink- 
 able. There is no image, no idea in the mind, no dis- 
 tinct subject for the thought to rest on. We can only 
 think of things and beings that have substance and form. 
 There are no beings or things destitute of these essentials 
 of existence. If I should ask you to think of a tree or 
 an animal or a man that had no substance and no form, 
 you would say it was absurd, because you know it to be 
 impossible. For the same reason we can only come to 
 Jehovah, the Father, in thought as He appears in Jesus 
 Christ ; and He appears in Him as a man, in the human 
 form. ' ' He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. ' ' 
 
 For the same reason we can come to Him in our affec- 
 ions in no other way than by Jesus Christ. No one can 
 love a being of whom he can gain no conception. We 
 cannot love a formless essence, an abstract virtue or 
 power. Think of the absurdity of loving an abstract 
 child, a woman or a man without substance or form ! It 
 may be said that we do love an ideal person. There is 
 some truth in that. But our ideal is the image we form 
 in our minds. So, doubtless, every one has some con- 
 cejition in his mind of God. He makes an image of 
 Him, even while dejiying that He has any form. But 
 here the image is formed for us. The Word is made 
 flesh, and dwells among men. "God manifest in the 
 flesh." God manifest in the human form. God come 
 down to men, associating with them, teaching them by 
 word of mouth, by precept and example ; the tender, 
 
GOD AA'D MAN. 
 
 merciful God, healing their diseases, sympathizing with 
 them in their sorrows and sufferings ; a kind, patient, 
 pure, unselfish, noble, wise God ; and yet a man. He 
 has a human heart ; He works in human ways ; He has 
 human sympathies. This is the way He is revealed to us 
 in Jesus Christ. He is revealed not merely by example 
 and formal instruction, but He is embodied in the form 
 of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is His form. His body. His 
 love. His wisdom. His way of working among men and 
 saving them. The love and wisdom of Jesus Christ are 
 the Divine love and wisdom. God reveals Himself in 
 Him even to the human senses, in a form comprehensible 
 to the child. When we think of Jesus Christ we think 
 of the Father ; when we love Jesus Christ we love the 
 Father ; when we pray to Jesus Christ we pray to the 
 Father ; when we worship Jesus Christ we worship the 
 Father. . We think of Him in the same way and in the 
 same sense as, in thinking of the bodily form of a friend, 
 we think of his mind ; when we speak to the body we 
 speak to the soul. 
 
 According to this doctrine we have the whole Divine 
 trinity in one personal Being, in Jesus Christ, as we have 
 the whole human trinity in every man. We have the 
 whole trinity united in the human form, of which we can 
 gain a distinct idea. The mind is not confused and dis- 
 couraged by trying to think the unthinkable ; it is not 
 distracted by thinking that there are three Divine per- 
 sons and saying that there is but one God. We do not 
 pray to a being of whom we say we can form no concep- 
 tion — but to whom we speak and of whom we try to 
 think — to grant us favors for the sake of or in the name 
 
lo6 PROGRESS LV SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 of another Divine person. We go to Jesus Christ, who 
 is God manifest in the flesh, as a Httle child goes to his 
 father, in a plain and simple way, without trying to make 
 any metaphysical distinctions, and ask Him to grant the 
 help and blessing we need for His own love and mercy's 
 sake. We can think of Him ; we can love Him ; we can 
 trust Him. He is the way, the truth and the life. 
 
 If Jesus Christ was really God Himself manifest in the 
 flesh, and not merely an ambassador from God, or a dis- 
 tinct person standing between men and Him, you can 
 see what an important bearing a true conception of His 
 character and mission will have upon the conditions and 
 means of human salvation. It places it on new grounds. 
 It takes it out of all that is merely formal, legal, tech- 
 nical, and arbitrary, and demonstrates to our senses how 
 the one and only Divine Being loves and pities His chil- 
 dren, and what practical work He has done and is doing 
 to save men from sin and misery and raise them up 
 to holiness and eternal life. God has generally been 
 represented as an austere, inexorable embodiment of 
 that natural, mercantile form of justice which demands 
 the full measure of punishment for every offence. But 
 justice has a higher meaning than this. Divine justice is 
 not vengeance ; it is Divine love directed by Divine wis- 
 dom to secure the highest good to men. There is an 
 immense difference between sending some one to do a 
 painful work and doing it yourself. If Jesus Christ was 
 God Himself, clothed with a human nature and a material 
 body, by means of which He came down to human com- 
 prehension, living, laboring, teaching, and dying as to 
 His material body among men and for them, every one 
 
GOD AND MAN. 
 
 can see in what a beautiful and attractive form it presents 
 the Divine character. We can know and love and de- 
 hght to serve such a Being. 
 
 This is the hght in which the doctrines of the New 
 Church present the Divine character. They dispel the 
 cloud of misconceptions which have obscured it. They 
 bring the Lord down to men, and present Him in such 
 simple and clear form that a child can understand some- 
 thing of Him and learn to know and love Him. They 
 take nothing away from His sanctity. They do not 
 destroy the law or the prophets ; they help men to un- 
 derstand them. They do not break the force and sanctity 
 of the least of the commandments, or teach men to break 
 them. On the contrary, they show that they are the 
 immutable laws of the Divine order, and, consequently, 
 that they cannot be broken without loss and suffering. 
 Their whole scope and tendency is to assist men in 
 solving the problems of life ; to make the way to the 
 attainment of the highest good plain and easier to walk 
 in ; to reveal the Lord to men in a clearer and more 
 attractive light ; to give man a truer and nobler concep- 
 tion of himself and of the capacities of his own nature 
 for happiness, and to show the means that lie within his 
 reach to attain the highest good. 
 
THE DIVINR METHOD OF CREATING. 
 
 the word of the LORD were the heavens made ; and all 
 the host of them by the breath of his month." — Psalm xxxiii. 6. 
 
 THERE is but little said in the letter of the Word 
 
 concerning the creation of the universe, except the 
 bare announcement of the fact that the Lord is the 
 Creator of all things, and that all things were created by 
 "the word of the Lord" or the Divine truth. The 
 conclusions we form concerning the creation, from this 
 declaration, will depend upon the idea that we have of 
 ' ' the word of the Lord' ' and ' ' the breath of his mouth. ' ' 
 If by "word" we understand a mere vocal expression, 
 we shall come to the conclusion generally entertained 
 upon the subject, that the Lord spoke the universe into 
 existence. He said. Let it be, and it became. "He 
 spake, and it was done ; he commanded, and it stood 
 fast." According to this idea the universe was created 
 without any modes or processes from cause to effect. 
 There were no steps in it. It is true, science demon- 
 strates pretty clearly that our earth has been gradually 
 evolved from a chaotic state, and for many thousands of 
 years continued to advance towards a condition suitable 
 for the habitation of man. But the theologian evades 
 the difficulty by supposing that the act of creating was 
 speaking into existence the elements out of which the 
 universe was gradually formed. 
 
 This idea of the creation practically severs the universe 
 
 1 08 
 
rilR DIVINE METHOD OE CREATING. 
 
 from any living, present connection with the Creator. It 
 imphes that He once created it and committed it to the 
 keeping of certain huvs which men call the laws of nature, 
 and now He stands as it were aloof from it, watching 
 its operations somewhat as a man makes a machine and 
 then watches its movements. 
 
 But this is not the idea of the New Church. Our doc- 
 trines teach us that the Lord is an everlasting or continual 
 Creator, and that He creates all things from Himself 
 The universe is a perpetual creation, continually renewed 
 and increased and held in existence by the same power 
 which first gave it being. The universe was not created 
 out of nothing by a vocal expression, but from the Lord 
 Himself by the continual operation of His Divine love 
 and wisdom. It is not in any sense fixed and independent 
 of Him. It is not cut off or severed from Him and held 
 in form and existence by laws. Laws have no power. 
 They are merely the Divine method of working. The 
 Lord works in, through, and by them. There is not a 
 single thing in the universe that can maintain itself a 
 moment when severed from the Lord. The hardest 
 metal or stone would vanish from sight and from existence 
 as quickly as light vanishes from the room when you 
 remove the luminous body from which it flows, if its 
 connection with the Lord were severed. The outflowing 
 of light from a luminous body well illustrates the moment- 
 ary dependence of every created thing upon the Lord for 
 its continued existence. 
 
 According to this idea the universe is a constant 
 creation. All its forces are continually derived from the 
 Lord. Nothing acts of itself The force of gravity is 
 
 lO 
 
no PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 not inherent in matter. It does not originate in the earth 
 or tlie sun. It comes momentarily from the Lord. The 
 attraction of cohesion is not a power of itself, but the 
 Divine method of forming individual things and holding 
 them together, and the exercise of power is as constant as 
 the effects of it. Suppose the power we call cohesive 
 attraction should be in part withdrawn from solid sub- 
 stances, they would all fall asunder, and there would be 
 no individual forms or things. The earth would be a 
 fluid mass. Withdraw it still further and there would be 
 nothing but gases, and if the process were still continued 
 matter would be annihilated. This truth is perfectly 
 illustrated by an analogous process in the human body. 
 The body is organized by the soul and kept in existence 
 as an organized form by it. If you sever any part of the 
 body from its connection with the soul, disorganization 
 begins to take place, and the severed part is dissipated. 
 So it would be with the material universe, only more fully 
 and instantaneously, if it could be severed from the ever- 
 creating power of the Lord. We arrive, then, at this 
 important truth, that the universe is a perpetual creation 
 from the Lord, and has a living connection with Him. 
 
 Such being the case, the question naturally arises, 
 What is there in the Lord from which or out of which 
 the universe can be created ? The Lord in His essential 
 being is love and wisdom or goodness and truth. It 
 must be from or out of goodness and truth that the uni- 
 verse is created. Most persons conceive of love or good- 
 ness as a mere affection or state of the soul, and of wisdom 
 or truth as knowledge or simply knowing. But this is 
 not the true idea. The Divine love and wisdom are sub- 
 
THE DIVINE METHOD OF CREATING. m 
 
 stance and form itself. The Lord exists in Himself, not 
 from another. He must be substance itself, for He gives 
 subsistence to everything. If substance is that which 
 stands under, is the origin and support of all things, 
 surely the Lord must be that substance ; and if He gives 
 form to everything, there must be something in Him that 
 gives the form. He must be the Former of all forms. 
 He must be form itself. The inmost essence of the Lord 
 is Divine love, and the form of that love is Divine wis- 
 dom or truth, and from Divine truth all things were 
 created. The declaration of the Sacred Scriptures, then, 
 that "by the word of the Lord were the heavens made," 
 is literally true, when we have a correct idea of what 
 " the word of the Lord" or Divine truth is. 
 
 It is true we can form no adequate conception of what 
 the Divine goodness or truth is in itself. The intensity, 
 power, and perfection of the Divine are altogether above 
 the conception of the highest angel, much more that of 
 man. We are so weak and ignorant that we do not know 
 what anything, even the most common object that is 
 daily before our eyes, is in itself We should find it as 
 impossible to define what matter is as what spiritual or 
 Divine substance is. It is enough for us to know that 
 all things have their origin in the Lord and flow from Him 
 as the only real and essential substance. 
 
 When we say the universe is an emanation or outbirth 
 from the Lord, it must not be understood that gross 
 material forms come directly from Him, but those sub- 
 stances and forms from which the material universe was 
 created. The creation proceeds from the Lord by dis- 
 tinct steps or degrees. This may be illustrated by the 
 
112 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 creation of the planets from the sun. Granite and iron 
 and diamonds do not proceed immediately from the sun. 
 The first emanation from the sun is matter in its purest 
 forms, as an aura or ether ; then it becomes a gas, a fluid, 
 and finally a solid. A part of this process we know from 
 actual observation. For instance, oxygen and hydrogen 
 gases by combination form water, and water becomes a 
 solid in ice. Here we can trace the formation of a solid 
 down three steps. We do not yet know much about 
 light and heat and electricity, or those substances which 
 are called the imponderable agents in chemistry. But we 
 know that they act a most important part in all the 
 changes and activities of matter. They are doubtless to 
 the grosser forms of matter what the soul is to the human 
 body, and from analogy and experiment there is good 
 reason to believe that the grosser forms of matter are 
 created from them, as water and all other fluids and 
 solids are created from gases. Solids are the last step 
 in the creation, where the li\ing forms and substances 
 become inert and dead. 
 
 Tlie first emanation fi om the Lord is not matter, nor 
 even spiritual substance in its lowest forms, but a sun so 
 intense and glowing with the Divine love and wisdom 
 that even the angels cannot bear its heat and light except 
 as it becomes modified and adapted to their states. This 
 Divine sun flows from the Lord and encompasses Him, 
 as light and heat flow from our sun and encompass it. 
 This sun is pure love and wisdom as they flow from the 
 Lord. It is also the substance from which and out of 
 wliich the .spiritual world is created, in the same manner 
 relatively as material worlds are created from the material 
 
THE DIVIXE METHOD OF CREATING. 113 
 
 sun. That sun appears to the angels remote, as our sun 
 does to us. It is also the centre of the whole universe, 
 both spiritual and natural. From it the spiritual world is 
 created, and the souls of men are formed. Thus man is 
 a being organized of spiritual substances derived from the 
 Lord, and is kin to all things in the spiritual world. 
 
 As the spiritual world was created from the spiritual 
 sun, of spiritual substances, it is a more substantial and 
 real and living world than this. But it is not a simple 
 world in which all parts are alike ; it exists in various 
 forms and degrees. The Divine substance ever flowing 
 from the Lord descends in distinct degrees. The first 
 emanation from the Lord is the spiritual sun by which He 
 is encompassed ; the first emanation from the spiritual 
 sun is the celestial heaven, in which the highest angels 
 dwell, who can receive the Lord's love and wisdom in 
 their highest degree and in the purest created forms. 
 This heaven is as distinct from all the others as the air is 
 from the solid rock. 
 
 The next remove from the spiritual sun is the spiritual 
 heaven, which is a degree lower than the celestial heaven, 
 and is distinct from that heaven as it is distinct from the 
 spiritual sun, or as our earth is from our sun. This 
 heaven is the abode of spiritual angels. They are called 
 spiritual angels in whom a degree of life has been opened 
 corresponding to the substances of which the spiritual 
 heaven is composed. 
 
 The next remove from the spiritual sun is the natural 
 heaven, which is the lowest form of the spiritual and is 
 only one degree above the material. Thus there are 
 three heavens, each distinct from the other, and formed 
 h 10* 
 
114 PROGRESS /.V SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 of spiritual substances in three distinct degrees. The 
 main truth I wish to present now is that the creation pro- 
 ceeds from the Lord by distinct steps, each lower plane 
 being formed from and through the next higher and thus 
 all from the Lord. 
 
 From spiritual substances matter is formed. Not gross 
 and solid matter, but matter in its purest forms. The 
 first step from the spiritual to the material is the suns of 
 the various systems in the material universe. According 
 to the philosophy of the New Church, these suns are 
 pure fire, from which issue light and heat. This pure fire 
 is the most subtile form of matter ; so subtile and pure 
 that we can obtain but little if any knowledge of it through 
 our gross and material senses, and yet it is inert and dead 
 compared with spirit. From the suns the A arious planets 
 or earths are formed by a process exactly analogous to 
 that by which the various spiritual worlds or heavens are 
 formed. The Divine love and wisdom, which we must 
 remember are not names but real substances and forms, 
 flow down from the Lord by distinct degrees, until that 
 which was Di\'ine and infinite and above all created re- 
 ception and comprehension, becomes dead and solid 
 matter, as the metal and stone. Thus there is a living 
 connection between the rock and the inmost Divine of 
 the Lord ; there is a chain of causes and effects running 
 from the highest to the lowest, binding all together into 
 one whole. 
 
 Reasoning from analogy and from the very nature of 
 the Divine love and wisdom, I think we are forced to the 
 conclusion that the material universe js not yet complete, 
 and never will be. The Lord is now creating new worlds, 
 
THE DIVINE METHOD OF CREATING. 
 
 and will continue to create them to eternity. There are 
 discoveries in astronomy which seem to confirm this con- 
 clusion. The Lord is not idle. Life must continually 
 flow from Him. He is continually creating new souls, 
 must He not be continually creating new worlds ? 
 
 The truth that the universe is a perpetual creation 
 from the Divine sun answers the question which is often 
 asked, and which has been supposed to be unanswer- 
 able, What keeps up the heat of the sun ? It is known 
 that all heated bodies gradually give off their heat and 
 grow cooler. And it has been argued from this that the 
 sun must eventually cease to shine and give off heat, and 
 become opaque like the earth. Others have imagined 
 that the comets supply the sun with fuel, and in some 
 unknown way keep its fires continually burning. But 
 the truth is, the fire of the sun is perpetually created by 
 the Lord from the spiritual world. The suns themselves 
 are an emanation from Him, as light and heat are an 
 emanation from them, and they cannot cease to shine, 
 for they are perpetually fed from the exhaustless fountain 
 of the Divine life. Thus the stability and perpetuity of 
 the universe does not depend upon any laws or relations 
 of matter, but upon the immutable order and infinite 
 sources of Him who is life and substance and form itself. 
 
 This sublime truth, that the universe is a continual 
 creation from the Lord, reveals to us, if we can correctly 
 understand it, how the Lord is everywhere present in the 
 universe. There is not a stone in the street that is not 
 connected with the Divine by the presence within it of 
 living forces from Him. As the universe descends from 
 the Lord, or, what is the same thing, recedes from Him 
 
Ii6 PROGRESS 7X SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDCE. 
 
 by distinct steps or degrees, it always retains a vital con- 
 nection with Him, upon which all its activity and life and 
 its very existence depend. It is a common idea that 
 the Lord created the first plant, and gave to it the power 
 of propagating itself, and then His direct agency ceased. 
 But this is an entire mistake. Power cannot be commu- 
 nicated in that way. A machine can only be kept in 
 motion by the continual application of the motive power. 
 The Divine agency is just as necessary to the creation of 
 the last plant as the first. The actual presence of a sub- 
 stantial and living element from the Lord through the 
 spiritual sun and the spiritual world forms the plant in 
 every part of its progress. It is the same in the animal 
 kingdom. The organization of the animal form, and all 
 its instincts and life, are also the effects of the spiritual 
 element from the Lord working from within. One ani- 
 mal cannot create another. No animal can form its own 
 instincts. I repeat, therefore, that the creation of the 
 material universe, as a whole and in all its parts, is due 
 to the spiritual presence and agency of the Divine sphere 
 of the Lord through the spiritual world. The spiritual 
 world, then, in its relations to this, is the world of causes, 
 not only as a whole, not only as a first cause, but in each 
 particular and at every moment. Wherever you see a 
 form or motion, growth or change, you may know that 
 there are spiritual substances and forces at work, just 
 as certainly as you know when you see a machine in 
 motion that some power is moving it. 
 
 The very deadness and inertness of matter fit it to 
 serve an essential use in the Lord's creation. The ma- 
 terial world forms the basis on which the spiritual world 
 
THE DIVIXE METHOD OF CREATING. 
 
 117 
 
 rests, and from which it reacts. Creation requires a pas- 
 sive and an active. There must be something to act and 
 something to receive the action, — to be acted upon. We 
 see this principle clearly in exercise in this world, and 
 the Lord always works like Himself in all parts of His 
 creation. The earth was first created from the sun, and 
 now the sun acts into it and sets all its forms in motion. 
 It acts upon the atmosphere and causes all its currents 
 and winds. It acts upon the water and lifts it from the 
 ocean and the land into the heavens, in the form of 
 clouds, which descend in rain and form rivers, and thus 
 the element of water is kept in perpetual play. It acts 
 upon all vegetable and animal forms, and keeps them in 
 a state to be acted upon and moulded by the spiritual 
 forces which reach them from within. If there were no 
 earth the sun's rays would be dissipated in space, and, 
 like a blow upon the empty air, produce no effect. The 
 spiritual world is the real and substantial world, the world 
 of causes and forms, and is everywhere present and op- 
 erative ; and the material world was created to be a basis 
 for its operations, to arrest the outflow of living forces 
 from the Lord, and reflect them back towards their origi- 
 nal fountain. They flow from Him as love and wisdom 
 in substance. They return towards Him in human souls, 
 organized in His own form and likeness, and capable of 
 receiving His love and wisdom in ever-increasing fulness 
 and joy. 
 
 The truth that the Lord is a'n ever-living, present, and 
 perpetual Creator is one that men are very slow to learn. 
 Men will not believe that the Lord is now doing what He 
 has always done, that He is unchangeably active. " My 
 
ii8 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 Father worketh hitherto," said our Lord, " and I work." 
 This truth brings the Lord near to us as a present, living 
 God, and not merely an historical being. The whole uni- 
 verse is the effect of His working to-day, is made up of 
 the forms which His love and wisdom have assumed and 
 do assume to-day ; and they are as truly tokens and mes- 
 sages of His love as the work which any man does is an 
 evidence of his present, living power and of his wisdom 
 and skill. It is the Lord who feeds the blazing furnace 
 of the sun by emanations from Himself, and every ray 
 of light and heat that falls upon our world comes from 
 the Lord through the sun, and is a message of the Lord's 
 love and wisdom. It is the Lord who creates from a 
 living, spiritual sun the innumerable hosts of stars that 
 gem the heavens and fill the immeasurable space. With 
 this truth in our minds we look up to the sky on a cloud- 
 less night, and our thoughts do not travel back vast ages 
 to admire and wonder at a mighty power once exerted, 
 but we are filled with amazement and awe at what He is 
 now doing. The stars are now creating and created from 
 Him. He now marshals them in their harmonious order, 
 and sends them on their shining way. "See," says the 
 devout soul, " what my Father is now doing." 
 
 As he looks over the earth in the spring and sees the 
 bare trees and dead mould clothed with the beautiful 
 garment of organized forms ; as he sees the beautiful 
 flowers bursting from the cold clod, and delicate petals 
 gently unfolding from the' hard, woody stems until the 
 valleys are clothed with a new beauty, and the hills with 
 a new glory, " See," he says, " how my Father works." 
 It is His hand that weaves the delicate texture of leaf 
 
THE DIVINE METHOD OF CREATING. 119 
 
 and blossom. It is His hand that distils the farina of 
 wheat and the sweet juices of the various fruits, and 
 rounds them into such beautiful and graceful forms, and 
 paints them with such delicate and various hues. It is 
 not dead nature ; it is not primal and abstract law ; it is 
 not gas or electric fires. Matter is but the thin veil be- 
 neath which He works. Galvanic forces are but the 
 swift shuttles with which He weaves the web of organic 
 forms. The falling stream falls not of itself, but runs and 
 sings in sweet accord with His attractive power. The 
 dewdrop does not round itself, but the fine particles of 
 mist leap and cling to each other's embrace by His will. 
 The bird does not organize itself, or sing an idle, sense- 
 less song. It sings His praises in a voice which is one 
 chord in the harmonies of His nature. 
 
 Look up, the worlds are not rushing on aimless er- 
 rands by self-impelled forces, but each pursues its swift 
 and shining way by certain paths for certain ends. Look 
 around you, the whole earth is tremulous and Hving with 
 His all-pervading presence. He speaks to you in the 
 loving voice of wife and child ; He smiles upon you in 
 their sweet lips ; He ministers to you in their gentle 
 hands. Look, I pray you, my brother ; look through 
 the thin veil of nature and the sweet disguises of material 
 forms and see the presence and power of your Heavenly 
 Father. For He is present and working there. From 
 Himself, by instruments formed from Himself, He now 
 creates all. 
 
MAN A FORM RECEPTIVE OF LIFE. 
 
 " / mil the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, 
 and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit ; for without 
 me ye can do nothing. — John xv. 5. 
 
 'T'HE general truth contained in this portion of the 
 
 Divine Word is this : that man's hfe consists in his 
 conjunction with the Lord, and that severed from Him 
 he is nothing. The doctrines of the New Church teach 
 the same truth when they declare that " man is a mere 
 organ of life." It is this truth to which I wish to invite 
 your attention, a truth fundamental to all knowledge of 
 man's own nature and of his relations to the Lord. 
 
 Let us look first at the truth itself. ' ' Man is a mere 
 organ of life, " or as it is expressed in other words, ' ' a form 
 receptive of life." This is not a figurative or relative ex- 
 pression. Man is just as truly a mere form or organ of life 
 as a tree. He has no more life in himself — that is, no more 
 life that has its origin in him — than a piece of granite has. 
 For there can be only one being who has life in himself, 
 — that is, underived life, — for to have life in one's self is 
 to be self-existent, and to be self-existent is to be un- 
 created, and to be uncreated is to be Divine, to be God. 
 
 All men who acknowledge a God assent to this truth 
 in some form. But still it is generally supposed that 
 man is endowed with certain faculties or powers and then 
 left to himself in some measure to work out his destiny, 
 or to live ; and thus the idea is entertained that man has 
 
 120 
 
MAN A FORM RECEPTIVE OF LIFE. 
 
 121 
 
 independent and self-acting power, though in the begin- 
 ning he was created. The Creator gave him a start, as it 
 were, made him to be seif-existent, and then left him to 
 himself so far as mere living is concerned, and only 
 teaches him from without, as we teach one another, how 
 to live. Most men who think at all upon the subject 
 doubtless suppose that the Lord made man somewhat as 
 a man forms a machine, with the difference that man is a 
 self-acting machine, and when once created they suppose 
 that he goes on perpetuating himself without any imme- 
 diate, special agency of the Creator. 
 
 The practical effect of this doctrine is the denial of the 
 immediate and constant agency of the Lord in life. We 
 rarely, if ever, think of the origin of our life, and re- 
 member only that we now live and seem to live of our- 
 selves. Now, the plain, simple truth is that man is a 
 mere organ of life, or a form by which life from the Lord 
 is manifested, and it is by a constant action of the Divine 
 life upon or through this form that man has any life. It 
 is the Divine influx or inflowing that gives life to this 
 form that we call man. 
 
 So far as our observation extends we know that this is 
 a universal law. No finite thing that we have any knowl- 
 edge of has any life in itself, and all that we call its life is 
 a constant inflowing into it. If we look at the human 
 body we shall find abundant illustration of the principle. 
 
 The human eye is a mere organ of sight. It has no 
 light in itself No phenomena appear until the eye is 
 acted upon, until it is set in motion by the influx of the 
 ether. When its waves flow in, this organism is set in 
 motion, and the result is sight. When they cease, sight 
 
 F II 
 
122 PROGRESS LV SPIRITUAL KXOIVLEDGE. 
 
 ceases. So the ear is a mere organ or form of hearing, 
 and is adapted in every respect to the air. When the 
 waves of the air flow in, the organ is set in motion, and 
 the effect is a sound. It is with the ear just as it is with 
 the pipe of an organ ; when the inflowing wave ceases, 
 then the sound ceases. 
 
 The same is true of taste and of touch. No sensation 
 is excited unless sometliing acts upon the organ formed 
 for that sense and excites it, and when the action ceases 
 the sensation ceases. So the whole human body, in 
 every part, from the least to the greatest, within and 
 without, is made up of mere organs. They are not all 
 organs of sensation. The brain is the organ of thought, 
 the tongue and larynx are organs of speech, the heart is 
 an organ for propelling the blood, the lungs for breathing, 
 the feet and legs are the organs of locomotion. Not one 
 of them has the least life in itself,. or acts unless it is 
 impelled ; when the motive power is shut off" the organ 
 ceases its motion, as a wheel ceases to revolve when the 
 propelling foice ceases to act. 
 
 The heart does seem to expand and contract of itself, 
 but we know that it does not ; for when the spirit leaves 
 the body the heart has no motion. If it were really self- 
 acting it would keep on. The human body, then, is 
 a series and congeries of organs, and every action, 
 motion, and affection that we can predicate of it is 
 caused by some force flowing into these forms and set- 
 ting them in motion. 
 
 This law or mode of the Divine operation is universal, 
 so far as our observation extends. Is it rational to sup- 
 pose that the action of the law is limited by man's powers 
 
MAN A FORM RECEPTIVE OF LTFE. 123 
 
 of observation? Certainly not. As far as observation 
 extends, it teaches us that the Lord never contradicts 
 Himself, that He works after the same general plan 
 everywhere. Reason, then, may take up the thread 
 when observation can go no further, and show by the 
 laws of analogy and correspondence how the Lord works 
 in degrees or planes of the mind entirely above our ob- 
 servation. 
 
 When we pass from the study of man's body to his 
 spirit, we conclude that as the combination of material 
 organs compose the body and make the material form of 
 man, so, as to his spirit also, man is a mere organ of life, 
 an organ composed of a series and congeries of spiritual 
 forms, which in their combination make up the human 
 form. There is no more life in itself in the spirit than 
 there is in the body. It is an organ receptive of life. 
 There is a spiritual eye and a spiritual ear and heart ; 
 there are spiritual lungs and hands and feet, and all the 
 other organs, internal and external, that make up the 
 human form, and they are composed of spiritual sub- 
 stances, and are as perfectly adapted to a world composed 
 of spiritual substances as the material man is to the 
 material world. The eye is set in motion by waves of a 
 spiritual ether, the ear vibrates to a spiritual air, the lungs 
 breathe a spiritual atmosphere. The heart propels spir- 
 itual blood. When the natural body is laid aside, the 
 spiritual senses are affected by contact with spiritual 
 forms ; the foot treads upon a spiritual earth, which is 
 composed of a greater variety of forms than the material 
 earth. Men live in spiritual houses and wear spiritual 
 garments and engage in various uses suited to the world 
 
124 FI^ OGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 they are in, and yet that whole world and all who are in 
 it are mere organs of life, having the same relations to 
 one another that material forms have. If we ascend to 
 the highest angel we shall find him a mere organ of life, 
 having no more life in himself than a string or pipe of a 
 musical instrument, and no more power to set himself in 
 motion or to live from himself. 
 
 We come to this conclusion, then, that the whole uni- 
 verse of angels, spirits, men, animals, vegetables, and 
 worlds is a vast complicated organism, having no life in 
 itself in any of its parts or forms. It is created by the 
 Lord to be the organ of life which flows into it from Him, 
 and sustains and animates it. The Lord constantly 
 creates and gives ; all that created things or beings can 
 do is to receive. And this is the next principle which I 
 wish to notice. The measure and quality of the life we 
 receive depend upon our capacity or ability to receive. 
 
 This is also a universal law. The Lord is omnipresent 
 in all His fulness, but He can only be received according 
 to the capacity of the recipient form. This diversity of 
 ability is illustrated in the human body in the same 
 manner as diversity of form. The vibrations in the air 
 that produce the sensation of sound are just as much 
 present to the hand and eye as they are to the ear, but 
 they are received and pcrcei\-ed only by the ear because 
 that is the only organ whose form is adapted to the pur- 
 pose. The modulations of the ether float all around us 
 and fall upon us from every direction, but the ey€ only 
 has any knowledge of them, because it is the only organ 
 formed to receive them. All the causes which e.xcite the 
 sensations of sight, smell, taste, and hearing may be 
 
MAN A FORM RECEPTIVE OF LIFE. 125 
 
 present to the hand ; all their undulations may fall upon 
 it, but it does not discern their presence, though one of 
 the most wonderful organs in the body, simply because it 
 is not fitted to receive them. Place a person destitute of 
 eyes in the midst of a beautiful landscape. The flowing 
 stream, the quiet valley, the gently-rising upland, and 
 the varied outlines of a wide sweep of hills, diversified 
 with innumerable forms of tree and rock and animal, 
 canopied by the blue sky or the ever-shifting forms and 
 hues of the clouds lighted up by the glories of the rising 
 or the setting sun, — all this infinite variety of form and 
 color and beauty is a blank to him, though the causes 
 which should reveal its presence, the undulations in the 
 ether reflected from them, fall upon him from every 
 point. The only want is in him. He has no organs to 
 receive these motions, and consequently they are to him 
 as though they were not. What is true of the eye is 
 true of the ear and of every material organ. All ma- 
 terial organs are made and adapted to be acted upon by 
 material agents, and the manifestations, effects, or phe- 
 nomena are in exact accordance with the power and 
 degree of reception. The higher the form of the organ, 
 the nobler its functions, the more excellent the forces of 
 life which it receives and to which it responds. 
 
 If, now, we ascend to the spiritual forms, we shall find 
 the same general law, only varied in its effects with the 
 capacity of the form. The Lord is present to every 
 man's spirit with all His love and wisdom, but He can 
 communicate only what can be received, and what can be 
 received depends upon the quality of the organ. The 
 phenomena or the resulting eflfects of influx into the 
 
 II* 
 
126 PROGRESS LV SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 spiritual organs which compose the man are thoughts 
 and affections. Thoughts and affections are changes of 
 state and activities of spiritual forms, just as sound and 
 light are the effects of the air and ether falling upon and 
 setting in motion the organs of the ear and eye. And 
 the thought and affection are exactly according to the 
 measure of reception. 
 
 We should rationally expect that forms composed of 
 substances so eminent in excellence would be susceptible 
 of corresponding effects, and we find it is so. Our ob- 
 servation also, as far as it extends, teaches us that the 
 higher the form and medium, the more varied and noble 
 the results. The rock receives only sufficient influx, 
 which we call attraction, to hold its particles together. 
 It is a mere mass. In the vegetable world we first find 
 organized forms, but each form is fixed to one spot. It 
 has growth within certain limits, but no sensation. The 
 animal kingdom possesses locomotion and sensation, and 
 it possesses them by virtue of its higher organization. 
 Man possesses all these, and within and above them a 
 spiritual and celestial organism, and it is these highest 
 forms which really constitute his humanity and elevate 
 him above the animal. 
 
 The pre-eminent quality of a spiritual form is that it is 
 not subject to the laws of fixed time and space. Organs 
 formed of matter grow chiefly by increase in size. But 
 a spiritual form grows by perfecting its state. Spiritual 
 forms are as clearly defined and distinct from one another 
 as material, and appear to be, and are in one sense, in 
 space, as much as material forms ; but the spaces are not 
 fixed and independent of the mind, but conform to it. 
 
MA AT A FORM RECEPTIVE OF LIFE. 127 
 
 From this quality of spirit it will be readily seen that 
 there are no limits to its growth. A spiritual form may 
 increase in the quality of its state to eternity, — that is, 
 without any limitations as to time and space. Nor can 
 it be destroyed or dissipated as a material form can, 
 which can communicate itself only by giving away a part 
 of itself. A sum of money, a piece of land, or a body 
 of water is diminished by whatever is removed from it. 
 But with the spiritual forms it is not so. It matters not 
 how often a thought or affection is communicated to 
 another, it still remains in the mind, and has even been 
 increased by the efforts to communicate it. Thus it can 
 be readily seen that it is impossible to dissolve and dis- 
 perse a spiritual form. Spiritual death is not the disso- 
 lution of the soul, its ceasing to exist as a form, but its 
 malformation, its disorderly action. 
 
 Another peculiar and prominent quality of the spiritual 
 forms which constitute the human mind is, that they 
 retain every motion that is communicated to them. This 
 quality, with the power of reproducing every motion and 
 change of state which has ever been excited in the mind, 
 we call memory. Thus all our states return, and may 
 return to eternity, though modified by all succeeding 
 states. 
 
 Another quality peculiar to the most perfect spiritual 
 forms is that their activities are attended with conscious- 
 ness. We know that we love and think. The rock does 
 not know that it exists, the tree does not know that it 
 grows, nor has the animal any power to reflect upon the 
 fact of its existence. 
 
 Another quality of the highest human faculties is that 
 
128 PROGRESS IX SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 they act in freedom. Their freedom is just as much a 
 gift of the Lord as the power of motion or thought, or 
 any other power. We can act as of ourselves. While 
 it is true that all life comes from the Lord, it so comes 
 that we do not perceive its influx. Our first intimation 
 of it is in its effect upon ourselves. Thus we seem to 
 live of ourselves. This is of the Lord's love, that man 
 might not be a mere machine, but a free and intelligent 
 agent. Thus man has the power constantly given to him 
 to receive or to reject the Lord's influx into him. He 
 can turn himself away from Him, or he can turn himself 
 towards Him. He can live in order or disorder. 
 
 Man's spiritual form is constantly perfected by right 
 action and injured by wrong action. It is at first a mere 
 possibility, but constantly unfolds and develops by use. 
 And it develops in two ways ; each organ becomes more 
 perfect, and new degrees of life or higher spiritual forms 
 are constantly coming forward. Every new truth re- 
 ceived into the mind, and woven into its tissues by the 
 afiections, becomes a new organ for the reception of a 
 larger measure of the Divine life. And every heavenly 
 affection of charity to the neighbor or love to the Lord 
 is, in itself considered, an harmonious modulation of the 
 whole spiritual form, and has a permanent effect. It 
 tends to induce a state of such orderly and heavenly ac- 
 tion that the form is more easily set in motion in the 
 same way again. In time a habit, as we term it, is 
 formed, — that is, the form takes on these motions spon- 
 taneously without any effort of the will, whenever the ex- 
 isting cause is present, as the Aeolian harp rises and falls 
 in harmonious chords when the wind breathes upon it. 
 
MAN A FORM RECEPTIVE OF LIFE. 129 
 
 The highest attainable perfection, then, of any created 
 being, is this abihty to receive the Divine life in the 
 largest measures and highest forms. To be a recipient 
 of the Divine love and wisdom is the very end for which 
 man was created. The Lord made him in His image 
 and likeness, that he might be a form in every respect 
 adapted to the reception of life from Him. Man is a 
 mere organ, but an organ after a Divine pattern. All 
 that the Lord asks of man is to receive Him and to enjoy 
 the blessedness of conjunction with Him. 
 
 This is a great practical truth of paramount importance 
 to every created being. Let us state it clearly. ' ' Man 
 is a mere organ of life. ' ' He is a combination of forms 
 connected together in series and degrees, one within an- 
 other, and all so related, though indefinite in number 
 and degree, that they form a one, which in the complex 
 we call man. All the phenomena of life, all affection, 
 thought, sensation, all that we perceive as pleasure or 
 pain, every possible quality that we can predicate of man, 
 is caused by influx into this wonderful combination of 
 forms. The influx, with its effect and manifestation, is 
 always determined by the form, as the quality of a mu- 
 sical sound is determined, other things being equal, by 
 the nature and quality of the instrument. 
 
 The Lord is present to every created being and to 
 every created thing with all His love and wisdom, to the 
 highest angel in heaven and to the lowest devil in hell, 
 to the wisest sage upon earth and to the infant just born, 
 to every animal and tree and rock ; but each one can re- 
 ceive only that which its form adapts it to receive. 
 
 The Lord is present to each one of us now, but we see 
 
130 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 Him not, because we do not receive Him. We should 
 not any of us need to move from our places to see the 
 ineffable splendors of the celestial heaven and groups of 
 angels of a loveliness and beauty beyond our conception, 
 and to hear harmonies such as never fell upon mortal 
 ear, if we had the organs to receive such a revelation. 
 We stand in the universe like a statue in a garden. The 
 sun pours his mid-day splendors, his rising and his set- 
 ting glories, upon it ; those motions in the ether which 
 would communicate to the living eye the forms and colors 
 of all surrounding objects fall upon the stony eyeball ; the 
 fragrance of a thousand flowers is wafted on every breeze, 
 and the minstrelsy of a thousand winds plays around the 
 well-cut ear, but it stands with dead and stony gaze 
 through summer's heat and winter's cold, unmoved by 
 the beauty of spring or the golden wealth of autumn. 
 Why ? Because it has no organism within to receive and 
 be played upon by these manifold forces. So we stand 
 in the midst of the spiritual world because we deny our 
 higher life. We turn away from the Lord and refuse to 
 receive Him. He stands at the door and knocks ; He 
 presses upon every avenue as the air presses upon us. 
 Byt we can only receive what we have the organs to 
 receive. 
 
 There are in every human soul the possibilities of only 
 less than infinite power and blessedness, but they remain 
 mere possibihties, like the germ of a seed before it begins 
 to grow, because we do not suffer life from the Lord to 
 flow into them and bring them out into definite form and 
 fill them with the activities of His own love. By our 
 evils and falses we bar every access of the Lord to our 
 
MAN A FORM RECEPTIVE OF LIFE. 131 
 
 souls, over which we have control, and by the perversion 
 of our spiritual forms we change all that does flow in, 
 from the perfect order, beauty, and harmony of heaven 
 into infernal ugliness and grating discords. We suffer 
 the cursed dust of mere earthly loves to settle down upon 
 the fine but unused tissues of the higher faculties within 
 us, and the damp mould of earthly passions to gather 
 upon them, or the scorching fires of selfish and worldly 
 loves to sear and wither their fair forms. We are dwarfs 
 in spiritual stature, and our life is poor and mean, because 
 we will not admit the Divine love and wisdom into our 
 souls. We are like the stunted shrubs of arctic climes 
 because we turn away from the sun of heaven. 
 
 How poor and disjointed and lean is even the best life 
 compared with what it might be, and would be if we would 
 receive what the Lord wishes and strives to give us 1 
 Here we stand in the midst of the infinite : organs of life 
 after the image and likeness of the infinite. The Lord 
 calls to us in every conceivable form, "Ho, every one 
 that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, . . . yea, come, 
 buy wine and milk without money and without price." 
 But we heed it not. The sweet, heavenly melody of His 
 voice is swallowed up and lost amid the din and roar and 
 harsh discords of worldly life. We are hurrying to and 
 fro to get something to satisfy the clamorous appetites of 
 selfish and worldly desires. We give free access to the 
 influx into the organs of sensual and natural life, and they 
 grow strong and huge and many-handed, grasping and 
 crushing on every side, while the angels, who come to 
 bring us heaven and eternal life, sit alone, unheeded in the 
 dusty, dwarfed, and desolate upper chambers of the mind. 
 
132 PROGRESS IX SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 The Lord has created us forms receptive of Hfe, — of 
 His Hfe. He has so made us that we are free to receive 
 it in true order or not. We can receive it into the 
 lower or the higher forms of our mind. He offers us 
 the highest good and the lowest. We can receive either 
 only by becoming its form. The question for every man 
 and every woman to determine is this, and it is of all 
 questions the most important : What kind of a form shall 
 I become ? What shall I be ? It is not a question of 
 words, but of life. Here is the life of infinite love and 
 wisdom, freely offering itself to become formed and ulti- 
 mated in me. Shall I admit it only in inverted order 
 into the lowest forms of my mind, the natural plane of 
 life ? If I do, I shut it out from all above, and the high- 
 est, noblest, most capacious and fruitful portion of my 
 spiritual organism is severed from the Lord and becomes 
 a withered branch. And all that is received is inverted. 
 It is changed from life to death. The loves of self and 
 the world reign, mad passions rage. The mind becomes 
 a cage of unclean birds, of pride and envy and malice 
 and low cunning and the greed of gain, ambition, cruelty, 
 malevolence, and a fruitful swarm of low, vile, sensual 
 delights, which bite and sting and poison in the end. 
 All its motions will be discords. All its activities will 
 clash and war with one another. All its truths will be 
 lies, all its loves evils. It will be to the spiritual sun 
 what the deadly nightshade is to the natural sun, turning 
 all its pure light and heat into poison. Who wishes to 
 become such an alembic, to distil infernal poison out of 
 the sweet and fragrant blossoms of heaven ? Doubtless 
 there would be a prompt and unanimous denial in words 
 
MAN A FORM RECEPTIVE OF LIFE. 133 
 
 of any such wish. But what says that higher and truer 
 voice, the Hfe ? What did you do when you spolce evil 
 of your neighbor ? when you forgot his interests in your 
 eagerness to secure your own ? when you coveted his 
 goods or his place, or when you were puffed up with 
 self-conceit, or elated with pride at some possession ? 
 What answer did you give when you let the serpent of 
 any sensual love breathe lies into your ear ? No evil can 
 come into the mind and be loved unless the mind is itself 
 the form of that evil. What we receive and love we are. 
 
 If we receive the Divine life into the highest forms of 
 our mind, into the will, the love, it will flow down into 
 all the lower forms of the mind in order and harmony. 
 It will enlighten the understanding with truth, it will flow 
 down through all the affections, and out in every act, 
 transforming everything into its own likeness. We shall 
 be filled with the fulness of love. There will be love to 
 the Lord and to the neighbor. There will be a clear 
 light in the understanding, and a sweet, serene peace 
 will flow like a river through every channel of the soul. 
 We shall be formed after the pattern of heaven. Heaven 
 will be within us. Every form will grow into its ineffable 
 beauty. The soul will be built up in all its fair propor- 
 tions, and every fibre of every form will be tremulous 
 with its harmonies. The Divine love and wisdom will 
 flow into us unimpeded. We shall abide in the Lord, 
 and He in us. We shall be conjoined with Him, and 
 He will withhold from us no good. All our activities 
 will be free, because they will flow from our loves ; and 
 the life of to-day will be but the bud which will blos- 
 som to-morrow and the next day ripen into fruit. And 
 
 12 
 
134 PROGRESS IX SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 thus we may go on to eternity, making each attainment 
 and each measure of blessedness the starting-point for a 
 nobler height and a fuller measure of joy. Is it not, 
 then, the question of questions? Should we not propose 
 it to ourselves every morning? What life shall flow 
 through me to-day ? And every evening should we not 
 ask ourselves the question. Of what have I been the or- 
 gan to-day ? — life or death ? Stand up bravely to the 
 question. Let it echo and re-echo through everj- cham- 
 ber of the soul ; for on its answer will depend how much 
 life you will receive, and what will be the quality of that 
 life. 
 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD WITHIN YOU. 
 
 '^Behold, the kingdom of God is wii/iin you." — Luke xvii. 21. 
 
 IT is one of the sad consequences of man's fallen, de- 
 generate state that he looks without for happiness 
 rather than within. He looks down to the world rather 
 than up to the Lord ; to things rather than states. He 
 takes the lowest form of good as his standard, and meas- 
 ures all things by it. The material world, natural life, 
 earthly possessions, honors, joys are the balances in 
 which he weighs all that he calls good. Wealth, wisdom, 
 honor, beauty, power, glory, all are estimated by the 
 standards of earth and sense. And man himself, the 
 crowning work of the Lord, with faculties of measureless 
 capacity, is valued for what he has of earthly things 
 rather than for what he is. 
 
 A little reflection must show us that it is an entirely 
 false estimate which is formed in this way. The lower 
 can never be a measure for the higher. Light, heat, 
 magnetism cannot be measured by the cubic foot or 
 valued in dollars and cents. The body is no measure 
 for the soul. A heavenly, eternal good cannot be esti- 
 mated or expressed in the terms of any earthly good. 
 "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole 
 world, and lose his own soul ? Or what shall a man give 
 in exchange for his soul ?' ' The most of the stars are so 
 remote from the earth that their distance cannot be meas- 
 ured. The diameter of the earth's orbit is not great 
 
 135 
 
136 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 enough to produce any apparent change in their position. 
 So no earthly good, no wealth, no wisdom, no honor or 
 power embraces within its orbit any dimensions or any- 
 thing so precious that its value has any ratio to a heavenly 
 good. The least spiritual good divided by the earth 
 itself and all that encircles it would, in its final analysis, 
 be reduced to the mathematical formula of one divided 
 by zero. 
 
 Not that the things of this world are valueless. This 
 world is the kingdom of the body and the senses, and a 
 beautiful and glorious kingdom it is. When subordinate 
 to the kingdom of God and an instrument of its service, 
 it is of inestimable value. It becomes of no value, or 
 worse than valueless, when it is placed in competition 
 with heavenly good and is destructive of it. All ma- 
 terial things, all worldly possessions and natural delights, 
 are given for the soul, and not to take its place, and their 
 value is always measured by the use they serve for man's 
 spiritual needs. The body was made for the soul and 
 the earth for the body, and, through that, for the soul 
 also. Thus the world is only a remote province of the 
 soul. Every lower degree of life was formed to serve a 
 higher, and all degrees of life were made to be the re- 
 cipients of life from the Lord and to act in harmony with 
 Him. The higher the degree, the nobler the faculty and 
 the more blessed its activities. The higher the degree, 
 the nearer we approach the Divine. The Lord seeks to 
 communicate all of His own to man, and man's true glory 
 and happiness consists in his reception of the Lord's 
 gifts. The kingdom of God is within us, and if we 
 would enter into that kingdom and take possession of its 
 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD WITHIN YOU. 137 
 
 immeasurable good, we must permit the Lord to form it 
 within us, and co-operate with Him in doing so. 
 
 I propose, then, to consider specifically what constitutes 
 the kingdom of God, and to show how it is within us. 
 And, first, that part of the kingdom of God which is in 
 man's physical body. 
 
 The eye is the kingdom of light. For there is a sub- 
 tile ether pervading the material universe, and the eye is 
 a form organized to receive it and act in harmony with 
 it. All the motions and qualities of the ether, all colors 
 and shadows, in their infinite variety, and all forms dwell 
 in the eye. The kingdom of color, of light, of form 
 dwells in it. 
 
 The kingdom of sound, of harmony, is in the ear. It 
 is a kingdom small in size, but wonderful in capacity. 
 What harmonies dwell in it ! It takes up and repeats 
 the modulations made by all instruments, by all human 
 voices and all material things, from the faintest whisper 
 to the loudest thunder, through every shade of modula- 
 tion and combination. Each of the other senses is a 
 kingdom within itself, embracing everything relating to it. 
 
 I have alluded to this relation of the senses to the ma- 
 terial world as illustrating how the kingdom of God is 
 within us, for the analogy between the soul and body is 
 perfect. The spirit is the kingdom of all affection and 
 thought, with their delights, in the same way that the eye 
 is the kingdom of light and the ear of sound. But spir- 
 itual forms are more exalted and excellent in all their 
 qualities than material forms. They are susceptible of an 
 indefinitely greater variety of changes, and of a continually 
 increasing development. They are formed to receive 
 
 12* 
 
138 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 life from the Lord in higher and more perfect degrees, 
 and hence to be the subject of more exalted delights, — to 
 be indeed the kingdom of God, which He rules, which 
 He beautifies with all heavenly loveliness, which He fills 
 with all heavenly delights, and in which He sets up His 
 throne, the theatre on which He displays His glory, and 
 the home in which He dwells. 
 
 To a partial view the human soul may seem to be too 
 contracted a kingdom for the display of omnipotent power 
 and the diversified operations of infinite wisdom, and too 
 small in capacity to satisfy the desires of infinite love. It 
 has indeed no size that can be measured by natural 
 standards, and yet the material universe is not large 
 enough to contain it or satisfy it. When measured by 
 the highest standard, the human soul is the largest and 
 the most capacious and varied receptacle of the Di\ ine 
 life of any created form. We shall find it so even if we 
 limit its development to this life. To gain some idea of 
 its capacity we have only to consider for a moment how 
 vast and varied are the contents of any well-filled and 
 highly-cultivated mind. In some minds the whole his- 
 tory of humanitv, so far as it has been recorded and can 
 be known, is written in clear and living characters ; the 
 lives of individual men, the rise and fall of nations, the 
 battles, the heroism, the civilization, the struggles of 
 truth with error, the hopes, the successes, and the de- 
 spair. The vast evolutions of humanity gradually un- 
 folding from age to age, and the little incidents, the 
 trifles light as air, of the passing hour, all, in every 
 variety of form and relation, can be embraced within the 
 compass of human thought. If life were long enough, 
 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD WITH IX VOL'. 139 
 
 and the conditions of space would permit, every fact, 
 every motion, every deed that has occurred upon this 
 globe might be treasured up in the human mind. 
 
 If it were possible to construct a panorama of every 
 physical change that has taken place on our earth from 
 its first emergence from chaos until the present, or any 
 future time ; the slow formation of its rocky crust 
 through ages of ages, its upheaval into mountains and 
 subsidence into valleys, the everlasting battle between 
 the ocean and the rock, the formation of strata by mil- 
 lions of years of unending strife, the silent, slow but sure 
 growth of continents from the life and death of coral and 
 microscopic insects, the sprouting of the first blade of 
 grass, the blossoming of every flower through all the 
 floral and arborescent generations until the present time, 
 the creation of the first insect and animal and all the 
 swarms of ephemera and all the birds that have ever 
 carolled and spread their wings in the air, and all the 
 beasts that have lived and died upon the earth, — if the 
 whole history of the animal, vegetable, and mineral king- 
 doms, in every isolated fact, in every particular form, and 
 in all their relations and combinations, could be made to 
 pass before the mind, they could all be retained and com- 
 prised in one memory. And when this picture, with its 
 almost infinite details, had been transferred to the canvas 
 of the memory, you might begin again, and on the same 
 canvas photograph the history of humanity in all its 
 . movements, embracing the lives of every man, woman, 
 and child that has ever lived, in all their actions and re- 
 lations to one another, the life of nations and the gradual 
 changes of centuries, and not a line or shadow in this 
 
I40 PROGRESS /.V SPIRITUAL KXOIVLEDGE. 
 
 picture would interfere with the other, but all would be- 
 come more distinct from the presence of each. When 
 you stand upon an eminence and cast your eye over a 
 wide expanse of earth, everything within the circuit of 
 your vision is clearly pictured upon it, every mountain 
 and hill, valley and stream, city and dwelling ; all things 
 even to the down upon the blossom and the mote 
 in the sunbeam, with their shadows, colors, and forms, 
 are distinctly delineated. Could you see a thousand 
 landscapes, one after the other, and then look up and 
 sweep the circuit of the heavens, one picture would not 
 interfere with another ; one would not obliterate the 
 other. You might shut your eyes and see them all. 
 Hour after hour, during our whole life, myriads of 
 forms are drawn upon the retina of the eye, and yet no 
 one interferes with another. Such is the perfection of a 
 material form ! What, then, must be the capacity and 
 perfection of a spiritual form to recei\ e and to retain ? 
 No impression ever made upon the memory is lost. We 
 never forget. We may not be able to recall, but what 
 we know once we know forever. 
 
 But the mind is not only capacious to receive and tena- 
 cious to retain ; it is not merely a kingdom of dead 
 facts and forms ; it has also the mar\ ellous jjovver of re- 
 arranging and combining them, and of creating out of 
 them an ideal world, and peopling it with ideal forms of 
 surpassing loveliness and beauty. The facts of history 
 and science are to the mind what air and water and earth 
 are to that invisible and plastic power that decomposes 
 and reconstructs them into the various beautiful forms of 
 vegetable and animal life. It is perpetually rearranging 
 
THE k'lXGDOM OF GOD WITIIIX YOL'. 141 
 
 and recreating objects and living forms, with which it 
 enlarges and adorns its kingdom. From facts it elimi- 
 nates knowledge and thoughts of a higher form, and 
 from these again it deduces principles of more general 
 application. 
 
 And these principles and lofty ideals the mind can re- 
 embody in material forms. The artist first stores his 
 mind with a multitude of beautiful forms, and from these 
 extracts their essential beauties and recombines them in 
 a perfect whole, or rather in a multitude of ideals, which 
 have no bodily realization upon earth. All that poets 
 and artists have expressed existed first in their own minds. 
 The noble form was in the mind of the sculptor before he 
 could see it in the marble. The marble was only the 
 mirror in which he saw the child of his own fancy re- 
 flected. The imagination first paints the picture upon 
 its own canvas, and that which lives and glows upon the 
 material canvas is only an imperfect copy of the mental 
 original. The vast cathedrals were first erected in the 
 architect's brain, from foundation to pinnacle, and the 
 beautiful creations which poets have embodied in num- 
 bers through all time were still more beautiful as they 
 lay in fair ideal worlds in their own fancies. All that they 
 have expressed, much and wonderful as it is, is only the 
 rude sketch of what dwelt within them. What beautiful 
 worlds compose the poet's kingdom, and what fair women 
 and noble men dwell in them ! But who ever saw on 
 canvas or in marble, in poem or in song, the full embodi- 
 ment or realization of his ideal ? No, the kingdom within 
 is larger than the kingdom without ; profounder oceans 
 roll, grander mountains rise to loftier heights, and love- 
 
142 PROGRESS IX SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 lier valleys lie between. Groves and gardens and gently 
 swelling hills and shining rivers, and paradises of fruits 
 and flowers that have no antitype and can have no em- 
 bodiment on earth ; cities of wide streets and marble 
 palaces sparkling with diamonds and shining with gold ; 
 and all the feir world peopled with beings of correspond- 
 ing excellence, innocent and lovely women, pure and 
 noble men, — all these dwell in clusters and constellations 
 in the kingdom within. And there, too, exist Utopian 
 governments whose rulers are wise men, consulting the 
 public rather than their private good, and whose people 
 are obedient, intelligent, and happy. In the wide and 
 populous realms and starry heavens of the mind innu- 
 merable sciences and systems come and take up their 
 permanent abode ; arts flourish, kingdoms rise, people 
 are born that never die. And yet there is room. Every 
 thought enlarges the boundary of this kingdom ; every 
 new science or art is a new province. The more you put 
 into the human mind the more it is able to receive. Is 
 it not a kingdom worthy of a heavenly King? 
 
 But I have yet spoken of only one grand division of 
 this kingdom, the intellectual and rational. There is an- 
 other realm, twin to this, as large in extent, as various 
 and beautiful in tlie forms that compose it, and that is 
 the kingdom of the will, whose provinces are affections, 
 and whose immeasurable riches are joys. There is an 
 affection for every thought, and there is a delight for 
 every affection. 
 
 These kingdoms run parallel with each other, and 
 everything within them joins hands. They are halves 
 of one whole. The heart is as capacious of joy as the 
 
THE KIXGDOM OF GOD WITHIN YOU. 
 
 143 
 
 head of truths. Every relation which the soul sustains 
 to the outward world, to thoughts and deeds, was in- 
 tended to be a highway for the entrance of joys into the 
 heart. The will is an organ of countless pipes and stops, 
 and every act was intended to excite some affection and 
 produce some delight. We know that this instrument is 
 now sadly out of tune, and it often produces terrible dis- 
 cords ; but we know enough of its nature to conclude 
 that, if it were in perfect harmony, there could be no 
 limit to the variety and blessedness of the delights it is 
 capable of receiving. How many quiet and peaceful de- 
 lights flow into the heart through the senses, through 
 our daily labors and casual contacts with our fellows ! 
 Who can enumerate the delights of social life ? delights 
 that spring up as flowers by the dusty way-side of traffic 
 and business ; the familiar greeting, the pleasant smile, 
 the cheerful look. The cheering word dropped into the 
 soul awakens harmonies that linger and play around it 
 through the day of toil and in pleasant memories forever. 
 How manifold the joys that are awakened while we con- 
 template the beauty with which the Lord has invested 
 the whole earth ! 
 
 But what are all these compared with the deeper and 
 purer joys which are awakened by the relations of home ! 
 Home ! There is no other sound in human language that 
 awakens so many chords as that. Brother, sister, parent, 
 child, husband, wife, all cluster around it, and the human 
 heart has chords that vibrate in wonderful harmony with 
 every one. Who can enumerate and estimate the joys 
 that are created by these relations ? And yet the human 
 soul can contain them all. If every thought and every 
 
144 FIWCKESS IM SPIKITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 act were an instrument of myriad strings, and every 
 vibration a distinct joy, the soul could receive them all. 
 And yet there would be room. Every delight that has 
 blessed a human heart from the creation of man could be 
 compressed into one heart, and yet there would be room. 
 One of the fine globules of water that float about as mist 
 contains all the circles, arcs, and dimensions that can be 
 found in all spheres. It has its centre and circumference, 
 its diameter and poles, its radii and zones, its arcs and 
 curves, as complete as the earth or the sun itself So 
 each human heart has in it the capacity for the joys of 
 all human hearts. Oh, the inestimable worth, the in- 
 conceivable grandeur of the human soul ! Though en- 
 closed in the compass of a few feet of flesh, it is a kingdom 
 that stretches away beyond any assignable limit, whose 
 depths are fathomless to any human power, and whose 
 heights rise above the conceptions of any finite intellect. 
 He who rules this kingdom alone knows how vast it is 
 in its extent, how boundless in its capacities for joy. 
 
 But I have not yet spoken of the higher degrees of 
 this kingdom. I have referred only to the natural degree 
 of the mind, the most remote and barren province of this 
 kingdom, the frigid zone of the soul. The kingdom of 
 God is a spiritual kingdom, and all its forms and delights 
 are so far exalted above natural delights that human lan- 
 guage is totally inadequate to describe them. They are 
 therefore called ineffable and inconceivable. If the hu- 
 man soul is capable of so many thoughts and affections, 
 with their attendant delights, in the natural plane of life, 
 how immeasurable must be its capacities in the .spiritual 
 and celestial degrees ! 
 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD WITHIN YOU. 
 
 The human soul is made to receive hfe in three degrees, . 
 each one rising so far above the other in the extent of 
 its capacities and in the variety and perfection of its at- 
 tributes that the activities and dehghts of the higher can 
 be expressed only in general terms, and by remote analo- 
 gies in the lower. And yet there is not a joy that thrills 
 the inmost life of an angel that may not thrill yours. 
 We have sometimes a foretaste of these joys here that 
 comes to us as a prophecy and hope of what we may be. 
 A peace glides over the soul and fills it with a sweet calm 
 and quiet joy ; and again it may be exalted and thrilled 
 with a heavenly delight. But it is a delight muffled and 
 deadened by the weight of flesh. It is rather a dream 
 of heaven than heaven itself, a strain of harmony floating 
 down to us from its remote glories rather than the full 
 chord of its harmonies. What, then, must those joys be 
 in their fulness and perfection ! And the kingdom of 
 all these joys is within you. And however large and 
 varied, however exalted and incomprehensible, it is ca- 
 pable of indefinite extension. This is the kingdom in 
 which the Lord dwells, and which He fills to its fullest 
 capacities with His Divine love and wisdom. This king- 
 dom, I repeat, is within you. Every one of you is heir 
 to all its riches, glory, and blessedness. All thought, 
 all affection, all delight is within us, and we have and 
 possess only what we can receive. However destitute 
 you may be in worldly riches and honors, the kingdom 
 of God is within you. The Lord has made every human 
 being in His own image and likeness, and consequently 
 capable of receiving life from Him in every possible va- 
 riety and form. What, then, can compare in worth, in 
 Q k 13 
 
146 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 greatness, in capacities for blessedness with the human 
 soul ? 
 
 The kingdom of heaven is within you. Not actually 
 in all, nor in any in full development and power ; but it 
 is within all in possibility, as the harvest is in the grain 
 of wheat, as natural affections and physical powers and 
 natural science are in the infant. The germs of all 
 heavenly joys are within us ; the possibilities of the three 
 heavens lie wrapped up, fold within fold, in our spiritual 
 forms, and only await development. And as the seed 
 in good ground is surrounded on all sides by substances 
 specially adapted to its growth, through which forces are 
 continually flowing into it and moulding its possibilities 
 into actual forms, so the Lord has placed the soul in the 
 midst of spheres, relations, and forces that are in the 
 continual effort to call all its fofms into actual existence, 
 to create the heavens and the earth within it. All the 
 relations of the soul to the body, and through that to the 
 material world ; all the relations of human beings to one 
 another, which grow out of their wants and pleasures, 
 their labors and rest ; all social, civil, domestic, and 
 .spiritual relations were specially instituted by the Lord 
 to be instruments in forming this kingdom within us, and 
 mediums of filling it with life from Him ; and its fitness 
 to accomplish this end is the true measure of value for 
 every earthly and every heavenly thing. 
 
 Let us not, then, count ourselves rich and happy, so 
 much for what we have of worldly good as for what we 
 are and mav obtain of heavenly good. Let us look to 
 the kingdom within us as our real and only invaluable 
 and imperishable possession. 
 
HUMAN BEAUTY : ITS ORIGIN AND NATURE AND 
 THE MEANS OF ACQUIRING IT. 
 
 ^'^ Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. — Psalm xcvi. 6. 
 
 O TRENGTH and beauty are the two essential elements 
 ^ of a noble manhood and of a beautiful womanhood. 
 They are combined in man and woman in different pro- 
 portions. Man has more of strength, woman more of 
 beauty. But all true manhood has its beauty, and all 
 genuine womanhood its strength. Rough, naked strength 
 has no comeliness, and weakness no beauty. But com- 
 bined in due proportion and modified by each other, they 
 become the charm of character and the cause of that 
 attraction which draws human beings together and makes 
 them a delight to each other. 
 
 These two primary qualities of all human excellence, 
 strength and beauty, are in the Lord's sanctuary. His 
 sanctuary is in man's will and understanding, and deriva- 
 tively in his affections and thoughts. The will and the 
 understanding are the grand temple in which the Lord 
 dwells ; the affections and thoughts the chapels of various 
 form and use in which the precious gifts of strength and 
 beauty are received from Him and appropriated by man. 
 
 When the sanctuary is pure, free from evil lusts and 
 false principles, life from the Lord is received in its own 
 perfect forms, in all its purity, sweetness, and harmony, 
 
 147 
 
148 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 and then it becomes "the beauty of holiness," in which 
 we are to praise and worship the Lord. This beauty of 
 holiness becomes "the dew of youth," an influence 
 which gives the freshness, the innocence, and the beauty 
 of youth to all the faculties of the mind, and to the forms 
 of that body which we are to inhabit forever. Zion, 
 which is called by the Lord Himself " the perfection of 
 beauty, ' ' represents in general the same principles in man 
 as "sanctuary." Zion is man's heart, Jerusalem his 
 understanding ; and it is this Zion, the perfection of 
 beauty, which the Lord exhorts to awake, to shake her- 
 self from the dust, and to put on her beautiful garments. 
 Here, then, we have the source of human beauty re- 
 vealed to us, and the way of access to it pointed out. 
 Its well-spring is in the heart, in the affections. It takes 
 on its forms and colors in the understanding, and comes 
 out in substantial reality in bodily forms and actions. 
 Beauty in its highest qualities is represented as attainable, 
 and we are exhorted to make it our own, to put it on as 
 a garment, to pray that "the beauty of the Lord our 
 God" may be upon us. 
 
 The beauty of the Lord, the supreme and infinite type 
 of all beauty, has its origin in His Divine love, and its 
 form and qualities in the Divine wisdom. Man was 
 created in the image and likeness of God. He was made 
 to be a sharer of the supreme beauty. The Lord is in 
 the constant effort to endow us with this beauty, and we 
 are clothed with it in the degree that we become par- 
 takers of those Divine qualities which are the essence 
 and cause of beauty. 
 
 Regard beauty, of which we [propose to speak at the 
 
HUMAN BEAUTY: ITS ORIGIN AND NATURE. 149 
 
 present time, in any sense you please, in its lowest and 
 most sensuous, or its highest and most interior qualities ; 
 beauty of form, or color, or motion, — in all cases it is the 
 expression of some affection or interior grace. All 
 beauty is spiritual in its origin. The beauty of a ma- 
 terial object consists in its meaning, in what it says to us 
 of something more excellent than itself. The beauty of 
 a flower, of a tree, of a winding stream, or of a landscape 
 consists in what it suggests to us of something higher 
 than itself, because it is the form of that higher quality. 
 The beauty of the material world is an effect which ex- 
 presses the excellence of its spiritual cause. 
 
 This must be so from the very nature of the relation 
 between cause and effect. Every cause seeks to repro- 
 duce and express itself, in all its qualities, in lower forms. 
 Innocence, purity, and loveliness of character must tend 
 to express themselves in lovely forms. When we reflect 
 that the material universe is the embodiment of the 
 Divine love and wisdom in material substances, we can 
 see why it is that there is so much beauty in the world. 
 Every material object and living thing has a beauty of 
 some kind. Even the weeds that cumber the fields, 
 the thorn and the thistle, which men regard as a curse 
 for sin, the insect which stings and poisons us, the de- 
 graded reptile, and the wild beast which tears and devours, 
 have some beauty of form or structure or color or motion. 
 Perverted forms as they are of the Divine loveliness, they 
 still bear some trace of its impress. 
 
 If w« find traces of the beauty of the Lord in the 
 lowest things, we may expect to find it more fully em- 
 bodied in the highest, and our expectations will not be 
 
 13* 
 
150 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 disappointed. We shall find it in its perfection in the 
 human face and form. Here also we can see how the 
 outward beauty is the effect and expression of inward and 
 spiritual beauty. This would follow as a necessary result 
 from the fact that the material body is cast into the 
 mould of the spirit. The spirit has fashioned it. The 
 spirit is the potter, and the body is clay in its hands, which 
 it is constantly acting upon to mould into its own like- 
 ness. This is true of the material body in the first years 
 of our existence, and of the spiritual body in every stage 
 of our being. There are, in general, two kinds of 
 human beauty : beauty in its essence or cause, and 
 beauty in its expression. All beauty has its origin in 
 love and its expression in truth. A pure and innocent 
 affection in the will, united with genuine truth in the 
 understanding, cannot fail of producing beautiful effects. 
 
 We must not forget that love and truth are not ab- 
 stractions. They are the most potent forces that act 
 upon the spiritual or the material body. We are pene- 
 trated by them ; we live and move and have our being in 
 them. The material body is constantly subject to their 
 action, has its life from them. There is a force constantly 
 present in water, and in all matter, which forms it into 
 spheres when the matter assumes a fluid state and is left 
 free to move. So there is in the very nature and activi- 
 ties of the Divine love and the Divine truth, from which 
 we receive all our life, a tendency to the human form and 
 an active influence to make that form as noble and beau- 
 tiful as possible. Thus those very forces and principles 
 which are the essence and cause of all beauty are con- 
 stantly acting upon us to make our faces and forms and 
 
HUMAN BEAUTY: ITS ORIGIN AND NATURE. 151 
 
 motions the complete correspondents and embodiments 
 of their nature. Thus the Divine forces which give us 
 Hfe tend to mould us into every form of beauty, in the 
 same way and according to the same immutable law by 
 which the Divine forces in nature tend to make material 
 forms beautiful. All that we have to do to become more 
 and more beautiful is to co-operate with these forces, to 
 let them have free play through us, and to supply them 
 with the right kind of materials for their workmanship. 
 
 The first thing we are to do is to exercise pure, inno- 
 cent, heavenly affections. Without this it is impossible 
 to become more beautiful than we are, or to retain what 
 we may have received from hereditary influences. The 
 beauty of youth, of mere surface and complexion, will 
 fade like a flower. There must be some inherent, vital, 
 and unfailing source which supplies natural wastes with 
 finer and more substantial substances, and replenishes 
 them with perennial freshness and moulds them into a 
 lovelier beauty. The quality and degree of our beauty 
 and nobleness of form will be determined by the quality 
 and degree of our spiritual affections. There is no pos- 
 sibility of failure in this respect. They are orderly results 
 of normal causes. Every affection you cherish leaves its 
 impress upon you. It tends to fashion the external form 
 into its likeness, and there is no escape from its effect. 
 
 This is a truth of common observation and experience. 
 We see it in its accumulated and large results, in the 
 faces and forms of every man and woman we meet. 
 Every disposition habitually indulged forms its image in 
 the features of the face, in the motions of the body, and 
 in every fibre and muscle of its form. Its first effect is 
 
152 PROGRESS IX SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 upon the brain, and through that upon every part of the 
 whole organization. The face is the index of the mind, 
 because the mind forms it and makes it the theatre on 
 which it enacts all its passions. Every face is a history, 
 and in its small compass are recorded the sins and sor- 
 rows, the joys and fears, the malignities, the lusts, the 
 cunning, the ferocity, the hope and trust, the struggles 
 with evil passions, the integrity, the innocence and peace 
 of many generations. We can only read some of the 
 most prominent and boldest characters. But the history 
 of all the influences, large and small, which have com- 
 bined to form the character of your ancestry from its 
 beginning is embodied in your own person. We talk of 
 fleeting influences. There are no fleeting influences. 
 Every influence is eternal. The Lord does not write 
 human history in fading colors and on perishable leaves. 
 You think you can be false or cunning, that you can in- 
 dulge in malignities and lusts, and no one will know it, 
 and that you can escape all lasting effects of it. How 
 much, how terribly much, you are mistaken ! You 
 cannot sulk in the corner ; you cannot indulge in an 
 unkind thought ; you cannot say a sharp word ; you 
 cannot indulge in a revengeful feeling ; no, you cannot 
 think a false thought, or do an evil deed, and escape the 
 record of its shame in the book of your own life. The 
 Lord has made the mind self-registering. Every falsity 
 leaves a shadow upon it, every evil a stain. 
 
 I know the influence of one evil once indulged may 
 be small ; its consequences may seem as fleeting as the 
 act itself. But it is not so. The brutality and ferocity 
 and stolidity and meanness, the low cunning and worldly 
 
HUMAN BEAUTY: ITS ORIGIN AND NATURE. 153 
 
 shrewdness, the stony selfishness and cruel malignities, 
 the pride and vanities and contempt which we see in the 
 forms and faces of men and women are the recorded 
 results of the indulgence of evils which were momentary 
 and casual in their inception. 
 
 My young friends, will you not remember this when 
 you are tempted to think falsely, to feel wickedly, or to 
 act sinfully ? The wicked feeling has its sharp graver in 
 its cunning hands, and while you indulge the feeling it is 
 etching its ugly lines in your face and twisting your feat- 
 ures into its own form. The impure thought is photo- 
 graphing itself upon the delicate but tenacious forms of 
 your whole nature, and leaving its foul stains indelibly 
 impressed upon you. If every time you told or looked 
 a falsehood, or indulged a hate, the name of the evil 
 should come out in distinct and black lines upon your 
 forehead and repeat itself in ugly characters in your 
 whole face, with what horror you would shun it ! It is 
 so written, in very faint lines at first, it may be, but every 
 repetition of the evil increases their distinctness. The 
 angels can read the whole history in the hand ; they can 
 tell the quality of the mind by the tone of the voice. 
 
 According to the same law, every good affection and 
 true thought registers itself in its own proper characters. 
 Every heavenly affection leaves its impress upon you and, 
 to the extent of its influence, moulds you into its own 
 image. Every element of the noblest and purest beauty 
 is contained in the principles of goodness and truth. As 
 these principles are brought into act and become sub- 
 stantiated in the form and features, they change them into 
 their own likeness. And they do it by imperceptible i)ut 
 
154 PJ^OGJ^ESS AV SPIRITUAL KKOWLEDGE. 
 
 constantly acting influences. When you think kindly of 
 others and your heart goes out to them in desires for 
 their good, the beauty of kindness is winning its way 
 through the labyrinth of many organic forms, leaving its 
 smile and its impress upon them all as it passes, until it 
 comes out in open expression upon the face. 
 
 Some faces are like landscapes in a day of broken 
 clouds. Sometimes the shadows lie dark and heavy 
 upon them. When the features are in repose you can 
 see the history of former generations which has been 
 stereotyped upon them ; the weariness of protracted 
 labor, shadows of disappointed hopes, and the sadness 
 of many sorrows. But when the light of an awakened 
 heavenly affection breaks through their parting folds the 
 face becomes illuminated, transfigured with the glory of 
 the inward light. You can look away into its serene 
 deeps and see in every feature a beauty born of heavenly 
 influences. 
 
 Patience in duty and trust in the Lord contain impor- 
 tant elements of beauty, which they impart to the face 
 and to the whole form. They give quietness and com- 
 posure to the features and to the actions. Through the 
 face, as through a transparent veil, you can look down 
 into the serene depths of being, where no storms can 
 reach, where all is stable and in repose, and see the foun- 
 dations on which the natural life rests and the perennial 
 springs from which its thoughts and affections flow. 
 Every time you repress an impatient desire, every time 
 you restrain an impatient word or act, every time you 
 take up the burden of duty cheerfully, every time you 
 meet the conflicts and the vicissitudes of life in patient 
 
HUMAN BEAUTY: ITS ORIGIN AND NATURE. 155 
 
 confidence in the infinite goodness which makes all things 
 work together for good for those who trust in the Lord, 
 you make some progress in bringing your whole form 
 into the image of that repose and quietude which impart 
 a charm to every feature and every action. 
 
 But the supreme beauty which charms all hearts is in- 
 nocence, purity. This is the charm of the beauty of 
 infancy and childhood. It is not beauty of form ; it is 
 not grace of motion. It is the purity and sweetness of 
 heaven which shine through a little child. The material 
 body is, as it were, transparent. It is like the charm of 
 flowers, which is not so much in their forms as in their 
 delicacy of texture and purity of color and sweetness of 
 fragrance. They awaken the perception that they are 
 offering up themselves for our delight. 
 
 Innocence combines all the Christian graces, — unsel- 
 fishness, trust, repose, unconscious action, which is al- 
 ways beautiful, gentleness, devotion to others, and devout 
 adoration of the Lord ; that worship of the heart which 
 surrenders itself to the Divine will, to be guided by its 
 wisdom and to be moulded into its likeness. Innocence 
 is not weakness or ignorance. It is wisdom and power 
 itself It is power without noise. It is the power which 
 makes the grass grow, and planets fly through the silent 
 spaces with ceaseless motion. It is the wisdom which uses 
 the mightiest forces for human help and culture. It is 
 supreme order, which is always beautiful. Feebleness is 
 not beauty. Strength and beauty must go hand in hand, 
 as they always do when the strength is used for benefi- 
 cent purposes. 
 
 While you are in the effort to keep the great com- 
 
156 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 mandinent of love to the Lord, and just to the extent 
 that you keep it, you will be gaining the heavenly 
 beauty. You open your heart to the Lord, and to the 
 living springs of all grace and comeliness. You put 
 yourself into His hands who has the perfect ideal of 
 nobleness and beauty, and perfect skill to fashion every 
 feature and form according to it. The Divine truth, 
 which is the Holy Spirit, contains in its substance and in 
 all its forces and forms and influence a tendency to ulti- 
 mate itself in the perfection of beauty. As you open 
 your affections to the influence of these Divine forces 
 they will flow in and do their work. They will efface the 
 lines of deformity which sin has engraved ; they will har- 
 monize discordant proportions ; -they will round into ful- 
 ness imperfect forms ; they will reduce to order conflicting 
 motions, and bring the whole person into unity. 
 
 Every effort you make to learn the truths which con- 
 stitute the Divine wisdom, and to incorporate them into 
 your nature, will have its effect. While you are reflecting 
 upon them they are imbuing your understanding with 
 their sweet and lovely spirit, softening its hardness, 
 quickening its perceptions, harmonizing its activities. 
 The soft and lambent light of trutli is flowing down with 
 more fulness and clearness into the eyes, and a power 
 which attracts and makes the heart glad begins to beam 
 forth from them. As you go on with the work and 
 receive more largely of this informing life and beautifying 
 spirit, it softens the hardness and smooths the roughness 
 of the voice, and imbues it with those qualities which touch 
 the sympathies and win the heart ; it penetrates every 
 feature, remoulds tlie face after the heavenly pattern, 
 
HUMAN BEAUTY: ITS ORIGIN AND NATURE. 157 
 
 rounds the limbs, gives nobleness and comely dignity to 
 the whole form, and sways every motion to harmony 
 born of an inward grace, and expressing it. As the life 
 of the Divine love becomes fuller and purer the whole 
 person will become the very form of heavenly love ; it 
 will become the embodiment of Zion, the perfection of 
 beauty. 
 
 This is no fancy. Your own observation can teach 
 you that it is not. You know how fierce passions in- 
 flame and distort the face, and how heavenly affections 
 fill it with a serene light and a most winning loveliness. 
 You have seen faces that were not regular and cleanly cut 
 in particular features, but which had an inward beauty 
 that charmed every beholder. All that is necessary to 
 render any form of the face fixed and permanent is to 
 cherish the affections which express themselves in that 
 form. 
 
 It may be replied that, if this principle is true, the good 
 must be the most beautiful. Yet some of the worst men 
 and women have been famous for their beauty. There is 
 a kind of external beauty, regularity of features, sym- 
 metry of form, delicacy of complexion, which is due to 
 inheritance and to causes not within one's self; but if the 
 soul is deformed with evil this superficial beauty is but a 
 veil which ill conceals the ugliness within. Without the 
 beauty of expression which shines forth from the soul the 
 most that the body can attain is the lifeless beauty of the 
 statue or the painted mask. 
 
 Again, while it is true that the material body is so inti- 
 mately allied to the spiritual that it becomes changed by 
 itj making the face the index of the mind, the physical 
 
 14 
 
158 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 form may respond but slowly to the changes of the spirit ; 
 so much so that a face that is outwardly fair may conceal 
 an infernal character ; and again a plain and unattractive 
 face may clothe a hea\'enly spirit. Our spiritual bodies, 
 the bodies in which we are to live and by which we are to 
 be identified forever, are the exact forms of our affections. 
 They change easily, and become the perfect exponent 
 and image of the affections we habitually cherish. The 
 purer and more interior the affection, and the more fully 
 it becomes united with genuine truths, the more beautiful 
 we shall become. It is, therefore, in the power of every 
 one to become as beautiful and noble in form as he 
 chooses ; and the way to do it is to cultivate those heav- 
 enly affections which mould the face and limbs and every 
 part of the body into forms corresponding to their quality. 
 
 Such is the nature of the affections that there is no 
 assignable limit to their strength and excellence, beyond 
 which they cannot pass. You see what a prospect this 
 holds out for our attainment in personal beauty and noble- 
 ness of form. You can see that what Swedenborg says 
 of the beauty of the angels must be true, because it 
 follows from causes which we see in operation here. He 
 says their beauty surpasses the power of words to de- 
 scribe or of any human art to portray. Their faces are 
 so glorious and lovely, and shine with such a heavenly 
 light, that they penetrate the hearts of those who behold 
 them, with enchanting power. They are the very forms 
 of loveliness. They are purity and innocence itself The 
 eyes of the angels are aflame with heavenly love ; their 
 faces are all aglow with its warmth ; their features are 
 moulded into its nobleness and rounded into its harmo- 
 
HUMAN BEAUTY: ITS ORIGIN AND NATURE. 159 
 
 nies ; its dignity is enthroned in their foreheads ; its 
 sweetness is folded in their Hps, and its gracefuhiess sways 
 every motion. The voice is so modulated by heavenly 
 affections that it is felt to be the sweetness and power of 
 love itself speaking. The whole form is the embodiment 
 of a benign power, and radiant with the very life of 
 heaven. 
 
 All the faculties are in the freshness and vigor and re- 
 splendent comeliness of their spring-time ; they grow as 
 the lily and blossom as the rose. All these elements of 
 loveliness continue to unfold into more excellent forms. 
 It is not the glorious beauty of a fading flower. It con- 
 tinues to increase ; it glows with a serener light ; it be- 
 comes the more complete and varied embodiment of a 
 holier joy, a purer love, and a sweeter peace. Its per- 
 fections must continue to increase to eternity. 
 
 All the qualities and forms of beauty are in heavenly 
 love, as all germs are in their seed. You have only to 
 cherish and cultivate them, which is to exercise them in 
 love towards* the Lord and towards man. You have only 
 to live the life of them, and you will grow into their ap- 
 propriate forms, with more certainty than the seed grows 
 into the loveliness of the lily, or the acorn into the gran- 
 deur of the oak. 
 
 Why is not this an excellence and a glory worthy of 
 our thought and effort ? If physical beauty, which fades 
 and perishes so soon, lay within as easy reach as heavenly 
 beauty, which is fresh, perennial, and which will continue 
 to increase in perfection forever, we should all strive for 
 it ; multitudes would think no price too great to pay 
 for it. 
 
l6o PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KXOIVLEDGE. 
 
 We are becoming forms of hea\ enly beauty or of in- 
 fernal deformity every day. Whether we seek it or not, 
 every affection we exercise has its influence in moulding 
 our form ; every truth we learn enters into its composi- 
 tion ; every thought we think and every good deed we 
 do is the graver's tool which gives a new line of beauty, 
 or the painter's brush which adds a lovelier tint. Yes, 
 every gentle act leaves its gentleness in the hand that 
 performs it ; every noble deed leaves the imprint of its 
 nobility ; every heavenly purpose carried into effect com- 
 municates its fragrance and beauty as a Divine benediction 
 to the soul. Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. 
 
THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. 
 
 " The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.'' — Genesis iii. 13. 
 PHE problem to which I invite your attention has 
 
 * excited the interest and baffled the ingenuity and 
 wisdom of the best men and the most profound thinkers 
 in past generations. From the point of view of the 
 Christian Church, its solution has been impossible without 
 involving the Divine character and purposes in many con- 
 tradictions and absurdities. I believe that the doctrines 
 of the New Church gi\-e us the principles necessary to 
 its solution, and teach us how to use them to attain the 
 result. I can hope, however, to do but little more than 
 to state the fundamental conditions of the problem, and 
 point out the direction in which we must look for its 
 solution. 
 
 First, it is essential to have a precise and clear idea of 
 what evil essentially is, for, if we have no exact knowl- 
 edge of the problem, we certainly cannot solve it. We 
 shall be working with materials which we do not under- 
 stand to produce an unknown result. Is evil a distinct 
 substance, form, or power in itself, acting in opposition to 
 good and tending to pervert and destroy it? If so, it 
 must either be self-existent and eternal, or it must have 
 been created. If it was created, it must have been 
 created by the Lord, and then He must be the author of 
 both evil and good. This is the opinion held by many, 
 and the logic by which they are brought to this conclu- 
 l 14* 161 
 
i62 PROGRESS IX SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 sion seems clear and irrefragable, if you admit the defi- 
 nition and the premises. 
 
 But we cannot admit that there are two self-existent 
 and independent forces or substances or creators, for that 
 would be the admission that there are two Gods. Nor, 
 on the other hand, can we admit that the Lord created 
 evil, for that would be acting contrarj- to Himself A 
 Being of infinite love and wisdom seeks to accomplish 
 certain ends, and for that purpose He creates the universe 
 and peoples it with intelligent human beings. Can we 
 suppose that at the same time and running all along 
 parallel with it He creates a discordant power, that 
 tends to oppose and thwart His purposes of infinite love ; 
 that He mars His own work and defeats His own ends ? 
 Such a supposition is absurd. It is impossible in the 
 nature of things. Infinite wisdom could not act in that 
 way ; it would be infinite folly. Imagine a benevolent 
 and wise man earnestly seeking to accomplish some pur- 
 pose of good, but at the same time voluntarily and 
 knowingly doing something that would defeat his pur- 
 pose. A wise man could not do it. It would be folly. 
 Much less could a Being of infinite wisdom do anything 
 to hinder or defeat the ends of His wisdom. Every 
 rational mind must conclude, therefore, that the Lord 
 did not create evil. The question arises, then, If evil is 
 not self-e.xistent and the Lord did not create it, wherein 
 did it originate? It could not create itself, it did not 
 always exist, and the Lord did not create it, and yet 
 we have the most mournful and incontestable evidence 
 that it does exist. This is the question to which w-e 
 must address ourselves. 
 
THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. 
 
 It is an axiom or a self-evident proposition, that a 
 Being of infinite love could propose no end for His ac- 
 tivities but the best and highest good of others, for any- 
 other end would show that He was not infinitely good. 
 It would imply that there were some limitations or excep- 
 tions to His love. Again, a Being of infinite wisdom 
 could not fail to devise the best possible means to carry 
 into effect His purposes. The least failure in this would 
 show beyond question that He was not infinitely wise-. 
 There is some limit to His wisdom. The ends of the 
 Lord, then, must be the largest good of all, and the 
 Divine methods must be the best possible ; they must be 
 perfect. 
 
 Everything that tends to oppose the Divine ends, or 
 that in any way or degree tends to thwart them, must be 
 evil. There must be a Divine order and method that are 
 infinitely perfect, and every form and force of which 
 must tend to good. Everything that tends to disturb 
 that order and method must be evil and false. Now let 
 us see, if we can, how such disturbance and disorder 
 could originate and not come from the Lord. In doing 
 this we must commence with things that are known and 
 familiar, and advance step by step from the known to the 
 unknown. 
 
 Let us take some article of human invention and con- 
 struction, a watch, for example. Let us suppose a man 
 has invented and made a perfect watch ; that is, it is made 
 of the best materials that exist, and every part of it is con- 
 structed in a perfect manner. It keeps perfect time, and 
 will continue to do so forever, unless the order of its move- 
 ments should be interrupted or obstructed, or the form of 
 
1 64 PROGRESS LV SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 some of its parts should be changed. Now, every one 
 knows that the watch will lose its perfection. It will cease 
 to keep accurate time. It will lose its goodness. Dis- 
 turbance and evil will be introduced. How does the evil 
 originate? It was not some self-existent, independent 
 power which acted in opposition to the order and mo- 
 tions of the watch. The maker certainly did not cause 
 the difficulty, for by the supposition he made it perfect 
 in all its forms and materials. How, then, does it come ? 
 From the inherent and essential qualities of matter. Its 
 parts will wear by friction, and thus the perfect form 
 and finish of the wheels and pivots is destroyed. The 
 particles worn away accumulate as dust and dirt, the oil 
 evaporates by heat, the surfaces become dry and rough, 
 and the action of the wheels is impeded. The evil, then, 
 did not originate with the maker of the watch. He did 
 all that he could to prevent it. It did not exist previous to 
 the construction of the watch, but it grew out of its 
 action, out of those very qualities which were essential 
 to the existence of the watch. 
 
 But some one may say, ' ' Suppose the substances of 
 which the watch is composed were so hard that they 
 would not wear and so smooth that there would be no 
 friction ?" If they had been, the watch would have been 
 impossible, for the substances could not have been cut 
 and cast into the necessary forms. We cannot avoid the 
 conclusion, therefore, that, given the possibility of the 
 watch, you must also grant the inevitable consequence 
 that it will generate those evils which will destroy it. 
 This princij^le will apply to everything that man makes. 
 The evil grows out of the essential properties of matter. 
 
THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. 
 
 t65 
 
 If we rise from the works of man to man himself, we 
 find tlie same elements in the problem, only more com- 
 plicated. Let us take man as a physical being first, and 
 inquire how physical evils originate. 
 
 The organization and mechanism of the material body 
 have always excited the admiration and wonder of those 
 who have examined its structure. That a series of 
 organic forms so indefinite in number, so complicated in 
 their relations, so various in form and use, embracing 
 solids, fluids, and aeriform substances so exact in their 
 forms and so delicate in their structure that the smallest 
 mote impedes and irritates them, and the puncture of the 
 finest needle would arrest the action of the whole organ- 
 ism ; only less than infinite in their motions and uses and 
 relations to one another and to the material world, and so 
 perfectly adjusted to the spiritual body within that they 
 both act as one, — that such an amazing number of organic 
 forms and series of forms should act together in such 
 perfect harmony in such a diversity of conditions is a 
 miracle of wisdom whose depths no finite mind can 
 fathom. When this microcosm, this universe in minia- 
 ture, is in perfect order, as it came from the hands of its 
 Creator, every organ performs its own work perfectly, 
 and every activity unites with every other and flows 
 towards one end with perfect precision, in perfect har- 
 mony. So miraculous are these combinations, and so 
 prompt and certain in their operation, that you cannot 
 touch the body in any point with the finest needle with- 
 out the knowledge of the fact being instantly communi- 
 cated to every part of the corporeal kingdom. To effect 
 this communication myriads of myriads of organic forms 
 
i66 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 are excited to action, and they all act together as one 
 organ. And when they act in such perfect unity the 
 efifect of every action is a physical delight, and the whole 
 body is good, — in a state of perfect health. 
 
 Physical evil is the interruption of this order ; a weak- 
 ness or defect in some of these innumerable organic forms 
 by which their action is accelerated, impeded, or de- 
 stroyed. How does it originate ? How is it introduced 
 into this perfect kingdom ? And in what does it essen- 
 tially consist ? It is not some self-existent force that wars 
 upon the organization, weakens it, makes breaches into 
 the citadel of life, and finally overcomes and destroys it. 
 The Lord did not plant disorder in the body side by side 
 with order. He moulded it into a perfect order and 
 pronounced it good. He did not make it a kingdom 
 divided against itself Whence, then, came the evil? 
 Did it not inevitably originate in the body's own action? 
 The body has laws and processes of growth, change, and 
 decay. It is a flowing stream, and if the current is ar- 
 rested or the springs are not fed, it becomes inflamed or 
 wastes away. It reaches its maximum of beauty and 
 power, and then it begins to decline, to wither and fade. 
 It wears out by its own action, like any machine. And 
 this wear is necessarily attended with weakness, obstruc- 
 tion, and physical evil in some form. 
 
 But let us take an example in which severe pain and 
 loss of physical structure are the results. The body is 
 so formed that it cannot bear too great a degree of heat 
 without pain and loss of structure. A little child, at- 
 tracted by the beauty and brilliancy of flame, thrusts its 
 hand into it and is burnt. E\ il is introduced into the 
 
THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. 
 
 167 
 
 body. It is filled with pain. Its organization in some 
 of its parts is destroyed. Whence did the evil originate ? 
 In the fire, do you say ? But the fire is good. Man 
 could not live without heat. The earth could not have 
 been formed and the ceaseless activities of the creation 
 kept in play without it. It is the motive power in the 
 universe, the most useful and the best thing in it. How, 
 then, can evil originate from it ? There is no evil in it ; 
 it is wholly good. Do you say it originated in the child ? 
 The child was attracted by the beauty of the flame, in 
 accordance with a universal, most necessary, and benevo- 
 lent gift of the Lord to man. All our powers are called 
 into play by the attraction of beauty in form and color. 
 The child was in search of good, according to the laws 
 of its being. The evil, then, was not in the child. 
 Whence, then, did it come? From too much heat. 
 From a want of proper adjustment between the relations 
 of the physical structure to the heat. The proper bal- 
 ance, equilibrium, between the two was lost, and hence 
 there was a disturbance in the action of the vital powers. 
 
 We may apply the same principle to the gratification 
 of the appetites and every sense. The child will thrust 
 a poison into its mouth as readily as the most wholesome 
 food, if it is pleasant to the taste. He cannot avoid all 
 possibility of violating the laws of his physical being 
 without perfect knowledge, and he cannot gain that with- 
 out experience. And there are some physical evils from 
 which the most perfect knowledge would not protect him, 
 such as the pain resulting from too great heat and cold, 
 and from unavoidable accidents. For it is not possible to 
 conceive that man could ever have passed through the 
 
i68 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 world without suffering some pain, even if he had never 
 sinned. 
 
 If the question is asked why the Lord did not form the 
 material body so that it would not wear out or become 
 deranged or be sensible of pain, the answer is, He could 
 not. He made the best body possible, and out of the 
 best materials. This follows from our axiom, from the 
 very nature of infinite wisdom. Infinite wisdom cannot 
 fail to do the best in every particular, for if it did it would 
 not be infinite wisdom. We can see also, from the very 
 nature of the case, that it would be impossible to create 
 an organic form so delicately and exquisitely sensitive to 
 external impressions as the material body, which would 
 not be liable to pain as well as pleasure. If the organi- 
 zation of the material body must be so perfectly adjusted 
 to all outward relations and to the spirit within that it 
 must act in perfect harmony with both to produce pleas- 
 urable sensations, it follows necessarily that any de- 
 rangement of form or action must produce pain. If the 
 eye, for example, must be so delicately organized that it 
 can be moved to activity by the waves of ether, a grosser 
 substance must cause it pain. A body without ner\'es 
 would be incapable of pain, and equally incapable of 
 pleasure. There is no way of attaining the end without 
 the liability to obstruction. There is no way of attaining 
 physical good without the liability to physical evil. The 
 very delicacy and perfection of the organization neces- 
 sary to obtain physical good increases the liability to dis- 
 order and physical evil. Physical evil, then, does not 
 originate outside the organization, but within it, from the 
 necessary limitations and imperfections of matter. The 
 
THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. 
 
 169 
 
 Lord does not create it. He did not create the nerves to 
 communicate pain, but pleasure ; but He could not so 
 form them that they would be the inlets of good, and 
 not, under changed conditions, of evil. On the side of 
 nature the Lord is under the same kind of limitations that 
 man is. Li constructing a musical instrument the maker 
 is limited in one direction by his materials. He may 
 make one that is in perfect tune, but from the imperfection 
 of the wood and iron it will become discordant. The 
 Lord would be limited in the same direction. The giant 
 can exert no more force with a straw than a little child. 
 
 Here, then, we have numerous examples where dis- 
 cordant action and even destruction grow out of perfect 
 forms and relations, from two causes or limitations. First, 
 from the use of instruments which, by their very nature, 
 lose their perfection of form by their action. And, sec- 
 ondly, from the loss of that equilibrium and perfect ad- 
 justment which is essential to the attainment of the good 
 which the Lord has provided for man, and which He is 
 in the constant effort to give him. The Lord did not 
 make man's organization so delicate, and all its relations 
 so nice, that it might easily become deranged, but be- 
 cause there was no other way of giving him the good. 
 
 Let us now take another step, to the moral and spiritual 
 plane of life. As a spiritual being, man is a form organ- 
 ized of spiritual substances, as his material body is a form 
 organized of material substances. He was created in the 
 image and likeness of God, and was therefore formed to 
 receive life from Him in perfect forms. His will and 
 understanding, his thoughts and affections, which are 
 organic forms, were made to act in perfect harmony with 
 
 H IS 
 
170 FROGJ^ESS IX SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 the inflowing life from the Lord, and when they so act 
 even- motion is a joy. As the material bod)' stands be- 
 tw^een the soul and the outward world, and is the con- 
 necting link between them, receiving life from the soul 
 and being acted upon by nature, so man himself is a 
 conjoining medium between the Lord and the outward 
 world. He receives life from the Lord, and as it flows 
 through him into outward act and finds reaction from the 
 material world, he is filled with delight when e\ er)- form 
 in this w'onderful series of connecting links acts in perfect 
 harmony. This was man's state originally, and then he 
 was good. He was in harmony with the Lord, with 
 nature and man. He stood in perfect equilibrium be- 
 tween the forces that pressed upon him, and, conse- 
 quently, in perfect freedom to turn either way, to the 
 Lord above or the earth beneath. And it was essential 
 to this perfection that he should maintain this equilib- 
 rium. Now, the question is, How could he disturb this 
 order ? The Lord could not have purposely introduced 
 any disturbing element. There was no self-existent, in- 
 dependent cause outside of man to do it ; and as he was 
 perfect in his own form and activities, whence could evil 
 find entrance? 
 
 There were two qualities or conditions of human life 
 that rendered evil possible, or what is the same thing, 
 that rendered it possible for this perfect harmony to be 
 disturbed and this perfect order to be destroyed. 
 
 The first was human freedom, this very equilibrium of 
 which I have spoken ; and the second was the absolute 
 necessity that the sensuous plane of life should come into 
 conscious and vigorous existence before the moral and 
 
THK ORIGI.V OF EVIL. 
 
 171 
 
 spiritual life, and, consequently, the necessity of judging 
 of things as they appeared to the senses, befoi^e the 
 rational degree of the mind was formed. 
 
 Freedom of will is the essential human element in man, 
 and freedom implies the ability to choose our course of 
 action and to act according to our choice ; and it also 
 implies that from our point of A'ievv there must be some 
 degree of good in either course. If there were no appar- 
 ent good except in one direction, there would really be 
 no choice. Freedom implies the ability to love one thing 
 or another ; to serve God or Mammon ; to go in the 
 way that the Lord says is right, or in the way that seems 
 to us to be right. Consequently in man's freedom lies the 
 possibility of evil. 
 
 Now, if any one asks why the Lord did not so form 
 man that he could only do right, the answer is, that he 
 would not have been a man if He had. The essential 
 element of his humanity would have been left out of his 
 composition. He might have been an animal, a being 
 subject to his instincts, and with no power to transgress 
 them. But he would not have been a man. To ask 
 why the Lord did not create man without the specific and 
 essential elements of humanity, is to ask why He did not 
 make man without making a man, or by making some- 
 thing else, which is an absurdity that answers itself. 
 That very excellence, then, which elevates man above all 
 other created beings, and allies him in a peculiar manner 
 to his Creator, contains within it, or more strictly, is, a 
 liability to fall. 
 
 Granting, then, that one of the essential elements of free- 
 dom is the ability to turn from order to disorder, from good 
 
172 P/WGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 to evil, it may be further said that the possibility of evil 
 does not imply its necessity. Very true. The chances, 
 therefore, were at least equal for man' s remaining as he 
 was created, in the integrity of his being. But he did 
 not. Why did the scale preponderate towards the evil ? 
 I answer. The weight that turned the balance in favor of 
 evil was the other necessary element in human life, the 
 sensuous nature. Man's consciousness must be opened 
 into this world, and sensuous delights must lie very close 
 to him and exert a great power over him, before the 
 reason and the higher faculties of the will are sufficiently 
 developed to guide and control him. His first knowl- 
 edge must be that of the senses or of the appearances 
 of things, and there necessarily grows out of this the 
 tendency to put too much confidence in their testimony. 
 They constantly act upon the mind, as gravity acts upon 
 the body ; they draw us towards the earth, towards natu- 
 ral and sensuous delights. Now observe, these sensuous 
 delights are just as necessary to human life as the 
 highest spiritual delights. If we were not drawn by the 
 pleasures of taste or impelled by hunger to take food, 
 who would eat ? Would the body get regular and suffi- 
 cient supplies of substances to meet its wastes ? But we 
 are in danger of being drawn on by this delight to indulge 
 it at the expense of higher and nobler faculties, especially 
 before we have experience and judgment for our guide. 
 Children and men fall from this cause every day. 
 
 Again, we are compelled to form our first conclusions 
 and judgments from things as they appear to us, or as 
 they are to the senses, or to our own experience. Now, 
 all our life comes from God. It is a perpetual gift to us, 
 
THE GRIG IX OF EVIL. 
 
 but it seems to originate spontaneously within us. It 
 seems to be our own. Our senses say to us that it is 
 our own, and there is an inclination to listen to them, to 
 believe them, and to claim it as our own, and, therefore, to 
 make ourselves as gods. For that which has underived, 
 independent life is God, and when we think that we live 
 of ourselves, we love ourselves and believe in ourselves 
 and forget the Lord. We are inclined to love that which 
 ministers to our delights ; we begin to love to receive 
 good rather than to give good. And this must invert 
 the whole order of our lives ; it must incline us to look 
 down to the earth rather than up to the Lord. The 
 senses and sensuous delights allure us and tend to mis- 
 lead us ; they tend to destroy the perfect equilibrium of 
 all our faculties between this world and the spiritual world, 
 between ourselves and the Lord. They act on one end 
 of the scale beam with a continual tendency to turn it in 
 their favor. 
 
 These sensuous delights are the serpent that tempted 
 Eve, and they are the serpent that has tempted every son 
 and daughter of Eve to this day. The disposition to judge 
 for ourselves what is good, is the tree of the knowledge of 
 good and evil. The Lord knew the danger of eating of this 
 tree, and warned man against it. He gave him every help 
 which it was possible to give. If man had been willing 
 to obey the Lord instead of his sensuous nature, if he had 
 been willing to act from the real truth, in obedience, 
 rather than from appearances, he would not have fallen. 
 
 Some will wonder why the Lord created the serpent, 
 and why He put the tree of the knowledge of good and 
 evil in man's garden ; why He gave the principles which 
 
 15* 
 
174 PROGRESS IX SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 they represent a place among the human faculties. The 
 answer is, because they are essential parts of man's mind. 
 The serpent must be there ; man must be drawn to ex- 
 ternal things by his delights. The tree must be there ; 
 he must have the ability as of himself to judge of good 
 and evil in order to call all his faculties into play and to 
 make him fully a man. But the senses magnify the 
 good of natural things, and we are overborne by them, 
 and thus the equilibrium is destroyed, and the true, 
 orderly flow of life is obstructed. Man begins to love 
 himself better than the Lord, and the world better than 
 his neighbor. The lower faculties become strong by 
 exercise, and the higher close and dwindle into feeble- 
 ness by disuse, until man's distinctly spiritual nature dies, 
 and he loses sight of God, of heaven, and of heavenly 
 delights, and only his lower faculties are alive. 
 
 The Lord in creating man ga\ e him no faculty that was 
 not essential to his perfection. Every faculty- was good. 
 But by the ver}- nature of these faculties they were liable to 
 abuse, to be exercised at the expense of higher faculties. 
 Thus the equilibrium was destroyed and disorder ensued. 
 
 All the examples and illustrations which I have given 
 from human employments, from man as a physical, in- 
 tellectual, and spiritual being, confirm this conclusion. 
 Evil had no existence previous to the creation. It is 
 not some self- existent, independent being or force that is 
 making war upon good, and endeavoring in all possible 
 ways to defeat and destroy k. The Lord did not create 
 evil, nor. on the other hand, could He prevent it, because 
 the possibility of abuse inheres in those ver>' qualities 
 of freedom and rationality which make man to be man. 
 
THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. 
 
 Mechanical evils have their origin in the destructi- 
 bility of matter, a quality essential to its usefulness. 
 Physical evils are made possible by the very delicacy and 
 sensitiveness which adapt the body to be man's faithful 
 servant. Moral evil becomes possible when the Lord be- 
 stows upon man His crowning gifts of human freedom 
 and rationality, the faculties which if rightly used bring 
 man into the image and likeness of his Maker. 
 
 Knowing how evil comes, we know how to guard 
 against it. Having learned that the senses cannot be 
 trusted, we should not trust them. Knowing that natu- 
 ral delights, though good in themselves, clamor for grati- 
 fication, and if not controlled by reason will destroy us, 
 we must keep them in subjection. There is only one 
 Being whom we can absolutely trust ; He is the Lord. 
 Let us trust Him. Let us love the Lord and hate evil. 
 
SIN AND ITS PUNISHMENT. 
 
 " The soul that sinneth, it shall die." — Ezekiel xviii. 20. 
 
 D Y common consent man is a sinner. The Lord de- 
 clares it, and man confesses it. Man has broken 
 the Divine commandments, and he now stands before the 
 Lord guilty, rebellious, and justly exposed to the penalty 
 of a violated law. It is, therefore, a matter of the most 
 momentous importance to him to know his exact rela- 
 tions to the law and to the Lord. How does his sin affect 
 his own being? What change does it make in the dis- 
 position of the Lord towards him ? What is the punish- 
 ment for sin, and how is it administered ? What are the 
 conditions of pardon, and how can man comply with 
 them ? These questions have been answered many times. 
 Hundreds of volumes have been written to state and ex- 
 plain them, and yet, to the minds of most people the 
 whole subject is involved in many difficulties, and the 
 most dangerous errors are widely prevalent concerning 
 it. We are, each one of us, a party in this question. It 
 vitally touches our spiritual and eternal interests. It is 
 not merely a question of temporal wealth and worldly 
 prosperity ; the riches of the soul are brought into peril 
 of loss ; the title to our inlieritancc of the blessings and 
 honor and glory of heaven is at stake. Let us, then, 
 endeavor to understand the subject as it really is, as 
 176 
 
S/IV AND ITS PUNISHMENT. 
 
 177 
 
 reason enlightened by revelation sees it, as the Lord 
 Himself has presented it to us in His Holy Word. 
 
 There are four points of inquiry which contain the 
 essential elements of the whole subject. These questions 
 are, first. What is sin? in what does man's offence really 
 consist ? secondly, What is the penalty ? thirdly. How is 
 it inflicted? and, fourthly, What are the only conditions 
 of escape from it ? 
 
 A clear and rational comprehension of the principles 
 involved in these questions will enable us to see the whole 
 subject in its true light. I invite your attention, there- 
 fore, to what the doctrines of the New Church teach us 
 concerning these principles which involve our eternal 
 interests. 
 
 First, What is sin ? The common and the true answer 
 is, It is a violation of a Divine law. But this answer, 
 though true, may not convey a true idea, or at least may 
 give us a very imperfect idea of the real nature of sin. 
 We must have a true conception of the nature of a Divine 
 Taw before we can see what the necessary results of its 
 violation are. If the law is an arbitrary prohibition or 
 requirement, having no necessary, essential ground in 
 the nature of man or the Lord, but is imposed upon man 
 because the Lord had a right to do it, or for the sake of 
 testing his obedience, the punishment is as arbitrary as 
 the law. There is no necessary connection between them. 
 The punishment is not the direct effect of the sin, but of 
 the Lord's displeasure. But if the Divine laws are the 
 principles of man's life ; if man before he fell was the 
 personal embodiment of them, as the plant is the embodi- 
 ment of the laws of vegetable life, or the material body 
 m 
 
178 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 of animal life, then the punishment of their violation fol- 
 lows as a necessary effect. As the plant withers and dies 
 when the conditions of its life and growth are not com- 
 plied with ; as the material body becomes feeble and is 
 filled with pain when its laws are broken, so disease and 
 pain and death must inevitably follow disobedience to the 
 laws of the soul. This point, then, must be setded before 
 we can answer the question we propose for our consid- 
 eration, and upon its answer will depend the answer to 
 all the other questions. 
 
 The prevalent theology is based upon the theory that 
 the law of the Lord, like the civil laws of nations, is in a 
 certain sense arbitrary, — that is, it has no necessary, in- 
 herent ground in the nature of man and his relations to 
 his Creator. The Lord, by His absolute ownership of 
 man, had a right to impose upon him any test of his 
 obedience, or to demand any amount of homage and 
 serv ice He chose, and to attach any penalt\' He pleased. 
 He therefore gave him such laws and imposed such pen- 
 alties as in His wisdom and good pleasure He saw best, 
 as an arbitrary sovereign. In this respect, according to 
 common opinion, human and Divine laws are similar. 
 They may both be enacted for the good of the people, 
 and such penalties for disobedience or non-performance 
 of duty may be imposed as the highest wisdom and the 
 most benevolent intentions may dictate ; but still they 
 are totally unlike physical laws in their operation. We 
 call physical laws natural because they are embodied in 
 nature. But civil laws are in a certain sense arbitrary. 
 They may be the e.xpression of the nature and relations 
 of societies and peoples, or they may not. They may be 
 
SliV AND ITS PUNISHMENT. 
 
 179 
 
 enacted and repealed. Men may violate them and escape 
 the penalty, or they may suffer the penalty under false 
 accusation when they are innocent. But a natural law 
 cannot be evaded. Punishment grows out of its viola- 
 tion, and only the guilty can suffer. A natural law can 
 never be repealed or annulled. It may be overborne for 
 a time by a superior force, but its action is never sus- 
 pended. 
 
 If the Divine laws are arbitrary in the same sense that 
 any law of human enactment may be, — that is, if they 
 are not the outward expression of inward principles 
 actually embodied in man's spiritual nature, — the pun- 
 ishment may be remitted at the good pleasure of the 
 Lord, or it may not. And this is the general opinion of 
 the Christian world. 
 
 But there is abundant testimony in the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures that the laws of the Lord are not in any sense 
 arbitrary. "If thou wilt enter into hfe, keep the com- 
 mandments." " Thy law is the truth." " I am the way, 
 the truth, and the life" are Divine declarations. All the 
 promises of pardon and eternal life are based upon obedi- 
 ence to the commandments ; for to keep the command- 
 ments is to love the Lord and to believe in Him. " He 
 that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is 
 that loveth me." Reason also would teach us that 
 Divine laws must be the embodiments of infinite wisdom. 
 Natural laws are the Divine methods of operation in the 
 material world, and they are inconceivably more perfect 
 in their action than the wisest human laws. Must we not 
 believe that the same, if not a much greater, perfection 
 exists in the Lord's spiritual laws? Is it not evident that 
 
l8o PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 the moral law existed before it was written on tables of 
 stone ? Was it not always wrong to steal and lie and 
 murder? Was man under no obligations to love the 
 Lord and his neighbor before the two great command- 
 ments were given? These laws are written in man's 
 spiritual nature. He can no more attain heavenly hap- 
 piness without living according to them than the tree can 
 attain blossoms and fruit without acting according to the 
 laws of vegetable life, or than man can obtain the bless- 
 ings of health without obedience to the laws of physical 
 life. They were given in a formal and apparently arbi- 
 trary manner because man had forgotten them, and be- 
 cause it was essential that he should know and obey them 
 as the laws of God. 
 
 Spiritual laws, then, are of the same nature as natural 
 laws ; they operate in the same way ; they are enacted in 
 man's spiritual nature ; they are the principles of his 
 being which govern all his activities and relations to the 
 Lord and to other beings. When I say to my child, You 
 must not put your hand into the fire, and if you do you 
 will be punished with terrible pain, I merely state a law 
 which exists whether I state it or not. I only give infor- 
 mation of a truth which existed before, though I give it 
 in the form of a command. So it is with all the Divine 
 commandments. They are formal statements of the laws 
 of man's spiritual nature. 
 
 But it may be said, The commandments are Divine 
 laws. Why does a man violate the laws of his own life 
 by disobedience to them ? Because man was created in 
 the image and likeness of the Lord. The laws of the 
 Divine life are finitcd in him, and he cannot break the 
 
Sm AND ITS rUNISHMENT. i8l 
 
 least commandment without doing violence to his own 
 nature. 
 
 Now we are prepared to answer our first question, 
 What is sin ? It is a violation of the laws of our own 
 life. The Lord created us for a definite purpose, and 
 with faculties specifically formed and adjusted to the at- 
 tainment of that purpose. He established a definite and 
 perfect order and system of means ; and when we step 
 out of that order we turn aside from the true and only 
 path that leads to life. We do the same thing in prin- 
 ciple that we do when we disobey a physical law. There 
 are physical, social, civil, and moral, as well as spiritual, 
 sins. All natural, as well as spiritual, laws are Divine, 
 because the Lord instituted them. They are His laws. 
 They are His methods of attaining His ends. The planet 
 obeys His law while it keeps to its own orbit ; the plant 
 obeys His law while it grows and brings forth fruit after 
 its kind ; the animal obeys His law while it follows its 
 own instincts ; and if it were possible for a plant or animal 
 to depart from its order, it would sin against the Lord as 
 well as do violence to the laws of its own life. So when 
 man obeys the Divine laws he obeys the laws of his own 
 being, and when he breaks them he breaks the laws of 
 his own life. Sin, therefore, consists essentially in acting 
 contrary to the laws of spiritual life, as they originate in 
 the Lord and are embodied in man. 
 
 All the forms and relations and methods of operation 
 of man's spiritual faculties were created and adapted in 
 the most perfect m^mner by infinite wisdom for the attain- 
 ment of a specific end, and that end was the reception of 
 life from the Lord, with its blessedness. Man sins by 
 
 i6 
 
l82 PROGRESS LV SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 departing from that order. He thinks he knows what is 
 good for him better than the Lord does. It seems to him 
 that the true way to attain Hfe is to love himself and the 
 world, rather than the Lord and the neighbor. He loves 
 the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil better 
 than that which grows upon the tree of life. Thus he 
 inverts the true order of his life and disturbs the harmo- 
 nies of all his spiritual faculties, abandons the methods of 
 infinite wisdom, and violates its laws. This is sin. 
 
 We are now prepared to answer the second question, 
 What is the penalty ? It must be death. It could be 
 nothing else. For if the Lord has established a certain 
 method and chain of instrumentalities for the attainment 
 of life, and has adjusted them to that end with infinite 
 wisdom, to depart from that order must be to fail of the 
 end. Death follows as a necessary consequence and ac- 
 cording to a universal law, as it does in the physical body 
 or in a plant. But the penalty of sin is not the death of 
 the body ; it is the death of the soul. " The soul that sin- 
 neth, it shall die." This body dies by the violation of 
 physical and natural laws ; the soul dies by the violation 
 of spiritual laws ; for the body is subject to physical laws 
 and the soul is subject to spiritual laws. There is no evi- 
 dence in the Bible, there are no grounds in reason or in 
 the analogies of nature, for the belief that the material 
 body would have been immortal if man had never sinned. 
 The decay and dissolution of the body is not the death 
 of the man any more than the falling of the leaf or the 
 rejection of the husk and chaff is the death of the plant. 
 Man is not a material being, and therefore no material 
 changes can create or destroy him. 
 
Sm AND ITS PUNISHMENT. 
 
 But spiritual death is not the disorganization and dis- 
 persion of tile spiritual substances which compose man's 
 spiritual form. It is rather such a derangement and in- 
 version of his spiritual organism that it is no longer recep- 
 tive of spiritual life from the Lord. The lower plane of 
 his mind, the natural and sensual degree, has become 
 so deranged and disproportionately developed that the 
 higher planes cannot be formed. Man is a barren fig- 
 tree, which bears leaves only. His faculties are so ajar 
 and discordant in their acti\'ities that their movements 
 cause pain instead of pleasure. Like an instrument out 
 of tune, they produce discords rather than harmonies ; 
 or like a defective chronometer, they do not move in the 
 order and exact measure of the heavenly principles with 
 which they were made to accord, and consequently the 
 man who trusts to them is led astray. Life is not bare 
 existence ; death is not the extinction of being. Life 
 truly considered is the attainment of the ends of our 
 being, the development of the spiritual and heavenly 
 degrees of the mind, and the reception of life from the 
 Lord, in those degrees, in ever-increasing fulness. Death 
 obstructs, withers, blasts them. Death is failure in the 
 true ends of life. It prevents the orderly development of 
 the higher degrees of man's spiritual nature, and brings 
 discord, disease, and pain into all those that remain. 
 " The soul that sinneth, it shall die." The penalty of sin 
 is spiritual death ; sin is the cause and death the inevi- 
 table effect. 
 
 Our next inquiry is, How is this penalty inflicted ? Is 
 it imposed like a fine ? or measured out like the penalties 
 of human laws ? Is it arbitrarily imposed, as so many 
 
1 84 PI^ OGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 years of imprisonment or a certain amount of disabilities 
 for so much sin ? Is it imposed or remitted at the good 
 pleasure of the Lord, as an emperor having absolute 
 power determines the punishment for offences against his 
 government, and inflicts or remits it according to his will ? 
 The Lord answers the question, " The wickedness of the 
 wicked shall be upon him." "In his trespass that he 
 hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in 
 them shall he die." Death follows sin as an inevitable 
 consequence. Sin is death. Man is not punished for 
 sinning as the thief is sent to the penitentiary for steal- 
 ing. But he is punished in sinning. As spiritual laws 
 are not arbitrarily imposed, so their violation cannot be 
 arbitrarily punished. The Lord does not bruise a man's 
 flesh and break his bones because he falls. The physical 
 injury follows as a consequence of the disobedience of 
 physical law. The Lord does not measure out in an 
 arbitrary way so much pain for so much physical sin, so 
 many twinges of gout or pangs of dyspepsia for so much 
 idleness and luxury. He does not send a fever upon one, 
 a consumption on another, a dropsy or paralysis upon 
 another, as a punishment for the violation of certain 
 physiological laws ; they follow as legitimate efiects from 
 natural causes. He did not organize the body for pain, 
 but for pleasure ; but if man will not obey the laws of his 
 organization, the end is missed, and pain comes as a con- 
 sequence. So the Lord did not organize the spiritual 
 body that it might be tormented with fears, regrets, dis- 
 appointments, hatreds, revenges, and remorse, but for 
 the reception of gratitude, love, joy, peace, blessedness, 
 and all heavenly delights. But if man will not obey the 
 
SIN AND ITS PUNISHMENT. 
 
 185 
 
 laws of his spiritual organization, if he will not follow the 
 methods which infinite wisdom has provided as the only- 
 way of attaining these spiritual blessings, he must fail of 
 receiving them. If he will sin, he must reap the fruits of 
 sinning. There is no escape from the consequences. If 
 there had been no written law, if the Lord had never said 
 a word about sin or its punishment, the consequences 
 would have been the same. In a word, all Divine laws, 
 spiritual, moral, civil, physical, and material, are self- 
 executing. There is no difference in principle in their 
 operation. The reward and the punishment inhere in 
 the law, and when we act according to it the blessing 
 necessarily follows, and when we break it the curse fol- 
 lows. Life is the effect of obedience, and death of sin. 
 
 Our final inquiry is. What are the only conditions of 
 escape from the penalties of sin ? The Lord answers the 
 question, "But if the wicked will turn from all his sins 
 that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do 
 that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he 
 shall not die." His release from the penalty, then, is 
 effected by his release from sin. The effect ceases with 
 the cause which produced it. When a man begins to live 
 he ceases to die. The penalty goes with the sin. They 
 are insepai'ably bound together, like pain and disease. 
 With a return to health, feebleness and pain disappear. 
 Put an instrument in perfect tune and its discords cease. 
 Darkness disappears when the sun rises ; frost vanishes 
 in the presence of heat. So death ceases in the presence 
 of life. This result follows of necessity, if the relation 
 between sin and its penalties is that of cause and effect. 
 The logic, as you will see, is complete, and there is no 
 
 16* 
 
l86 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 escape from it, if you admit that spiritual and natural 
 laws are similar in their operation. If the Lord follows 
 an immutable order and method in the administration of 
 His spiritual kingdom, as universal nature attests that He 
 does in His natural kingdom, '"The soul that sinneth, it 
 shall die." There are no exceptions, no remedies, no 
 offers of pardon, no conditions of escape except a return 
 to life. This is not the prevalent opinion, and it is 
 worthy of our most careful consideration. 
 
 It is an almost universal belief in the Christian Church 
 that the Lord punishes in an arbitrary manner, and that 
 He can remit the penalty of sin from mere mere)-, and 
 admit whomsoever He chooses into heaven ; and that He 
 is only prevented from exercising universal clemency by 
 some considerations of justice and consistency. The 
 common idea is that the Divine pardon is similar to that 
 exercised by kings and magistrates in this world. A man 
 has broken some law or committed some offence against 
 the king or ruler, and from mercy or favor, or through 
 the intercession of friends, he is pardoned, — that is, the 
 penalty is remitted ; the man is restored to favor, and 
 occupies the same position which he did before the offence 
 was committed. So it is commonly believed that by the 
 intercession of the Saviour, and the exercise of faith by 
 man, the Lord will remit the penalty of sin and take him 
 to heaven. The whole scheme of salvation, according to 
 the prevalent theology, is based upon this idea, and must 
 stand or fall with it. 
 
 This error seems to have arisen from confounding sin 
 with its penalty, while they are as distinct as pain and 
 disease, as sound and the instrument which produces it, 
 
SnV AND ITS PUNISHMENT. 
 
 187 
 
 or, universally, as cause and effect. The Lord is always, 
 by all the means known to His infinite wisdom, in the 
 unceasing effort to pardon our sins. But He never remits 
 the penalty. " The soul that sinneth, it shall die," is the 
 immutable and irrevocable sentence pronounced against 
 sin, and the law is in as full force now as it ever was. 
 There is no more pardon for violating a spiritual or moral 
 law than there is for breaking a natural law. Every 
 violation of every law, physical, moral, or spiritual, al- 
 ways has been, is now, and ever will be punished. If 
 you throw yourself into the fire or water, or eat arsenic, 
 or fall from an immense height, we know that the Lord 
 will not interpose in answer to any prayer to save you 
 from burning or drowning, from the effects of poison, or 
 from broken bones. He will not arrest His own order 
 and violate His own laws for the sake of saving man from 
 the consequences of disobedience. And yet this is what 
 we are commonly taught the Lord does in His spiritual 
 kingdom, and it is generally believed that our salvation 
 depends upon such interposition. But that is contrary to 
 every principle of the Divine government. 
 
 There can be no greater absurdity than that a Being 
 of infinite wisdom should impose an arbitrary law upon 
 His children, which He knew they would break, pro- 
 nounce an arbitrary punishment, and when they broke 
 the law, as He foresaw they would, set about contriving 
 a plan by which He could save them from His own sen- 
 tence. With all our weakness and folly, a human parent 
 would hardly do that. What would you say of a legis- 
 lator or of a king who should promulgate a law which he 
 knew would be broken, and then devise a method of 
 
t88 progress in SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 averting the very penalties he had affixed to it? Would 
 you not say that the law ought not to have been enacted, 
 or that the penalty was not wisely decreed ? Why do to- 
 day what you must seek to undo to-morrow or ruin your 
 friends ? 
 
 Because there is so much said in the Bible about the 
 Lord's mercy and His willingness to forgive sin, because 
 He came down to earth and suffered and died and rose 
 again to save man from sin, it is inferred that He seeks to 
 set aside His own law and prevent the execution of its 
 penalty. But He declares that He did not come to de- 
 stroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfil ; that heaven 
 and earth shall pass away, but not one jot or tittle shall 
 pass from the law until all are fulfilled. He did not come, 
 therefore, to repeal His own laws, to release man from his 
 obligations to keep them, or to save him from the penalty 
 of breaking them. 
 
 Two great errors widely prevail upon this subject : first, 
 that the Lord came into the world to save man from the 
 punishment of sin ; and, secondly, that the punishment of 
 sin remains after the sin is committed, until some compen- 
 sation is made for it, or some special act of release is ob- 
 tained. The Lord did not come to save man from the 
 punishment of sin apart from the sin itself This would 
 be a violation of His own laws and order. The Lord 
 never remits the penalty of sin so long as the sin remains. 
 No penalty ever was remitted or ever will be while the 
 sin remains. He no more forgives us for being diseased 
 si)iritually than He does for being diseased naturally. If 
 I break any of the commandments, the Lord will no more 
 forgive mc than He will forgive me for breaking my 
 
SIN AND ITS PUNISHMENT. 189 
 
 bones. The two cases are perfectly analogous. The 
 punishment follows as the inevitable effect of its cause, 
 the sin, and it must remain as long as the producing cause 
 remains. If we can settle it in our minds as a great and 
 universal law of the Lord's operation, from which He 
 ne\'er deviates, that no penalty is ever remitted and that 
 no sin goes unpunished, we have taken one great step 
 towards the solution of one of the most difficult problems 
 of human life. 
 
 The question now occurs, If the Lord never remits the 
 penalty of sin, how are we to escape punishment ? Must 
 we suffer forever? No. The penalty ceases with the 
 sin. It would be just as impossible for the punishment 
 to remain after man had ceased to be a sinner as it would 
 be for the cold of winter to remain during the heat of 
 summer, or the pains of a disease to fill the body after 
 the disease was removed and the body restored to perfect 
 health. The executors of human laws can punish after 
 the deed is committed and for it, but the Lord never does. 
 The penalty and the sin are so bound together that they 
 cannot be separated. 
 
 But if I broke my bones yesterday, shall I not suffer 
 for it to-day ? No, you suffer to-day because they are 
 still broken. The evil is not yet removed. If they were 
 restored to perfect soundness, you would not sufTer in the 
 least. You suffer so long as the cause which produces 
 the pain remains, and no longer. Sin is not limited to 
 the overt act, and does not essentially consist in it. The 
 sin consists in that evil state or motive which causes us to 
 commit evil deeds. There is the same distinction be- 
 tween sin and sinful deeds that there is between a tree and 
 
190 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 its fruits, or between disease and its symptoms ; between 
 tlie flushed face, the rapid pulse, the burning thirst, and 
 the wild delirium, and the fever which causes them. The 
 sin may remain and burn and consume and be the con- 
 tinual cause of sinful acts. We are not punished for 
 doing this or that sinful act. The Lord does not recount 
 our evil deeds, or keep a record of our good ones. He 
 does not keep an account of debt and credit with us. 
 We suffer because our natures are not in harmony with 
 the Divine order ; not because they were discordant yes- 
 terday, but because they are discordant now. 
 
 Strictly speaking, therefore, we never suffer spiritually 
 for a past evil. When the sinful state is gone, the pain 
 that originated in it goes with it. The most fatal miscon- 
 ceptions of the Divine character have arisen from the 
 erroneous belief that the consequences of sin remain after 
 the sin itself is removed. And many of the difficulties 
 which good men have found in reconciling the Divine 
 benevolence with the punishment of the wicked have 
 their origin in this falsity. It is a terrible injustice to the 
 Lord to suppose that we shall be eternally punished for a 
 sinful act, or any number of sinful acts committed in this 
 life. It follows as a necessary consequence of the law 
 which we have been considering that we shall never be 
 punished in the spiritual world for what we do in this 
 world. We shall be punished only for what we do there. 
 When a man passes into the spiritual world through the 
 gate of death the Lord does not say to him. You were a 
 great sinner while you lived upon the earth, and now I 
 am going to punish you for it forever. If the wicked go 
 away into everlasting punishment, it will be because they 
 
SIN AXD ITS PUNISHMENT. 191 
 
 will go their way in everlasting opposition to the Lord's 
 way, which is the only way in which happiness can be 
 found. The Lord sends His angels to every one, saint 
 as well as sinner, and invites them all to heaven, to the 
 enjoyments of eternal life. He places all in the most 
 favorable conditions to disclose their true characters. If 
 they can conform to the order of heaven in will and in 
 understanding, in thought and in act, they will enjoy 
 the blessings of such conjunction with heaven and the 
 Lord. He will not bring up old scores against them. 
 If one will turn from his sins, ' ' all his transgressions that 
 he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto 
 him : in his righteousness that he hath done he shall 
 live. ' ' But if he still continues to love himself supremely, 
 and to break the Divine commandments, which, as we 
 have seen, are the laws of his own being and the only 
 ways in which life and happiness can be obtained, he must 
 suffer the consequences. The Lord cannot prevent it. 
 " The wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." 
 
 We are brought to the inevitable conclusion, therefore, 
 that there is no hope for the sinner but in being cleansed 
 from his sin. So long as he is a sinner he is not in har- 
 mony with the Divine order. His will cannot receive the 
 Divine love and his understanding the Divine truth in 
 their true forms and order. He is an instrument out of 
 tune, and his activities can only be discords ; he is a cor- 
 rupt tree which cannot bring forth good fruit ; his spir- 
 itual body is diseased, and all its activities are death 
 rather than life, and he will remain spiritually dead until 
 he turns from all his sins, which cause that death. When 
 he keeps the Lord's statutes and does that which is lawful 
 
192 PI^OGRESS nv SPIRITUAL KKOIVLEDGE. 
 
 and right, he will surely live ; he will not die. These are 
 the conditions, and the only conditions, on which we can 
 be saved. 
 
 My whole effort has been directed to one end, and that 
 is to show that there is nothing arbitrary or fluctuating in 
 the punishment of sin. Man is not punished for sinning, 
 but in sinning ; sin and suffering are intimately connected, 
 and by no possibility can they be separated. The Divine 
 laws are not modelled after human laws. They are all 
 self-executing. They are never annulled or repealed or 
 modified. 
 
 This truth is very broad and comprehensive in its ap- 
 plications, and will reverse many of the opinions and 
 much of the reasoning upon the Lord's relations to man. 
 It relieves the subject of human salvation from all its 
 mysteries and complicated technicalities, and makes it as 
 plain and simple as the curing of any natural disease, and 
 much more certain, when the prescribed remedies are 
 applied. For we have a Spiritual Physician who under- 
 stands the disease perfectly, and who never fails to cure 
 all who apply to Him and follow His prescriptions. We 
 must direct our attention to the sin, to the disease, and 
 not to the pain it causes. We must learn the Lord's 
 commandments, that we may know what the laws of life 
 are, and then we must obey them. We must shun what 
 they forbid. We must do it now, to-day, every day. 
 The Lord will assist every effort we make. He came 
 into this world by assuming a human nature, that He 
 might remove every obstacle that prevents His access to 
 us, that He might apply the remedy directly to the dis- 
 ease, and so bring His life down to us, even in the grave 
 
S/N AND ITS PUXISHMENT. 
 
 193 
 
 of our sins, that He might become our resurrection and 
 life. He is present with us now by the influences of His 
 Holy Spirit, and assists every struggle for release from 
 sin, and favors every aspiration after a heavenly life. In- 
 finite love, wisdom, and power are on our side, and we 
 have only to remove the obstructions to their application 
 to our own life to be sure of escaping every torment of 
 sin and of enjoying every heavenly blessing we are 
 capable of receiving. Therefore, ' ' cast away from you 
 all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed ; 
 and make you a new heart and a new spirit : for why will 
 ye die, O house of Israel ? For I have no pleasure in the 
 death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God. Wherefore 
 turn yourselves, and live ye." 
 
 I n 
 
 17 
 
THE DIVINE MERCY IN SUFFERING AND EVIL. 
 
 " But the very hairs of your head are all 7iumbered.'" — Mat- 
 thew X. 30. 
 
 "He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and 
 sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." — Matthew v. 45. 
 
 T N the first of these passages the Lord declares the uni- 
 versality of His providential care ; and in the second, 
 that His care extends to the e\'il as well as to the good, to 
 the just as well as to the unjust. By the sun and rain are 
 meant His love and wisdom. He here assures us, there- 
 fore, that He exercises the same love towards the evil 
 that He does towards the good, and that He employs 
 His Divine wisdom just as fully for the benefit of the un- 
 just as He does for the good of the just. 
 
 This is not the common opinion, and it is not appar- 
 ently in accordance with many passages of the Word, in 
 which the Lord declares His hostility to the wicked. 
 But there is no real contradiction between Divine declara- 
 tions. Some express the real truth ; others the apparent 
 truth. Persons who oppose us in any course we are j^ur- 
 suing seem to be our enemies. Our children often think 
 we are hostile to them because we do not grant all their 
 requests, or because we oppose tliem in what seems to 
 them to be good. The real truth is that the Lord's 
 providence is over all men, at all times, in all states, in 
 temptation and sorrow as well as in prosperity and joy, 
 194 
 
THE D/V/.VE MERCY I.V SUFFER I. VG AND EVIL. 195 
 
 and is continually exercised for their good. It does not 
 seem so to us, because the Lord knows that often what we 
 think to be for our good is hurtful to us. Opposition to 
 that seeming good, but real evil, is, therefore, a favor to 
 us. The Lord regards every human being with infinite 
 love, and He deals with every human being with infinite 
 wisdom. He does all for every one, in every part of His 
 universe, that infinite wisdom and infinite power can do ; 
 for the evil as well as the good, for the ignorant heathen 
 as well as the most intelligent Christian, for the sick as 
 fully as for the strong, for the lowest spirit in hell as well 
 as for the highest angel in heaven. But what He can do 
 for each one depends upon his state, upon what he really 
 needs. Therefore the Divine life is received by no two 
 in the same manner. 
 
 This principle is clearly exhibited in human life. 
 What we can do for another, supposing we have the 
 power, depends upon what he needs. If he is rich, we 
 cannot help him by giving him money. If he is well, 
 medicine will do him no good. If he has an abundance 
 of provisions, it will not help him to give him bread. If 
 he is wiser than we, our advice is of no service. But if 
 he is poor, or sick, or ignorant, we may help him in 
 those particulars. If he is perverse, we may help him 
 to overcome his perversity. If he is starving for natural 
 or spiritual food, we can feed him. 
 
 But what the Lord can do for us is not only limited by 
 our necessities, but by our willingness to be helped. In 
 all the Lord's dealings with man we must recognize the 
 immutable truth of man's freedom, and that the Lord 
 always respects his freedom. It is not the Lord's power, 
 
196 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 nor the Lord's disposition, nor the abundance or scarcity 
 of means, nor the capacity of man's nature that is the 
 limit of the good the Lord can do for him. It is man's 
 freedom. How much good can he be led, in freedom, to 
 receive? Man's freedom in this respect is hke a vessel. 
 It is the capacity of a vessel and not the ocean that 
 limits the amount we can put into it. We often wonder 
 and sometimes complain because the Lord does not give 
 us a more abundant and richer good. When we see the 
 apparently vast inequalities in human life, and the 
 immense amount of suffering and sorrow, we are sur- 
 prised that the Lord does not interpose in behalf of the 
 destitute and the afflicted, more fully equalize human 
 blessings, and bestow His bounty with a more liberal 
 hand. But there is no withholding of His blessing. He 
 gives to every being the largest measure of the highest 
 good he can be induced to receive. We do not wonder 
 that the sun does not clothe a white and burning bank 
 of sand or a stagnant pool of water with wheat and 
 vines. The heat and light of the sun fall upon all places 
 of the same aspect alike, and enter and vivify what there 
 is to receive them. So it is with the Divine love. Let 
 us, then, settle it as an immutable truth that the Lord 
 always gives us all the good He can lead us in freedom to 
 receive. 
 
 It is my own fault if I suffer. The Lord did not send 
 this affliction upon me. I brought it upon myself He 
 tried to prevent it, but could not without doing me a 
 greater injury than the one I have received. And He is 
 even now trying to bring out of this suffering all the 
 good He can. 
 
THE DIVINE MERCY IN SUFFERING AND EVIL. 197 
 
 But that we may see this truth in a clearer Hght let us 
 consider more particularly the manner in which the Lord 
 sends His blessings to us and leads us to good. 
 
 The Lord never provides evil or punishment or suffer- 
 ing for any one. But He permits them, and He permits 
 them for our good. The Lord has arranged everything 
 in the universe for the happiness of man, and He has 
 organized man himself to receive delight from every- 
 thing. So long, therefore, as man lives in the order of the 
 Divine providence he receives nothing but good. For 
 example, the Lord has arranged a certain order for man's 
 physical life, concerning food, raiment, sleep, and exer- 
 cise. This order is perfect. It is from the Lord's will. 
 If man lives according to it he receives only good. It is 
 the same with his moral, intellectual, and spiritual life. 
 But if man violates this order he takes himself out from 
 its harmonies, and so far cuts himself off from the will of 
 the Lord. The Lord can no more reach him in that 
 way. He separates himself from good and comes under 
 another law, the law of truth which condemns him. The 
 order which was provided to bring the soul good and 
 only good now acts against it and condemns it, because 
 the soul does not move with it. You have seen a com- 
 plicated piece of machinery driven by a powerful engine. 
 Every part of the machine was arranged according to a 
 certain order, to accomplish a certain end. Suppose this 
 order and every part of the machine to be perfect. 
 Every wheel and spring and lever plays in harmony, and 
 the end, which is the good sought, is accomplished. But 
 if some wheel gets out of place or some spring breaks, 
 the order is destroyed. The whole force that propelled 
 
 17* 
 
198 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 the machine now serves to break it up and destroy it. 
 The force of the engine that acted only for good now 
 crushes, now acts for evil. So when man violates the 
 order of infinite wisdom embodied in his soul, that order 
 acts against him, and man suffers according to the extent 
 of the violation. Now, the Lord did not provide this 
 suffering ; it is not from His will, but He permits it, and 
 He permits it for man's good in the state in which he 
 then is. 
 
 But when we say He permits evil we must not under- 
 stand the permission in the sense that He concurs in it, 
 or that He led man into it, or sent it upon him in any 
 sense. All the laws of the Divine order are good, and 
 when man by disobedience departs from the Divine order 
 it is he who casts himself into punishments and torments. 
 
 The case is the same as with the parent and child. A 
 wise parent wills only the good of his child, and shows 
 him how to attain the good. But if the child will not 
 obey in all things ; if he desires to do things which the 
 parent knows are not for his good, he may still permit 
 him to ha\'e his own way if he believes that forcible re- 
 straint would do the child more harm than to follow his 
 own inclinations. He knows, perhaps, that he will never 
 be satisfied until he has tasted the bitter fruits of his own 
 choice. Such cases come within the experience of all 
 parents. Now, the parent does not provide the false and 
 evil course for his child. He does not provide the suffer- 
 ings which are caused by it. He does not will it, but he 
 permits it, because to restrain the child by force would 
 be a greater evil. 
 
 In the same way the Lord permits us to disobey His 
 
THE DIVINE MERCY IN SUFFERING AND EVIL. 199 
 
 laws. He tells us the consequences ; but we do not be- 
 lieve Him, and we cannot be made to believe Him until 
 we have tried it for ourselves. He permits us to plunge 
 into evils and falsities, and to bring their inevitable pun- 
 ishments upon ourselves, because the evil is not so great 
 as would result from forcibly restraining us. Thus He 
 permits it for a relatively greater good, or because it is 
 the least evil under the circumstances. 
 
 But the Lord does not leave us in our sins. He uses 
 the suffering as a warning to go no farther astray. Every 
 pain we suffer is a voice of warning, a cry that we are in 
 danger. When I put my hand too near the fire the 
 smarting cries out to me, " You are violating a law of 
 your physical Hfe !" When I labor too long and too 
 severely, the weariness and pain declare in unmistakable 
 language that I am in danger of overtaxing my strength. 
 When I violate a moral or spiritual law, conscience lifts 
 her voice and inflicts her pangs. The Lord permits these 
 things for our good, but He did not provide them for the 
 smart and pain. The Lord did not provide fire to burn 
 us, but to warm us, to cook our food, and to serve a 
 great variety of useful purposes. The Lord did not 
 weave a fine texture of nerves throughout the whole 
 human body for the purpose of filling it with pain. He 
 formed them to be the medium of communicating a de- 
 light from everything we touch. He did not create the 
 conscience to sting and madden us, but to be a light to 
 guide us and an approving voice to comfort and sustain 
 us in the right. He did not make the head to ache and 
 the whole human body to be racked with pains, to be 
 eaten up with ulcers, and withered with palsies. He 
 
200 -PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 formed it to be the beautiful home of the soul while it 
 tarries in the world, the free and happy instrument with 
 which it communicates with the material universe and 
 gains the materials for the development of its own form 
 and life. And yet He permits the body to become a 
 most foul, repulsive, and hideous thing. 
 
 But it is important to a true knowledge of the Divine 
 character for us to keep in mind that the Lord does not 
 permit those things for the sake of punishment. He 
 permits the punishment for the sake of preventing evil 
 and of leading men back to good. All those passages in 
 the Word which represent the Lord as hating the evil, 
 burning with fury towards them, and inflicting upon them 
 the most terrible punishments, express not genuine, but 
 apparent truths. They state things as they appear to 
 man, not as they are when viewed from the Lord. You 
 will observe, however, that this view gives no license to 
 man to commit evil. On the contrary, it shows that evil 
 and suffering are inseparably connected. The Lord 
 Himself cannot prevent the suffering. "The soul that 
 sinneth, it shall die." But it shows the Divine character 
 to be very different from that which is often attributed to 
 the Lord. It shows how suffering and sin in the world 
 are perfectly consistent with His infinite love and wisdom. 
 
 There is another reason why the Lord i)crmits man to 
 act out his evils in freedom, and that is that he may see 
 them in their infernal deformity and put them away. 
 Man must exercise the same freedom in putting away his 
 evils that he does in committing them, for all his real ac- 
 tions are voluntary. The natural man is full of evils, 
 which must be put away before he can be regenerated. 
 
THE DIVINE MERCY IN SUFFERING AND EVIL. 201 
 
 But an evil cannot be resisted until it is seen, and it 
 cannot be seen until it appears. We ought not to commit 
 evil, however, that it may appear. We ought to see it 
 in its first motions in our thoughts, and there repress and 
 shun it. But most persons, will not examine themselves 
 with candor, by the light of Divine truth. We are loath 
 to confess even to ourselves that we are sinners ; and 
 many persons will not do it until their evils come out into 
 act, and in all their frightful deformity boldly confront 
 them. And even then they shut their eyes against them 
 until they are compelled, by seeing their fatal conse- 
 quences, to avoid them. Thus the Lord's providence is 
 over us at all times, and He makes the best use of our evils 
 for our good. What He cannot prevent without a greater 
 injury to us He permits, and permits that He may make 
 the commission itself of the evil an aid in removing it. 
 He is merciful even where it is impossible to remove 
 the evil, as is the case with all who are evil at heart, 
 after they have passed into the spiritual world. The 
 punishments they inflict upon one another are permit- 
 ted for the purpose of repressing their evils from fear, 
 and thus preventing those who commit the sin from sink- 
 ing into still greater evils, and thus incurring a severer 
 punishment. Thus the Lord is ever seeking our good, 
 and never fails to do the best for us that infinite wisdom 
 can effect. He does not cease to love us and work for 
 us when we are in evil. He does not leave us to our- 
 selves when we wander from Him, but, like the good 
 shepherd. He leaves the ninety and nine that are safe and 
 goes after the one that is lost. 
 
 We must not infer, however, that it is no matter what 
 
20 2 PROGRESS AV SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 we do, if whatever happens is best for us. We must re- 
 member that it is best under the circumstances, taking 
 all things into consideration. For example, suppose you 
 are disappointed in the attainment of some good upon 
 which you had set your heart, or you are afflicted by 
 some terrible bereavement. The Lord is doing the best 
 He can for you. The evils you suffer are to prevent 
 greater evils. Still, it is not as well for you as it would 
 have been if you had lived a better and more orderly life. 
 You are sick, perhaps, and suffer much pain. Your 
 sickness is not sent upon you by the Lord. It has come 
 from the violation of some physical law, and, though 
 your suffering is best under the circumstances, your con- 
 dition might have been better if you had not disobeyed 
 the laws of your physical life. It is best for the wicked in 
 the sjjiritual world to be restrained from greater sin and 
 greater misery by punishment ; but it would have been 
 far better for them if they had repented and shunned 
 their evils as sins against God in this world ; for then 
 they would be angels in heaven, and they would be en- 
 tering into the enjoyment of all hea\ enly delights. 
 
 There is also one important principle of compensation 
 for our natural sufferings which no finite mind can ever 
 fully estimate. A natural evil may be permitted and used 
 by the Divine Providence to effect a spiritual good. Man 
 has a twofold nature, and suffering and disappointment in 
 one degree or plane of his mind may be overruled for his 
 greater good in another. We see some persons who seem 
 to be always in affliction. Nothing that they touch seems 
 to j)rosper. They never succeed in business ; if they run 
 for office they are sure to be defeated ; if they engage in 
 
■IIIE DIVINE MERCY IN SUFFERING AND EVIL. 203 
 
 aa enterj^rise they fail ; they always meet with what we 
 call accidents, and everything seems to go wrong. Now, 
 out of this apparent misfortune there may be educed a 
 much greater spiritual and eternal good than could have 
 been gained by the greatest temporal prosperity. What, 
 therefore, seems to us misfortune may really be the 
 greatest good fortune. The man who suffers these things 
 may get more real good out of them than his neighbor, 
 who succeeds in everything he puts his hand to, can get 
 from his prosperity. A natural loss may contribute to a 
 great spiritual gain. In this way there are compensations 
 for natural evils, whose value we can never estimate, and 
 which may immeasurably outweigh the ills. One thing is 
 certain : the Lord permits them for a good end, and with 
 our co-operation He will bring good out of them, all the 
 good that is possible to infinite wisdom and power. 
 
 What a cheerful view does this truth give us of life ! 
 With what a merciful and loving tenderness does it invest 
 our Heavenly Father ! How the disappointed hopes, the 
 ignorance, the failures, the bereavements, the sufferings 
 and sorrows of poor, erring humanity, change their re- 
 pulsive aspect ! How is all that we have called unfortu- 
 nate, and mourned over in our own lives, brightened and 
 changed into new forms of beauty and good by it ! Let 
 us try to bring home the blessed truth to our own souls 
 as an undoubted reality. Our very hairs are numbered. 
 The Lord does not turn away His face from us because 
 we turn our faces from Him. If we are spiritually naked 
 and hungry, sick and in prison, He will no more leave us 
 than a devoted parent would leave a beloved child when 
 he was sick and in affliction. If possible, the Lord then 
 
204 FKOGRESS AV SPIRITUAL KXOIVLEDGE. 
 
 regards us with more tenderness than at other times ; 
 and, though He cannot communicate to us any good but 
 what He can lead us voluntarily to receive, He watches 
 over us every moment of our lives, and seizes upon the 
 slightest opportunity, and makes the most of every pos- 
 sible occasion to soften the hardness of our nature, to 
 bend our wills towards a true order, to lead us back into 
 harmony with Him. Why are we so slow and reluctant 
 to believe in His mercy and loving-kindness ? Why are 
 we so prone to doubt His care for us, and to make our 
 natural prosperity the measure of His good-will towards 
 us ? When we suffer, why will we accuse the Lord of 
 unkindness or want of care, when the only reason the 
 Lord does not gi\'c us a greater measure of good is our 
 unwillingness to receive it ? Why do we not commit our 
 way unto Him, and trust Him, and let Him lead us in the 
 paths of righteousness, beside the still waters, and restore 
 our souls to their true order, harmony, and peace? Oh, 
 you who go trembling with many a fear, whose souls are 
 chafed and worried and stung with many an anxious care, 
 whose hearts are heavy with many a burden of grief, why 
 will you not accept the blessed invitation, "Come unto 
 me, all ye that labor and are hea\'y laden, ... for I am 
 meek and lowly in heart ; and ye shall find rest unto 
 your souls" ? Come, the Lord will take you by the hand. 
 He will help you at every step. He will strengthen your 
 weakness of will and act. He will lead you as gently as 
 love itself He will reward every right effort. Come up 
 from the corruption of the grave and the coldness and dark- 
 ness of death into the light and order and peace of heaven. 
 Come, all things are ready. Come, and begin to live. 
 
THE ATONEMENT: WHO MADE IT, WHY 
 IT WAS NECESSARY, HOW IT 
 WAS EFFECTED. 
 
 For he said, Surely (hey are my people, children that will 
 not lie : so he was their Saviour. 
 
 " In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the Angel of his 
 presence saved them : in his love and in his pity he redeemed 
 them ; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.'''' 
 — Isaiah Ixiii. 8, 9. 
 
 'T'HE subject to which I invite your attention is justly 
 
 regarded by the whole Christian world as vital to 
 man's salvation. Our eternal happiness or misery rests 
 upon it. We all know that we are sinners ; that we have 
 rebelled against the government of the King of kings and 
 Lord of lords. We are under condemnation. We con- 
 fess it by our fears. We are already suffering the pen- 
 alties of our disobedience. We feel it in the weariness of 
 servitude, in the weakness and pain of disease, in cares, 
 anxieties, disappointments, in yearning for a freedom we 
 do not possess, in aspirations for a good we cannot gain, 
 and in the sharp thrusts of conscience for violated law. 
 The whole earth is a prison whose walls are not stone or 
 iron, but ignorance and error and evil ; and multitudes 
 fear that they will be released from this prison-house only 
 to be plunged into a more terrible one. Whether you 
 believe the Bible or not, whether you accept the common 
 doctrine of sin and punishment or not, you know that 
 
2o6 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 you suffer ; you know that your affections, your under- 
 standings, and your lives are not in the harmonies of 
 Divine order. You know that you are weak and bhnd, 
 that your heart is full of fears and questions about your 
 relations to the Lord and your chances for future happi- 
 ness. 
 
 The subject we are to consider is, How the differences 
 between us and the Lord are to be harmonized ; how His 
 claim upon us is to be adjusted. If it is a punishment 
 which must be inflicted, who is to bear it ? If it is a debt 
 which must be paid, who will pay it ? If it is a case of 
 spiritual disease, weakness, and death, which have come 
 upon man as a consequence of violating the laws of spir- 
 itual life, how is he to be restored to spiritual soundness 
 and health, so that his whole nature shall act in harmony 
 with the Divine nature ? Put the question as you will, it 
 touches every vital interest and immortal hojje of man. 
 It is the essential question between man and the Lord, 
 the root principle on which all other questions depend. 
 
 There have been many opinions and theories upon this 
 subject, some of which have become obsolete. But there 
 is still a great variety of opinion, and will continue to be 
 until men understand how we are related to the Lord, 
 until we regard the subject from central and inmiutable 
 principles. This is the only point of view from which it 
 can be understood. This is, therefore, the fir.st question 
 to which I ask your attention. How do we stand related 
 to the Lord ? The answer is so important to our under- 
 standing of the present subject that we shall consider it 
 with care, at the risk of restating some principles already 
 familiar. 
 
THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 207 
 
 According to the doctrines of the New Church, the 
 primary and essential relation between man and the Lord, 
 which gives character to all other relations, is that of the 
 recipient of life to the Source and Giver of life. Every 
 human being is the direct recipient of life from the Lord, at 
 every moment of his existence, just as truly and absolutely 
 as the first man was at the first moment of his existence. 
 The Lord now breathes into our nostrils the breath of all 
 the life we have, in every particular and degree of our ex- 
 istence. " In him we live, and move, and have our being, ' ' 
 is a plain and exact statement of the truth. ' ' Without me 
 ye can do nothing. ' ' The amount and quality of our life is 
 measured by the degree of reception. This is the essen- 
 tial relation which we sustain to the Lord. It is described 
 in many ways, but this is the essence of them all. 
 
 It is necessary to recall another point. While every 
 particle of life is constantly given, the current which 
 comes to us from within flows by such secret channels 
 that we are wholly unconscious of it, and consequently 
 we are in as much freedom to act as we should be if it 
 were underived and absolutely our own. Though we are 
 only recipients of life, we are as free to act as the Lord 
 Himself Though we are as dependent upon the inflow- 
 ing power for every movement of mind and body as a 
 machine is for the movement of its wheels and springs, 
 yet we are not machines. We have power to act in one 
 way or in a different one. We can close our minds to 
 the truth as we can our eyes to the light. We can re- 
 ceive or reject, act according to the commandments or 
 contrary to them. But we possess this power only be- 
 cause the Lord constantly gives it to us. 
 
2o8 F-ROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 The Lord created man to receive life from Him in its 
 true forms and harmonies. He made him in His own 
 image and likeness that man might receive and possess 
 in a derivative and finite form all those qualities which 
 exist in the Lord in their infinite perfections. So long as 
 man received life from the Lord in its true order and in 
 its unperverted forms, his whole nature was in perfect 
 accord with the Divine nature ; all his activities flowed in 
 the currents of the Divine harmonies. Man's life was in 
 perfect unison with the Lord's life. Man and the Lord 
 were at one with each other. They were like two instru- 
 ments in perfect tune. This is the normal, orderly rela- 
 tion of man to the Lord. 
 
 Now, if I have succeeded in conveying the idea I in- 
 tend, it will be seen that man's relation to the Lord is 
 not essentially a legal one. It is not the relation of a 
 citizen to the state or of a debtor to a creditor. It is not 
 in any sense an arbitrary or factitious one. It is more 
 like the relation of a plant to the sun, or of the body 
 to the soul. It is a relation which inheres in and grows 
 out of the essential nature of the beings related. Arbi- 
 trary human relations may be used, for the want of better 
 means, to express those which inhere in the essential 
 nature of man and of the Lord. We may call God a 
 King, a supreme Ruler, an almighty Sovereign, who acts 
 according to His own pleasure, but we must take these 
 words in their highest and not in their lowest sense. We 
 must think of a king or sovereign from infinite love and 
 wisdom, and from our highest conceptions of love and 
 wisdom, and not measure the Divine character by an 
 earthly despot. The Lord is our Father ; but we must 
 
THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 209 
 
 not bring Him down to the level of human parents ; we 
 must exalt every fatherly quality to the highest possibili- 
 ties of our conception. These natural relations are steps 
 to assist our minds to rise up towards the Lord and gain 
 some true conceptions of Him, and not weights to hold 
 us down to the earth. Whatever corresponding human 
 relations we use to express our relations to the Lord, we 
 must always take them in their highest sense. They are 
 at the best but fingers which point in the direction in 
 which we are to look and go. 
 
 Such being our relations to the Lord, we cannot con- 
 ceive that He would subject man to the control of any 
 arbitrary law, or that He would attach any arbitrary pen- 
 alty to the violation of any law. The Lord is related to 
 man as a spiritual being in the same way that He is re- 
 lated to him as a physical being. Every one can see the 
 absurdity of attempting to subject man's physical nature 
 to any arbitrary laws. Would it not be equally absurd 
 to impose any arbitrary rules for the government of his 
 spiritual nature ? It is contrary to reason, contrary to 
 all known methods of Divine working. It is leaving 
 methods which accord with the constitution and nature 
 of things for those which have no necessary relation to 
 them ; it is abandoning law and following caprice. 
 
 It cannot be denied, however, that there are many 
 statements in the Sacred Scriptures which seem to favor 
 the idea that the Lord does govern in an arbitrary way, 
 and exacts obedience because He has the right to demand 
 it and the power to enforce it. But it can easily be shown 
 that the commandments and prohibitions are only arbi- 
 trary in form, to adapt them to the condition of men. A 
 o 18*1 
 
2IO PROGRESS IM SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 law of life may be stated as a principle, as a warning, as 
 a command. The consequences of its violation may be 
 pointed out or not, according to circumstances and the 
 conditions of those who are the subjects of the law, 
 while the law itself is inherent and essential. This prin- 
 ciple is so necessary to a correct understanding of our 
 relations to the Lord, that it is worthy of illustration. 
 
 An engineer who understands his business perfectly is 
 called upon to build a bridge across the chasm below the 
 Niagara Falls. He knows the force of gravity, he is ac- 
 quainted with the strength of the materials he is to use, 
 he knows what form is most conducive to strength, and 
 what relations the parts should sustain to one another, 
 and to what strain the structure will be subjected, and he 
 gives his orders accordingly. Put stone here, iron there. 
 He gives specific directions about the form of the parts 
 and the way they are to be joined together. His direc- 
 tions are issued in an arbitrary form, as though his will 
 were law and he were a despot. But there is nothing 
 arbitrary in his directions. They are based on immu- 
 table law, to which he must conform or his structure will 
 prove a failure and become the cause of sorrow and 
 suffering and death. So all the precepts, prohibitions, 
 statutes, and commandments contained in the Bible, in 
 whate\ er form given, are based upon the immutable laws 
 of the Divine wisdom, upon the essential principles of 
 man's nature, according to which his life unfolds and he 
 attains the end of his being. 
 
 The true relation between the Lord and man is often 
 expressed in specific terms. He is the light of the 
 world ; He is the life of men. " In him we live, and 
 
THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 211 
 
 move, and have our being ;" "I am the vine," He says 
 to His disciples, "ye are the branches." In this last 
 expression we have a perfect example of our relation to 
 the Lord. We are related to Him as the branch to the 
 vine. There is nothing arbitrary about it. The branch 
 grows out of the vine, and partakes of its nature. It 
 gets all its life from it. And the amount of the life it re- 
 ceives depends upon its connection with it. If that con- 
 nection is interrupted or broken, or if the organism of 
 the branch is in any way deranged, it cannot bear 
 fruit. 
 
 If we suppose that the branch has the power of 
 closing its doors against the life of the vine, which comes 
 to it in the currents of its juices, or of so changing their 
 nature that they produce poison instead of grapes, we 
 shall have a perfect illustration of how man as a sinner is 
 related to the Lord. 
 
 By sinning, which is violating the laws of his life, man 
 has interrupted the inflow of life from the Lord into his 
 soul, in its full and normal currents, and so perverted 
 what does reach him that it is changed into the poison of 
 evil, and he does not bear the fruits of heavenly joy and 
 peace. 
 
 The question is. How is the branch to be restored to 
 its union with the vine ? How is the recipient of life to 
 become readjusted to the source of life, so that all its 
 channels shall be opened and filled with life ? They can- 
 not open themselves ; they cannot be forced open by any 
 violence ; one branch cannot help another in this ex- 
 tremity. It is not a question of punishment for having 
 broken a law. That does not enter into the considera- 
 
212 PROGRESS IX SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 tion of the subject. It is a question of reunion of the 
 branch with the vine. It might be bruised to a jelly, 
 or ground to powder and cast into the fire ; that would 
 not tend to its reunion with the vine. On the contrarj% 
 it would make reunion impossible. It is not a question 
 of debt. Suppose it was. The branch is indebted to 
 the \"ine for the grapes it ought to have borne. Destroy- 
 ing it will not pay the debt. And if the debt were paid, 
 it would not have the slightest influence in restoring the 
 union between the branch and the vine. Suppose the pen- 
 alty for man's sins were paid by the sufieringof another 
 person ; it would not restore man to conjunction with the 
 Lord ; it would not have the slightest tendency to do it. 
 The gulf between him and the Source of life would re- 
 main as great as it was before. The breach has not been 
 healed, because it was not an arbitrary but a real one. 
 The healing is not a vicarious work. If the laws which 
 man had broken were arbitrar}', they might be annulled or 
 the penalty remitted at the good pleasure of the legislator, 
 or for any considerations he might designate. But as 
 they are laws of man's life, the very principles on which 
 his existence is based, they cannot be annulled without 
 destroying him. No being Divine or human can keep the 
 laws of life for him, or suffer for their violation for him. 
 
 As we have seen, spiritual laws are of the same nature 
 as physical laws, and we know perfectly well that one 
 person cannot keep these for another. It is a law en- 
 acted by the Lord Himself and written in every member 
 of the material body, that man must be constantly sup- 
 plied with a proper amount of wholesome food. The 
 penalty of continued disobedience is death. Can one 
 
THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 213 
 
 person keep this law for another ? Can one man eat for 
 another? Can the best friend on earth or in heaven 
 save another from starvation by eating for him ? Every 
 child knows that would be impossible. A law of life 
 which inheres in the essential nature of man cannot be 
 vicariously kept, nor can disobedience to it be atoned by 
 vicarious punishment. A debt can be paid by another, 
 because the relation of debtor and creditor is not a vital 
 one. It has no organic connection with man. An arbi- 
 trary law may be broken and no one suffer for it ; but a 
 vital law cannot, and the one who breaks it must suffer. 
 
 According to the same principle, a moral quality can- 
 not be transferred from one person to another. Neither 
 goodness nor wickedness are transferable commodities. 
 "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The righteousness 
 of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness 
 of the wicked shall be upon him. ' ' Vicarious virtue, or 
 vicarious guilt, or vicarious reward or punishment, is not 
 possible. It is contrary to the nature of God, and the 
 nature of man. It is just as impossible in the spiritual 
 plane of man's being as it is in the physical. 
 
 Now we have cleared away the obstructions and have 
 gained the right point of view to understand Who made 
 the atonement, Why it was necessary, and How it was 
 made. 
 
 Who made the Atonement? The Lord's answer is 
 that He made it. He is the only being who could make 
 it. And He affirms and reaffirms in the most emphatic 
 manner that He is the only Redeemer and Saviour. Put 
 out of your thought, if you can, every idea which dis- 
 turbs or weakens the distinct conception that God is one 
 
214 PJiOGKESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 in essence and person. Think that there is only one 
 Being who is God. Call that Being by whatever name 
 you please, but keep before your mind's eye only one 
 Person, one Being. Call Him Jehovah, God, Lord, 
 Father, Son, Jesus Christ ; but think of one Being, one 
 Divine Person. That Being created man. He is the 
 source from which man constantly derives his life. He 
 alone can give life and restore man to such union vvitli Him 
 that he can receive it in larger measures and higher forms. 
 
 It may help us to get this distinct idea of the unity of 
 God to hear what He says about Himself " Surely God 
 is in thee ; and there is none else, there is no God. 
 Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of 
 Israel, the Saviour." (Isa. xlv. 14, 15.) " Have not I 
 Jehovah ? and there is no God else beside me ; a just 
 God and a Saviour ; there is none beside me." (Isa. 
 xlv. 21.) " I, even I, am Jehovah ; and beside me there 
 is no saviour." (Isa. xliii. 11.) "I am Jehovah thy 
 God, . . . and thou shalt know no God but me : for 
 there is no saviour beside me." (Hosea xiii. 4.) "As 
 for our redeemer, Jehovah of hosts is his name." (Isa. 
 xlvii. 4.) "Jehovah, my strength, and my redeemer." 
 (Ps. xix. 14.) " Thus saith Jehovah, thy redeemer, . . . 
 I am Jehovah that makcth all things ; tliat stretchcth 
 forth the heavens alone ; that spreadeth abroad the earth 
 by myself" (Isa. xliv. 24.) There are many other pas- 
 sages to the same effect. 
 
 If words liavc any meaning, these mean that Jeho\ ah 
 is the Redeemer and Sa\ iour, and that there is no other 
 being who is in any way a party or sharer in the work. 
 Jesus Christ was not another being. He was Jehovah, 
 
THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 clothed with a human mind and a human nature. He 
 was not changed into that nature. He did not divest 
 Himself of any power or attribute by His descent into 
 this world in a personal form. He was the same omnip- 
 otent, omniscient, omnipresent Being ; He did not cease 
 to be the Alpha, the beginning, the first, when He be- 
 came the Omega, the ending, the last. He simply in- 
 vested Himself with the means of revealing Himself 
 immediately to men, and of bringing Himself into direct 
 personal contact with His children in every plane and 
 degree of the creation. As earthly sovereigns sometimes 
 disguise themselves as peasants and common citizens, 
 assuming their manners and their language, that they may 
 gain the means of relieving their ills and improving their 
 condition, so Jehovah assumed not only the outward 
 garb, but the material and spiritual organization of His 
 children, their mind, their habits of thought and feeling, 
 every form and quality which constitutes their natures. 
 In this way He assumed their weaknesses, their evil ten- 
 dencies ; He could be tempted at all points as they were ; 
 He could live their life ; He could feel the force of all 
 their struggles and trials and sufiferings, come into a per- 
 sonal experience of every illusion and every sorrow, feel 
 the sharpness of every pang, and the despair and agony 
 of every lost hope. He could stand where dying man 
 stood and bring Himself into close and conscious rela- 
 tions with him in every phase of his being. He was not 
 thereby changed into a weak and dying human being, as 
 a king is not changed into a peasant by assuming his 
 manners and dress. 
 
 Now we have before our minds, in distinct and per- 
 
2i6 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 sonal form, one Divine Being, one God, the only God, 
 adapting Himself to all human conditions, from the 
 highest to the lowest. The thought is not divided. It 
 goes straight to one glorious Person. The affections are 
 not distracted. They rest on one Being, who is love and 
 wisdom itself There is no remote, indistinct, awful em- 
 bodiment of inflexible justice demanding the exact pun- 
 ishment stipulated in the bond. We see a Father with a 
 heart of infinite tenderness and love. Himself coming to 
 the rescue of His lost and dying children, that He may 
 bring them into such relations with Himself as the source 
 of life that He can heal all their diseases, rectify all their 
 perversities, and restore them to union with Himself 
 
 This is a work worthy of infinite love and wisdom. 
 The idea that my Creator, my Father, my God did not 
 stand aloof in stern and solitary grandeyr, but came to 
 me, His lost and perishing child, took upon Himself my 
 nature, my mind, my affections, my flesh and blood even, 
 and with infinite compassion and tenderness opened my 
 eyes to see Him, unstopped my ears to hear the sweet 
 words of comfort and hope, the winning call to follow 
 Him to heaven and eternal rest, — this idea satisfies my 
 reason and fills my heart. I can understand that infinite 
 love could do this. It satisfies every instinct and concep- 
 tion of the parental nature. I can do something for my 
 children, feeble and imperfect as my love is. I can work 
 for them, I can suffer for them, I can bear with them, I 
 could plunge into the water or the fire to rescue them ; 
 and I can understand how infinite love could take upon 
 itself our nature, polluted as it is by sin, and exposed to 
 temptation and pain, to save us. 
 
THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 217 
 
 But I cannot understand how love or justice or mercy 
 could punish the innocent instead of the guilty. I can 
 see neither love nor mercy nor justice in that. I could 
 not punish one of my children for the disobedience of 
 the others. Every principle of justice in my nature 
 revolts against it. It seems to me the greatest injustice, 
 while no suffering is saved by it. The punishment is 
 simply transferred from the guilty to the innocent, from 
 the many, and poured with terrible concentration upon 
 one. Such a transfer satisfies neither love nor justice. 
 Nothing is gained by it. Every principle of right is 
 violated. It also necessitates two distinct Divine beings 
 to carry a vicarious scheme of salvation into effect ; all 
 our relations to the one only Lord are thrown into con- 
 fusion, and we are brought into no more intimate union 
 with Him than we were before. All that is claimed for 
 the vicarious scheme is the transference of a penalty from 
 the guilty to the innocent. But if my Creator, my 
 Heavenly Father, the constant source of my life, touched 
 with infinite pity, came after me, His lost and dying child, 
 found me, took me by the hand, tried to gain recogni- 
 tion and lead me back to life, I can understand that. It 
 meets every demand of my nature. 
 
 But if it was not to suffer a penalty, and if it was to 
 restore man to union with Himself, the question still re- 
 mains. Why was it necessary to take upon Himself 
 man's nature? The question has already been answered 
 by inference if not directly ; but it demands a fuller and 
 more direct reply. 
 
 To see the reason clearly we must go back to our 
 original point of view ; we must keep in mind that the 
 K 19 
 
21 8 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 real relations between man and the Lord are those of the 
 recipient of life to the Giver of life, of the branch' to the 
 vine. The interior degrees of man's being were nearly 
 dead. He had lost all true knowledge of God. He had 
 almost lost the knowledge of His existence. He had 
 made the Word of God of none effect by his traditions ; 
 he had so perverted every form of his spiritual organism 
 that he called evil good and truth falsity. Communica- 
 tion with the pure and good in the spiritual world was 
 interrupted and nearly closed, and man was surrounded 
 within and without by beings like himself Every child 
 was born with the perverted spiritual as well as physical 
 nature of its parents ; it breathed an atmosphere poisoned 
 with every evil. Man in his relations to the Lord was 
 like a tree stripped of its leaves and bruised and marred, 
 and so excluded from the light and heat of the sun that 
 its influences could reach it only in feeble and reflected 
 forms. All the avenues between man and the Lord, the 
 source of his life, were so closed and perverted that he 
 was dying. He had lost all consciousness of the higher 
 qualities of goodness and truth. The Lord could not 
 get access to him from within. He could not reach him 
 through others. There was only one way. He must 
 come Himself But He could not come to man without 
 bridging the gulf between the infinite and the finite, be- 
 tween the Divine and the human. Man was in a merely 
 sensuous condition ; the Lord could not come to him 
 except where he was. He must confront him face to 
 face. He must do as Elisha did to the Sliunammite's 
 son. He must stretch Himself upon man. IIcmust])ut 
 His mouth ui)on man's mouth, His eyes upon man's 
 
THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 219 
 
 eyes, and His hands upon man's hands. He must bring 
 His hfe in direct contact with man's organism, and in 
 forms that would take effect. Here was a real difficulty 
 to be overcome. It was not a legal or technical difficulty ; 
 it was not any fiction of justice. It was a question of 
 reaching man where he lay dying, and of breathing new 
 life into him. There was no other medium of communi- 
 cating life than a spiritual and material organism which 
 should touch the Divine on one side and the material on 
 the other, and so connect them link by link until the 
 chain was complete and the Divine power could be 
 brought to bear upon man. Then when he should touch 
 this Divine human presence virtue would go out of the 
 Lord to heal him, as it did to the woman who touched 
 the hem of His garment and was made whole. 
 
 The human nature of our Lord is called by many 
 names, according to the office it performs. It is called 
 the Son of God and the Son of man, because it was be- 
 gotten of God and born of man. It is called the right 
 hand and arm of power because by means of it the Lord 
 could bring His Divine power to bear upon man to save 
 and bless him. It is called the door because it opens the 
 way of access of the Lord to man and of man to the 
 Lord, swinging either way. It is called the mediator be- 
 tween God and man because it is the medium by which 
 the Divine life is transmitted to man, and the way by 
 which man ascends to the Father. ' ' No man cometh 
 unto the Father but by me." It is called Jesus, Saviour, 
 because it is the means by which man is saved. It is 
 called Christ because it is anointed to subdue man's ene- 
 mies and to rule in the power of the Divine truth. It 
 
220 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 was what all these names describe, and much more ; but 
 there was one thing it was not. It was not a being or 
 person separate and distinct from the one God. It was 
 the necessary means of closing the breach between the 
 recipients of life and the source of life ; the means by 
 which God came to man. 
 
 I have one more question to answer, and I am done. 
 How did this assumption of man's nature by Jehovah 
 effect an atonement between Him and man ? The answer 
 to this question will depend upon what is meant by atone- 
 ment. If by atonement is meant a satisfaction of Divine 
 justice, made by suffering a penalty which is equivalent 
 to that which man would have sufTered if it had fallen 
 upon his unsheltered head, then I grant it did not accom- 
 plish that. If Jesus Christ is a distinct person from 
 Jehovah, and He assumed this nature for the purpose of 
 paying a debt to Jehovah which man could not pay, then 
 I do not see how Jehovah, who is the source of life, is 
 brought into any nearer relations with man, who is 
 merely a form recipient of life. I do not see how it 
 connects them in any way. If by atonement is meant 
 the settlement of legal difficulties between man and his 
 Maker, I grant that the doctrine which I ha\ e stated does 
 not explain it, because it has no relation to it ; it does 
 not look to it in any respect ; it does not recognize any 
 such difficulties. If you mean the removal of any venge- 
 ful or unkind feelings from the heart of Jehovah towards 
 man, effecting a willingness in the Divine mind to ac- 
 quit man of the punishment due to his sins, in consid- 
 eration of the sufTerings of another, then I confess that 
 the doctrine that Jehovah Himself assumed a human 
 
THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 221 
 
 nature from pure love to man, for the purpose of recon- 
 ciling man to Himself and bringing him within the reach 
 of His Divine arms, that He might raise him up and draw 
 him closer to His infinite heart, does not account for any- 
 such effect. None of these purposes look to any real 
 union between man and the Lord. They only look to 
 the payment of a debt or the satisfaction of some legal 
 claims of the Lord upon man. Supposing such a result 
 to be reached, it leaves man intellectually and morally 
 just where it finds him. No new and higher knowledge 
 of God is communicated to him, no discords in his nature 
 are silenced, no evils are removed, no sins are remitted ; 
 only the penalty is paid. No new and higher life is 
 breathed into his soul, reviving and quickening and puri- 
 fying and enlarging it. No new bond of union is formed 
 between man and the Lord, no old one is strengthened. 
 Man has gone into voluntary bankruptcy, and all claims 
 against him have been cancelled because a Friend has 
 paid them. He remains as naked and destitute as ever. 
 
 But if the work of atonement consists in the removal 
 of obstacles to the inflowing of Divine life into men, 
 which really exist, and a reawakening of his spiritual con- 
 sciousness ; if new channels are opened between the Lord 
 and man, through which the river of life can flow into 
 his parched and withered heart ; if new and clearer 
 knowledge of the Lord is communicated to him, new 
 help is given to him to overcome his evils ; if his spiritual 
 blindness is cured, his ears opened to hear the Word of 
 the Lord ; if the lame begin to leap as a hart, and the 
 tongue of the dumb to sing, and man is lifted out of the 
 dust and darkness of a merely sensual life ; if all the ac- 
 
 19* 
 
222 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 tivities of his nature are brought into harmony with the 
 Divine nature, and his whole being is quickened with a 
 new and higher life, and he is drawn into closer union 
 with the Lord, — if such blessed results are meant by 
 atonement, then we can see that this bridging of the gulf 
 between the Source of life and the recipients of life is the 
 direct, orderly and specific means of accomplishing it. 
 It involves no distinction of persons in God, and no con- 
 flicting elements in His character ; it leads us into no 
 legal absurdities. This is a doctrine which is in harmony 
 with reason and a sense of justice, and it brings the 
 Lord, the only Lord, our Father, Redeemer, and Saviour, 
 so near to us, and presents Him so distinct and glorious 
 as the embodiment of infinite love and wisdom, that our 
 hearts must be hard indeed if we cannot love Him, and 
 are not powerfully impelled to study His commandments 
 that we may learn the ways which lead to closer union 
 with Him and diligently walk in them. This is a real 
 at-one-ment. There is no fiction about this. It is the 
 restoration of man to conjunction with the Lord. It is 
 the renewal of the covenant between man and the Lord. 
 It is the provision of the means by which man can gain 
 the remission of his sins and the Divine prayer can be 
 fulfilled, "That they all may be one; as thou. Father, 
 art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us : 
 that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." 
 
 I must say one word in conclusion about the practical 
 value of true knowledge upon this subject. If our .salva- 
 tion depends upon our character, upon ovir intimate and 
 vital conjunction with the Lord, who is the source of 
 life ; if it depends upon being cleansed from sin itself, 
 
THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 223 
 
 and not upon the remission of a penalty ; upon the re- 
 creation of our spiritual faculties and such a change in 
 our whole spiritual nature that it is brought back into 
 harmony with the Divine nature and restored to its origi- 
 nal excellence ; and if in this work, as in every other, we 
 are to co-operate, you can see how dangerous it would 
 be to rely upon the hope that some one else has suffered 
 for us, paid the debt for us, borne the penalty for us, and 
 transferred His merits to our account. Any doctrine or 
 theory which turns away our attention from our inherent 
 and essential relations to the Lord, and obscures the 
 truth that there are no obstacles to our salvation but false 
 and evil principles in us, and that there is no way of sal- 
 vation but shunning evils a's sins against God and living 
 according to the commandments, is misleading, and will 
 end in absolute failure. The Lord did not come to suffer 
 in our stead, to pay a penalty for us, to be good for us. 
 He came to help us to resist evil, and thereby escape its 
 penalties^ He came to help us to live according to the 
 laws of life, that we might enjoy the peace and blessed- 
 ness which results from so living. 
 
THE FIRST AND SECOND DEATH. 
 
 " And I say unto you viy friends, Be not afraid of them that 
 kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 
 
 "But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, 
 which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell ; yea, I 
 say unto you. Fear him." — Luke xii. 4, 5. 
 
 T^HERE is no subject, it would seem, which would 
 
 interest man so much as that great change in his 
 existence which is called death, and yet there are few 
 questions concerning which so little is known and so 
 many errors prevail. The most common opinions con- 
 cerning it are that it is a mystery, a terror and an agony ; 
 that it was sent upon man as a punishment for disobedi- 
 ence, and that it is a standing monument of the Divine 
 displeasure. Consequently, men almost uni\'ersally shrink 
 from it with horror, and to many it is the one dark cloud 
 and terrible dread of life. Poets and orators and Chris- 
 tian teachers hold it up as the most awful calamity, and 
 it is the severest punishment known to human laws. 
 
 But much of the mystery and terror that invests it is 
 due to entire misconceptions of its origin and nature, and 
 these misconceptions seem to have their origin in con- 
 founding the two deaths and attributing to one the quali- 
 ties that belong to the other. Men ha\ e attributed to 
 natural death the pains and .sufferings that belong only to 
 spiritual death. Indeed, most men overlook the second 
 
 224 
 
THE FIRST AiXD SECOXD DEATH. 225 
 
 death entirely, and, if they think of the subject at all, 
 think only of natural death. 
 
 A careful examination of the Sacred Scriptures and 
 enlightened reason will show us that natural death, by 
 which we understand the separation of the soul from the 
 body, was not sent upon man as a punishment for sin, 
 but is an orderly step in the progress of his life. It was 
 not this death that came into the world by sin. If man 
 had never sinned he would still have cast off his material 
 body and passed on into the spiritual world. 
 
 We need go no further than the first intimations of 
 death which we have in the Sacred Scriptures to learn 
 that it was not natural death that came by sin. The 
 warning given to Adam and Eve was, " In the day that 
 thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Gen. ii. 17.) 
 But they did not die a natural death in that day. Either 
 that was not the death referred to, therefore, or the 
 warning was a false one. And this we cannot for a mo- 
 ment suppose. So when Moses said to the Israelites, 
 ' ' See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and 
 death and evil" (Deut. xxx. 15), he cannot mean natural 
 life and death, for if they had obeyed every one of his 
 commandments they would not have lived forever in this 
 world. The Lord also commanded Jeremiah to say to 
 the Jews, "Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I set before 
 you the way of life, and the way of death." (Jer. 
 xxi. 8.) In the Psalms also it is said, "Thou hast de- 
 livered my soul from death." (Ps. Ivi. 13 ; cxvi. 8.) 
 The apostles also often speak of death in this sense. But 
 what our Lord said to Martha is conclusive upon the 
 subject, "Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall 
 
226 PROGRESS /.V SPIRITUAL KXOW LEDGE. 
 
 never die." (John xi. 26.) By this He could not mean 
 natural death, for multitudes which no man can number 
 ha\ e lived and believed in Him, and their bodies have 
 returned to the dust from which they were formed. 
 When the apostle says that death came by sin, and that 
 death has passed upon all, for that all have sinned (Rom. 
 V. 12), he evidently means the death of the soul. There 
 is no evidence in the Bible that natural death was caused 
 by sin. It is a mere human inference. It is no doubt 
 true that much of the sickness and pain that generally 
 precedes and attends our departure from this world is 
 more or less remotely caused by sin, because evil desires 
 and false principles lead to the violation of physical laws, 
 to intemperance in eating and drinking, to an.xieties and 
 excitements and disorders of life. The average duration 
 of human life in this world has without doubt also been 
 much shortened by evil, for we know that the average 
 duration of life increases as civilization advances and men 
 become more observ ant of the laws of life. But there is 
 no evidence that man would live forever in this world 
 even if he lived a perfect life. Immortality in this world 
 is certainly not taught in the Bible, and there are many 
 rational considerations and inferences from the Sacred 
 Scriptures that show conclusively that it is not according 
 to the purposes of the Divine wisdom that man should 
 li\ e here forever. 
 
 So far as our knowledge extends, the existence of 
 ever)' living thing organized of matter is limited. It has 
 laws of birth, growth, and decay. There is no excep- 
 tion. Every plant in the vegetable kingdom, for ex- 
 ample, attains its growth and does not pass beyond a 
 
THE FIRST AND SECOXD DEATH. 
 
 227 
 
 certain limit. It may remain stationary there for years, 
 for centuries, and yet the moment it stands still it begins 
 to decline, and eventually it will fall and perish. The 
 same is true of the animal kingdom. There are no ex- 
 ceptions to the law. Now, it is worthy of notice that 
 animals and vegetables have not sinned ; they live ac- 
 cording to the true order of their creation. Man, as to 
 his physical nature, is an animal, and the laws of his 
 generation, development, and life are the same. There 
 have been, and no doubt are still, multitudes of human 
 beings who have lived in perfect health. And yet they 
 grow old and die. Nor do they die of any disease ; 
 when the body has done its work it shrivels and falls 
 from the soul as the husk from the corn. 
 
 But again, so far as human observation extends, the 
 development of organized beings and things proceeds by 
 distinct steps, the prior acting as an instrument for the 
 creation of the succeeding, and being left behind it in the 
 ascent. In the vegetable kingdom, when the germ ex- 
 pands, the outer covering which contained it is thrown 
 aside ; the blossom fades and perishes when the fruit is 
 born and begins a distinct existence ; and again, the husk 
 and chaff and rough covering which have served as a 
 body and vessel and protection for the fine, fluent sub- 
 stances of the seed during its formation wither and die 
 when the seed is ripe. The same order and method pre- 
 vails in the animal kingdom. This is beautifully exem- 
 plified in insects. There are three distinct steps in insect 
 life. A caterpillar is hatched from an egg, then it be- 
 comes a chrysalis enclosed in a hard covering, and ap- 
 parently almost lifeless, and then a moth or butterfly. 
 
228 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 During these metamorphoses, or changes of form, it 
 never goes back and resumes its former state. The moth 
 does not become a worm and the worm an egg. But it 
 continually advances until it completes the cycle of its 
 life, preparation being made in each state for the succeed- 
 ing one. 
 
 Have these analogies and this method of the Divine 
 wisdom, which is universal so far as we know, no signifi- 
 cance ? So far as our observation extends, we find crea- 
 tion and life proceeding according to the same order and 
 method in man as in all other creatures. Can we suppose 
 that the order is reversed the moment we reach the limits 
 of our own observation ? 
 
 Man is a spiritual being. He has a spiritual body, for the 
 apostle Paul declares, ' ' There is a s])iritual body. ' ' Man 
 has a nature of a degree distinctly higher than the animal, 
 than any other created being. And is it not according 
 to all the analogies of the Divine method of creating that 
 man should attain his highest state by successive changes 
 of state? continually throwing off and leaving behind 
 those materials and instruments which have been used as 
 means fur its attainment ? If there is any force in reason- 
 ing from universal methods, I do not see how we can 
 come to any other conclusion tlian that natural death is a 
 stej) forward in life, if man has a distinctly spiritual nature, 
 a spiritual body. 
 
 But if the laws of analogy did not point with sure indi- 
 cations to the great truth that natural death is only a step 
 forward in life, we might infer it from the infinite nature 
 of the Divine love and wisdom. Suppose it had been 
 the original intention of the Creator that man should live 
 
THE FIRST AND SECOND DEATH. 229 
 
 immortal upon this earth, there must soon have been a 
 Hmit to the number of human beings He could create ; 
 for while man lives upon the earth clothed in a material 
 body he must be fed with products from the earth, and 
 even in the most perfect order of things the limits of its 
 power to sustain human life must be reached ; and when 
 that limit is reached the whole order and nature of man 
 must be changed. Society must to a great extent be- 
 come stationary. No new elements could be constantly 
 added to it ; no new varieties of character be constantly 
 adding to its perfection. Conceive for a moment the 
 earth to be crowded with a population to the full extent 
 of its capacity to support life, and the same beings to 
 dwell upon it forever, with no infancy, no childhood, no 
 old age, nothing to call forth our sympathy, nothing to 
 awaken fresh and lively hopes, — would not such a state 
 be more like the dead level of a stagnant pool than the 
 running stream of an ever-varying life ? Would not 
 some of the elements which seem most important and 
 even essential to human happiness be wanting ? 
 
 But suppose the earth to be filled with happy people. 
 Could the comparatively few human beings the earth 
 could sustain satisfy the infinite love of the Lord ? 
 There is something of the infinite even in the material 
 world. We see it in the variety which everywhere ex- 
 ists ; no two things or beings are alike. We see it in the 
 tendency of every plant and animal to reproduction and 
 multiplication. Can we for a moment suppose that man, 
 who stands at the head of the Creator's works, should be 
 the only exception to this law ? that while plants and 
 animals are produced in endless variety in a circle of suc- 
 
 20 
 
230 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 cessive generations, man, who was created in the image 
 and Hkeness of God, should soon reach the hmit of his 
 numbers, and beyond that limit could know no increase 
 through the coming eternity ? How much grander the 
 idea, and worthier of infinite love, and more in accord- 
 ance with all we know of the Divine methods, that an 
 endless succession of generations should be born upon 
 the earth and transplanted into the heavens ! Thus 
 human life upon the earth, instead of being the com- 
 pleted work of the Lord, is only its beginning. Earth is 
 the nursery and seminary of heaven, where human souls 
 capable of receiving the Divine life and reciprocating the 
 Divine love, capable of loving and being loved, can be 
 born with endless variety and number. 
 
 But again, if man was born to live forever in this 
 world, what becomes of all the promised blessedness of 
 heaven ? Are we not taught in the Sacred Scriptures, 
 both by positive precept and inevitable inference, that 
 heaven is a better and more perfect world than this? 
 What becomes of the happiness which eye hath not seen, 
 nor ear heard, nor heart conceived? Is heaven, the 
 abode of the angels and the Lord, a mere refuge from 
 this world ? and does its principal excellence consist in 
 the contrasts it furnishes to this life ? Would there have 
 been no mansions in heaven for us if there had been no 
 sin upon earth ? Would there have been no songs of joy 
 there by human voices if there had been no wail of sor- 
 row here ? Even upon the supposition that the angels 
 are a race of beings distinct from men, would heaven be 
 as perfect, would the angels be as haj^py in their bright 
 abodes, without a constant accession of human beings 
 
THE FIRST AiVD SECOND DEATH. 231 
 
 from the earth to instruct and love ? If you insist that 
 man was born to be immortal in this world, but that the 
 happiness of heaven exceeds anything possible to this 
 life, as the prevalent theology does, you admit that man 
 has been a gainer by sin ; he has escaped from a world 
 of material limitations and imperfections and gained en- 
 trance to one where all the conditions of his existence are 
 perfect, where he can associate with angelic beings and 
 enjoy a fulness and perfection of happiness impossible to 
 this. If you admit that heaven would not be as perfect 
 without a continual influx of life from this world, you 
 admit that both angels and men are gainers by natural 
 death. 
 
 Whatever view we take of the subject, then, I see but 
 one escape from the inevitable conclusion that natural 
 death has in itself no real terrors ; that it is an orderly 
 step in man's successive creation, and a part of the great 
 original purpose of the Divine love and wisdom, accord- 
 ing to which there is to be an endless succession of human 
 souls created upon the earth, who, after passing through 
 various stages here, are to find their final home in the 
 spiritual world. I say I see but one escape from this 
 conclusion, and that is in the admission that the spiritual 
 world is not so real and perfect a world as this. And 
 that admission involves so many and great absurdities, 
 such an entire inversion of all the methods of the Divine 
 order ; is so contrary to the whole tenor of the Word 
 and subversive of the precious promises and immortal 
 hopes it holds out to us, that it seems impossible that 
 any rational mind could entertain it for a moment. If 
 the spiritual world is not the vain dream of an idle fancy ; 
 
232 PROGRESS LV SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 if the Lord and the angels and the promises of heavenly 
 blessedness are not fallacious hopes, then that change in 
 our organization, that disrobing of the spirit by its resur- 
 rection from the material body, that escape from the im- 
 prisonment and bonds of the flesh, which men call death, 
 has no real terror, and, instead of shrinking from it with 
 horror, we ought to welcome it as our deliverer from 
 bondage, as an introduction into life. 
 
 And without doubt we should regard death in this light 
 if we had not invested it with terrors which belong to an 
 entirely different subject, and lost all true idea of the 
 nature and reality of the world to which it introduces us. 
 Before man had so far receded from that world by a life 
 of evil as almost to forget its existence, death had no 
 terrors. It was the gate of entrance into a new life. He 
 lay down to sleep with the delightful hope and perfect 
 confidence that he would wake in a new world. Death 
 was going home ; it was the conscious entrance into a 
 higher state of being. It was the happy reunion with 
 loved ones who had gone before. It was a step which 
 brought him nearer to the Fountain of all life and the 
 Author of all human blessedness. How could it be re- 
 garded with fear ? How could the soul shrink from it 
 with horror ? Suppose the chrysalis, imprisoned in that 
 hard covering we may call its body, buried in the earth 
 and limited to a bare existence, could have a perception 
 of the change that is soon to take place in its state. It 
 is soon to burst the gates of its present life and emerge 
 into a new world of light and beauty. Instead of being 
 buried in the dark earth, it is to soar aloft through the 
 air, to bask in the light and warmth of the summer sun, 
 
THE FIRST AND SECOND DEATH. 
 
 233 
 
 to sport in joyous flights in happy bands, to feed upon 
 the honeyed dews and the distilled sweets of flowers. 
 Do you think it would look forward to such a change 
 with dread ? But the change from the chrysalis almost 
 devoid of life, shut up in the dark, to the gay and beau- 
 tiful insect is not so great as the change that takes 
 place in man in his resurrection from the material body. 
 This change, then, which men call death, this putting off" 
 of the material body, is not, cannot be, an interruption 
 of the Divine plan, a thwarting of the Divine purposes 
 of good towards His human children. It must be the 
 fulfilment of those purposes. All Scripture properly un- 
 derstood, all right reason, teaches us that it must be so. 
 To deny it is to plunge into inexplicable absurdities. 
 
 But there is a death which we ought to fear, and from 
 which we shall do well to shrink with horror, and that is 
 spiritual death, sometimes called the "second death." 
 This death does not consist in a cessation of existence, 
 nor in the departure from this world to the spiritual 
 world, but in the inversion and destruction of the true 
 order of man's nature. 
 
 Man is said to be alive, in the Word, when he receives 
 life from the Lord according to the original order and 
 constitution of his nature. The Jews were promised 
 life if they would obey the laws of the Lord. The 
 whole Word is full of the same promises. ' ' If thou wilt 
 enter into life," said our Saviour, "keep the command- 
 ments." He came that men might have life. This was 
 spiritual and not natural life. And the reason why life is 
 promised on the condition of keeping the command- 
 ments, and often as a reward for keeping them, is be- 
 
 20* 
 
234 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 cause the commandments are the laws of Hfe. The 
 rewards are not arbitrarily given, but follow as a conse- 
 quence, as the physician may promise health on the con- 
 dition of our obeying the laws of physical life. 
 
 Man was created by infinite wisdom according to a cer- 
 tain order. By observing this order he would attain his 
 life, a life ever increasing in fulness and degree. Any 
 deviation from that order would be attended with some 
 loss of life. It would prevent man from receiving life 
 from the Lord in its fulness and perfection. The moment 
 man violated a law of his spiritual nature he suffered some 
 loss of spiritual capacity. Man began to die. This was 
 the warning the Lord gave Adam and Eve, " In the day 
 tliat thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." And 
 the warning was not an idle one. They did die in the 
 day, not the natural day of twenty-four hours, but in the 
 state and according to the degree that they ate of the 
 forbidden fruit, which was evil. And this is a universal 
 law in all orders and degrees of the creation. When the 
 laws of vegetable life are broken, the plant begins to die. 
 When the laws of animal life, of man's physical life, are 
 violated, the animal and the body begin to die. Death 
 follows as an inevitable consequence. It is not arbitra- 
 rily inflicted. As the .soul is immortal, spiritual death 
 is not the cessation of existence, but the loss of the 
 soul's ability to receive life from the Lord in true order. 
 The substances which compose the soul cannot be dis- 
 sipated as the material elements which compose plants, 
 animals, and the material body can. Man as a spiritual 
 ijcing must continue to exist, but in a state of spiritual 
 death. 
 
THE FIRST AND SECOND DEATH. 
 
 235 
 
 There are two principal characteristics of this death 
 worthy of our notice. 
 
 First, it is a loss of life. Man was created by the Lord 
 with the power of perpetual and indefinite advancement 
 in his capacity to know and love and be happy. The 
 more we learn, the more we are capable of learning. The 
 more we love, the more we are capable of loving. The 
 more we enjoy, the more we are capable of enjoying. So 
 that the feeblest child upon the earth may ultimately pass 
 beyond the present state of the highest angel. But spir- 
 itual death arrests this development. It closes up the 
 higher degrees of man's mind against Divine influences, 
 and shuts out the light and life of heaven. His whole 
 nature becomes stunted and dwarfed. He stops in the 
 grand and endless career of life at the beginning, and 
 loses all the glory and blessedness of the eternal future. 
 And no finite mind can estimate that loss. Men are often 
 inconsolable at the loss of property or office, on account 
 of hinderance in some earthly career, but that is a mere 
 nothing compared with his loss who dies at the beginning 
 of life. How sad it is to see a blind child ! By the death 
 of his eyes how much he has lost ! He must wander in 
 darkness through the earth, comparatively helpless, for 
 ten, twenty, fifty years, unconscious of its beauty of form 
 and color, of the significance of expressive faces and 
 gestures, of the changing glories of the seasons, of day 
 and night, and the ever-shifting play of things by which 
 the web of human life is woven. How great, how irrep- 
 arable, how sad the loss ! And yet what is that compared 
 with the loss of one's spiritual sight? Nothing, — abso- 
 lutely nothing ! One is the loss for a few years of the 
 
236 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 sight of earthly things, the other the loss to eternity of 
 the inexpressible beauty and glory of heaven. This is 
 but one of the senses. 
 
 Suppose you had held in your hand the first grain of 
 wheat that was created. You planted it, and in time it 
 just pushed its head above the ground, and there its 
 progress is arrested. It remains a green blade, but be- 
 comes nothing more. What a loss to humanity ! Thou- 
 sands of millions of acres, waving with golden harvests, 
 the staff of life for thousands of generations, broken. It 
 surpasses the power of the finite mind to conceive the 
 loss to humanity, and yet that is nothing compared with 
 what every soul will lose whose progress is arrested in the 
 first beginning of life by spiritual death. "What shall 
 it profit a man. if he shall gain the whole world, and lose 
 his own soul ?' ' 
 
 You observe that I say nothing so far about pain and 
 punishment, but speak merely of loss of attainment, of 
 what man does not gain, of the endless and only less than 
 infinite blessings the Lord intended for him which he fails 
 to receive. And if he were to stop there, like the grain 
 of wheat arrested in its growth, and suffer no pain, suffer 
 nothing but the loss, can you conceive anything more 
 terrible ? What a blasting of hopes ! What bankruptcy ! 
 What eternal ruin ! Who would not fear a death which 
 closes the gates of such hopes against us and bars us from 
 the possession of such endless and ineffable joys ? 
 
 But this is not all. By that inversion of life which we 
 call spiritual death the soul comes into such a state of 
 disorder and discord with the Fountain of life and with 
 all outward things that it is filled with perpetual pain. It 
 
THE FIRST AND SECOND DEATH. 
 
 237 
 
 is not my purpose to describe tlie woes and agonies of 
 the second death. We all know something of what they 
 are, for there is not a sorrow or pain that afflicts human 
 hearts that is not the effect of the second death. Count 
 up your own sorrows, the pain from blasted hopes, the 
 pangs of regret, the stings of remorse, the chafings from 
 conflicting interests, the smarts of jealousy and shame, 
 and the great shadow of fear that lies like a cloud upon 
 all hearts ; measure the sum of human suffering in the 
 hearts around you, and they will declare the awful conse- 
 quences of this death in a language more forcible and 
 eloquent than the painter's colors or the writer's words. 
 Add to these, if you can, the future consequences of this 
 death, the night that has no hope of a coming morning, 
 the cup of misery that can never be drained, the feverish 
 and tormenting desires that can never be appeased. Is 
 there not reason in the Divine words, " And I say unto 
 you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, 
 and after that have no more that they can do. But I will 
 forewarn you whom ye shall fear : Fear him, who after 
 he hath killed hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I say 
 unto you, Fear him" ! 
 
 Is there not every reason to fear this death ? Human 
 language is totally inadequate to express its horrors. 
 Human imagination cannot adequately conceive its 
 awful terrors. You may fear it ; you ought to fear it ; 
 teach your children to fear it ; warn your friends and 
 neighbors to fear it. It is the most terrible thing in the 
 universe. 
 
 And yet men do not fear it. They play and dance 
 with it ; they crown it with roses, and sink willingly into 
 
238 PROGRESS IX SPIRITUAL KyOlVLEDGE. 
 
 its embrace. Gentle and timid women, who would 
 scream at a harmless insect and fall into a swoon at the 
 sight of blood, will gayly and boldly toy with death ; will 
 greet it with gay laughter and song, and cherish it with 
 its hideous deformities and the sting of its endless pain 
 in the secret shrine of their hearts. And men who call 
 themselves ruined if they lose money, who are ashamed 
 of goodness and have not sufficient courage to say, I 
 have done wrong, are bold enough to do the wrong. 
 
 I know of no illusion of evil so cunning and destruc- 
 tive to human souls as that which conceals the horrors of 
 real death with deceptive and vain delights, and invests 
 a mere step in life with all the horrors of death. How 
 we mourn when a beloved one is translated ! We look 
 at the body which is cast off, and our eyes are blinded 
 with tears. But who weeps over the dead souls that fill 
 our houses and throng our streets ? The stir and bustle 
 and noisy activity that everywhere meet the eye and fall 
 upon the ear are not the sounds of life. The shout and 
 song that come from festive halls are not the sounds of 
 living souls, but too often the wild, mad revelry of death. 
 And the earth, this beautiful and glorious earth, created 
 to be the birthplace of immortal souls and the sweet 
 cradle of infancy, the nursery of heaven, has become a 
 vast sepulchre, a dwelling for the dead, a grave in which 
 human .souls are buried. 
 
 We die spiritually before we do naturally. The death 
 of the body only lifts the veil and reveals to us in clear 
 light the death of the soul that already exists, and per- 
 mits us to pass on to its full consequences. When the 
 body has performed its use, it fades like the blossom, it 
 
THE FIRST AND SECOiXD DEATH. 
 
 239 
 
 withers and falls like the husk, and reveals the life or 
 death that exists within. It does not cause it ; it does 
 not add to it or subtract from it, any more than the re- 
 moval of the chaff adds to or subtracts from the wheat. 
 
 Let us not, then, confound these two things so en- 
 tirely distinct and different, and live in constant dread of 
 that death which is but an orderly step in life and a pro- 
 vision of infinite mercy, while we forget the real danger 
 of our souls. 
 
HEAVEN. 
 
 " In my Father's house are many mansions : if it were not so, 
 I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 
 
 " A?id if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, 
 and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be 
 also.'' — John xiv. 2, 3. 
 
 T INVITE your attention to what the doctrines of the 
 New Church, as contained in the writings of Emanuel 
 Swedenborg, teach us concerning heaven. Swedenborg 
 presents the subject in his work on " Heaven and Hell" 
 from two points of view : from the nature of the Lord and 
 from the nature of man, and we must take the same 
 position and view it in the same light if we desire to get 
 any clear idea of his disclosures concerning it. 
 
 The Lord is essentially a being of infinite love and 
 wisdom. His end or motive in creating the universe and 
 man must have been the formation of a heaven of intelli- 
 gent beings whom He could bless with the largest meas- 
 ures of the highest happiness it is possible for a finite 
 being to receive. Infinite love could do no less than this. 
 Infinite wisdom also could not fail to provide the best 
 possible means in every form, quality, and method for 
 attaining the ends of infinite love. If you assume that 
 tlie Lord could have had any other end in the creation 
 than the greatest good of the greatest number, your sup- 
 position denies His infinite love. It falls short of the 
 highest ])urpose which even a finite mind can conceive ; 
 240 
 
HE A VEN. 
 
 241 
 
 how, then, can it be infinite ? If you assume that the 
 Lord has not devised the best possible methods to carry 
 His purpose into effect, you do not accord to Him in- 
 finite wisdom and power. He could have done better 
 than He has, and that would be infinite folly and failure. 
 The Lord's nature demands that He shall provide a 
 state of endless and boundless blessedness. 
 
 We must come to the same conclusion if we view the 
 subject from the nature of man. There is not a prin- 
 ciple or power or form in man's soul, mind, or body, 
 when unperverted, which does not look to the same end. 
 If you examine the material body in its relations to the 
 material universe, you find that every bone, muscle, 
 tendon, nerve, — every organic form in its least and 
 largest parts, was designed directly or indirectly to be 
 an inlet of delight ; to contribute in some way to man's 
 happiness in this world. If you examine the material 
 universe you find that everything, from the rock to the 
 sun, was designed to contribute to human well-being ; to 
 sustain, to protect, to delight, and to bless man. If you 
 view the human body in its relations to the human soul, 
 you discover that it is designed with an exquisite skill to 
 clothe the soul and to serve as its instrument in gain- 
 ing ideas, in developing its affections, and in forming the 
 basis for an immortal career in another world. If you 
 look at the nature of man himself, his love for knowledge 
 and delight in obtaining it, his power of loving and the 
 blessedness which flows from the exercise of that power ; 
 when you consider that his capacities to know, love, and 
 enjoy are so great that nothing can satisfy him, so im- 
 measurable that it is impossible for a finite mind to con- 
 
242 PROGRESS IX SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 ceive of any assignable limit beyond which he may not 
 pass, what other conclusion is possible than that the 
 Lord created man and specifically formed him in every 
 organ, quality, and principle to be a recipient of endless 
 and ever-increasing happiness ? To deny it is to attrib- 
 ute to Him the monstrous mistake and folly of creating 
 human beings with capacities and wants for which He 
 provided no means of supply, thus compelling His chil- 
 dren to go on their endless way with a burning thirst which 
 He has provided no living waters to assuage, and con- 
 suming hunger which there is no bread to satisfy. That 
 would be terrible beyond conception. Annihilation is 
 better than that. There is, therefore, no rational escape 
 from the conclusion that the Lord, man, and nature all 
 point in one direction, to a state of complete and perfect 
 human happiness. 
 
 Our next question, therefore, is, How is this happi- 
 ness obtained ? What makes heaven ? Obser\'ation, 
 experience, reason, and the Lord Himself in the Sacred 
 Scriptures, give one answer to this question. Heaven 
 essentially is a state or condition of the soul, of the 
 will and understanding, of the affections and thoughts. 
 " The kingdom of God is within you." There is where 
 heaven begins. It must be there or it cannot be any- 
 where else. Ever)' faculty of man's nature, as we know, 
 was made to be an inlet of delight, and when all his 
 faculties of will and understanding preserve the perfec- 
 tion into which they were created, and act in the form 
 and order designed by infinite wisdom, the result must 
 be happiness and heaven according to the measure and 
 degree of their capacity. 
 
HE A VEN. 
 
 243 
 
 The internal condition or state is the first essential. 
 Witiiout that no external conditions or possessions wonld 
 be of any value. No one can be admitted into the 
 heaven of light, with its splendors and beauty of color 
 and form, until the eye, which is the kingdom of light in 
 the body, has been formed in him ; no one can be ad- 
 mitted into the kingdom of harmony with all its concord 
 of sweet sounds, until the organ of hearing has been 
 formed within him. The same principle holds in regard 
 to every sense and every delight. It is, so far as we 
 know or can conceive, a universal principle, a method of 
 attaining His ends which the Lord always adopts. We 
 see it also in all our works. When men seek to use the 
 power of steam or falling water to do their work, they 
 must construct engines and wheels adapted to the nature 
 of the element they use. When they desire to get har- 
 mony from the idle wind they make an organ. They 
 can get it in no other way. The sun cannot create har- 
 vests of corn and fruit for man until there is some germ 
 or vegetable form for its heat and light to flow into and 
 awake to activity. So it is with the soul. It must be so 
 constituted, and must be in such a state, that it is capable 
 of exercising heavenly affection, or it can never attain 
 heavenly delights. A stone cannot see though the light 
 floods it ; it cannot feel though the heat penetrates it ; it 
 cannot hear though the winds play all their melodies 
 over it. It cannot enter the heaven of beauty, of har- 
 mony, of delight, because they cannot enter it. The 
 principles which constitute their kingdom are not em- 
 bodied in it. These are illustrations of the method which 
 the Lord in His infinite wisdom has provided for the at- 
 
244 PA' OG /HESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 tainnient of His ends. And the method is universal. It 
 is grounded in the very nature of things. We cannot 
 enter hea\'en merely by going to any place, or by admis- 
 sion to the society of the angels. That would be of no 
 use to us whatever if we could not receive the life and 
 exercise the affections of the angels. What is the use to 
 the blind man of increasing the light ? To enter heaven 
 we must be in a heavenly state. 
 
 What, then, is the heavenly state ? It consists essen- 
 tially in love to the Lord and man. Negatively, it is 
 freedom from sin, from impurity, and from falsity. Posi- 
 tively, it is the harmonious action of all the faculties of 
 the soul in the order established for them by infinite wis- 
 dom. It is for man as a spiritual being what the perfect 
 action of eye and ear are for him as a natural being. 
 By his senses, when they are sound, man is admitted 
 into all natural delight. When his spiritual faculties are 
 sound and in true order, he is admitted by them into all 
 heavenly and spiritual delights. 
 
 This state is called by various names. It is being 
 reconciled to God. It is making our peace with Him. 
 It is being one with Him, so that He can dwell in us, 
 and we in Him. It is believing on Him, loving Him, and 
 living according to His commandments. It is a life ac- 
 cording to the order embodied in the human soul by in- 
 finite wisdom to carry it on to the end designed for it by 
 infinite love, — that is, to a state of complete and ever- 
 increasing haj)])iness. 
 
 We all, no doubt, agree that one of the essential ele- 
 ments of hea\'en is a heavenly state of the aflfections and 
 thoughts. But if we stop here we have told only half of 
 
HE A VEN. 
 
 245 
 
 the truth. No perfection of internal spiritual state would 
 secure our happiness unless there were something with- 
 out us to call our affections and various spiritual faculties 
 into activity. Heavenly happiness is not possible with- 
 out a substantial world in which the heavenly inhabitants 
 dwell. If there were no light the most perfect eye would 
 be of no more use to man than a ball of glass or an 
 empty socket. This is true of all the senses. A ma- 
 terial body perfectly organized in every part, without an 
 external world adapted to it, capable of flowing into it 
 and exciting its forms to activity, would be entirely desti- 
 tute of sensation. Organization is only one of the fac- 
 tors of sensation. It is just as impossible to produce 
 harmony from an organ in a perfect vacuum as it is to 
 produce sensation by organization alone. I am certain 
 you will give your assent to this. 
 
 The same law applies to the spirit. You cannot think 
 without some object to think about. You cannot know 
 without something to know. You cannot love without 
 some being or thing objective or distinct from yourself 
 to love. The various faculties of the soul, like the germ 
 of a plant, remain inactive until called into play by some 
 power or object without or distinct from themselves. 
 
 So, we hold, it must be with the soul in the spiritual 
 world. The spirit itself must be an organic human form 
 or it could not preserve its identity ; it could not be in 
 any state of goodness and truth, or in any other state. 
 State or condition is not an abstraction. It is the form 
 and quality of something. The state of your health is 
 not some abstract condition apart from your body. If 
 you had no body you would have no health, and you 
 
 21* 
 
246 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 would be nobody. If the spirit had no form and no or- 
 ganization, it could not be happy or miserable. To talk 
 of its being admitted into -heaven would be absurd, for 
 there would be nothing to admit. To say that it hears, 
 sees, feels, can talk and sing, would be contrary to the 
 nature of things. 
 
 No one can see without eyes ; and no one can see with 
 eyes unless there is light and some form from which the 
 light is reflected. The spiritual world, therefore, must 
 be a real and substantial world. It must comprise those 
 forms and objects which compose a world. Its inhabi- 
 tants must be distinct from one another. That world 
 must have a sun, or there can be no light. It must have 
 an atmosphere, or there can be no speech, no song, no 
 sound, no action of any kind. There must be the two 
 factors, a heavenly state and a heavenly world, to pro- 
 duce happiness. Happiness is inconceivable without 
 both. If we deny substance and form to man as a 
 spirit and to the spiritual world, instead of securing con- 
 ditions more favorable to human happiness, we have no 
 conditions at all. The true way and the only way, 
 therefore, of obtaining a correct idea of heavenly hap- 
 piness and the means essential to securing it, is not to 
 deny to man as a spirit and to the spiritual world all the 
 properties, forms, and relations of this world and this 
 life, but to carry out his state and relations in this world 
 to more perfect conditions in the other. 
 
 As a man is a spirit in the human form, he has, after 
 laying aside the material body, all the organs, external 
 and internal, proper to a human being. He has eyes 
 organized of spiritual substances, and he can see spiritual 
 
HE A VEN. 
 
 247 
 
 objects. He has ears, and he can hear spiritual sounds 
 and be affected by spiritual harmonies. He can taste and 
 feel, and enjoy the fragrance of pleasant odors. When 
 the spiritual body is raised up or withdrawn from the 
 material body, a man retains every sense he ever had. 
 Indeed, his power of sensation always belonged to the 
 spiritual body, even before it was withdrawn from the 
 material body. The material body was only the instru- 
 ment the spiritual senses used to gain a knowledge of 
 material things, as we use optical instruments to assist 
 the vision of the naked eye. There was no more change 
 wrought in the spiritual senses by discarding the material 
 organs than there is wrought in the eye by removing the 
 glasses we use to assist our imperfect vision. The spir- 
 itual faculties remain the same in themselves, but they 
 come into more favorable conditions for delightful exer- 
 cise. Freed from their material covering, they are more 
 delicate and sensitive to every contact and relation. 
 Their power of sensation is indefinitely increased. 
 
 At the same time the whole human form becomes a 
 more perfect expression of the beautiful heavenly charac- 
 ter. Consider the law by which this is attained. Any 
 affection by continued exercise fixes itself in the feat- 
 ures and becomes embodied in the whole form. Care 
 ploughs its furrows in the face, sorrow casts its shadows 
 over it, joy irradiates it, lust brutalizes it, cunning and 
 fear leave their impress upon it, contentment and peace 
 give to it a sweet and serene repose. This relation be- 
 tween outward form and inward state is more fully realized 
 when man is freed from the incumbrance of the inert ma- 
 terial body. He becomes the form of his ruling affection. 
 
248 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 His love to the Lord and man becomes effigied in his face 
 and in his whole form. He becomes an embodied affec- 
 tion. His face is moulded into its image. His wisdom 
 glows in his eyes, irradiates his face, is moulded in his 
 limbs, sways all his motions into graceful action, gi\'es 
 symmetry to his whole form, flows in harmony from his 
 lips, gives sweetness to his voice, and speaks in every 
 action. Instead of losing his human form and lapsing 
 into a vital principle or a formless vapor, and thus losing 
 his identity as a man, he comes into a more excellent 
 human form ; he becomes more distinctly himself 
 
 The human form contains all the elements of beauty 
 and grandeur. This human beauty is not lost in heaven. 
 On the contrary, it is indefinitely enhanced in every 
 essential quality. Infants and children grow up in heaven 
 to the stature and the perfection of adult life. The aged 
 find a fountain of youth in heavenly affections. The ma- 
 terial body only grows old, and men and women in the 
 spiritual world soon return to the full vigor of their best 
 days, and continue to grow towards the perfections of 
 immortal youth. 
 
 While those who enter heaven continue to advance by 
 lovely paths towards immortal youth, they do not become 
 merged into an indiscriminate mass. On the contrary, 
 every one becomes more distinctly himself A man be- 
 comes more distinctly masculine. A woman becomes 
 more distinctly a woman, and the embodiment of every 
 feminine grace and loveliness, — of a grace and loveliness 
 peculiar to herself The varieties of heavenly beauty in- 
 crease with the number of heavenly inhabitants. Every 
 man and every woman is the embodiment and form of 
 
HE A VEN. 
 
 249 
 
 some variety of goodness. In man the masculine quali- 
 ties predominate, in woman the feminine. The lines 
 between them become more distinct in heaven than they 
 can be on earth, and they grow more distinct to eternity. 
 Every one becomes more distinctly individualized. Thus 
 the unity of heaven is not the harmony of sameness, but 
 of distinct and infinite variety. 
 
 All qualities of human beauty are combined in the 
 forms and natures of the heavenly inhabitants, — dignity, 
 grace, sweetness, purity, harmony of proportion, elegance 
 of form, and loveliness of expression. Swedenborg has 
 given us some pictures of those who have passed from 
 earth to heaven. He had a rich vocabulary and he was 
 a master of expression, but he generally ends by saying 
 that their beauty is such that no words can express it, no 
 painter can represent it. It is the holiest love, the purest 
 and sweetest charity, in living, glowing, perfect form ; so 
 living and speaking that it penetrates the hearts of the 
 beholders. 
 
 This perfection of form is the effect and expression of 
 internal states of progress in knowledge, of growth in 
 goodness. Truth is infinite. No finite man can sound 
 its depths or exhaust its riches. The wisest men in this 
 life only learn a few facts and gain a knowledge of some 
 general principles. But the more we know, the more we 
 shall see that there is to be known. The horizon of 
 truth enlarges as we rise. When we pass into the other 
 life we pass from darkness into light. The intellectual 
 faculties are freed from the limitations of time and space 
 and the imperfections of the material body, and from the 
 hinderance imposed by artificial language and methods. 
 
250 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 Thus, while all the faculties gain an immense increase in 
 power the facilities for acquiring knowledge keep even 
 pace with them. Truth is not learned by rote, and only 
 understood after long and painful reflection. Knowledge 
 is gained by intuition. The understanding is illuminated 
 by Divine truth, and revels in its light as in its own native 
 sphere. It is continually surprised and delighted with 
 new discoveries of the wisdom and goodness of the Lord. 
 It penetrates deeper into causes, and rises higher into 
 purer light. 
 
 The affections also enlarge with the intellect, and keep 
 even pace with it. This is another source of happiness. 
 There is no divorce between the head and the heart. 
 The will and the understanding, so long put asunder by 
 evil and falsity, are reunited in heavenly marriage, and 
 become one. All that the heart loves, the head sees and 
 the hands gain. There is no conflict between the desires 
 and knowledge. Attainment always equals expectation. 
 
 Such a life is so remote from our observation or ex- 
 perience in this world that it is difficult for us to form any 
 just conception of it. But what more could we hope for 
 than the attainment of such a state ? To be free from all 
 struggle between our desires and our knowledge of duty ; 
 to be delivered from every weight and shadow of the past ; 
 to see clearly, to love freely, to attain fully, and to be 
 conscious of rapidly advancing to new heights of wisdom 
 and larger measures of love, and to know that this 
 growth, with its delight, will continue with accelerating 
 velocity forever ! Can you ask more than that ? Can 
 you conceive anything better than that ? 
 
 The happiness of heaven is also greatly increased by 
 
HE A VEN. 
 
 the excellence of heavenly society. Intelligent beings 
 cannot come together and live within the influence of 
 one another without forming society. Society is the sum 
 total of the knowledge, influence, power, and character 
 of the individuals who compose it. If the men and 
 women who compose it are selfish, ignorant, brutish, 
 lustful, fierce, and revengeful, the society they form will 
 be infernal. It is of no consequence where they are. 
 Place them in paradise, and they would soon change it 
 into a hell. Its clear and sparkling water would become 
 a standing pool, breeding miasma and death. If the good 
 and evil are mixed, as we find them in this world, there 
 will be the conflict of elements which rages everywhere 
 around us. If men and women who are intelligent, pure, 
 unselfish, animated solely by love to the Lord and to 
 one another, live together, the result will be a heavenly 
 society. Place them in the foulest dens, and the filth 
 and vile odors and decay and darkness would disap- 
 pear, the stagnant pools would vanish, and sweetness, 
 order, purity, comfortable dwellings, and peaceful activity 
 would soon take their place. Put such a companv on 
 a desert island, and they would soon make it a paradise. 
 What, then, must be the nature of a society formed of 
 angelic men and women ? I say angelic men and women 
 rather than spirits or angels, because I want to keep the 
 truth distinctly before you that the inhabitants of heaven 
 are not shadows or ghosts or vital principles or a hybrid, 
 half bird, half woman, but real, substantial human beings 
 in human form, with human affections and capacities for 
 human happiness. Stretch your imagination to its ut- 
 most ; combine all you can conceive of intelligence and 
 
252 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 wisdom, of dignity softened with grace, of strength 
 wedded to gentleness and flowing into acts of kindness 
 and tender regard for others ; the dignity of a great na- 
 ture united with the docility and innocence of childhood. 
 Imagine the men to equal, nay, to surpass in all mascu- 
 line perfections the highest ideal of the greatest minds. 
 Imagine the women to equal the men ; to be the embodi- 
 ments of womanly wisdom and sagacity, of strength put 
 to gentle uses, of quiet dignity \ eiled with modesty, of 
 gentleness and purity exalted and glorified by the free 
 play of heavenly affections, and the whole form the living 
 image of angelic loveliness. Could beings of such natures 
 associate with one another and not form a heaven? 
 Could human souls fired with such heavenly affections 
 and armed with such amazing power fail to find each 
 other ? 
 
 Now, according to Swedenborg, heaven is composed 
 of such societies. It is not a huge mass of formless 
 spirits, nor is the position of any one fixed by arbitrary 
 allotment. The societies are as numerous as the general 
 varieties of human affection, and the members who con- 
 stitute each society are drawn together, under the auspices 
 of the Lord, by reciprocal affinities. Heaven is in the 
 human form, in the same sense that human societies are 
 in the human form. Every society must have a head and 
 heart and lungs, mouth and hands, — that is, it must have 
 members who perform the same office for the society that 
 those organs do for the physical body, and there are large 
 societies which perform these offices for the race. In 
 heaven these societies are more nicely discriminated than 
 they can be on the earth. There societies are formed by 
 
HE A VEN. 
 
 253 
 
 those who pass into the heavens from the earth, and 
 every one is drawn to his place by the affinities of his 
 own nature, by the pecuhar bias or quahty of his affec- 
 tions. Every human being is the embodiment of some 
 special form of affection. The Lord never duphcates 
 anything. No two societies are aUke, and no two mem- 
 bers of any society are alike. The unitary life of a so- 
 ciety grows out of the free play of the harmonious 
 varieties which compose it. There is no sameness and 
 no dead level in heaven. There are those there who 
 have been members of a heavenly society for thousands 
 of years. There are infants who went up from their 
 mothers' arms to-day. There are young men and women, 
 fathers and mothers, whom we have known and loved, 
 who have cast off their earthly garments and have passed 
 on to their homes in the heavens. Each has been drawn 
 to his own society and his own home by the power 
 of love ; he has been welcomed with the most ardent 
 affection, and instructed and cared for with angelic wisdom 
 and devotion. Each one has retained that peculiar char- 
 acter which constitutes his identity, and has found his 
 place according to his character. All the societies in 
 heaven are formed according to this universal method of 
 Divine operation. 
 
 Heavenly employments are another source of happi- 
 ness. How are men and women going to spend their 
 eternity ? Not in singing. Singing is a very delightful 
 employment, but I think we should all weary of it. They 
 do sing, however, and play on all kinds of instruments, 
 and the music is the perfect expression of some affection, 
 and it awakens in every one who hears it the affection 
 
 22 
 
254 PROGRESS m SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 which it expresses. Every heart responds and vibrates 
 in unison with the harmony. There are occasions when 
 society answers to society, when myriads of voices and 
 myriads of instruments join in chorus to celebrate some 
 attribute of the Lord's love and wisdom, and the whole 
 heaven flows into sweet and ecstatic song. But singing 
 is no more the business of human beings in the other 
 world than it is here. 
 
 Nor do they spend their time in praying and perpetual 
 worship. They have their worship and their temples and 
 their ministers. Some know more of the Divine love 
 and wisdom than others, and it is the delight of every 
 one to communicate his thought and affection to others. 
 And they instruct with a wisdom of which we can form 
 no adequate conception, and they worship with a pro- 
 found humility and an ardor of devotion unknown to us. 
 But they have other ways of showing their love to the 
 Lord. Here, again, Swedenborg is consistent with him- 
 self. He tells us that the employments of angelic men 
 and women are vastly more numerous than employments 
 on earth, but most of them are of such a nature that 
 they cannot be described in human language. Some 
 heavenly employments are revealed by Swedenborg and 
 in the Sacred Scriptures. Angels are always attendant 
 upon men, and do all in their power to withhold them 
 from evil and lead them to good. They watch over in- 
 fancy and childhood, and breathe into the pliant natures 
 of the young something of the purity and beauty of 
 their own souls. They always attend upon the dying, 
 and minister to every want of the soul new-born into the 
 spiritual world. They instruct infants who die, and chil- 
 
HE A VEN. 
 
 255 
 
 dren, and the ig-norant but well disposed of all ages and 
 nations, in the truth, and by all means known to angelic 
 natures they lead them into a heavenly life. Being ani- 
 mated solely by love to the Lord and man, it is their 
 highest delight to do good to others ; to communicate 
 their knowledge, their affection, and their aid in every 
 possible way. 
 
 There are also governments and administrations and 
 ministries of many kinds in heaven. They are far more 
 numerous there than they are upon the earth. 
 
 Heavenly beings also have their recreations and festi- 
 vals, their private and public social circles. Kindred 
 souls commune with each other and reveal their inmost 
 natures ; friends meet with friends and enjoy the quiet 
 flow of affection. For those who take pleasure therein 
 there are always subjects of profound study. Truth is 
 infinite. The more we know the more we shall discover 
 there is to be known. Some will learn faster than others, 
 and will take delight in communicating their knowledge. 
 And as they learn more of the wisdom and power and 
 infinite goodness of the Lord, they are filled with a more 
 glowing love and a deeper peace. 
 
 That their employments are more various than ours, 
 and of a nature impossible to describe in human language, 
 is consonant with reason and with our own observation 
 of the progress of human employments in this world. 
 How impossible it would have been a few centuries ago 
 to describe the various employments of men at the pres- 
 ent time ! They were not known. There were no words 
 to describe them. It must be that in a state of life so 
 remote from this as that in which angels dwell there must 
 
256 PJ^OGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 be employments and relations impossible for us to express 
 or conceive. 
 
 One thing, however, we must not forget : there is no 
 labor in heaven. There are employments, activities ; 
 there is service, help, use ; but there are no repulsive 
 tasks, no exhausting toil, no weary limbs, no aching 
 head, no distracted mind. Every one does that which 
 he can do best, and which he delights to do. His heart, 
 his head, his whole life is in his use. His love, wisdom, 
 and power increase with exercise. He loves more, can 
 do more, and enjoys more in every step he takes than he 
 did in the one which preceded it. And so every man 
 and woman who enters heaven will go on forever. 
 
 The essence of all this heavenly happiness is the love 
 to the Lord and the neighbor which fills every angel's 
 heart. Every one loves others more than himself There 
 can be no heaven where there is no love to the Lord and 
 man. 
 
 In going from this world to heaven we go from the 
 unreal to the real ; we go from obscurity into light, from 
 shadow to substance, from sameness to variety, from de- 
 formity to beauty, from the artificial to the essential, from 
 confusion to order, from discord to harmony, from pov- 
 erty to wealth, from restraint to freedom, from disap- 
 pointment, labor, weariness, disease, pain, fear ; from 
 tears and sorrow to fruition, to joy, peace, and blessed- 
 ness ; from a foreign land we go to friends, to kindred, 
 to home, to the Lord. 
 
CHILDREN IN HEAVEN. 
 
 "All thy children shall be laughl of the Lord ; and great 
 shall be the peace of thy children^ — Isaiah liv. 13. 
 
 A MONG the many wonderful things revealed to men 
 
 concerning the spiritual world, none are more inter- 
 esting to a parent than those which relate to the condition 
 of infants and children in that life. There are but few 
 parents who must not feel a personal interest in this sub- 
 ject, for there are not many who have not been called 
 upon to surrender one dear object of affection to the 
 Great Shepherd of souls. As the poet has beautifully 
 sung, — 
 
 A third part of the human race die in infancy and 
 childhood. A third part of heaven, therefore, must con- 
 sist of those who have left the earth in the morning of 
 life. For all infants and children, of whatever parents, 
 whether Christian or heathen, go to heaven and become 
 angels. 
 
 I say become angels, for they enter the spiritual world 
 as they leave this. They have the .same form, the same 
 infantile and childish nature ; they are as ignorant and 
 helpless. The only change that has taken place is their 
 r 22* 257 
 
 " There is no flock, however watched and tended. 
 But one dead lamb is there , 
 There is no fireside, howso'er defended, 
 But has one vacant chair." 
 
258 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 withdrawal from the material body and consequent open 
 introduction into the spiritual world. They need the 
 watchful care and instruction of others as much as if 
 they had remained in this world. But the Lord does not 
 leave them orphaned and helpless ; He makes provision 
 for their wants. They are all "taught of the Lord," 
 not directly, but mediately. 
 
 Infants are committed to the care of those angels who 
 love them with a purer, wiser, and more ardent affection 
 even than their own mothers. It may be difficult for a 
 mother to believe that any one can love her child as well 
 as she does. But there is much that is selfish, worldly, 
 and weak in parental affection. It does not always lead 
 us to consult the best good of the child. Parents them- 
 selves are ignorant, and do not know how to guide their 
 children right. They are in evil and falsities, and do not 
 know what is the highest good. They are deceived by 
 the fallacies of time and sense, and they sacrifice the 
 children's spiritual and eternal good for some temporal 
 gratification. But it is not so with the angels. Their 
 love is not mixed with any alloy of self They look only 
 to the real good of those infant angels who are committed 
 to their care. Their love is not a weak and erring nat- 
 ural affection, but a pure, strong, and unchanging love, 
 gentler and tenderer than ever warmed the heart of any 
 mother on earth ; a love that never falters, never wearies, 
 that broods over and cherishes in its warmth, and gently 
 calls into action all the latent powers of the children, as 
 the warm breath of spring wooes from the seed the tender 
 bud and beautiful l)lossoms of the plant. Not only is 
 every want supplied more fully and tenderly than any 
 
CHILDREN IN HE A VEN. 
 
 259 
 
 mother on earth could supply it, but every possible pro- 
 vision is made for the children's comfort and happiness. 
 They are ministered to by a perfect love, that has wisdom 
 and skill and power to carry into effect all its desires. 
 
 Nor do children in heaven seem to themselves to be 
 among strangers. Many a mother's heart has been 
 grieved at the thought that her child should be removed 
 from the bosom of the family and placed among strangers. 
 She cannot but think that her little one will miss her and 
 pine for her, even though it dwells with the angels. But 
 it is not so. The child does not go among strangers. 
 The angels to whose care it is now openly committed 
 have always been watching over it. It has always been 
 in their society. It was by their ministry that it first 
 awoke to conscious life ; it was their sweet influence that 
 e.xcited the first smile ; it was their life that flowed into 
 the mother's heart and formed its image in the mother's 
 face, and created the attraction between the child's and 
 the mother's life. Thus the child sees faces that are 
 already familiar. The longings of its heart are satisfied. 
 It feels at home ; it lacks nothing ; no want of its nature 
 is unsupplied. 
 
 Infants and children are not committed to the angels in 
 general. Each one is a special trust to some one angel. 
 Each child is committed to some one angel who is the 
 best fitted of all who dwell in the heavens to take charge 
 of it. Children differ in genius and character, and so do 
 the angels . And that one of all who dwell in the heavens, 
 who is best suited to the peculiar disposition, and best 
 able to touch the secret springs of character in each child, 
 is selected to take care of it. Infants are committed to 
 
26o PROGRESS IS SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 the care of the celestial angels, who are the very forms and 
 embodiments of innocence and love. They take them 
 to their own bosoms, tender and glowing with heavenly 
 affections, and educate them, dev'elop their powers in 
 heavenly order and harmony until they arrive at a state 
 when their wants demand a different culture. They are 
 then transferred to others, and thus tlieir wants are al- 
 ways supplied. 
 
 As infants go into the spiritual world as infants, and 
 children as children, they need instruction. They gain 
 no knowledge by this change of worlds. They do, how- 
 ever, gain more favorable conditions for acquiring it. 
 They are freed from the clog and weight of the material 
 body. They have a spiritual body, still in the same child- 
 like form, but it is not enveloped in a material body. 
 It, therefore, moves with greater freedom and develops 
 more rapidly. It does not become wearied so soon, and 
 is freed from the weakness and disease of our material 
 natures. 
 
 The child is now in a world where all things are more 
 real, substantial, and perfect to every sense. The senses 
 are far more acute and subtile in their powers ; every- 
 tliing is in a clearer light and appears in a more distinct 
 form, and all the forces that flow into the soul arc more 
 powerful, and move it to a more intense and vigorous 
 life. Every faculty has a freer play and a wider range 
 and a truer direction. So great is the change that it is 
 difficult, if not impossible, for human language to describe 
 it. Its most fitting representative is the change in the 
 state of the earth from winter to summer. The young 
 soul throws off all its torpor and coldness ; all its faculties 
 
CHILDREX IN HEA VEN. 
 
 261 
 
 are called into play, and unfold like the plant when the 
 earth is warm and tremulous with the inflowing life of a 
 summer sun. 
 
 Children in the spiritual world are much more easily 
 instructed than in this world, because they have formed 
 no bad habits and imbibed no false principles which op- 
 pose the truth. We see that these obstacles are very 
 great, but they are much greater than we suppose. In- 
 struction here is very often the blind leading the blind. 
 False principles are actually inculcated ; corrupt and de- 
 structive ends are directly sought ; evil habits are con- 
 firmed, the understanding perverted, and the heart cor- 
 rupted. And when the good seed is sown it falls on 
 stony ground or in the hard-trodden paths of natural, 
 worldly life, where it cannot take root. The greater part 
 of our education has no reference to our spiritual nature. 
 In the opinion of the world, a man may be highly edu- 
 cated and refined ; he may be learned in all the sciences 
 and classics, and yet be totally blind to the first principles 
 of spiritual truth. He may even deny that there is a 
 spiritual world and that he has a soul. The most of our 
 education consists of instruction in natural things, and it 
 is directed to worldly ends. And these selfish and 
 worldly influences, which are opposed to a true spiritual 
 life, begin to operate upon us in infancy, and follow us 
 all along in our education, so that, when we come to 
 teach or to learn spiritual things, we find the ground pre- 
 occupied. We have to contend against these false prin- 
 ciples and habits. We have much to unlearn, which is 
 far more difticult than to learn. But this is not the case 
 with our children who ha\'e been removed to the spiritual 
 
262 PROGRESS LV SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 world. They are not taught anything which they have 
 to unlearn. Every step is an advance towards a higher 
 state. They are not enticed away by evil examples, but 
 all influences conspire to help them on, to unfold their 
 natures in heavenly order. 
 
 Children in heaven are not educated alone, but with 
 other children of a similar genius and state. Children 
 are social. They are never so happy as when they can 
 mingle freely with those of a similar disposition. In the 
 spiritual world all the innocent and sportive principles of 
 their nature have free play. 
 
 But this is not all. The methods of instruction, the 
 skill of the teachers, and the truths taught are as much 
 superior as the state of their minds to receive instruction 
 and the conditions in which they are placed. They are 
 taught nothing but the truth, and truth which relates to 
 life. They are taught that the Lord is their Father, and 
 that they receive every good from Him. They are also 
 taught the nature of charity, or mutual love, and its duties. 
 They are taught how to live the life of heaven, and are 
 continually initiated into the practice of what they learn. 
 They do not commit the truth to memory, but to life. 
 They have no hard lessons to learn for future practice. 
 But they learn to-day the lessons they need to live to- 
 day. Instruction is spiritual food and drink. As we 
 cannot eat for a distant future, so the children in heaven 
 cannot be instructed for the future. They receive their 
 food day by day. It is also exactly adapted to their 
 wants and apprehension. Their life is unfolded in true 
 order. There is no forcing of the mind. Progress in 
 knowledge is more like the growth of a plant. The bios- 
 
CHILDREN IN HEA VEN. 
 
 263 
 
 som is not sought before the leaf, nor the fruit before the 
 blossom. The angels have the most exquisite perception 
 of the state of those they instruct, and they touch with 
 the utmost delicacy and skill the secret springs of the 
 will and understanding. 
 
 The lives of these heavenly children are also unfolded 
 from within. Freed from the restraints and heavy encum- 
 brance of the body, every organ in their tender spiritual 
 forms is free to move in harmony with the inflowing of 
 life from the Lord, which comes to them from within. 
 Here we learn facts and store them up in the memory, 
 and then compare and arrange them, and thus by slow 
 and laborious processes acquire some knowledge. But 
 in the spiritual world it is not so. There outward things 
 exactly correspond and represent the states of thought 
 and affection within, because they are formed from them. 
 Thus children in heaven see their own life as in a mirror 
 in all things around them . 
 
 They are led to knowledge by their delights. All their 
 activities flow from love, and instruction is given to gratify 
 that love, to^ answer its questions, to satisfy its wants. 
 We can gain some idea of this state, for we see some- 
 thing similar to it, though in a much lower form, in the 
 insatiable curiosity of children in this life. Suppose that 
 curiosity to be increased many degrees, and to be excited 
 only by those things, or those subjects, which are true 
 and good, and suppose it to be in our power to satisfy it, 
 to answer all its questions so fully, to explain and illustrate 
 all it sought to know so clearly that every step would be 
 clear and definite, and firmly planted in the path of life, 
 and every desire satisfied. And suppose this to be done 
 
264 PROGRESS LV SPIRITUAL KXOIVLEDGE. 
 
 without any weariness to the young soul, without blunt- 
 ing the keen edge of its curiosity, but rather sharpening 
 it and giving it more strength for higher knowledge, 
 would not that be the perfection of instruction ? This is 
 the state of all children in the spiritual world. Their in- 
 tellectual faculties are excited to action by their affections, 
 and thus they are constantly led, and not driven. Their 
 faculties are all called into harmonious exercise, and their 
 exercise is play, yet with all the good and substantial 
 results of the most patient and laborious effort. 
 
 Instruction can be given there also by methods alto- 
 gether beyond the power of any earthly teacher. It is 
 found here that maps, charts, diagrams, and apparatus 
 for visible illustration are most efficient "aids in the com- 
 munication of scientific truth. With a planetarium we 
 place before the eyes of the pupil the relative size and 
 motions of the heavenly bodies ; we spread out the earth 
 before him, and in various ways represent the customs 
 and character of the people, and the nature and forms of 
 vegetable and animal life. But we are limited on all 
 sides by the imperfection of the materials we must use 
 and by our own power to use them. In the spiritual world 
 there are not these limitations. All its substances yield 
 to the plastic forces of the affections and thoughts more 
 readily than the most fluent materials to the hand of 
 man. Every affection is represented to the life in forms 
 that actually correspond. Thus instruction is not so 
 much verbal as pictorial and representative. They have 
 not merely pictures of visible objects that exist in other 
 places, but representations of affections and thoughts or 
 principles and processes of spiritual life. 
 
CHILDREN IN HE A VEN. 
 
 265 
 
 Suppose, for example, tliat an an^el wished to teach a 
 company of young children the nature of innocence. In- 
 stead of a verbal description, which they must commit to 
 memory, and which then might not be understood, they 
 would be surrounded by all those forms which represent 
 innocence, as by lambs and kids and the young of various 
 animals and birds, and beautiful infants, all sporting to- 
 gether in perfect peace, harmony, and delight. The whole 
 atmosphere would seem to be alive with beautiful forms, 
 and the earth itself filled with living objects which repre- 
 sented to the life innocence in its various kinds, degrees, 
 and relations. Everything that appeared would be the 
 actual correspondent of some form of innocence. Inno- 
 cence itself would pass before the children like a pano- 
 rama in a thousand true and beautiful forms, and they 
 would perceive the meaning of all these things. 
 
 Thus the children's natures are unfolded in heaven in 
 true order and symmetry. The affections and the intel- 
 lect go hand in hand. To love is to know, and knowl- 
 edge is the form of love, and both are embodied in use, 
 in life ; and thus the whole nature, from centre to circum- 
 ference, is filled with ever-increasing delight. 
 
 Swedenborg says it was granted to him to see little 
 children most charmingly attired, having garlands of 
 flowers resplendent with beautiful and heavenly colors 
 twined about their breasts and tender arms. ' ' And 
 once," he says, "to see them, with those who have 
 charge of them, in company with maidens, in a paradisal 
 garden most beautifully adorned, not so much with trees 
 as with arbors and covered walks of laurel, and with 
 paths leading inward. And when the little children en- 
 M 23 
 
266 
 
 PROGRESS IX SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 tered, dressed as I have described, the flowers over the 
 entrance shone forth most joyously. From this it may 
 be manifest," he adds, "what dehghts they have, and 
 also that by these pleasant and delightful things they are 
 introduced into the goods of innocence and charity, which 
 are thus continually instilled into them by the Lord." 
 
 What a beautiful sight must such a company of chil- 
 dren be in the spiritual world ! Surrounded by all things 
 of a loveliness and beauty corresponding to their own 
 beautiful natures ; without a weakness or a pain or a 
 single cloud of sorrow to overshadow their sunny hearts, 
 rosy with perfect health, elastic, graceful, and vigorous in 
 the harmonious development of every organ and power ; 
 innocent, lovely, and loving in all their intercourse, their 
 faces shining with heavenly affections and delights, their 
 voices soft and sweet with celestial harmonies, and their 
 whole forms glowing with the Divine life and becoming 
 the actual embodiment of it ; no clouds abo\ e them, no 
 inharmonious and unsightly objects around them, no fear 
 of coming evil, no regrets, no tears, and not a jar in the 
 harmony of their natures ; clothed in heavenly garments 
 of a beauty corresponding to their intelligence, they are 
 beauty, joy, innocence, peace, purity, not only personi- 
 fied, but actually embodied in form. 
 
 Would you who have children in these heavenly nur- 
 series call them back into this world, imprison them in 
 the material body, shut them up in our dark dwellings, 
 expose them to the contagion of corrupt examples, and 
 subject them to our imperfect guidance and instruction ? 
 Much as you desire to have them bodily and visibly with 
 you, you could not do it. No. It is well with them. 
 
THE MINISTRY OF ANGELS TO INFANCY. 
 
 " Take heed thai ye despise not one of these little ones ; for I 
 say unto y OH, That in heaven their angels do always behold the 
 face of my Father which is in heaven." — Matthew xviii. lo. 
 
 T^HE relations we sustain to angels and departed spirits 
 
 are frequently referred to in the Sacred Scriptures. 
 Their presence with men and their influence in human 
 affairs is described as intimate and powerful. Many in- 
 stances are given in the Old and in the New Testament 
 of the appearance of angels to men and of the services 
 they rendered to them. They gave them instruction on 
 occasions of great difficulty and danger. They came as 
 messengers from the Lord to make known His will and 
 to announce the coming of great events. They protected 
 men from impending danger ; they delivered them from 
 bondage and led them into tlie ]5romised land ; they 
 showed their deep interest in human afi"airs on many oc- 
 casions and in many ways during the whole of human 
 history as recorded in the Sacred Scriptures. 
 
 But the prevailing belief in the Christian world has 
 been and still is, that these are exceptional instances ; 
 that the homes of the angels are remote from this world, 
 and that they come to us only in some great exigency to 
 bring an important message, or render a service that re- 
 quires supernatural wisdom and power, and that when 
 that service is rendered they leave us, put off the human 
 
 267 
 
268 
 
 PROGRESS /A' SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 form which they assumed for the occasion, and return to 
 their bright homes in heaven. 
 
 But the Sacred Scriptures reveal a different and much 
 more comforting doctrine. They declare that the Lord 
 gives His angels charge over us to keep us in all our 
 ways. In full accordance with what the Lord reveals to 
 us in His Word, the doctrines of the New Church teach 
 us that angels and spirits, who are regenerated men and 
 women and children born upon the earth, are always 
 with us ; that they are far more closely connected with 
 us than our most intimate friends who are still with us 
 in the flesh, and that they are always on the alert to pro- 
 tect us from danger and to render us any service we will 
 receive at their hands. Being spirits, they cannot mani- 
 fest themselves to our natural senses, and never did in 
 olden times. The veil of the senses was drawn aside, and 
 the spiritual sight of prophets and apostles was opened 
 to see the angels in their own permanent forms. The 
 coming and going of these heavenly messengers was an 
 appearance due to changes wrought in men. Spirit can 
 only reveal itself consciously to spirit. Innumerable 
 forces are constantly acting upon us and rendering us 
 the most important services, of which we have no direct 
 consciousness. We cannot see them or hear their voice 
 or touch their substance. The force we call gravity is 
 constantly drawing us to the earth, but we cannot see 
 it or touch it, and it utters no sound. One medium 
 reveals itself to the eye in the form of light, but can 
 awake no consciousness in the ear or touch. Another 
 fills the ear with harmonies, but is powerless to gain any 
 recognition from the eye. We live and move in the 
 
THE AI/N/STA'Y OF ANGELS TO INFANCY. 269 
 
 midst of an ocean of the most subtile forces which sweep 
 through us and have a most potent influence upon us, 
 which are indeed essential to our existence, but of which 
 we have no sensible knowledge. It is, therefore, per- 
 fectly in accordance with the Divine methods of creating 
 human beings and developing their affections and intel- 
 lectual faculties that the most powerful influences may 
 ojierate upon us without revealing themselves to the 
 senses. 
 
 We cannot communicate any knowledge to our little 
 ones in the first stages of existence by word or deed. 
 We can render them the most important service, but 
 they do not know it. The mother is related to the new- 
 born child much as the angels are. The little one lies 
 unconscious between them. The mother reaches it and 
 ministers to it from the material side, the angels from the 
 spiritual side of its nature. Gradually the natural con- 
 sciousness is opened. The infant begins to recognize 
 natural objects, to be consciously affected by natural 
 forces. Its natural faculties develop and gain power. It 
 recognizes those who minister to it. The mother's smile 
 awakes an answering smile. The mother's features grow 
 familiar and the faces and voices of friends can be distin- 
 guished from those of strangers. But it will be many 
 years before it will recognize the voice and the glorious 
 beauty of its angels who have watched over it with more 
 tenderness and assiduity and a purer affection than the 
 mother's. The veil of flesh must first be removed. 
 
 Two classes of beings bend over every cradle, each 
 to render their own special service. The mother gives 
 natural sustenance, protects from natural danger, to win 
 
 23* 
 
270 P/^OGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 into power and conscious action the natural faculties ; the 
 angels keep watch and ward to protect the little one from 
 spiritual dangers, to cherish and wake into action by their 
 brooding love the tender germs of spiritual and heavenly 
 affections which they have assiduously planted, and to 
 impress upon them the innocence, the order, the beauty, 
 and the harmony of heaven. This is a service essential to 
 the child's regeneration. By this means are formed the 
 germs of the heavenly nature and of all the spiritual fac- 
 ulties. These germs become the vessels for the recep- 
 tion of life from the Lord. The angels who plant them, 
 guard them and assiduously cultivate them and use all 
 their heavenly skill and patience and tenderness and 
 power to give them conscious existence and a controlling 
 influence in the conduct of life. They do not despise or 
 neglect one of these little ones. The mother may grow 
 weary, but they never tire ; the mother may be selfish 
 and worldly and ignorant and neglect the little ones, but 
 their angels regard them with unselfish and unchanging 
 affection. They possess a wisdom born of Divine love, 
 and they know how to touch the most hidden and 
 delicate springs of the children's nature ; to bend, to 
 cherish, to mould their tender forms into the Divine 
 image and likeness with a skill beyond our conception. 
 Through their instrumentality the Lord photographs 
 His image upon the purest substances of their being, 
 substances that are exquisitely sensitive to all heavenly 
 impressions and adamant to retain them. These forms 
 are the Divine patterns after which the whole nature is to 
 be moulded ; they are the heavenly ideals which go ever 
 before us, become our inspiration and our hope, and 
 
THE MINISTRY OF ANGELS TO INFANCY. 271 
 
 lead us ever onward and upward towards the Lord. As 
 there are in the germ of every seed the pattern of the 
 plant which grows from it, and some shaping power 
 which infallibly moulds every form of branch, leaf, blos- 
 som, and fruit into its own likeness and qualities, so the 
 heavenly principles inseminated by the angels contain 
 within them the promise and potency of every heavenly 
 good. Like the germ of the plant in the seed, they may 
 never be brought into actual and conscious existence. 
 They may be neglected and left to lie dormant. By the 
 development of selfish and worldly affections stumbling- 
 blocks may be put in their way and obstructions to their 
 development may be formed, which render their birth 
 and growth impossible. They may be despised, as they 
 often are from ignorance of their nature or unbelief in 
 their existence. But the fact remains a fact of such mo- 
 mentous importance that we who, nominally at least, 
 believe- in the constant presence of these pure and 
 glorious beings who stand ready to co-operate with us in 
 every effort for our children's happiness, ought to give 
 heed to the warning of our Lord contained in our text. 
 
 I know with what incredulity men regard the assertion 
 of the constant presence of the angels. To aid our 
 dull and doubting minds, let us consider for a moment 
 the plain and legitimate meaning of our Lord's words. 
 
 " Their angels. " Whose angels? Theirs, the angels 
 of the little ones. A little boy was sitting in the midst 
 of the disciples as a representative of all the little ones : 
 our Lord referred to his angels. Is this a random or an 
 idle phrase? What can it mean, if children have not 
 angels suited to their genius, who wait upon them and 
 
272 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 are ready at all times to render them every possible ser- 
 vice ? Can we give any other meaning to the words ? 
 Look at the logical force of the declaration. The Lord 
 had placed a little child in the midst of the disciples 
 and declared it to be the type of true greatness. Then 
 He warned them against offending or placing any hin- 
 derance in the way towards heaven of one of these little 
 ones. He declared that it is profitable to cut off the 
 right hand or pluck out the right eye and cast them 
 away if they cause us to offend one of these little ones, 
 or stand in the way of their spiritual growth. Then He 
 gave the warning, "Take heed that ye despise not one 
 of these little ones ; for I say unto you, That in heaven 
 their angels do always behold the face of my Father 
 which is in heaven." If the angels who stand nearest 
 the Lord, the purest, the loveliest, and the wisest created 
 beings, are constantly devoted to the service of the little 
 ones, can we despise them ? The Lord presents it as a 
 reason why we should not despise them, that their angels 
 do always or through everything behold the face of His 
 Father who is in heaven. Let us consider the force of 
 this reason. But to see its full weight we must under- 
 stand what is meant by their angels always beholding 
 the face of the Father. 
 
 The flice is the clearest and fullest inde.x of the mind. 
 It is the theatre on which the fears and hopes, the joys 
 and sorrows, the desires and passions, and all the 
 thoughts and affections act their parts and reveal them- 
 selves to others. It is formed i)y the spirit for this pur- 
 pose, and every feature has a distinct part to perform 
 in the great drama of life. Its organs are few, and yet 
 
THE MINISTRY OF ANGELS TO INFANCY. 273 
 
 singly or in combination they exjDress with miraculous 
 precision the intelligence and ever-changing emotions of 
 the soul. Sorrow casts a shadow over the face like a 
 cloud, joy lights it up like a burst of sunshine, intelli- 
 gence shines in the eye, love beams from every feature, 
 shame crimsons the cheek, suspicion lurks in the eye, 
 pity trembles in the lips, anger knits the brow, passion 
 inflames every feature. Every shade of intelligence and 
 every degree of feeling shifts the scenes to a correspond- 
 ing form to suit its purpose. It is the office of the face 
 to represent the soul. This is acknowledged by common 
 consent, and is instinctively expressed in human speech. 
 To turn away the face denotes aversion of affection ; to 
 hide or cover the face, concealment of purpose or with- 
 holding favor ; to face a difficulty is to meet it firmly and 
 with composure ; to turn the face to one, to lift up the 
 face, is to regard with favor. 
 
 From this office of the face it is used in the Sacred 
 Scriptures to express the disposition of the Lord towards 
 men. He is said to hide His face, — " Hide not thy face 
 from thy servant," prays the Psalmist ; to turn away His 
 face, to set His face against the wicked, to lift up His 
 face, to cause His face to shine upon His servant. Men 
 are exhorted to seek His face and to come before His 
 face. Many similar expressions are used to express the 
 feelings with which the Lord regards men. His relations 
 to them. His attitude towards them. The face of the 
 Lord stands as the symbol and representative of His love 
 and wisdom, as a man's face is the representative of the 
 love and wisdom and various attributes of his character. 
 
 Now we may be able to see what must be the charac- 
 s 
 
274 PROGRESS AV SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 ter of the angels to whom are committed the Uttle ones, 
 and all the spiritual principles in the human mind which 
 the little ones represent. The translation of the words 
 which our Lord used does not express the meaning of 
 the original quite clearly. ' ' Behold' ' should be, look 
 at ; and ' ' always' ' should be, through everything. The 
 passage would then read, "Take heed that ye despise 
 not one of these little ones ; for I say unto you, That in 
 heaven their angels through everything look at the face 
 of my Father which is in heaven ;" that is, through 
 everything and in everything they see the love and wis- 
 dom of the Lord. They are themselves so innocent, so 
 wise, so pure, so filled with the Divine love, and every 
 thought, desire, affection, and purpose is so conformed to 
 the Divine image and likeness that every motion of their 
 souls is in harmony with the Lord. They look to Him 
 and regard Him in everything. They are wise with His 
 wisdom, they are strong with His strength, they are kind 
 with His kindness, they are patient with His patience, they 
 are skilful to touch the secret springs of human life and 
 to evolve heavenly faculties from their first germs with 
 His skill. As in a mirror they see His face in the begin- 
 nings of the human soul; they see some reflection of His 
 image in every instrumentality employed for its develop- 
 ment, and with some gift of His wisdom know how to 
 use it. They have a keen perception of the bearing of 
 every influence, of the varying changes of every state 
 upon the character. Nor is their ministry an occasional 
 and fitful one. They do not come on special occasions 
 and go when the exigency is passed. They never weary, 
 they are constant in their service ; they come as near as 
 
THE iMIXISTKY OF ANGELS TO INFANCY. 275 
 
 possible to every one, and render every service in their 
 power. They regard the highest ends in all their watch- 
 ing and waiting and humble service. They look at the 
 face of the Lord ; they watch its growing or fading image 
 in the soul. They seek with angelic affection and wis- 
 dom to bring it out in clearer lines, to develop it into 
 more distinct and substantial form. With what infinite 
 skill and tenderness and patience they do their work ! 
 They engage in it from no mercenary motives ; they are 
 not hired servants. They minister with patient assiduity 
 from love to the Lord and the little ones who have just 
 commenced their endless journey, from a heavenly desire 
 to aid the father and mother in this heavenly service. 
 
 Think of it ! Try to bring it home to yourselves as a 
 reality ! Two parties in two worlds separated only by 
 the thin veil of flesh are engaged in the care and nurture 
 of your child. As the mother does her work the angels 
 do theirs. The mother cares for the body, the angels 
 for the soul. The mother seeks to awaken the slumber- 
 ing natural faculties into conscious and vigorous action ; 
 the angels, to call into existence the germs of the spirit- 
 ual faculties which in due time will introduce the child 
 into a new world, and give him capacities to receive the 
 Divine life in higher and richer forms. So the wise and 
 faithful mother and the wiser and more faithful angels 
 walk side by side invisible to each other, but regarding 
 the same object, and with affections directed to the same 
 end. Each one is helping the other ; each one is doing 
 a work essential to the natural and spiritual growth of 
 the little, helpless pilgrim just landed upon the shores of 
 life. Is it not a beautiful and comforting thought that 
 
276 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOIVLEDGE. 
 
 every mother has such devoted heavenly servants to 
 co-operate with her ? ' When you look at the little one 
 lying helpless in your arms, is it not encouraging to 
 know that it is nurtured and strengthened with forces 
 ministered by unseen but skilful hands without which it 
 would fade and vanish away ? Your ears are too dull to 
 hear the music of their speech ; your sight is too dim to 
 see the heavenly beauty of their faces. But when the 
 little one smiles it is not only in answer to your love, 
 but to theirs. The opening faculties which are watched 
 with so much interest and delight are awakened by the 
 angels, who cherish the children in their own bosoms, 
 and give of their own life to them. The little ones have 
 no power in themselves to live and grow. Parents can- 
 not give them this power. It comes from within ; it 
 has its constant origin in the Lord, but in one direction 
 it comes through the angels. It flows from them as a 
 sphere of love which is life. 
 
 But the infant is itself a .symbol and beautiful exponent 
 of the beginnings of a multitude of distinctly spiritual 
 faculties in every mind, which are inseminated by the 
 Lord as mere possibilities, which have their immutable 
 laws and essential means of growth, which require the 
 skilful, constant watchfulness and the tender nurture of 
 angelic wisdom. Every one who gains eternal life must 
 be born from above. As the perverted natural mind is 
 first developed, these little ones from heaven are born in 
 the midst of enemies ; they are like lambs among wolves ; 
 they are like infants hated, rejected, and left to perish by 
 cruel parents. If there were no help from within, there 
 would be no hope of safety. If tlicre were no truths 
 
THE MINISTRY OF ANGELS TO INFANCY. 277 
 
 planted in the natural mind to serve as a basis and means 
 of support, as ground in which heavenly principles can 
 take root ; if no gentle and innocent affections, no holy 
 and heavenly states, were treasured up in the will in the 
 beginning of life, there would be no possibility of regen- 
 eration. Birth from above would be as impossible as the 
 growth of a seed whose naked germ was planted in the 
 frozen ground. By calling into action good, innocent, 
 natural affections in our children, we are giving motion 
 to the natural faculties that are in harmony with the 
 spiritual faculties hereafter to be born ; we are giving 
 them the key-note to heavenly harmonies. And as no 
 impression upon any mind is ever obliterated, as no 
 motion is ever effected, no state awakened, which mav 
 not be called up again into conscious action however 
 long it may have remained quiescent, there is a pos- 
 sibility that heavenly light may penetrate the natural 
 darkness, that heavenly affections may find some wel- 
 come in the hostile natural mind, that heavenly har- 
 monies may awaken the memory of some corresponding 
 affection planted by the angels in infancy, to vibrate in 
 unison with it. In this way and by these means the 
 spiritual gets a foothold in the natural, and extends its 
 power until every false and evil affection is subdued, the 
 enemies are driven out of the holy land of the soul, and 
 the heavenly inhabitants gain peaceful and everlasting 
 possession. 
 
 Such is the immeasurable importance of early impres- 
 sions. Such is the work which the angels to whose care 
 the souls of our children are committed are in the con- 
 stant effort to accomplish. Is not the thought of this 
 
 24 
 
278 PJiOGRESS m SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 heavenly help encouraging in our efforts to correct the 
 evils which are constantly appearing in our children ? Is 
 it not a comfort and a hope when we grow weary, that 
 we have such faithful, wise, and powerful assistants ? 
 Will you not find it an additional motive to be faithful 
 to the trust committed to you, and to appreciate more 
 highly the value of every step you take for these little 
 ones ? When you see their smiling faces, think of the 
 Lord's words, "Take heed that ye despise not one of 
 these little ones." Why? Because so great is their 
 worth that they are objects of special interest to the 
 angels. They are not alone ; you are not alone. Their 
 angels who through everything look at the face of the 
 Lord, are present and ready to work with you in every 
 effort for their spiritual and eternal good. 
 
 But these words of warning and hope are not limited 
 in their application to parents ; they apply with equal 
 directness and force to every one who is trying to over- 
 come evil and live a heavenly life. There are germs of 
 heavenly principles in every mind that are struggling for 
 e.xistence. They come to our notice only occasionally. 
 They seem to be remote from our life ; their voice may be 
 feeble and only faintly heard in the din of worldly affairs ; 
 they appear to be of but little importance compared 
 with the natural interests that clamor for our attention. 
 We do not appreciate their importance, and too often 
 despise them. They have many obstacles to overcome ; 
 we put many stumbling-blocks in their way. But they 
 are of more precious value than any other possession. 
 They are not only greater than any or all natural posses- 
 sions, but they arc the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 
 
THE M/A'/STRY OF ANGELS TO INFANCY. 279 
 
 Our angels dwell in them ; they operate upon us by- 
 means of them. Their love flows into them, and by them 
 they seek to lead us to heaven. 
 
 By means of these little ones they lift us up from sen- 
 sual and natural things ; with gentle but constant attrac- 
 tion they draw us away from the love of self and the 
 world, and seek to turn us to the Lord. They see in all 
 these germs of heavenly life the face of our Heavenly 
 Father, and they seek to bring it out into greater dis- 
 tinctness and into permanent forms. They fight our 
 battles for us ; they bring us sustenance when we are 
 famished and faint by the way ; they give us strength in 
 our weakness, comfort in our sorrow, and hope in our 
 despair. 
 
 Is it not a comfort to know that we have such kind, 
 patient, powerful, wise ser\'ants to help us in the most 
 difficult and important work of life, and that they are not 
 far away in some remote region of the universe? They 
 are here to-day. They stand close to us, separated only 
 by the thin veil of flesh. They dwell with us in our 
 homes ; they walk with us by the way ; they go with us 
 to our business and our pleasure ; they watch over us 
 when we sleep, and stand ready to serve us when we 
 wake. The bond of conjunction with us is these germs 
 of heavenly character which it is the mission and joy of 
 the angels to assist in becoming angels like themselves. 
 In view of these considerations, we can see how momen- 
 tous is the Lord's warning, " Take heed that ye despise 
 not one of these little ones." 
 
 In conclusion, there is another application of this truth 
 which it may be useful for us to consider. The church 
 
28o PROGRESS JX SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 is our spiritual mother. Every society of the church 
 bears this intimate and tender relation to all the children 
 of its members and to every one within the circle of its 
 influence who is awakening to the consciousness that he 
 is a spiritual being. To every society the Lord says, 
 ' ' Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones ; 
 for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always 
 behold the face of my Father." It is hard for us to 
 realize that the little children and those who are just 
 being born from above deserve our special and most 
 tender care, and that we should take heed that we 
 despise not one of these little ones. When the Lord 
 sets a little child in the midst of a society He commits it 
 to the care of that family of the church, and asks every 
 member of that family to co-operate with Him and His 
 angels in protecting it from harm, in providing it with 
 spiritual clothing adapted to its condition and food suit- 
 able for its nourishment. We are too much inclined to 
 direct our efforts and our care to those who in some way 
 can jirovide for themselves. But we must not despise 
 the little ones, who need our help more than others. 
 Our instruction should be adapted to their wants ; we 
 should make sjjecial provision to awaken their interest 
 and call their tender spiritual faculties into play. We 
 should surround them with influences, as far as possible, 
 that will tend to develop their spiritual faculties. We 
 must co-operate with their angels to make them tlie chil- 
 dren of our Heavenly Father, by doing our work on this 
 side of life as thoroughly and wisely as possible. It is 
 the most important work given us to do. It is the most 
 important use to which we can devote our time and 
 
THE MINISTRY OF AiXGELS TO INFANCY. 281 
 
 money and strength. It should fill our hearts with 
 strength and hope and joy that we have such lovely and 
 faithful and glorious helpers. They are with us in every 
 effort we make for the children. Every affection of love 
 for this use is the effect of their pure breath flowing into 
 our souls, every thought is the gift of their wisdom. 
 They go with us step by step in everything we do to 
 bring the little children to the Lord, that He may take 
 them up in His arms and bless them. 
 
 24* 
 
NATURE A DIVINE LANGUAGE. 
 
 "All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord.'' — Psalm cxlv. lo. 
 
 C VERY work is stamped with the impress of its 
 maker. The changes which men have wrought in 
 the natural world are the ultimation of their thoughts. 
 Every intelligent being is at all times, and by all modes 
 in his power, striving to project himself from himself, and 
 to fix his spiritual form in the ultimate forms of material 
 life. His body is but the granite and the marble rendered 
 fluent and cast into the mould of his spiritual form, and 
 so perfectly cast that it is the exact form of the real man. 
 There is no part of the body which does not speak. The 
 character is not only indicated by the size and configura- 
 tion of the head, but it is written on every organ. The 
 foot and the hand speak. The gesture, the gait, the 
 posture, the quality of the voice, the nose, the lips, the 
 chin, the neck and chest are as truly types and expres- 
 sions of the man as the head, the eye, and the spoken 
 word. 
 
 The influence of character extends beyond the body 
 and puts its mark upon the objects of the world about 
 us. Indeed, the body has been formed only as a means 
 to an end. It is the instrument by which the soul 
 strives to .subject all material things to its power and to 
 transform them to its own likeness. The Indian dwells in 
 primeval forests, and shares his life with the bear and the 
 282 
 
NATURE A DIVINE LANGUAGE. 283 
 
 wolf, because his nature is dark and solitary, and he finds 
 in all things which surround him types of his own cruel, 
 sombre, and crafty soul. The Arab of to-day is the Ish- 
 maelite of bygone centuries, and he is content with his 
 lot because he finds in the patient camel, the fierce lion, 
 and the burning, desolate, and shifting sands the ex- 
 ponents of his own enduring, ferocious, and unstable 
 nature. But put a new thought into one of these stereo- 
 typed sons of the desert or forest, and you will soon see 
 it playing through him and working changes in his ex- 
 ternal condition. What is it that has so changed the 
 whole face of nature on this continent during the last two 
 centuries ? Has not this been done by the instrumentality 
 of new spiritual conditions ? The men who succeeded 
 the Indian had ideas of fixed habitation, of the comforts 
 of home, of society and government. They loved the 
 sunlight, variety in food and clothing ; they had tastes 
 to gratify of which their rude predecessor knew nothing ; 
 they preferred the domestic animals — the cow, the ox, the 
 sheep — to the wolf, bear, and panther ; the forest which 
 had stood for centuries bowed before them and passed 
 away, and in its place were found waving wheat-fields 
 and the golden corn. The comfortable home displaced 
 the wigwam, and the school-house, the church, and the 
 legislative hall the council-fires. 
 
 But this was only the first step in the transformation. 
 The soul finds her wants to be continually multiplying. 
 Herself not subject to the laws of time and space, she 
 wishes to free her servant the body also from these 
 bonds ; and to accomplish this she sets the hand at work 
 and forms the steam-engine and the railroad. But even 
 
284 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 this is not sufficient, and she compels the hghtning to 
 ride express for her and make known her wishes and 
 wants, and by these means slie contrives to make herself 
 ubiquitous. Should we enumerate all the improvements 
 of modern times, all the achievements of science, we 
 should find they are but material types of the human 
 soul. She has hard elements to deal with, but she is in- 
 vincible, and she makes the rock and the ore and the 
 fickle wind and the vmstable sea plastic to her hand and 
 obedient to her will. She reproduces herself in lower 
 forms, and makes everything utter her name and char- 
 acter. 
 
 Now, if this is true of man, finite and feeble as he is, 
 blind to his own necessities and his noblest capacities, 
 how much more must it be true of Him who is the proto- 
 type of all things, and in whose all-embracing power and 
 wisdom the universe is more plastic than the clay in the 
 hands of the potter ! If man reproduces and ultimates 
 himself in all his works ; if trade, commerce, mechanism, 
 agriculture, literature, music, art, are but so many im- 
 ages of himself, so many tongues by which he utters his 
 wants, his affections, his hopes and loftiest conceptions, — 
 if all man's works praise or condemn him, must it not be 
 much more true that the whole universe is a Dix ine sym- 
 bolism of the infinite Creator's perfections? Does not 
 day unto day utter speech and night unto night show 
 knowledge ? Do not all His works praise Him ? Does 
 not every created thing have some voice to utter in 
 making known His wisdom, power, and love? If man 
 cannot change the forms of material things, make a nail, 
 or a shoe, or an engine, or a book, or a picture, as he surely 
 
NATURE A DIVINE LANGUAGE. 
 
 cannot, without leaving his own mark upon it, can we 
 concei\ e it possible that God could create the world, and 
 man, and all the complicated relations which they sustain 
 to each other, without transcribing Himself into His 
 works ? Such a supposition would be contrary to all the 
 observation and experience of men. It would involve 
 the absurdity of making the Creator act from a power 
 and wisdom which He does not possess. 
 
 It is a prexalent opinion that general truths alone are 
 taught in the creation. Just as there is an idea of a gen- 
 eral providence, while a particular providence is denied. 
 But it is absurd to suppose that there can be anything 
 general without the particulars which compose it. It is a 
 mathematical axiom that the whole is equal to the sum of 
 all its parts ; but the common idea involves the absurdity 
 that there can be a whole without parts. There can be 
 no general truth without the specific truths which make 
 up the general one, just as there can be no house without 
 the rooms which compose the house. There can be no 
 such natural object as the earth without the various min- 
 erals which compose it. There could be no natural body 
 without the head, trunk, limbs, bones, cartilages, muscles, 
 veins, and arteries which compose it. We must conclude, 
 then, that if the wisdom of God is manifested in the uni- 
 verse in a general way, there must be in the various parts 
 of it those particular truths which constitute wisdom, for 
 wisdom is not simple, but wonderfully complex. Infinite 
 wisdom must embrace the knowledge of all things in all 
 their relations, and everything, both as a whole and in 
 all its parts, must bean expression of the Creator's char- 
 acter, a revelation of Himself in the most external plane 
 
286 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KXOVVLEDGE. 
 
 of life. Thus the term ' ' nature' ' is exactly significant 
 of the objects to which it is applied, literally meaning 
 that which is born. The natural world is born of the 
 spiritual, and it is a revelation, an embodiment in finite 
 forms of the infinite perfections of the Creator. 
 
 All can see that the heavens declare the glory of God ; 
 that in a most general way all the Lord's works have 
 relation to His love and wisdom. But we wish to go 
 farther. We wish to know what the world says about 
 His love and wisdom ; and to learn these specific truths 
 we must question particular objects. The Lord has in- 
 scribed His love and wisdom in indefinite variety of 
 form and quality upon all His works, the dew-drop and 
 the leaf and the microscopic insect containing traces of 
 His limitless power and love as truly as a world or man. 
 Each object speaks a ditlerent message. Everything in 
 the universe that is in true order expresses some particular 
 of the Lord's love and wisdom. 
 
 And, further, if all natural objects are types of the 
 Divine perfections, they are also a mirror in which man 
 can see himself reflected, for man was created in the 
 image and likeness of God ; consequently, what is a rep- 
 resentation of the one will, in some sense, be a repre- 
 sentation of the other. But I wish only to confirm this 
 truth, that the creation — what we call "nature" — is a 
 Divine language, both as a whole and in all its parts, in 
 which the Lord expresses Himself 
 
 Let us notice some of the qualities and characteristics 
 of this language, and perhaps we cannot do it in a better 
 way than by comparing it with the artificial language of 
 men. We have a very erroneous and superficial idea of the 
 
NATURE A DIVINE LANGUAGE. 
 
 287 
 
 essential nature of language. It is so familiar to us as the 
 vehicle of thought that we are too apt to think of it as 
 thought itself, as something coeval with the existence of 
 man, and in every possible condition of his existence 
 essential to his happiness and improvement. But in this 
 we are deceived by appearances. Language in itself is 
 artificial, mechanical, and dead. It is but the counter 
 by which the real coin is represented. It is the dead 
 fragments broken from the living forms of nature, the 
 dried leaves and flowers that once were fragrant and 
 beautiful with the glow of life. In its origin it is all de- 
 rived from the natural world, and from the relations its 
 various objects sustain to one another and to man. The 
 very word "language" comes from the name of the or- 
 gan by the aid of which it is spoken, — the tongue. If 
 we could trace every word to its origin we should find 
 that it had its beginning in the motions, changes, and 
 accidents of external things, and that the terms used to 
 describe these natural relations were gradually transferred 
 to the operations of the spiritual man. The natural re- 
 lation between words and the thoughts they represent 
 has in most cases been lost, and there is now little but 
 a conventional connection. But the natural world is a 
 thought in material form. The Divine love and wisdom 
 flow into it, while it is fluid and plastic to the spirit, and 
 its simplest and most complex forms are the exact repre- 
 sentation of the influent life. 
 
 Again, it requires many words to express one idea of 
 thought, and, words being conventional and having no 
 necessary connection with the idea, the proper words are 
 not always suggested, even if they are known. Words 
 
2 58 PROGRESS AV SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 dwell in the memory, and even when there they are not 
 always prompt to come at the bidding of the will. There 
 are but few, perhaps none, who have a perfect command 
 of language, and even if one had this gift he could not 
 express himself fully. As a common currency, a kind 
 of small change, verbal language answers very well for 
 the purposes of common life, for business, and the inter- 
 change of those affections and thoughts which lie nearest 
 the surface of our nature. But how do we stammer and 
 ejaculate, and even become speechless, under the influ- 
 ence of some overmastering passion ; and how impossi- 
 ble do we find it to express the nicer shades of thought 
 and affection ! The delicate texture of our higher emo- 
 tions is destroyed, and the true aroma of life vanishes by 
 translation into speech, and, as I have before said, we 
 get, in words, only the dead forms of what was fresh and 
 living in the soul. Who ever expressed himself as fully 
 in words as in actions ? Our affection and thought flow 
 forth in a full and continuous stream into our actions, 
 while in speech we hesitate, and stammer forth only a 
 few fragments of what is full and perfect w-ithin. The 
 best book is but a dried mummy compared with the full, 
 rich, living soul that penned it. 
 
 The primeval man had no artificial speech. Spoken 
 and written language came with man's degeneracy. In 
 his innocence he was in harmony with nature. Every- 
 thing which he saw around him was the perfect utterance 
 of his Father's love and wisdom, and the projection of 
 himself. There was a chord within that answered to 
 every key without. There was an inherent, natural, and 
 necessary relation between himself, the outward world, 
 
NATURE A DIVIXE LANGUAGE. 
 
 289 
 
 and its Author, and it was not necessary for man to 
 speak or reason. He perceived and knew. He looked 
 through natural forms to the living principles which they 
 represented. Just as when we see the name or form of 
 one dear to us, we do not rest in the name or form, but 
 pass on immediately to the qualities which it suggests. 
 
 Such was the language of nature to man in his inno- 
 cence, and the language has never changed. It is as 
 full and perfect now as it ever was, but we have lost our 
 knowledge of it. It is our mother tongue, but, like 
 erring children, we have wandered into strange lands, 
 among barbarous people, until we have lost the memory 
 of nature's speech, and we have been compelled to resort 
 to the harsh jargon and imperfect utterance of an arti- 
 ficial language. 
 
 Artificial language is limited on every side. Having 
 no meaning but what common consent gives it, its shal- 
 low depths are soon exhausted. It is so devoid of neces- 
 sary precision, and so imperfect a vehicle of thought, 
 that it has been wittily said that it was given to man to 
 conceal his thoughts. How different is this from the 
 language of nature ! That is limited only on one side, — 
 by our power to understand it. It has a kind of self- 
 adjusting power by which it adapts itself to every state. 
 The child sees something ; he is delighted with the 
 beauty which lies on the surface, rejoices in the smiles, 
 or is terrified at the frowns of nature. The philosopher 
 sees farther. He strives to look into the causes and re- 
 lations of things, but the knowledge of the simplest nat- 
 ural object was never yet and never will be exhausted. 
 When one depth is explored another opens, and thus we 
 N / 25 
 
290 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 are led on from deep to deep until men of the highest 
 genius have been compelled to acknowledge that they 
 were only children gathering shells upon the shore, while 
 the vast ocean lay unexplored beneath them. 
 
 Again, our language is divided into innumerable dia- 
 lects, so that a lifetime is not sufficient to learn the speech 
 of all men. But there are no dialects in nature. It is 
 the mother tongue of man. It speaks to him in every 
 age and clime and condition. Even now, when, as I 
 have said, he has lost the particular meaning of natural 
 things, he still feels a mysterious sympathy with them. 
 He is bound by invisible ties to everything around him, 
 and he feels that the same power which throbs in nature 
 vibrates through him. The poets and men of fine or- 
 ganization and delicate, sensitive natures have ever de- 
 lighted to ascribe to nature a powerful influence over 
 their own hearts. But it is felt by every one. The blue 
 sky filled with the splendors of the sun, or gemmed with 
 innumerable stars, overarches all on the round globe, 
 and fills the mind of the rude savage as well as the Chris- 
 tian with a sense of the power and glory of the Lord. 
 The flower and the dew and the stream and the ever- 
 changing beauty which plays over the face of the world 
 glide into the hearts of all, carrying a balm for the torn 
 and bleeding heart, strength for the weary, hope for the 
 despairing, and a deeper delight to the rejoicing. The 
 lone Indian hears the voice of the Great Spirit in the 
 roaring cataract, and stops to worship. 
 
 Finally, words are ever changing in their meaning. 
 New meanings are constantly being added to them, and 
 old ones are becoming obsolete. But nature is the fresh 
 
NATURE A DIVINE LANGUAGE. 291 
 
 and living thought of the Creator, for it exists only by a 
 vital connection with Him. Thus, in whatever aspect 
 we view it, we see the immense disparity between these 
 two modes of expression. There is the same difference 
 which we find everywhere between the work of the Lord 
 and the work of man. The one is perfect in its kind and 
 degree, rising towards the Infinite and glowing with His 
 influent life ; the other limited on every side, shallow, 
 cold, and dead. 
 
 I have attempted to show from various considerations 
 that the natural world must be a Divine language, ex- 
 pressive of the Divine love and wisdom ; that each nat- 
 ural object must have a specific meaning, if there is any 
 meaning in the whole ; that all created things are so re- 
 lated that they utter the same voice with indefinite va- 
 riety, — all are truths relating to man and to God, and 
 linking the two together ; and that the language is 
 worthy of its Author, infinitely above the language of 
 men in every quality, in extent of meaning, in precision, 
 in fulness, in perspicuity, in power, in adaptation to 
 every state. Truly, ' ' The heavens declare the glory 
 of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. 
 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night 
 showeth knowledge." 
 
PARABLES. 
 
 "All these things spake Jesus tinto the multitude hi parables ; 
 and without a parable spake he not unto them : 
 
 " That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, 
 saying, I will open my mouth in parables ; I will utter things 
 which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world." 
 — Matthew xiii. 34, 35. 
 
 'T'HE parables form one of the most beautiful and in- 
 
 structive portions of the Sacred Scriptures. Whether 
 one believes in their Divine character or not, he can 
 hardly fail to be impressed with the lessons they teach 
 and the beautiful form in which the lessons are communi- 
 cated. It may be interesting and instructive to consider 
 what a parable is, and why our Lord employed parables 
 so often, when it would seem that a more explicit form 
 of speech would have been better suited to the occasion. 
 A clear understanding of the causes which led our Lord 
 to use this method of communicating Divine truth will 
 show that in this, as in all other respects, He was guided 
 by the highest wisdom. 
 
 The Lord gives the reasons why He speaks in parables. 
 One of them is that He may "utter things which have 
 been kept secret from the foundation of the world." It 
 is also evident that Divine truth is given in the form of 
 parables to adapt it to a peculiar state of mind. The 
 Lord makes a distinction between His disciples and the 
 multitude in this respect. " Unto you," He said, "it is 
 
PARABLES. 
 
 293 
 
 given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God ; but 
 unto them that are without, all things are done in para- 
 bles : that seeing they may see, and not perceive ; and 
 hearing they may hear, and not understand." The 
 ground and force of this reasoning will appear more 
 clearly when we see what a parable is and what relations 
 it sustains to ' ' things which have been kept secret from 
 the foundation of the world," and to "the mystery of 
 the kingdom of God," which it is given to the Lord's 
 disciples to understand. 
 
 First, let us consider what a parable is. The original 
 word means to throw or to place one thing beside another, 
 so that they shall be parallel to each other, or correspond 
 or answer to each other. A parable is a similitude taken 
 from natural things to instruct us in the knowledge of 
 spiritual things. The accuracy of the instruction de- 
 pends upon the truth of the relation between nature and 
 spirit. A complete parallelism between natural and spir- 
 itual things, in which the natural side of truth runs parallel 
 with the spiritual, answering to it in every point, is a para- 
 ble. A parable is not a fable, which is a fictitious com- 
 position employed to illustrate a natural or a moral truth ; 
 it is not a figure of speech. There is nothing arbitrary 
 in its structure. Spiritual forms and relations are pre- 
 sented in material forms ; and this is done, not merely in 
 a general way, the natural forms, as it were, touching 
 some parts of the spiritual. There is complete parallel- 
 ism ; there is union at every point. A parable is a picture 
 of a spiritual truth. It is a picture, done in material colors 
 and material forms, which perfectly represents the spiritual 
 counterpart. 
 
 25* 
 
294 PJiOGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 To get an adequate idea of a parable we must pass be- 
 yond the words used to express it, to the forms and 
 actions themselves. The material actions and forms con- 
 stitute the parable, and not the words used to express 
 them. Thus the parable of the Prodigal Son, or of the 
 Ten Virgins, is a drama, in which great spiritual laws are 
 acted before us, and presented in a form and manner 
 adapted to our senses. 
 
 Parables are much more common and universal in their 
 use than is generally supposed. In a true sense, the 
 whole material universe is a parable. It is the effect of 
 which spiritual forces are the cause, and these forces run 
 parallel to it in every particular. The material world is 
 cast into the mould of spiritual forms. Nature does not 
 form itself. There is no power in the dead and passive 
 mould — in carbon, oxygen, or in any of the primary ele- 
 ments of matter — to organize themselves into a plant. 
 There must be a spiritual force acting into them and cast- 
 ing them into its own forms. Nature is a parable reveal- 
 ing the spiritual and Divine forces from which she lives. 
 Trees and animals are special forms in the universal 
 parable of the creation, which teach us special truths. 
 They are letters in the great book, they are characters in 
 the great drama, not selected and trained, but created for 
 their parts. 
 
 The human foce is a parable. The soul created it, in 
 the first instance, in its own image, to be the stage on 
 which its actors can represent the comedies and tragedies 
 and daily history of its life. The soul stands behind the 
 scenes and shifts them to express its own states. Every 
 feature is a parable, and represents its part, and expresses 
 
PARABLES. 
 
 295 
 
 the affection or thought whose form it is, more clearly 
 than words can. All painting and sculpture are but 
 copies of these parables which the face and the whole 
 body are expressing. A smile is a parable of some 
 pleasant, gentle affection diffusing itself through the soul, 
 as the morning light spreads itself over the mountains 
 and throws its shining mantle over the hills. In itself it 
 is only a little shifting of the scenery of the face, and yet 
 how much it expresses ! The mother can tell, who has 
 seen the first recognition and response to her affection in 
 the smile of her first-born. The husband or the wife can 
 tell, who has watched the face of estranged affection in 
 doubt and fear, and has seen the cold and rigid muscles 
 relax and the light of love run brightening over every 
 feature. 
 
 A tear is a parable, and in its crystal sphere lie sorrows 
 deeper than the caves of the ocean, and darker and 
 wilder storms than ever swept in fury over its surface. 
 What histories of disappointed hopes ! What tragedies 
 of suffering and slain affections ! What wrestlings with 
 adverse fortune ! What fears of coming evil ! The 
 weariness of waiting, the despair of losing, the agony of 
 death itself are imaged in a tear. It has also a lovelier 
 office. The tear of penitence holds treasured in its crystal 
 deeps a life of waywardness and wandering, of evil and 
 sin, turning back to the Father's house. It is hardness 
 of heart melting into submission to Divine truth ; it is 
 sorrow brightening into joy ; it is the first drop from the 
 unsealed fountains of the heart whose bitterness has been 
 healed. A tear ! How small it is ! Nothing but a little 
 water with a savor of salt in it, and yet it means more 
 
296 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL K.XOWLEDGE. 
 
 than ocean and cloud and storm. It is the parable of a 
 fallen humanity, of a soul estranged from the Lord, of 
 a nature which has become a discord in the Divine har- 
 monies, its fears and its sorrows, its conflicts and its de- 
 spair. And when the Lord would picture to us the peace 
 and blessedness of heaven. He finds no more fittmg way 
 of expressing it than in the beautiful words, " And God 
 shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.'" 
 
 The face is a parable in which are written all thoughts 
 and all affections which are possible to the human soul. 
 The whole bodj' is a parable, but the face is the most 
 clear and beautiful and the richest in meaning. It speaks 
 of the innocence of childhood, of the purity and sweet- 
 ness of angelhood ; and it can express in living and 
 perfect forms every phase of action and every state of 
 affection of a soul in its descent from heaven to hell, and 
 in its ascent from hell to heaven. The material universe 
 is a parable. How beautiful, how grand, how glorious, 
 how full of meaning it is ! But all its meaning, all its 
 beauty, all its grandeur arc gathered into the human face, 
 and are there written in finer lines and lovelier, and with 
 larger and more delicate shades of meaning. Such are 
 parables. 
 
 And without a parai)lc the soul does not and cannot 
 speak to another soul dwelling in a material body. How 
 can I express my thought and affection ? How can I 
 convey it to another soul ? It can only be done by 
 means of the material body and the material world. 
 Speech is not possible in this world without the aid of 
 material symbols. Sound is a parable ; light is a para- 
 ble, and what a beautiful and glorious one it is ! The 
 
PARABLES. 
 
 297 
 
 written word is only a conventional sign of a material act 
 or form. No, the only access we have to one another in 
 this life is by means of parables. 
 
 The Lord, therefore, only made special use of a uni- 
 versal law when He selected and arranged certain mate- 
 rial things and natural actions to embody and express 
 Divine truths in a form specially adapted to human con- 
 ditions. He took some of the most beautiful objects of 
 nature, and the most significant relations of men, and 
 with infinite wisdom arranged them in such forms that 
 they might be to the common speech of nature and of 
 man as the ruby and emerald and diamond to earth and 
 common stones ; and therefore, by way of distinction 
 and pre-eminence, we call these forms of speech which 
 lie so near to nature parables, though they are not ex- 
 ceptional methods of communicating spiritual truth in 
 any other sense than that they are divinely excellent and 
 perfect. 
 
 Having thus considered the nature of parables, we are 
 better prepared to understand the Divine purpose in 
 using them. It was to "utter things which have been 
 kept secret from the foundation of the world.'* By the 
 world here we are not to understand the material uni- 
 verse merely. It is the cosjnos, — the order and harmony 
 and resulting beauty and use of the Divine truth em- 
 bodied in spiritual and in material forms. This order 
 and beauty have their foundation in the Divine truth. 
 Wherever you see powerful forces moving in harmony 
 to accomplish beneficent ends, whether in the spiritual 
 or in the material plane of existence, whether in church 
 or state, in domestic or industrial life, or in the activities 
 
298 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 of nature, creating beauty for the soul or food and cloth- 
 ing for the body, there you see a parable teaching the 
 truths of the Divine wisdom, and revealing the secrets 
 of the Divine love which lie at the foundation of all cre- 
 ated intelligences and forms. It is to reveal these se- 
 crets, to admit man more fully and interiorly into the 
 purposes of His love and the methods of His wisdom, 
 that the Lord opened His mouth in parables. 
 
 This is a purpose the Lord has always at heart, an end 
 for which He is always working. It is to let man into 
 His secrets, to take him to His infinite heart, to give 
 Himself to His children, to share His blessings with them, 
 to teach them, to lead them, to live for them, and, if 
 need be, to die for them. Tlie Lord is love itself, and 
 He wants companionship ; He desires to tell us His se- 
 crets ; He longs to unbosom Himself to us, and to show 
 us the hidden and most lovely forms of His wisdom ; and 
 He adapts His speech to our capacities and to our wants. 
 He opens His mouth in parables. 
 
 To His disciples it is given to know the mystery of the 
 kingdom. A disciple of the Lord is a learner of His 
 truth. So far as we become disciples of spiritual truth, 
 we arc introduced into the secrets and understand the 
 mysteries of the Lord's kingdom. As we learn and live 
 we pass within the veil of nature and .see the truth, and 
 become quickened with the love, of which the natural 
 form is the parable and expression. 
 
 But to the multitude who stand without, the Lord 
 speaks in paral)les, that, seeing, they may not perceive. 
 Why should He do this when it is His purpose and the 
 constant effort of His love and wisdom to reveal Himself 
 
PARABLES. 299 
 
 to men in forms as interior and as full as possible ? Be- 
 cause He desires to have us take up into our affections, 
 and appropriate to our lives, and thus make a part of 
 ourselves, the goodness and truth He gives us. He does 
 not desire to make machines of us, mere automatons, 
 to grind out effects as the mill grinds corn. He does 
 not desire to lift us up into a light that would blind us, 
 and to carry us along struggling against forces which 
 would destroy us. He desires the free companionship 
 of love, and not an enforced, unwilling presence. Be- 
 sides, He knows how much we can bear, and how high 
 we can ascend and live and feel at home, and remain, 
 and He never seeks to raise us above that state by any 
 force. He guards our freedom as the essential human 
 principle in us, whose loss would be the defeat of His 
 purpose in creating us. 
 
 The Lord knows that there would be no use, but great 
 harm, in raising us into a state in which we could not be 
 kept. In that case the good and truth would be pro- 
 faned, — that is, they would become mixed with evils and 
 falses. By the good received man would be drawn 
 towards heaven, and by the evil he would become dis- 
 tracted, — drawn asunder. He could not live in either 
 heaven or hell. He would be like a fish in which lungs 
 had been formed to breathe the air, but whose organism 
 and nature in other respects were adapted to the water. 
 If it should return to the water, it would be suffocated ; 
 if it remained on the land, it could not obtain its food, 
 or enter into any of its delights. 
 
 The Lord seeks to make everything He creates homo- 
 geneous throughout its whole nature, and to giv'e to all 
 
300 PROGRESS IiV SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 its faculties unity of form and harmony of action. To 
 man He has given capacities to rise through all grades 
 of being, from the lowest to the highest. All His provi- 
 dences are arranged to raise man to the highest, and 
 give him the best. But in doing this the Lord seeks to 
 elevate man's whole nature, not to rend and destroy it. 
 He does not, therefore, seek to convert one faculty unless 
 He sees that He can convert them all. He does not 
 seek to raise either the understanding or the affections 
 into a state higher than that which the whole nature can 
 attain, and in which it can permanently remain, while 
 man acts in perfect freedom. For this reason the Lord 
 adapts His truth to man's state, giving it in the form of 
 parables to the multitude, and speaking more plainly to 
 those who can receive higher truth, but always with the 
 purpose of re\'ealing Himself to man, and raising him up 
 to as high a state as possible, and of uttering "things 
 which have been kept secret from the foundation of the 
 world." 
 
 When truth is given in a plain, didactic, and positive 
 manner, we must accept or reject it. A square issue is 
 made, and there is no way of evading it. Not to accept 
 is to reject ; and when decidedly rejected we are not 
 Hkely to give it further thought. The Lord, therefore, 
 presents His Divine truth, as far as possible, in ^miliar 
 forms. He adapts it to man's low and weak state. He 
 does not force the issue upon us, but seeks to prepare 
 us for it, and to lead us up to it by orderly steps. He 
 veils it, and holds it before us, and embodies it in forms 
 that are attractive to us, that appeal to something in our 
 nature. He bridges the gulf between us and Himself 
 
PARABLES. 
 
 301 
 
 with natural truths, and makes it pleasant with human 
 fancies, that He may win us to act in freedom. He 
 makes the steps short and not too difficult, that we 
 may not be discouraged and sink down in despair. 
 Truth is the way : He has built it with histories and 
 stirring natural events, which attract even the sensuous 
 nature of childhood ; He has beautified it with symbol 
 and parable, and made it charming with song, that every 
 principle in man's nature, even the sensuous, may be 
 appealed to. 
 
 The very defects which the dry and severely rational 
 and logical mind thinks it detects in the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures, their simplicity, their pure naturalness in some 
 parts and wild fancy in others, are among the most 
 beautiful exhibitions of the Divine tenderness and loving 
 consideration for man in his lowest states. The Lord 
 brings Divine and heavenly truth down into the lowest 
 forms, and conceals its blinding splendors by the shadows 
 of earth, tinting them with heavenly beauty, to gain rec- 
 ognition and awaken curiosity and to secure a lodgment 
 for them in the memory, that He may, when time and 
 occasion and changing state permit, give more light and 
 reveal Himself and the grand possibilities of the soul in 
 clearer and higher forms. 
 
 Truth in the form of a parable is peculiarly adapted 
 to all the wants and conditions of the natural mind, and 
 to the Lord's purpose of regenerating it. It leaves the 
 mind in freedom. We see the truth, and we do not see 
 it. In a purely natural state represented by the "multi- 
 tude" we may see nothing but the letter, the casket 
 which contains the jewels. But that is so beautiful that 
 
 26 
 
302 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 we preserve it for itself. The child and the simple- 
 minded can admire a parable as a pretty picture alone. 
 They do not know that there are the most precious 
 jewels within. They do not care to know. They can- 
 not see them, and if the casket were opened and the 
 diamonds and rubies were put into their hands, they 
 would throw them away ; they would be nothing but 
 coarse pebbles to them, because their intrinsic beauty and 
 worth can be seen only in heavenly light and by the eye 
 opened to spiritual vision. But they are there, and when 
 the Lord can cure our natural blindness, we can discover 
 their heavenly value. 
 
 We can see something in a parable, all that we have 
 eyes to see. We think we see all the meaning it has. 
 Therefore we reject nothing. A perverted rationality 
 cannot argue against a parable. We might as well 
 argue against the glories of an evening cloud or the 
 loveliness of a flower-garden. Our self-derived intelli- 
 gence is not aroused. A parable does not ordinarily 
 offend us. We can turn it this way and that, place it in 
 all lights and study it as a picture. It is a picture, and 
 even the multitude can see enough of meaning and 
 beauty to make it worth possession. They see the out- 
 ward form, even if they do not perceive the inward 
 meaning. They hear the natural sound, though they do 
 not catch the undertone of heavenly harmony. But by 
 these natural means they may be led into a spiritual state 
 in which they can see the other side of the parable, 
 which the natural represents. 
 
 And this is what the Lord designs to effect by these 
 natural means. He does not carry us ; He leads us. 
 
PARABLES. 
 
 He gives us power and then encourages us to use it. He 
 does not force the light upon us, but helps us to grow up 
 to it, sharpens our sight to see it. 
 
 A parable is Divine truth in natural forms. The nat- 
 ural image is of such a nature and so connected with 
 spiritual and Divine truth that there is no limit to its 
 meaning. While it contracts to the capacity of the 
 smallest minds, it enlarges to the dimensions of the 
 greatest finite intelligence. It does this in whatever way 
 we view it, whether as a picture of one state or of many ; 
 whether we regard it as a whole or in its particulars. 
 Every fact has its significance and an orderly relation to 
 all the other parts. You cannot take anything away from 
 one of our Lord's parables without marring its propor- 
 tions or dimming its meaning. 
 
 As parables are the natural expression of "things 
 which have been kept secret from the foundation of the 
 world," their beauty, fitness, and precision of meaning 
 increase as we pass within, and rise to the spirit to which 
 they correspond. They are like the bud which encloses 
 within it a beautiful blossom, and within that delicious 
 fruit. Infinite things lie enfolded within them, which we 
 shall continue to discover as our eyes are opened. And 
 the truth we see will be the form of some good which we 
 shall enjoy as our affections become purified and enlarged. 
 Thus the letter of the parable will undergo a constant 
 transformation, more heavenly truths blossoming out of 
 it, and more precious fruits ripening in it. Spiritual 
 mysteries will be revealed, and the secret purposes of the 
 Divine love and the secret methods of the Divine wisdom 
 will be brought to light, and by means of them man will 
 
304 PROGRESS I.V SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 be brought nearer to the Lord. Every parable is a ladder 
 like that which Jacob saw. Its foot rests upon the earth, 
 its top reaches unto heaven, and on its bright rounds the 
 angels of Divine truth ascend and descend to man, to 
 instruct and bless him. The whole Bible is such a par- 
 able, every particular of which is given to embody and 
 shadow forth some quality of the Di\ ine love and some 
 form of the Divine wisdom. Its histories, though records 
 of deeds actually done by men, are parables shadowing 
 forth the infinite mysteries of the Divine nature. Its 
 plain precepts, its statutes and commandments, its sub- 
 lime and lovely songs, its wild and glorious prophetic 
 visions, and even its dry genealogies, are parables, the 
 vesture of many colors clothing the splendors of Divine 
 truth, adapting it to human conditions, and revealing to 
 man in e\ ery state all the truth he can receive and appro- 
 priate. It is a law of the Divine order, founded in the 
 nature of man and the Lord, that without a parable He 
 does not and cannot speak unto us. 
 
THE END OF THE WORLD. 
 
 " One generation passeth away, a7id another generation 
 Cometh : but the earth abidcth for ever." — Ecclesiastes i. 4. 
 
 'X'HE belief that the material universe is finally to be 
 
 destroyed has been and still is almost universal in 
 the Christian Church. Some have maintained that matter 
 will be entirely annihilated ; others, that it will only be 
 burnt up and reduced to its simple elements, and that out 
 of these elements new heavens and a new earth will be 
 formed, and that the new earth will be the eternal dwell- 
 ing-place of the righteous. Their bodies are to be raised 
 up from the earth, and their souls brought back and re- 
 instated in them. The Lord is to come down from 
 heaven and dwell with them and be their King. All 
 traces of sin and imperfection will be destroyed in the 
 general conflagration, and the whole earth will become 
 an Eden, the garden of the Lord, and all those glowing 
 prophecies concerning the peace and happiness of the 
 righteous will be fulfilled. 
 
 About the time when this great change is to take place 
 there has been much difference of opinion. There can 
 be no reasonable doubt but the apostles expected it in 
 their day, and Christians have been looking for it and 
 predicting it every century since. Many of us can re- 
 member the excitement caused by Millerism. Many 
 persons were so sure that they had discovered the year 
 u 26* 305 
 
3o6 FHOGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 and the day when the end was to come that they had 
 their ascension robes made, and, clad in them, they as- 
 sembled on the appointed da}', expecting that the Lord 
 would come in the clouds of heaven, and that they would 
 be caught up with Him in the air while the earth and the 
 heavens were being consumed. 
 
 Learned commentators and diligent students of proph- 
 ecy postponed the end to 1866. It is quite safe to say 
 now, however, that they were mistaken in the time, if 
 not in the event itself 
 
 There is another important point upon which there is 
 an equally serious conflict of opinion. Some believe that 
 the millennium — that is, a period of a thousand years in 
 which the Lord is to reign personally upon the earth, and 
 righteousness and peace are to prevail universally — will 
 take place before the world is burnt up. Others believe 
 that the world is to be consumed first and that the mil- 
 lennium will take place afterwards, and among those who 
 entertain this opinion are many of the most learned 
 divines in all branches of the church. There is a general 
 assent to the doctrine that the earth, if not the material 
 universe, is to be burnt up, and either annihilated or 
 made over into a new one. 
 
 But the doctrines of the New Church teach directly the 
 reverse of this. The)- declare that this earth and all the 
 earths in the material universe were created to be the 
 birthj^lace of intelligent spiritual beings, who commence 
 their existence in a material body, and after a time dis- 
 card it and pass on into the spiritual world, where they 
 are to dwell forever. The earths are the seminaries of 
 the heavens. The material uni\'erse was created from the 
 
THE END OF THE WORLD. 
 
 spiritual universe, and bears the same relation to it that the 
 body does to the soul, that the husk does to the corn, or 
 the shell to the fruit. Every human being begins his 
 existence upon some material earth, and sooner or later 
 passes on into the spiritual world. Thus the work of 
 creation is continually going on. New souls are con- 
 tinually being created and passing on to their eternal 
 home. Generation after generation commences exist- 
 ence, passes across the stage of this life and on to eter- 
 nity, and, as we believe, will continue to do so forever. 
 I invite your attention to the grounds for this belief 
 
 The doctrine is entirely in accordance with Scripture 
 when correctly understood. There are some passages 
 both in the Old and the New Testament which describe 
 remarkable changes as taking place in the earth and the 
 heavens. The sun is said to be darkened, the moon 
 changed into blood, the stars to fall from the heavens, 
 the foundations of the earth to be shaken, the heavens 
 to be rolled together as a scroll, when, in the words of 
 Peter, ' ' the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, 
 and the elements shall melt with fervent heat ; the earth 
 also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up." 
 "The earth is utterly broken down," cries Isaiah, "the 
 earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. 
 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and- shall 
 be removed like a cottage ; and the transgression thereof 
 shall be heavy upon it." 
 
 Now, it is simply impossible that all these particulars 
 can be literally true. It is impossible that the stars 
 should fall to the earth. The earth is a mere grain of 
 sand compared with the stars. We can see that the sun 
 
3o8 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 might be darkened, but how impossible that the moon 
 should be turned into blood ; or, if possible, what use 
 could there be in it? In one place it is said that the 
 earth shall be burned up, in another that it shall be re- 
 moved like a cottage ; and again that " every mountain 
 and island shall be moved out of their places." In one 
 place it is said the nations are to be gathered together in 
 the valley of Jehoshaphat. Sometimes this great con- 
 summation is represented as having taken place, and 
 again as about to take place in some future time. The 
 disciples asked the Lord, saying, ' ' Tell us, when shall 
 these things be ? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, 
 and of the end of the world ?" And the Lord answered, 
 "This generation shall not pass, till all these things be 
 fulfilled." 
 
 It is impossible to form any definite conclusion from 
 attempts to interpret the Scripture literally. No human 
 ingenuity, no grasp of intellectual power, can reconcile 
 all this imagery and show its bearing upon one natural 
 event. But, furthermore, the word translated "world" 
 in the phrase "the end of the world," does not mean 
 world in the sense of a material earth, and never did. 
 A recent commentator says, " It is very remarkable that 
 the word which means world in Greek is never used 
 where what is supposed to be the end of the world is de- 
 scribed." The Greek word aidn means an age or dis- 
 pensation, or period of the church. In this sense we 
 speak of past ages. We apply it to a special develop- 
 ment of life and literature, as when we .say the Elizabethan 
 Age. The apostles, without any doubt, used the word 
 aidn in this sense. Our Lord had just foretold the de- 
 
THE END OF THE WORLD. 
 
 struction of Jerusalem. He had just told the disciples 
 that there should not be left one stone upon another of 
 the temple that should not be thrown down ; and He had 
 said, "Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say. 
 Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." 
 Then they asked Him, "When shall these things be? 
 and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end 
 of the age, — of the Jewish Church or Dispensation ?" 
 They supposed He was going to establish a new age or 
 kingdom in the place of the Jewish Church. The 
 question is, therefore, natural and pertinent. But if 
 they meant the earth there seems to be no reason for 
 such a question. There was nothing in the preceding 
 conversation to lead to such a question. 
 
 If our Lord's answer also is carefully considered it will 
 be found to have no special application to such a ques- 
 tion, and commentators have had the greatest difificulty 
 in reconciling many things in it with the idea that it re- 
 fers to the end of the material world. Many things apply 
 with great pertinence to the destruction of Jerusalem, but 
 others do not. The apostles, without doubt, found their 
 questions answered to their satisfaction. They believed 
 that the end would come in their day, and we find them 
 frequently referring to it in their epistles. " The time is 
 short." "The day of the Lord is at hand." They fre- 
 quently speak of being "in the last days," "in the last 
 times," "in the ends of the age." That they did not 
 fully understand what the change would be in all its 
 breadth and detail is evident from their own language. 
 Before our Lord's death and resurrection they supposed 
 the Lord came to establish a political kingdom and re- 
 
3IO PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 store Israel to their former power and splendor. Their 
 views became more elevated after our Lord's ascension ; 
 they knew that His kingdom was a spiritual kingdom, 
 but still they did not fully comprehend its nature, and 
 probably expected that its establishment would be at- 
 tended with many signs and portents, with many civil 
 and physical commotions. There are evidences, how- 
 ever, that they did not understand the terms literally 
 which speak of commotions and destruction. At the day 
 of Pentecost, when the apostles were filled with the Holy 
 Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the 
 Spirit gave them utterance, some, mocking, said, " These 
 men are full of new wine." But Peter said, "This is 
 that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, And it shall 
 come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out 
 of my spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons and your 
 daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see 
 visions, and your old men shall dream dreams : and on 
 my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in 
 those days of my Spirit ; and they shall prophesy : and 
 I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the 
 earth beneath ; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke : 
 the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into 
 blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord 
 come." (Acts ii. 16-20.) Thus Peter expressly de- 
 clares that what they saw on the day of Pentecost was 
 the fulfilment of this prophecy, and that it was "in the 
 last days." Ought not this to be a key to the interpre- 
 tation of all such language when used by the apostles, 
 especially by Peter ? 
 
 In the interpretation of Scripture, if one part of a state- 
 
THE END OF THE WORLD. 
 
 3" 
 
 ment is taken literally the whole ought to be. If it is 
 said that the moon shall be turned into blood, we must 
 accept that as a literal fact if we do the other part of the 
 statement. We ought to believe that the stars will fall 
 upon the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely 
 figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind, if we believe 
 the other part of the statement, that the heaven will de- 
 part as a scroll when it is rolled together, and that every 
 mountain and island will be moved out of their places. 
 (Rev. vi. 12-14.) 
 
 According to the same principle, if we accept a state- 
 ment of Scripture as referring to a particular event in one 
 part of the Bible, it is reasonable to accept every similar 
 statement in every part of the Bible in the same sense. 
 If this is done I do not hesitate to say that it is impossi- 
 ble to prove from the Bible that the material universe is 
 ever to be destroyed by fire. Some fact will always be 
 found which cannot be brought to harmonize with the 
 others. The doctrine or theory does not explain all the 
 facts, and, consequently, either the facts or the doctrine 
 cannot be true. 
 
 Now let us apply the doctrine of the New Church and 
 her method of interpreting the Scriptures to those pas- 
 sages which are supposed to refer to the end of the world. 
 The doctrine is this : 
 
 By the end of the world is meant the end or consum- 
 mation of an age, or a complete cycle in the spiritual 
 movements of humanity. The Jewish Church was one 
 age, which came to an end when our Lord was upon the 
 earth. The Christian Church was another age or dis- 
 tinct movement in the spiritual progress of humanity. 
 
312 PROGRESS /A" SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 The Jewish Church was purely natural, and the repre- 
 sentative of a spiritual church. The Jews had no hopes 
 or aspirations beyond this world. They believed that 
 the Messiah was to be a temporal ruler, like David and 
 Solomon, who was to exalt them to the pinnacle of 
 earthly power. Jerusalem was not a heavenly but an 
 earthly city, the capital of their own kingdom, which 
 they expected would become the capital of the whole 
 earth. This life and this world bounded all their hopes 
 and fears. There may have been some men who caught 
 glimpses of something beyond, but this pure naturalism 
 was the essential element of the Jewish Dispensation. 
 
 The Christian Dispensation took a distinct step in ad- 
 vance. It was a spiritual church. God was a spiritual 
 being, and not a merely temporal king. Jerusalem was 
 a church or a heavenly city. Righteousness did not 
 consist in a scrupulous adherence to the ceremonial law, 
 but in a life according to the commandments. The law 
 reached the thoughts and intentions. But these truths 
 the church received upon authority. The church has 
 never had any rational knowledge of spiritual truth. All 
 her doctrines are taught dogmatically, and are to be re- 
 ceived by faith, as matters of belief, upon testimony. 
 The essential characteristic of the first Christian age has 
 been belief in spiritual truth and obedience to it ; but 
 truth received upon authority and not rationally under- 
 stood. 
 
 A church or age comes to an end when the essential 
 principle which distinguishes it from all others ceases to 
 be a living principle. Thus the Jewish world or age 
 came to an end when they made tlie Word of God of 
 
THE END OF THE WORLD. 313 
 
 none effect by their tradition, and when their national 
 hfe and civil polity and ceremonial worship at Jerusalem 
 ceased. The first Christian age came to an end when its 
 love for the truth had grown cold, and its belief in the 
 truth which constituted the church had been destroyed. 
 This, we believe, took place about a century ago. It 
 would not be difficult to show by the testimony of the 
 church herself that all real belief in her doctrines had per- 
 ished. You can hardly find two men now who think 
 alike upon any of the essential doctrines of the church. 
 Even if they use the same words, they do not attach the 
 same idea to them ; and multitudes repeat the creed with- 
 out attaching any idea to it. It is not my purpose to 
 prove this truth, but simply to state it for illustrating what 
 we mean in the New Church by the end of the world, or 
 the consummation of the age. You will perceive that it is 
 not the end of an organization, of dogmas and outward 
 forms, but of inward life. A tree may retain its form for 
 many years after it is dead. Wood may preserve its ex- 
 istence for many centuries and be applied to many useful 
 forms after its life has come to an end. So a church may 
 retain its outward organization and teach its dogmas for 
 many years after it is dead. Indeed, it is the distinguish- 
 ing characteristic of a dead church that it is scrupulous in 
 paying tithes of the mint, anise, and cummin of creeds 
 and ceremonies, while it neglects the weightier matters 
 of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. 
 
 Having stated what we understand by the end of the 
 world or age, let us look at the terms in which that 
 event is described in the Bible. The doctrines of the 
 New Church teach us that the whole Bible is written 
 o 27 
 
314 PROGRESS IX SPIRITUAL KXOIVLEDGE. 
 
 according to the correspondence of natural with spiritual 
 things. The sun represents the Lord : its heat repre- 
 sents His love received and reciprocated by men. The 
 moon represents the cool light of faith. The stars are 
 bits of knowledge of heavenly things held in memory. 
 The earth represents the church ; all things on the earth 
 represent the truths or principles which constitute the 
 church, and everything that occurs on the earth repre- 
 sents some form or activity of those truths and principles. 
 Now let us apply this method of interpretation to some 
 of the passages in the Word which relate to this sub- 
 ject. 
 
 The darkening of the sun means the loss from the 
 church of that love for the Lord and of that sense of the 
 Lord's love which are its very life. 
 
 The withdrawal of the moon's light means the gradual 
 loss of all belief or faith in the truths of the church. 
 Its being changed into 'olood denotes the destruction 
 of all living quality in the faith of the church. It rep- 
 resents the loss of all charity or brotherly love. The 
 falling of the stars from heaven denotes the entire disper- 
 sion and loss of all the knowledges of spiritual truth, by 
 giving them a merely natural meaning. The spiritual 
 mind is heaven compared with the natural mind. The 
 kingdom of heaven is within us. When those truths 
 which relate to the spiritual man are brought down and 
 sensualized, when the church begins to lose the spirit 
 and to think lightly of the life, and makes much of mere 
 dogmas and ceremonies, which is the sign of a dying or 
 dead church, then the stars fall from heaven upon the 
 earth, even as a fig-tree, which denotes a development of 
 
THE END OF THE WORLD. 
 
 merely natural good, casteth her untimely figs when she 
 is shaken of a mighty wind. 
 
 When the light of Divine truth is darkened in the 
 mind ; when the warmth of spiritual love grows cold, and 
 all belief in spiritual truth is destroyed, and all true 
 knowledge of its facts and doctrines is lost, then the 
 heavens depart as a scroll when it is rolled together ; the 
 spiritual mind becomes closed to all spiritual truth, and 
 the end of the world draws near. 
 
 If we look at any particular church and note the 
 changes that have taken place in her when she ap- 
 proached her end, we shall find that the changes which 
 are said to take place in the earth represent them in 
 every particular. Our Lord says that many will come in 
 His name, claiming to be the Christ, and shall deceive 
 many. This prediction means that many will claim to 
 have the only message of Divine truth. How diverse 
 the doctrines are we know, and how sharp the contro- 
 versies and how bitter the persecutions which have arisen 
 among their adherents. These are the wars and rumors 
 of wars foretold by our Lord. The conflict of evil with 
 evil and of falsity with falsity is described as nation rising 
 against nation and kingdom against kingdom. Famines 
 are caused by the lack of the bread of life, which is love 
 to the Lord and the neighbor. The pestilences foretold 
 are the moral and spiritual evils which corrupt the hearts 
 and minds of men, and cause spiritual disease and death. 
 The earthquakes are the commotions in the church, which 
 shake it to its foundations and break it up into sects, as 
 the earth's crust is shaken and broken into fragments by 
 natural earthquakes. 
 
31 6 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 In this manner we might take every passage in the 
 whole Bible which refers to the end of the world, and 
 show the special meaning of every particular, and its en- 
 tire harmony with this doctrine and its bearing upon it. 
 All these terms are not given a special meaning to adapt 
 them to this particular doctrine. But they have this 
 meaning everywhere, in the whole Word. The sun, 
 moon, stars, and earth always have essentially the same 
 meaning. The earth always means the church or those 
 principles which constitute it. All the wars, famines, and 
 pestilences mentioned in the Scriptures signify and repre- 
 sent spiritual conflicts, in which evils and falsities contend 
 among themselves or stand opposed to goodness and 
 truth. And we are not compelled to remain in a general 
 application alone. We can descend to the minutest par- 
 ticulars, even to the kind of weapons used in these con- 
 flicts, the people who carry on the wars, and the causes 
 of defeat or victory. The farther this correspondence is 
 carried, the clearer it becomes and the more universal its 
 application becomes, so that the argument from the Word 
 comes out in the clearest and fullest manner, satisfying 
 every condition of humanity and every demand of the 
 reason and every statement of Scripture. I have not 
 attempted to do more than to give an outline of the argu- 
 ment and show the manner in which we read the sacred 
 symbols to learn what the Word really teaches concern- 
 ing the last days. I shall invite your attention now to 
 some of the rational considerations which confirm the 
 belief that the end of the world is a spiritual and not a 
 natural event. 
 
 According to the doctrines of the New Church, the 
 
THE END OF THE WORLD. 317 
 
 material universe was created to be the birthplace of end- 
 less generations of intelligent beings, who were to pass 
 on into the spiritual world and make room for those who 
 should come after them. It is the essential nature of love 
 to create, to communicate itself as fully as possible to 
 others. As the Lord's love is infinite, this essential ele- 
 ment of His being can never be exhausted. He must 
 have the same reasons to-day for creating intelligent 
 beings that He had for creating the first man ; and there 
 must be the same reasons millions of years hence for 
 creating new souls to become the recipients of the Divine 
 love and blessedness that there are now. It must, there- 
 fore, be contrary to the essential nature of the Lord that 
 He should ever cease to create. 
 
 It has been proved by modern astronomers that our 
 sun with its attendant planets and the myriad visible stars 
 are moving in vast orbits around some common centre. 
 This orbit of our solar system is so vast that it could 
 complete only a small part of a revolution in six thousand 
 years. How absurd to suppose that a Being of infinite 
 wisdom would create a universe and set its worlds re- 
 volving in their orbits, and then destroy them before 
 they had completed one revolution ! A little child is not 
 guilty of so great a folly who builds a house of cards and 
 throws it down for the pleasure of seeing it fall. 
 
 But again, the ratio between the smallest grain of sand 
 and our earth is greater than the ratio between our earth 
 and the whole of the material universe ; can any supposi- 
 tion be more absurd than that the Lord would destroy 
 the whole material universe because some beings who 
 dwell upon this grain of sand have broken His laws ? 
 
 27* 
 
3i8 PROGRESS I.V SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 The act of a man who burned his barn to kill a rat was 
 wise compared with such a destruction of the universe. 
 You cannot find anything in the childish ignorance or 
 fitful spite of men so absurd as this. How irrational, 
 then, to call it by no worse a name, to attribute such 
 folly to infinite love and wisdom ! Suppose the Lord has 
 been disappointed and His purpose in some respects de- 
 feated by sin, is that any reason why He should complete 
 the defeat of His ends by a universal destruction ? But 
 it cannot be that He has been defeated or disappointed. 
 Omniscience saw the end from the beginning, and infinite 
 wisdom provided the best means. The Lord can make 
 no mistakes. Sin has only served to bring out the mani- 
 festations of His love in larger measures and in a greater 
 variety of forms. There is no more cause for the de- 
 struction of the universe than there was to pre\ ent its 
 creation in the first instance. There is the same reason 
 for its continuance, and must forever be, that there was 
 for its creation. The Divine nature as it is in itself, the 
 end for which the universe was created, the whole order 
 and method of the creation and human reason, all teach 
 us in unequivocal terms that the material universe will 
 never be destroyed until infinite love grows cold and in- 
 finite wisdom fails to pro\ ide the ways and means for car- 
 rying into effect the purposes of infinite love, and infinite 
 power becomes exhausted ; and when that crisis comes 
 there will be no God and no universe and no human 
 beings. We infer, therefore, that the destruction of the 
 natural universe is contrary to the Divine nature, to the 
 purposes of the Lord as declared in the creation, and to 
 human reason. 
 
THE END OF THE WORLD. 
 
 319 
 
 The idea lield by some, that the earth will be remade, 
 that the Lord will give to man a better body at the resur- 
 rection, and that the new earth, if it is a material one, will 
 be a better earth than this, practically accuses the Lord 
 of folly, of not doing the best for His children that He 
 could, and that is to say that His love and wisdom are 
 not perfect. If it is replied that man finds the earth very 
 imperfect and is con^itantly improving it, the answer is 
 that it is one of the perfections of the earth that man can 
 improve it, — it is one of the conditions of life essential to 
 his intellectual and spiritual development. If he had no 
 occasion to call forth his faculties they would lie dormant. 
 If he saw no room for improvement, or found it impossi- 
 ble to make improvement, he would have no stimulus of 
 hope, and all motives to exertion beyond what was 
 necessary to support life would be taken away. Man's 
 nature is self-adjusting to all the conditions of life. In- 
 finite wisdom is embodied in the creation, and when men 
 try to improve upon the methods of infinite wisdom they 
 show their ignorance and folly. 
 
 But the doctrine that this earth or any part of the ma- 
 terial universe is to be made over into a new world and 
 become the future dwelling of man after the resurrection 
 is materialism. This result cannot be avoided. Man's 
 body is not a spiritual body after all, and instead of going 
 to heaven and dwelling in one of the mansions in His 
 Father's house according to the promise, he must remain 
 forever in this world. He is not essentially a spiritual 
 being, but an earthly one, and however perfect his condi- 
 tion may be as a material being, he can never hope to 
 attain to the glory and blessedness of a purely spiritual life. 
 
320 FA' OGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 But the whole theory that this world is to be the 
 eternal home of the redeemed is contrarj- to the oft- 
 repeated declarations and promises of the Word. " My 
 kingdom is not of this world," the Lord says. " I go to 
 prepare a place for you ; and if I go and prepare a place 
 for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; 
 that where I am, there ye may be also." The whole 
 tenor of our Lord's teachings was directed to prepare 
 men for life in another and spiritual Vorld which is not to 
 be created at some future time, but which was already in 
 existence, and when the Lord spoke was the home of all 
 those who had passed from earth. 
 
 When we understand the term "world" as meaning 
 not the natural ground but the world of human life ; es- 
 pecially when we give the Greek word which is translated 
 "world" its strict meaning of " age" or " dispensation," 
 how simple it all is ! Within historic times the world has 
 more than once passed away and a new world has been 
 created. The Europe which the Roman conquerors 
 knew is gone. The America which Columbus found is 
 passed away and a new America has come into being. 
 And turning our thought to the spiritual states of men, 
 of which the Bible always direcdy speaks, the world has 
 been destroyed and a new world created as often as one 
 system of religious truth has lost its vitality and its 
 power over the lives of men and a new system has been 
 raised up by the Lord. Not to go back to remote 
 antiquity, the world was in comparatively recent times 
 made new when the Christian Dispensation displaced 
 the Jewish at the coming of the Lord ; and in our own 
 day is taking place before our very eyes the destruction 
 
THE END OF THE WORLD. 32 1 
 
 and new creation of the church which the Lord Himself 
 predicted. And all the while our faithful planet keeps 
 steadily on its way fulfilling the purpose for which the 
 Lord created it, as a nursery of human beings, where 
 they may awaken to consciousness and learn their first les- 
 sons of obedience to the Heavenly Father, then to pass 
 on to His eternal home. As saith Ecclesiastes, "One 
 generation passeth away, and another generation cometh ; 
 but the earth abideth for ever. ' ' 
 
 V 
 
THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD. 
 
 " They shall see the Son of man coining in the clouds of 
 heaven zvith poiuer and great glory.'' — Matthew xxiv. 30. 
 
 due to the mental and spiritual condition of humanity 
 at the time of His first advent. All true knowledge of 
 the Lord and the spiritual world had long been lost. 
 Men were in a natural and, for the most part, in a sen- 
 sual state. Their ideas of God, of heaven, of His king- 
 dom and power and glory, and of their relations to Him 
 were purely natural. The disciples, in common with the 
 Jewish people, understood all the prophecies and prom- 
 ises naturally. The Lord was literally to occupy the 
 throne of Da\ id ; the enemies over whom He was to 
 triumph were the Romans and the other nations who had 
 made war upon and subdued them. The "peace on 
 earth" was not a spiritual, but a civil peace. The bless- 
 ings the Jews expected from the Messiah were temporal, 
 and limited to their own nation. 
 
 It was an immense advance from such natural and 
 strictly national ideas to the acknowledgment that the 
 Lord's kingdom and blessings are spiritual and universal. 
 It was only by slow and painful steps, with many doubts 
 and misgivings, and by the influence of the Lord's resur- 
 rection and subsequent appearance, and the miraculous 
 powers conferred upon the disciples by the gift of the 
 
 Second Coming of the Lord is 
 
THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD. 323 
 
 Spirit, that they gained a full and clear conviction of the 
 spirituality of His kingdom and the fundamental doc- 
 trines which constitute it. 
 
 But these doctrines were received as a matter of faith, 
 upon Divine or human authority, as truths to be believed 
 and obeyed. And this has been the teaching of the 
 Christian Church in every age. "We walk by faith." 
 "We see through a glass darkly." The fundamental 
 doctrines of Christianity are acknowledged to be a mys- 
 tery, and in their reception the reason must be kept in 
 subordination to faith. The Lord has taught us certain 
 truths in the Sacred Scriptures, and we must believe them, 
 whether they accord with our reason or not. 
 
 A church based upon this principle must come to an 
 end, not because the principle itself is not true as far as it 
 goes, but because the human mind is so constituted that 
 it cannot rest in simple obedience. Admitting that the 
 doctrines taught are true, as long as men are contented 
 to obey them simply, they will go right ; but the moment 
 they begin to reason, to think for themselves, there must 
 arise diversity of opinion, and consequently doubt, espe- 
 cially when language in which those principles are taught 
 is capable of so many interpretations. Discussions, dif- 
 ferences of opinion, dissensions, perversions, doubts, dis- 
 belief, and ultimate rejection of the truth itself necessarily 
 follow. And as man has no means in himself of gain- 
 ing the truth concerning spiritual things, the Lord must 
 interpose and provide some way to save him. He must 
 come again in some form adapted to man's state, or he 
 would utterly perish. There are many other subordi- 
 nate causes which rendered the second advent necessary. 
 
324 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 Every principle in man's character and all his relations to 
 the Lord increased and modified this necessity. But it is 
 sufficient for my purpose to present this principal cause. 
 I next invite your attention to what the doctrines of the 
 New Church teach concerning the manner of the Lord's 
 second coming. 
 
 The second coming is described in various ways in the 
 Sacred Scriptures. In the twenty-fourth chapter of 
 Matthew and thirtieth verse it is said, " They shall see 
 the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with 
 power and great glory. ' ' As we understand these words, 
 they contain an exact description of the manner in which 
 the Lord will come. By the "Son of man" we under- 
 stand the Divine truth of the Lord ; by the " clouds of 
 heaven," the literal sense of the Word ; by the " great 
 glory," the spiritual sense of the Word, or the Divine 
 truth as it really exists when stripped of all natural ap- 
 pearances ; and by "power" we understand true spirit- 
 ual power, power over the minds and hearts of men, the 
 power which true knowledge always gives. 
 
 I do not ask those who are not familiar with the doc- 
 trines of the New Church to assent to this. You cannot 
 assent to it until you see it to be true. All that I ask is 
 that you will admit it as an hypothesis or supposition. If 
 the Bible is acknowledged to be such a book as our doc- 
 trines teach us that it is, I am confident that this doctrine 
 of the second coming will also be seen to be rational and 
 true. I shall not argue the question, — my limits forbid 
 me to do that, — but simply state the belief of the New 
 Church. 
 
 Our doctrines declare that the Sacred Scriptures are 
 
THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD. 325 
 
 Divine truth itself. They contain a precise, connected, 
 and logical statement of all spiritual and Divine laws and 
 principles. They are to man's spiritual nature, to the 
 spiritual world and the Divine nature, what a book which 
 contained a perfect physiology would be to the material 
 body, or what a perfect work upon mathematics would 
 be to all numbers and geometrical forms. That is, the 
 Word contains a perfect spiritual and Divine philosophy 
 and a perfect spiritual history of the human race from 
 its first creation, and a perfect prophecy of its future. 
 This history is not limited to this world, but it extends 
 to the spiritual world, and gives us a complete and clear 
 idea of the nature of that world and of all its inhabitants. 
 When this spiritual truth is seen, it carries with it the 
 same conviction of its absolute certainty that mathemati- 
 cal truths do of their certainty when they are seen. 
 
 This spiritual truth is as distinct from the natural truth 
 contained in the letter of the Word as the soul is dis- 
 tinct from the body. Indeed, the spiritual sense bears 
 the same relation to the literal or natural sense that the 
 soul bears to the body. The Bible was not given to man 
 to teach him in what manner or order or time the earth 
 was created, to give him a history of the Jews, or to 
 tell him how or when the world would be destroyed. 
 What is said upon these subjects may be literally true or 
 it may not. It is of no consequence to the real purpose 
 for which the Word was given to man whether it is 
 naturally true or not. It is of no more consequence 
 that the history of the Jews should be true in every par- 
 ticular than it is that the parable of the Prodigal Son or 
 
 of Dives and Lazarus should be an e.xact statement of 
 
 28 
 
326 FJiOCRESS ly SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 natural events that really occurred. The only essential 
 requisite in the letter is, that the natural object or ac- 
 tion shall correctly represent the spiritual idea, as a 
 man's actions, looks, and voice, when spontaneous, tmly 
 represent his affections and thoughts. 
 
 The literal or natural sense is used to embody and con- 
 vey or express spiritual truth, as the body is used to ex- 
 press the various states of the soul, — that is, the natural 
 events, images, and actions of nature, animals, and men 
 are employed as symbols to express corresponding spir- 
 itual truths. The natural sense is, therefore, called the 
 covering or cloud, which in some places entirely con- 
 ceals, and in others only partly reveals the real mean- 
 ing. The objects or events narrated are natural ciphers 
 or hieroglyphics. The natural image bears about the 
 same relation to the spiritual idea that the printed word 
 does to the natural idea. But the difference between 
 natural and spiritual things is so great that but little spir- 
 itual truth can be directly expressed by the natural image. 
 We all know how difficult and often impossible it is 
 to express our affections and thoughts fully by words. 
 The real meaning struggles through them like light 
 through a cloud. How much more impossible must it be 
 to express spiritual and Divine truth in all its fulness and 
 clearness in natural forms ! 
 
 If the Word is written in symbols, it is plain that the 
 only way to get its true meaning is to know what spirit- 
 ual truths the natural images represent. For example, 
 we can never learn how the Lord is coming, or what the 
 signs of His coming are, if we think only of wars, earth- 
 quakes, clouds, and material things, any more than we 
 
THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD. 327 
 
 could learii what wars, earthquakes, and clouds are by 
 looking at the printed words without imagining even that 
 they had any meaning. When our Lord said to the 
 Jews that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood, 
 they understood Him naturally, and they were astounded 
 at the assertion. " How can this man give us his flesh 
 to eat ?" " This is an hard saying ; who can hear it ?' ' 
 ' ' From that time many of his disciples went back, and 
 walked no more with him." They would not follow 
 a man who told them such absurd things. There are 
 many persons at the present day who reject the Bible for 
 the same reason, and many more who draw entirely 
 erroneous conclusions from it. 
 
 Now, we believe the key to this cipher has been given 
 to men, and that by means of it they can ascertain with 
 perfect certainty what spiritual and real truths the natural 
 symbols of the Word represent. We are able to open 
 the covering, the cloud, and the Son of man, the Divine 
 truth, comes to us. But He comes to us in the cloud. 
 The letter of the Word is the instrumentality, the vehicle 
 in which He comes ; we do not get the truth by rejecting 
 the letter, but by understanding it. By means of this 
 key, therefore, we gain access to the infinite treasures of 
 spiritual truth. 
 
 The first effect of this knowledge is to give us a clear 
 understanding of the nature of the Word itself, and to 
 save us from all the doubts and difficulties which have 
 obscured and troubled readers of the Bible for many gen- 
 erations. We are no longer troubled because we find that 
 the natural sense does not agree with geology or any 
 other science. The discrepancies and contradictions 
 
328 PROGRESS IX SPIRITUAL K'XOWLEDGE. 
 
 contained in the letter do not disturb our faith in its claims 
 to be the Word of God, because we know it was not 
 given to us to teach natural science or the history of na- 
 tions. The fact that a great part of it is occupied with 
 trivial details, or prophetic visions which have no con- 
 sistent natural meaning, does not diminish our estimation 
 of its Divine origin and infinite value, because we know 
 that these details, trivial in themselves, and this prophetic 
 imagery, are natural symbols of spiritual things. I 
 regard it as I should a rough casket full of the most 
 precious jewels. I do not stop to criticise the outside. 
 I proceed at once to open it and feast upon the beauty 
 and glory within. I regard it as I should a present of 
 fruit if I were hungry. I do not stop to find fault with 
 the hard and bitter shells. I open them and satisfy my 
 want with the sweet and savory substances within. It is 
 a letter from my Father in heaven, written in cipher, 
 because He could not get it to me in any other way. 
 And in it He tells me all about Himself; what He has 
 done and is doing for me, what a beautiful home He is 
 preparing for mc, in what forms He is coming for me to 
 receive me unto Himself, and what I must do to meet 
 and receive Him and follow Him. I do not complain 
 because it is written in cipher. I do not reject it or re- 
 ceive it with doubt because the meaning is not all ex- 
 pressed upon the surface. I am filled with delight rather 
 at the glorious revelation of Himself, and the precious 
 promises I find in it. 
 
 Again, by means of this key we get from the Word a 
 clear, consistent, and rational doctrine concerning spir- 
 itual things and the Loril ; a doctrine that fully satisfies 
 
THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD. 
 
 329 
 
 the reason and all the wants of the soul, that reconciles 
 all the apparent contradictions in the letter of the Word, 
 that shows how the unity and the trinity are perfectly 
 consistent with each other, and presents the Divine char- 
 acter in such a light that we can see how every attribute 
 and relation is in perfect harmony with the Divine love. 
 The opening of the Word removes all doubts concern- 
 ing those fundamental questions which have been debated 
 for eighteen centuries, antl which by the usual methods 
 of interpretation are no nearer their settlement now tlian 
 they were when they first arose. 
 
 But the spiritual understanding of the Word not only 
 settles satisfactorily and rationally all the doctrinal ques- 
 tions which have agitated the Christian Church from its 
 early history, it elevates and indefinitely enlarges the field 
 of knowledge. We gain a clear and rational knowledge 
 not only of the existence, but of the nature of the spir- 
 itual world and of man as a spiritual being. By drawing 
 aside the veil of the letter a new world and a new life 
 are revealed to the reason and the heart. 
 
 Every one knows what clouds of doubt and uncer- 
 tainty and utter darkness surround death and all subjects 
 connected with the spiritual world. Many persons really 
 deny its existence ; most persons practically do so ; and 
 it is regarded as a very high attainment in spiritual prog- 
 ress when there are no fears of death and no doubts 
 about the future, when all those momentous subjects 
 which concern our eternal welfare are regarded as mat- 
 ters of faith, and we are willing to shut our eyes and 
 push ofT into the unknown dark. But in the spiritual 
 
 sense of the Word these subjects are revealed in clear 
 
 28* 
 
330 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 light. Those whose understandings are elevated into 
 this light not only believe, they know, that the spirit is 
 the real man, that death is a step in life, that the spir- 
 itual world is a real world ; and all the laws of that world 
 and the nature of human beings in it, their social, civil, 
 and spiritual relations to one another, their modes of 
 life, their sorrows and their joys, are so clearly revealed 
 that they can see them and understand them as fully as 
 they can any natural laws. They come home to them 
 with the conviction of certain knowledge. 
 
 We not only gain certain knowledge upon spiritual 
 subjects, which were the mere objects of faith before, but 
 this spiritual glory sheds a clearer light upon all material 
 things and earthly interests ; it gives a new meaning to 
 all material things and to all human relations ; it removes 
 the curse from labor ; it lifts the burdens of life from the 
 heart ; it soh'es its enigmas ; it takes the sting from care 
 and death, and gives a new zest to every joy ; it throws 
 a new light upon every path ; and what is of far more 
 importance, it shows how all human, earthly paths open 
 into spiritual ones. This is its great, inestimable service, 
 because it is by means of this that it performs all others. 
 It shows the intimate relations between this life and the 
 life beyond, between earthly and spiritual things. In its 
 pure light we see clearly that natural things are not for 
 themselves alone. The labor, the wealth, the skill, the 
 art, the science, the beauty, the graces, the joys, the 
 power and glory of this life are not for this life alone or 
 primarily ; they are only the wonderful means to a more 
 glorious end. They are so rich, various, complex in 
 their forms and relations ; they so far surpass all human 
 
THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD. 331 
 
 wisdom that men have mistaken them for the final end 
 instead of the means to it. The scaffolding is so com- 
 plex, so beautifully finished, so spacious and in itself de- 
 sirable, that men have regarded it as the building itself 
 They cannot conceive how the Lord can be so prodigal 
 of power and riches as to spend so much for a mere 
 temporary purpose. But when He comes in the glory 
 of spiritual light, they see that He leaves nothing un- 
 done, even for the momentary good of His children ; 
 and that the most beautiful things of this life, even the 
 human body which is a universe in itself, are only the 
 coarse and hard coverings and rough doors which open 
 to the real mansion and the real world within. 
 
 While, therefore, this new glory corrects our estimate 
 of all earthly things, and shows that they are mere in- 
 struments to higher things, the steps by which we enter 
 the mansions of our eternal home, it does not in the 
 least diminish their value. It increases it rather, because 
 it shows their true use. The value of every instrument 
 is not in itself, but in the good it helps us to attain. 
 Measured by this rule and in the light of spiritual truth, 
 we can see that gold has more value than the worldling 
 and the miser put upon it. Knowledge is worth incon- 
 ceivably more for its spiritual than for its natural use ; 
 and civil power is a greater good than the most ambitious 
 ever believed it to be. Even poverty and pain and dis- 
 appointment may have an inestimable value, and death 
 itself is but the open portal to an endless life. 
 
 Again, this coming of the Lord not only throws a new 
 light upon man and nature ; it is a new light in him. So 
 long as the truth remains in the book it gives us no 
 
-132 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL A'XOJVLEDGE. 
 
 light ; the images must be transferred to our own minds. 
 Then the clouds and the glory are both there. The 
 understanding becomes elevated, enlarged, illuminated, 
 and purified. The intellectual eye is opened to discern 
 spiritual truth, and the whole mind is illuminated with a 
 new light and comes more directly under the influence 
 of the Spirit of truth ; the Di\ ine promise is fulfilled, 
 " He shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you." 
 
 The gradual and ultimate effect of this clear, rational, 
 spiritual light must be to settle all theological disputes 
 concerning the fundamental doctrines of religion, and 
 consequently it must produce that unity in the church 
 which every good man knows to be so desirable, and 
 which the church has sought to effect by e.Kternal and 
 arbitrary means. This unity will be obtained through 
 the largest freedom of investigation and discussion ; it 
 will come from within. This new spiritual light must 
 change the whole character of social, ci\ il, and industrial 
 life, because it changes the ends or purposes of life. It 
 brings humanity under the special guidance and control 
 of infinite wisdom, because the coming, the power, and 
 the glory are in the clouds, in the Divine truth in natural 
 forms, as they exist in human minds. So the Lord's 
 kingdom which is within us comes, and His will is done 
 on earth as it is in heaven. Surely no one can deny 
 that such a coming of the Lord must effect such results. 
 Does it not also involve the exercise of the greatest 
 power and redound the most fully to His glory ? 
 
 The common ideas of power are very natural and sen- 
 suous. We judge too much by the noise and commo- 
 tion and tlie vast array of means, by those effects which 
 
THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD. 333 
 
 strike the senses. We think of the earthquake which 
 topples down the firmest structures of man and shakes 
 continents, of the cataract sweeping along in its restless 
 current every obstruction and dashing it into its abyss, 
 of the ocean and the storm. But these are not the true 
 types of even physical power. If the force which rifts 
 and rends and sweeps from its foundations is so great, 
 what must that power be which draws all things to a 
 common centre and binds them together? There is 
 more physical power exerted in a mild May morning by 
 the force of attraction in growing grass and blossoming 
 flowers and by the balmy heat that penetrates every- 
 where and permeates every grain of mould and every 
 germ-cell of every plant than in earthquake and ocean, 
 cataract and storm. The power that destroys is excep- 
 tional, local, temporary, while that which creates, sus- 
 tains, and saves is omnipresent and ever operating. The 
 sun coming in the summer clouds, in the power of heat 
 and the glory of light, is the perfect physical type of the 
 coming of the Son of man, in the power of His love and 
 the glory of His truth. As the sun dissolves the bonds 
 in which frost holds the earth and bids the imprisoned 
 rivulets go free on errands of love and use ; as it opens 
 the closed cells of leaves, blossoms, and fruit to gladden 
 the eye with their beauty and feed the world with their 
 substance ; as it visits every particle of mould and every 
 cell of plant and animal and gives to each according to 
 its needs the power to perform its use, so will the Son of 
 man come to every imprisoned mind, to give freedom to 
 every thought and affection, power to perform its ap- 
 pointed use, and guidance to attain its end. 
 
334 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 We make the same mistake in our estimate of civil 
 power. We think of mighty armies marching with 
 resistless might to subjugate great peoples, of vast fleets 
 sweeping over the sea and sinking the commerce of 
 nations in its waves ; we think of the power to overcome 
 enemies, to subjugate, to imprison, to destroy. But 
 that is not true power. He who operates on others only 
 from without, by restraints, by fears, by compulsions, may 
 restrain their external movements, but he does not con- 
 trol their affections and thoughts. True civil power con- 
 sists in guiding the will of the people ; in making their 
 power yours by their own choice. Every mind you can 
 control in this mild, unobtrusive, invisible way increases 
 your power by the amount of its own. A king or presi- 
 dent who could so win the confidence and love of a great 
 people would have in his control a power unknown to 
 any tyrant that ever lived upon earth. Not only the 
 hands and physical strength of the people are his, but 
 those higher faculties of knowledge and skill and art and 
 intelligence and will. 
 
 The same principle applies to moral and spiritual 
 power. The church has been and still is an immense 
 power in the world, and the ruling minds have sought to 
 extend it by external means, by compelling assent to cer- 
 tain dogmas and conformity to certain external rites. 
 Suppose the Pope sitting in the seat of St. Peter could 
 burn every book and silence every voice which did not 
 speak the shibboleth of Rome, would that be true 
 power ? Would he not destroy more power than he ex- 
 ercised ? Would he not put out the lights of the world ? 
 Would he not obstruct and thwart and make useless the 
 
THE SECOND COMIXG OF THE LORD. 335 
 
 mightiest forces that are now awakening man to new life? 
 And yet how imposing such a power would be ! Con- 
 ceive it to extend over the whole earth ! An edict issued 
 from Rome reaches every man and woman and child 
 upon the earth, dictates to them what they shall think 
 and do, how and when they shall pray. Awful power ! 
 What grandeur of architecture would be embodied in 
 the churches ! What beauty and splendor of orna- 
 ment would adorn them ! What pomp of ritual and 
 form would characterize the worship ! What unity and 
 peace would everywhere reign ! But would there be as 
 much life and power in humanity as there is now ? 
 Would human faculties have the same free scope and the 
 same incentives to activity ? If they would, then the 
 history of humanity is a lie. No, with all our distrac- 
 tions and collision of interest and opinion, there is incon- 
 ceivably more power exercised for human good than 
 could be in such a state of forced uniformity and exter- 
 nal restraint. 
 
 It is said that some of the icebergs are truly grand and 
 beautiful. They rise hundreds of feet above the ocean 
 and cover many roods of its surface. They are so com- 
 pact and solid that they seem capable of resisting every 
 force. They crush the strongest ships when caught in 
 their embrace as easily as the bark canoe. They lift 
 from their beds and carry to remote distances immense 
 rocks which no human power could move. And yet 
 there are unseen forces playing upon them and pene- 
 trating them above and below, which gradually dissipate 
 their form and substance and bear their particles on in- 
 visible wings aloft into the sky and scatter them in dews 
 
336 PROGRESS I.V SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 and showers over a continent. Now they carry suste- 
 nance to the plant, refresh the thirsty, gather in streams 
 and drive the wheels of power, or, vitaHzed with heat, move 
 vast engines, bearing man's burdens and doing his work. 
 Such is the difference between a government or a church 
 crystaUized into imposing ceremonies and dead formal- 
 ities, and the human faculties set free from restraint and 
 vitalized by pure affections and employed in multiplied 
 specific forms for human good. Such is the difierence 
 between apparent and real power. 
 
 The same principles apply to glory as to power. The 
 true glory of a king does not consist in the pomp and 
 splendors of his court, the magnificence of his retinue, 
 and the obsequious honors of the multitude, or the fame 
 of his exploits, but in the wisdom and beneficence of 
 his government ; in the direction he gives to the com- 
 mon affairs of his kingdom and the provision he makes 
 for all his subjects ; the freedom he secures for them ; the 
 avenues he opens for the development of every faculty 
 and the attainment of every good. It is not the outside 
 splendor and show, but the quiet, unobtrusive, genuine 
 worth that constitutes true human glory. This has been 
 and must ever be the verdict of humanity. The glory 
 of truth outshines the splendors of the sun. 
 
 Now let us apply these principles to the coming of 
 the Lord. If, as He Himself declares, He is coming in 
 power and great glory, shall we look for power and 
 glory in their lowest and most external forms ? 
 
 According to the common idea, He is coming in the 
 clouds that float over the earth. He is to be attended 
 with a magnificent retinue of angels flying to every part 
 
THE S/iCOND COMING OF THE LORD. 
 
 337 
 
 of land and sea, to awaken the sleeping dead with the 
 terrible blast of their trumpets. He will establish His 
 throne in the heavens, from which will issue terrific light- 
 nings ; the earth will quake and tremble at His presence ; 
 the sun will grow dark in the splendors of His glory ; the 
 moon will not give her light, the stars will fall from 
 heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 
 The whole material universe will be in wild commotion 
 and rushing madly to ruin. And man and timid woman 
 and fearful childhood, trembling, affrighted, aghast at 
 these awful commotions, will, it is thought, be summoned 
 before the dread tribunal ; the wicked to hear their 
 awful doom, the righteous to be introduced into their 
 eternal homes. Would that be a greater exercise of 
 power than it requires to keep all these shining worlds in 
 perpetual and harmonious play ? Would it be more 
 glorious to make all knees tremble than it would to give 
 them strength to go on their errands of duty and love ; 
 to paralyze all hearts with fear, than to fill them with the 
 quiet joys of home or the holy aspirations of heaven ? 
 
 Or suppose the earth to be regenerated and the Lord 
 to have established His throne upon it and to be the 
 glorious King of the righteous? The whole earth has 
 become a paradise, and the comparatively few who have 
 believed on Him are enjoying its beauty and peace, and 
 will continue to do so forever. Is that as great or benev- 
 olent an exercise of power as it would be to make the 
 earth the gradually improving home of successive gen- 
 erations of immortal beings forever ; of beings . who are 
 to be transferred in a few days or years at the most to a 
 world whose perfections are inconceivably greater than 
 V w 29 
 
338 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 those of a material world can ever be, and whose means 
 of development and capacities for happiness surpass all 
 our conceptions ? I do not see how there can be but one 
 answer to this question. 
 
 View the subject, then, in whatever aspect we please, 
 how can we resist the conclusion that if the Lord is 
 coming in person to the natural sight of men, according 
 to the literal understanding of the Scriptures, He is not 
 coming in the highest, but rather in the lowest degree of 
 power and glory. 
 
 But it may be asked, Is it not equally or much more 
 absurd to suppose that nothing more is meant by the 
 Lord's coming — a coming which we must believe, if we 
 believe anything about it, is to work the greatest changes 
 upon the earth and in all human conditions — than that 
 men are to get new truths from a book ? Let us look at 
 the question a moment and see whether it is absurd or 
 not. 
 
 The true object of the Lord's coming must be to eftect 
 the greatest good to humanity. This no rational mind 
 can deny. It is to exercise the most power over the un- 
 derstandings and wills of men. The question is, Which 
 would effect His purposes the most fully, a jiersonal 
 coming, or the revelation of new and higher forms of 
 spiritual truth ? 
 
 If the Lord comes to destroy the earth and to put an end 
 to the creation of human souls, it is self-evident that He 
 puts a limit to the exercise of His power at once. But 
 suppo.se He should come and establish His throne here, 
 and gox ern men directly. Suppose He should come as 
 many Christians expect Him, with irresistible power, with 
 
THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD. 339 
 
 great magnificence, with the richest rewards for His friends 
 and the most terrible punishment for His enemies. Sup- 
 pose He were to establish His government over the nations 
 of the earth to-day. There is not a mercenary politician, 
 or an ofifice seeker, or a contract hunter that would not 
 hasten to His courts and seek His favor. The stock ex- 
 change and legislative and congressional halls would be 
 changed into houses of prayer, and Jew and Gentile 
 would vie with each other in devotion. Why ? Because 
 they would be suddenly converted to a love for truth, 
 justice, purity ? Because they are humble and penitent 
 for the past and sincerely desire Divine aid to assist them 
 in overcoming their evils and living a heavenly life ? No, 
 but that "thrift may follow fawning." And Christians 
 themselves must be much changed before they could 
 bear such power and favor, or all observation and his- 
 tory are false. If you say, the Lord would be omniscient 
 and know the hearts of all men, and would spurn from 
 His presence all hypocrites, that does not alter the re- 
 sult. Suppose He spurns them from His presence, or 
 sends them to hell, the result is the same. He loses His 
 power over their understandings and hearts. He fails in 
 the very object of His mission. He could control out- 
 ward actions by external power, but the will and the un- 
 derstanding cannot be forced. The mind must be in- 
 structed, the will and the affections must be led and 
 gradually developed by their own exercise. Even man's 
 physical powers cannot be forced beyond their own 
 strength. Samson could not compel an infant to walk. 
 It can gain the strength or acquire the skill to do it in no 
 other way than by walking. The wisest teachers cannot 
 
340 PROGRESS I.V SPIRITUAL KXOIVLEDGE. 
 
 force the mind beyond its own capacity. The attempt to 
 do it often injures its delicate organization. The Lcjrd 
 has all knowledge and all power, but the human mind 
 can only receive according to its capacity and the laws 
 which the Lord has implanted within it. No, every fact 
 of human experience, every natural, spiritual, and Di- 
 vine law, leads to the conclusion, that by coming in per- 
 son with display of power and glory the Lord would 
 defeat the very ends for which He created and sustains 
 humanity. 
 
 Suppose, on the other hand, that the Lord has given to 
 man a Book embodying His will, the principles of His own 
 being, the modes of His life, the exis^tence and nature of 
 the spiritual world, the joys of heaven and the sorrows 
 of hell, and pointing out clearly the way in which man 
 may escape the one and attain the other. These Di\ ine 
 laws and principles of human life are so expressed that 
 they are adapted to every state and condition of society, 
 giving natural truth to the natural mind, and rising and 
 opening as man advances, supplying milk for babes and 
 meat for men. When at length man is prepared for it, 
 the Lord gives him a key which opens a distinct plane of 
 spiritual truths that satisfy the reason, illuminate the 
 understanding, and feed with the bread of heaven every 
 want of the heart. Has He not embodied His power 
 and glory in the most benignant, the wisest and most 
 efficacious form ? 
 
 According to our belief, there are signs in that Book 
 which represent every principle in the Divine being, and 
 every mode of Di\ ine and human operation. As educa- 
 tion and civilization advance, the Book can be multiplied 
 
THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD. 341 
 
 and introduced into every liome and imbue the life of every 
 inmate within. The traveller can take it on his journey ; 
 the lonely prisoner in his cell can learn the way to gain 
 true spiritual freedom ; the sick man in his chamber can 
 find in it a physician which will cure every spiritual dis- 
 ease. As its true principles become known, and the 
 lives of men are formed after their laws, these principles 
 will rule in the marts of commerce and in the halls of 
 legislation ; they will guide the hands of civil rulers, and 
 human laws will be the outward and natural expression 
 of Divine laws. The graceful courtesies and sweet 
 charities which they inculcate will rule in social life, and 
 every home will be modelled after the heavenly home 
 which they reveal. By means of these spiritual truths 
 the Lord will come to every understanding, illuminate it 
 with the light of heaven, and guide it in perfect freedom 
 according to the laws of His own life. He sits upon 
 His throne and establishes His kingdom, not in one 
 place alone, but in every heart. And there He dwells in 
 all the fulness of the heart's capacity to receive Him, 
 constantly expanding every faculty and making more 
 room for Himself. He takes the helm of every indi- 
 vidual life in His own hand, and steers its course towards 
 heaven. 
 
 As men yield more implicitly to the Divine guidance, 
 and come more fully under these principles, the heavens 
 open, the spiritual world becomes the great reality. In 
 their clear vision men see it sliining through every 
 natural form and human use. They know that they are 
 already in it, and while they do their duties with cheer- 
 ful hearts and willing feet, they look forward to the time 
 
 29* 
 
342 PROGRESS LV SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 when the Lord shall call them home, with subdued 
 patience but unspeakable joy. 
 
 This is the New- Church doctrine of the Second 
 Coming. True or not, can you conceive of any other 
 form in which the Lord could come with so much power 
 that reaches to the centre of human life and places 
 humanity so fully under its beneficent control, and with 
 so great glory to Himself and blessing to His chil- 
 dren ? 
 
HOW TO GET THE MOST GOOD OUT OF LABOR 
 AND THIS WORLD. 
 
 ^' I pray not thai thou shouldest take them out of the world, 
 but that thou shouldest keep theui from the evil.''' — ^John xvii. 15. 
 
 DELIGION has generally been regarded as something 
 foreign to man's nature and hostile to this world, as 
 something to be superinduced upon him or added to him 
 to supply a want which is not inherent in his nature. It 
 is not regarded as an outgrowth and normal develop- 
 ment of his faculties as he was created in the image of 
 God, but rather as something to get, as a criminal obtains 
 a pardon and a release from the penalty of crime, or a 
 favor which he receives as a gift. It is regarded as some- 
 thing distinct from his daily life. It is a sentiment, or a 
 creed. Religion is not infrequently spoken of as es- 
 pecially useful to woman and adapted to her nature and 
 wants, while men have not so much need of it, implying 
 that it is not an essential factor of human nature. Its 
 essential use is supposed to consist in obtaining a remis- 
 sion of the punishment of our sins and securing our 
 happiness in the future life. It looks more to the future 
 than the present, mainly to the spiritual world rather 
 than to this world. Its exercises and duties have only a 
 remote connection with the common labors, duties, and 
 enjoyments of this life. 
 
 What help does religion give to the great majority of 
 
 343 
 
344 PROGRESS I.V SPIRITUAL KXOIVLEDGE. 
 
 Christian people in tlieir daily labor? Does it sustain 
 them in it ? Does it make useful labor honorable ? Do 
 its doctrines, as they are generally understood and 
 taught, tend to make the ordinary duties of life pleasant 
 and a means of expressing our love for others ? 
 
 On the contrary, is it not true that useful labor is gen- 
 erally regarded as a curse ? that there is thought to be 
 something ignoble and degrading in it ? and that those 
 who are able to live without it are the favorites of for- 
 tune ? How is a woman regarded who is compelled to 
 support herself by sewing or teaching or domestic ser- 
 vice ? Compare her lot with the lot of one who is under 
 no necessity of doing useful work ; whose delicate hands 
 are never soiled and hardened by contact with the imple- 
 ments of domestic service, and whose face is never ex- 
 posed to the sun unless in travel, or lawn tennis, or some 
 form of amusement ; who spends her time in reading 
 novels, or embroidery, or chatting with companions 
 about the last party or the next one. How fortunate 
 and enviable is the position of such a one compared with 
 her poor sister ! She has escaped the primal curse. 
 Like the lilies of the field, she toils not neither does she 
 spin, but is delicately dressed. 
 
 How often we hear it said of a young man who has 
 money, that he is independent! He is not laid under 
 the necessity of doing any useful work. He is in perfect 
 freedom to go where he pleases. He can travel ; he can 
 amuse himself He has no exacting necessities, no hard 
 taskmaster to call him up early and compel him to work 
 late. He, too, has escaped the curse of useful and regu- 
 lar labor with his hands. This is the verdict of the 
 
HOiy JO GET THE MOST GOOD OUT OE LABOR. 345 
 
 world, of the poor as well as the rich, of the saint as 
 well as the sinner. A laborer spoke the general senti- 
 ment when asked what he would do if a fortune were 
 left him, when he said, " I would throw down my spade 
 and never do another stroke of work." Consider the 
 meaning of the word " fortune." One man has lost his 
 fortune ; another has become heir to a fortune. Does it 
 not mean riches, freedom from the necessity of daily 
 labor for a li\ ing, freedom from obligation to perform any 
 use to others except it may be some polite social service ? 
 
 The church is in a great measure responsible for this 
 mistake and its unhappy consequences. It teaches that 
 labor is a curse. The error originated in part in an 
 entire misunderstanding of the curse pronounced upon 
 man, " In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread," 
 and of the meaning of labor and rest in the Scriptures. 
 Labor is supposed to mean useful work, and rest cessation 
 from it. But this is not their meaning. If it were, could 
 our Lord have said, " My Father worketh hitherto and I 
 work" ? By labor is meant conflict between good and 
 evil in our minds, and by rest the cessation of the con- 
 flict. But the Christian world has understood rest to 
 mean cessation from all useful service. Consequently 
 heaven is regarded as a state of eternal idleness, only 
 relieved by the diversion of song, and possibly by some 
 social intercourse between the shadows of human beings 
 in the shadow of a world. This freedom from the neces- 
 sity of all useful action is regarded as the highest ideal 
 of happiness. One of the common and absurd miscon- 
 ceptions of the doctrines of the New Church is, that 
 they teach that we shall pursue the same employments in 
 
346 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 the other Hfe that we do in this world. That would be 
 impossible in the nature of things. But we do believe 
 that the widest field will be opened for the exercise of 
 every good affection and orderly intellectual faculty ; that 
 every one will have some employment in which he can 
 perform some use to others and make it the means of 
 expressing his affection and of communicating and 
 receiving delight. I can conceive of no more terrible 
 fate than to be compelled to eternal idleness, or to feel 
 the stirring and impulse of immortal affections with no 
 power of expressing them in useful service. All delight, 
 all happiness consists in some form of action. The 
 reverse of conscious action is death. 
 
 The same fatal error has been made in religious teach- 
 ing concerning the material world as in respect to labor. 
 It has been regarded as a poor, mean, bad world, hostile 
 to man's highest interests, a world to be despised and 
 rejected and trampled under foot. Yet the very act of 
 departure from it, which men call death, is thought to be 
 the greatest curse and the severest punishment ; there- 
 are few who are eager to leave the world. But there is 
 no imperfection in the world. When the Lord created 
 it He pronounced it very good. It is perfectly adapted 
 to the purpose for which it was created. It is not the 
 world that is at fault, but the people who dwell in it, and 
 the misuse they make of it. Religious teachers have 
 mistaken the material world for the supreme love of it, 
 the Lord's hostility to error and sin for hatred of the sin- 
 ner, and the immutable principles and methods of the 
 Divine wisdom for an arbitrary and almighty wilfulnesss. 
 The Lord is represented as being above law, which 
 
HOIV TO GET THE MOST GOOD OUT OF LABOR. 347 
 
 is impossible in the nature of things, because He is law 
 in its origin, and to act contrary to it would be to act 
 contrary to Himself. 
 
 These mistaken views of the Lord's character and 
 relations to men, and the purpose of man's life in this 
 world, have cast a gloom over human minds. They 
 have filled the heart with groundless fears. They have 
 reversed the true order of all man's relations to the world 
 and to the Lord. They have robbed man of his best 
 Friend and the most powerful means of gaining his 
 highest good. They have mixed bitterness in the cup of 
 all natural delights, turned light into darkness, confi- 
 dence into distrust, hope into doubt and despair. 
 
 The New Church entirely reverses this mistaken view 
 of life in this world. It corrects groundless misappre- 
 hensions and places them where they belong ; it dispels 
 baseless fears and reveals the true cause for real ones ; it 
 shows man his true relation to the Lord and the Lord's 
 aspect to man. It dispels the appearances and illusions 
 of the senses, and shows man how to get the greatest 
 good out of this life and at the same time prepare for 
 future happiness. It gives him the knowledge and 
 power to get rest out of labor, comfort out of suffering, 
 joy out of sorrow, a substantial and permanent good out 
 of transitory possessions, help even from his enemies, 
 success from his failures, — in a word, to make all things 
 and all beings work together for his highest good. Let 
 us see in some particulars how the New Church helps us 
 to find light in darkness, blessings in curses, friends in 
 enemies, and good in everything. 
 
 First let us look, at labor, which is generally regarded 
 
348 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 as the primal and bitter curse. By labor I mean every form 
 of it, from work with the hands to work with brain and 
 heart. How much of it is basely servile ! How much of 
 it is done from compulsion ! How much of it is repulsive 
 to natural taste and feeling ! The limbs are weary, the heart 
 faints, the brain aches, and body and mind pray for rest. 
 The cliief attraction of heaven is its promised rest. 
 
 How can the curse of labor be escaped? Not by 
 abolishing labor. The most miserable beings in the 
 world are those who have no useful and steady employ- 
 ment. They lose their health for the want of regular 
 exercise, or from dissipation and excesses into which 
 they plunge to find relief from the monotony and weari- 
 ness of an idle life. The mind becomes weak, the pur- 
 pose aimless, the thoughts confused, and all the faculties 
 of mind and body become so relaxed and weak that a 
 grasshopper is a burden. It requires then more effort 
 to step into a carriage than it would for a person in 
 robust health to w-alk a mile. So essential is physical 
 labor in some form to health and happiness, that when 
 men and women are not compelled by necessity to 
 engage in useful labor they will seek exercise in sports, 
 in travel, in hunting and fishing, in playing ball or tennis, 
 or in other ways which they tax their ingenuity to invent. 
 The history of the world shows that no human being can 
 be happy without labor in some form, whether it is from 
 the necessity to gain a subsistence, or an effort to escape 
 from monotony and find pleasure. Action is a law of 
 life and the essential means of happiness. Idleness is a 
 curse from which every one seeks to escape. 
 
 Useful labor is more conducive to happiness than that 
 
nOlV TO GET THE MOST GOOD OUT OF LABOR. 349 
 
 which is sought merely to escape from ennui or in the 
 pursuit of pleasure. To carry stones from one pile to 
 another and then carry them back again would weary 
 one more than to build them into a useful wall. To 
 water a garden and see the freshness and beauty of the 
 growing plants would give one more pleasure than to 
 draw water from a well and povu" it back again. Exer- 
 cise for the sake of exercise, without the stimulus of 
 some delight and the reward of something accomplished, 
 is dreary work. It is better than inertness, but it lacks 
 the present pleasure, which is a great stimulus to action. 
 The pleasure which labor gains from the enjoyment of 
 some present or future good, however, only in part re- 
 lieves the burden. The pleasure is not so much in the 
 labor as in the reward we hoj^e to gain. Most persons 
 would prefer the reward without the labor. 
 
 But the way to take the whole curse out of labor and 
 to make it an unmixed blessing, is to perform it from 
 love to the Lord and man. We must put a spiritual and 
 heavenly love into it. The desire to do good to others, 
 to be useful to them and to contribute to their comfort 
 and happiness, must be the primary and central motive 
 of our action. This does not mean that we are to have 
 no regard for ourselves, and are not to receive a just 
 compensation for our work, but it does mean that the 
 supreme and governing motive and aim that enters into 
 all our employments must be the desire of being useful to 
 others ; and they must be so conducted, as far as possible, 
 that there will be use in the performance of them as well 
 as in their results. Let us look at some of the common 
 and useful employments as illustrations of this principle. 
 
 30 
 
350 PROGRESS I.Y SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 Take agricultural pursuits of every kind as an ex- 
 ample. The farmer can till his ground and raise his 
 crops from love to the Lord and the neighbor. He can 
 plough and reap and gather his harvests with the distinct 
 purpose of co-operating with the Lord in carrying His 
 purposes of love to man into effect. The Lord has so 
 constituted man's material body that it must be con- 
 stantly supplied with food, and He has provided the 
 means of supplying it. He has created ground com- 
 posed of elements suited to this purpose ; He has pro- 
 vided the seed, and the sun to quicken it into growth 
 with its heat and light ; He sends the rain to dissolve 
 these material substances and present them in a proper 
 form to feed the hungry plant and quench its thirst. He 
 causes it to grow, " first the blade, then the ear, after that 
 the full corn in the car." But He needs the co-opera- 
 tion of man to prepare the ground, to plant the seed, 
 to cultivate the soil, to gather the harvest and prepare it 
 for the market. 
 
 Suppose the farmer, while he is engaged in his work, 
 keeps this fact in his mind. The Lord has honored me, he 
 says, by taking me into His counsels, by permitting me 
 to assist Him in carrying His purposes of love into effect. 
 Would not this elevate his labor from the exercise of mere 
 animal strength, like that of the horse and the ox, to a 
 spiritual and human plane of life and make it honorable ? 
 He is co-operating with the King of kings and Lord 
 of lords, in building up His kingdom on the earth, and 
 forming His heaven in the spiritual world. Can you call 
 the labor of this use a curse? 
 
 While the farmer sees his corn and wheat and fruit 
 
HOIV TO GET THE MOST GOOD OUT OF LABOR. 351 
 
 growing in the sunshine and the rain which the Lord 
 sends, suppose he thinks of the use to his fellow-men 
 which this food will render. How much hunger it will 
 appease ! How much physical strength it will give to men 
 and women to render a service to the Lord in some other 
 form ! It will satisfy the keen appetites of the children, 
 whose cheeks will grow rosy and whose limbs will grow 
 strong with the nourishment which he has been an essen- 
 tial factor in providing. Would not his own heart grow 
 warm with this love of the neighbor? Would not his 
 brown face grow bright with the thought that the currents 
 of the Lord's love had flowed through his heart, softening, 
 enlarging, and enriching it, and that he had been an instru- 
 ment in the Lord's hands of distributing His bounty to 
 men, women, and children ? Is such a position mean, 
 degrading ? Is such labor a curse ? If it is a curse for 
 man to render this service, must it not be a curse for the 
 Lord to do His part of the work ? If it is love, mercy, 
 grace, and kindness in the Lord to provide food to supply 
 human wants, does not man partake of the same nature 
 by freely co-operating with Him ? 
 
 As another example, take mechanical employments of 
 all kinds. What does the mechanic do ? He takes the 
 woods and metals and earths, which the Lord has created 
 for human use, and builds houses to give shelter from 
 cold and storm, and to be a home for infancy and child- 
 hood, for the culture of domestic affections, and to be the 
 theatre of quiet and exquisite joys. He constructs im- 
 plements for his neighbor to use in cultivating the ground ; 
 he weaves his cloth and makes his garments. He con- 
 structs engines to carry men and the products of their 
 
352 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KXOWLEDGE. 
 
 labor over land and sea and bring the wealth of all climes 
 to every door. If the miner in the dark chambers of the 
 earth, the smith and tailor and shoemaker in their shops, 
 the merchant in his store, the sailor on the sea, and the 
 cook in the kitchen, could know and acknowledge the 
 grand truth that they are helping the Lord to carry out 
 His purposes of love and mercy and tender regard for 
 men, would it not lighten their labor and make it a joy 
 rather than a task ? They are doing a work which the 
 Lord cannot do directly with His own hands. He can 
 create the wood and the iron, but He cannot build the 
 house and construct the engine. He can create the corn, 
 but He cannot grind it and make it into bread. He can 
 cause the flax and cotton to grow and the silkworm to spin 
 its fine thread, but He needs our help to prepare the fibre, 
 to weave the cloth, and to make the garment. He has 
 given to man the ability to do this work, and made it the 
 means of the development of his intellectual and spiritual 
 faculties, and of filling his heart with delight. He has 
 placed us in the midst of these manifold uses, given us 
 the ability to perform them, and rewards us in doing 
 them, with health and strength and increase of capacity to 
 receive more life from Him, and crowns us with honor for 
 doing them. Here, as in tlie work of the husbandman, 
 every one can gain the comfort and receive the delight 
 of knowing that he is rendering a service to the Lord and 
 to man. He is clothing the naked, he is feeding the 
 hungry, he is healing the sick, he is carrying the weary 
 on his journey, he is providing homes for the homeless, 
 he is instructing the ignorant, he is contributing to the 
 common good according to the kind and measure of his 
 
HOIV TO GET THE MOST GOOD OUT OE LABOR. 353 
 
 use, and the knowledge of this fact will strengthen his 
 arm and encourage his heart. 
 
 Take the employments of woman as another illustration 
 of the principle. Many of her employments are monoto- 
 nous and in themselves contain but little to awaken inter- 
 est or call forth intelligence. Her work is perpetually 
 recurring. When one meal has been prepared and the 
 wants of nature supplied, another must be provided. 
 The cook and the chamber-maid and the mistress go the 
 daily round with little variety and apparently with liltle 
 permanent result. Wants perpetually recur and must be 
 perpetually supplied. What does the labor amount to if 
 it is performed from necessity ? What permanent reward 
 is gained for the care, the weariness, the anxiety, the fre- 
 quent failure, if there is no purpose but simply to do 
 what necessity compels ? I am not surprised that women 
 grow weary and feel life to be a burden. Many of them 
 are loyal to duty and natural affections. But what help 
 do they get from their religion ? Do Christian women 
 bear these burdens more cheerfully and find more comfort 
 and delight in their work than others ? On the contrary, 
 are they not taught that their labor and care and sorrow 
 are a curse which they inherit from the first mother ? 
 
 Now, suppose they grew up under the influence of the 
 truth that all their employments and relations are forms 
 of use and are means of calling spiritual affections, love 
 to the Lord and man, into exercise. Suppose the mother 
 and the nurse and the cook and the teacher and the 
 seamstress thought and felt that they are working for the 
 Lord and co-operating with Him in accomplishing His 
 purpose in creating the human race, would not that 
 X 30* 
 
354 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 thought fill their hearts with a peaceful and heavenly 
 pleasure ? Would not they see that every word spoken, 
 every meal prepared, every garment made, every pro- 
 vision for health and comfort and the development of the 
 physical, intellectual, and moral nature has a permanent 
 value ? The deed is ended, but the effect remains. The 
 burden of life is lifted, and the sense that some perma- 
 nent good is accomplished fills the heart with satisfaction 
 and delight. Working so, we are not working merely 
 for to-day. We are laying up treasure in our own minds 
 which neither moth nor rust can corrupt. We are doing 
 a permanent good to every one to whom we minister in 
 these natural things. If we put love to the Lord and 
 man into our work, if it be no more than giving a cup of 
 cold water to one of the little ones, we cannot lose our 
 reward. The heavenly motive glorifies the work. The 
 heavenly worker glorifies the Lord. ' ' Herein is my 
 Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit." The Lord 
 glorifies us. We are working for the Lord and with the 
 Lord. We are doing His work here in this world ; but 
 it is the same in final purpose that He and the angels are 
 doing in the spiritual world. We are working for 
 humanity and placing ourselves in such relations to the 
 Lord and the angels and all good men that they can work 
 for us. There is unity of purpose and unity of interest 
 which draws us together, which ennobles the most trivial 
 deed, and sanctifies the heart. 
 
 All the principles and doctrines and the whole spirit 
 of the New Church tend to this result. It is a maxim 
 of the New Church, that all religion has relation to life, 
 and that the life of religion consists in doing good. We 
 
HO IV TO GET THE MOST GOOD OUT OF LABOR. 355 
 
 do not mean by this that we are rewarded for our good 
 works with heavenly joys, as men receive money for 
 their work. We are not rewarded in an arbitrary way 
 for what we do, but the reward is in the doing. We 
 are rewarded in the heavenly affections called into play, 
 in the heavenly characters formed, in cherishing the 
 unselfish affections, in thinking truly and acting kindly. 
 The daily duties which we perform with our hands minis- 
 ter to our spiritual and eternal good, because we put a 
 spiritual and heavenly motive into them. 
 
 Finally, the doctrines of the New Church give us a 
 true conception of the nature of this world and of the 
 purpose of the Lord in regard to it. It is a grand and 
 beautiful world, and perfectly adapted to man's nature in 
 the first stages of his existence. It is our home for a 
 few years, and our Heavenly Father has furnished it in 
 the greatest variety and abundance with all the means 
 necessary for our support, our instruction, our comfort, 
 and our delight. How lovely it is ! How varied and 
 beautiful its forms ! How glorious the colors in which He 
 has painted it ! How delicious the substances He has 
 provided for the nourishment of the body ! How nicely 
 adapted its forms and forces to call into play the latent 
 possibilities of our affections, our intellectual and spiritual 
 faculties, and all those powers and qualities which will fit 
 us for our eternal home in the spiritual world ! 
 
 You know how much is said against the world. It is 
 generally regarded in the churches, at least by the doc- 
 trine of the churches, as hostile to man. Religious 
 devotees flee from the world, or try to do it, by shutting 
 themselves up in cloisters, by denying themselves its 
 
356 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 pleasures, and despising its beauty and manifold uses. 
 But this is a great mistake. The Lord probably knew 
 what He was about when He made the world. It is not 
 the world that is wrong. It was created to supply our 
 needs and minister to our delights. It is not the love of 
 the world that is wrong. The Lord made it to be loved, 
 and He gave man the capacity for loving it. It was 
 necessary that it should be lovely and charming to attract 
 our attention and call our natural and spiritual faculties 
 into play by its delights. It is not the love itself of the 
 world that is wrong and deadly in its influence, it is the 
 supreme love of it. It is when the world becomes the 
 end, instead of the means of gaining a higher end ; it is 
 when we make it our god and the object of our worship 
 that it becomes a deadly curse. 
 
 This distinction the doctrines of the New Church 
 clearly teach. While they show the danger and the 
 fatal consequences of making the world and its posses- 
 sions and delights the object of supreme affection, more 
 clearly and forcibly than any other doctrines have ever 
 done, at the same time they teach us that its good ought 
 not to be despised. The Lord created the world for our 
 instruction and delight, and it is as ungrateful and wicked 
 to despise and reject His natural, as it is His spiritual, 
 blessings. Innocent amusements and social pleasures 
 and natural delights are good and useful in their place ; 
 the enjoyments of the earth are as harmless and useful 
 in their place as the enjoyments of heaven. We can eat 
 and drink to the glory of God. 
 
 From this point of view, and in tlie light of these prin- 
 ciples, this world has a new meaning, a new use, and a 
 
//6»AK TO (JET THE MOST GOOD OUT OF LABOR. 357 
 
 new glory. Everything which ministers to our comfort, 
 instruction, and deHght is a form and token of the 
 Divine love. The power to see the beauty and enjoy 
 the good which the Lord provides is also a provision 
 of the Lord's love. In the light of this truth we can 
 appreciate His blessings more fully. It gives a keener 
 relish to our food ; it fills our social and domestic life 
 with a more interior delight. It gives a new beauty to 
 the flowers, and a new glory to the heavens. We are 
 the children of our Heavenly Father. It is His love 
 which creates, His wisdom which forms, His hand which 
 brings us these tokens of His love. His loving thought 
 and tender care which provide them for us to-day. 
 These doctrines bring the Lord near to us ; they tend to 
 call forth our affections and our gratitude, our trust and 
 confidence, and a sense of security from harm while we 
 remain under the .shadow of His wings. They show us 
 the deadly evils of the supreme love of self and the 
 world ; they give us power to resist temptation, patience 
 and hope in trial and suffering ; they make our labor an 
 honor and a delight ; they give us a just estimate of the 
 value of this life and a foretaste of the life to come. 
 
 Suppose, when you go to your work to-morrow, you 
 say to yourself ' ' I am going on an errand for the Lord ; 
 I am going to do a work which He has commissioned me 
 to perform ; I am going to render a service to one of His 
 children ; I am His agent ; I am employed in His office ; 
 I am commissioned to assist Him in His work." Would 
 not such thoughts and the consciousness of such a pur- 
 pose fill your heart with delight? It is of but little 
 consequence what your mission is, so it is a useful one. 
 
358 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KXOIVLEDGE. 
 
 Would not the thought throw a splendor over the day ? 
 Would it not give you a supreme moti\e to do your 
 work well ? Would you not be happy in it ? Would 
 you not feel it an honor and a joy to help the Lord and 
 to add to the comfort or alleviate the suffering or minister 
 to the wants of a human being ? Try it, and you will see 
 and know by blessed experience how such a purpose 
 will lighten the burden of labor, how it will raise it from 
 a drudgery and a curse to the high level of an honor- 
 able ser\'ice for the Lord and the neighbor. And in 
 doing it you will find that the Lord is working for you, 
 and rewarding you with enlarged affections, with keener 
 perceptions of His goodness and mercy. You will find 
 all your spiritual faculties expanding and growing into 
 the beauty and harmony of the Divine order, because 
 you are doing a heavenly work ; for every work is meas- 
 ured by the lo\ e we put into it. 
 
 All the doctrines and jirinciples of the New Church 
 tend to raise us up to this high plane of action. They 
 teach us the principles of this life of heaven upon the 
 earth, and they show us how to put them in practice. 
 They reveal the Lord as a Being who loves us with an 
 infinitive love, and who has no thought or purpose with 
 regard to us but to save us from sin and sorrow and bestow 
 upon us eternal life. A knowledge of these doctrines 
 and a life according to ther.i will help every one in every 
 condition to get a higher good out of daily duty, and 
 will prepare him for greater happiness through eternity. 
 
PEACE IN THE LORD. 
 
 ''Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you : not as the 
 world giveth, give I unto you." — John xiv. 27. 
 
 \ 1 7 HAT is this peace which the Lord promised to the 
 
 disciples in His farewell words, — promised as His 
 most precious gift, and as the fruit of His finished labors ? 
 We have some knowledge of peace on the material and 
 natural planes of life. Natural forces are at peace 
 though these bright worlds are moving with inconceiva- 
 ble velocity, because each one keeps in its orbit and flies 
 on its shining way in the path ordained for it. Natural 
 forces give us most beautiful and impressive types of 
 peace when they act in harmony : a river gliding along 
 in a smooth and silent current ; the wind bending the 
 waving corn, playing with the dancing leaves, rippling 
 the smooth surface of the lake which sleeps among the 
 hills, and bringing coolness and refreshment on its wings. 
 A spring morning when new life is beating in the heart 
 of nature and quickening every vegetable form into new 
 activity is a most impressive exhibition of immense forces 
 moving in orderly ways to accomplish the Divine pur- 
 poses. How silently the tender leaf emerges from the 
 coarse bud ! How gently the blossom opens its prison 
 doors and smiles in beauty upon the world ! There is no 
 noise, no confusion, no struggle with opposing obstacles. 
 The murmuring winds, the vernal warmth, the opening 
 
 359 
 
36o PROGRESS IX SPIRITUAL KXOIVLEDGE. 
 
 flower, tlie growing harvests, with united voice say, 
 Peace. Invisible influences melt into the soul with the 
 benedictions of peace. Such is the voice of the Lord in 
 His works ; such are the hints of the nature of peace, 
 which He gives us on the lowest plane of the creation, 
 and from them we may get a suggestion of the origin and 
 nature and blessedness of the peace which He desires to 
 gi\ e us in the higher realms of the spirit. Let us look 
 up then from nature to the Lord's direct teachings con- 
 cerning the origin and nature of His peace. " My 
 peace I give unto you." 
 
 "By peace," says Swedenborg, "are signified all the 
 things in the complex which are from the Lord, and 
 thence all the things of heaven and the church, and the 
 blessedness of life in them. These are of jieace in the 
 highest or inmost sense. It follows from this, tliat 
 charity, spiritual security, and internal rest are peace ; for, 
 when a man is in the Lord, he is in peace with his neigh- 
 bor, whicii is charity ; in protection against the hells, 
 which is s])iritual security ; and when he is in peace with 
 his neighbor, and in protection against the hells, he is in 
 internal rest from evils and falsities." ("Apocalypse 
 Revealed," No. 306.) 
 
 Let us consider this instruction in regard to the essen- 
 tial nature of peace. 
 
 First, observe what is said of its origin. It is from the 
 Lord. All its constituents in their aggregate are from 
 Him. What are we to understand by their being from the 
 Lord ? All life, all power, all capacity to love, to know, 
 to act, to sufl'er, are from Him, but the order may be dis- 
 turbed, their nature changed, in coming to us. Peace 
 
PEACE IN THE LORD. 
 
 results when these constituents of life are received by us 
 in the same form, order, and harmonies in which they 
 exist in the Lord. Love and trutli are united and become 
 one in act. They go forth in the form of use to others. 
 Truth does not remain a cold and separate thing in the 
 understanding ; love is not an aimless and helpless im- 
 pulse in the will. They become one. Each gives itself 
 to the other, and hand in hand they go forth to serve and 
 bless. They move in the paths of the Divine order, and 
 in the harmonies of the Divine life. There is no struggle 
 with obstacles, no conflict with hostile forces, no resistance, 
 no doubt, no fear ; there are no clashing and distracting 
 influences. All the faculties are lifted up and borne on- 
 ward to attainment by the gentle attractions of the 
 Divine love. The will and the understanding are in the 
 Lord, — that is, they are in the sphere of His love, they 
 are in the harmonies of His order. The will is vivified 
 with His life, the understanding is illuminated with His 
 truth, and all the faculties move in accord with His 
 creating and sustaining energies. This is the condition 
 into which the Lord created us, and these are the 
 relations which the Lord desires us to sustain to Him. 
 In such a state of the soul there can be no jar, no discord 
 in the harmony of life, no failure in the attainment of the 
 highest good. " In me," says our Lord, " ye shall have 
 peace." Such is peace in its aggregate. Let us con- 
 sider its three essential constituents. 
 
 The first is charity ; ' ' for, when a man is in the Lord, 
 he is in peace with his neighbor, which is charity." 
 Charity consists essentially in loving the neighbor as our- 
 selves. It consists in putting his interests on a level with 
 Q 31 
 
362 FJ^OGA'ESS IN SPIRITUAL KA'OWLEDGE. 
 
 our own, and in doing to others and thinking of others 
 and in regarding them in all respects as we desire to ha\ e 
 them think of us and do to us. When we are in this 
 state we are at peace in ourselves with others. They 
 may think evil of us, but we do not think evil of them ; 
 they may try to injure us, but we do not try to injure 
 them ; they may hate us, but we do not hate them. We 
 do not make others an excuse or an example for our- 
 selves. Our minds are serene whatever storms of passion 
 may be raging in the minds of others. The Lord gives 
 us His peace when we abide in His love. 
 
 Suppose every member of a family to act from this 
 principle of charity. Would there not be peace in that 
 house? Each member of the family is looking to the 
 good of all. Each one is trying to contribute to the 
 comfort and happiness of all. Consequently all the 
 members are serving each one. This is the heavenly 
 order. To every family living in this order the Lord 
 comes with the Divine benediction, "Peace be to this 
 house." 
 
 When the members of social, civil, or religious societies 
 think and speak and act from this principle of heavenly 
 life the kingdom of God will come to them. They will 
 be societies of heaven upon the earth. Suppose every 
 member of the various societies that are founded for 
 social, civil, industrial, or religious purposes should regard 
 every other member as he or she wished to be regarded ; 
 suppose we all thought of others with the same kindness, 
 consideration, and good feeling with which we desire 
 others to think of us ; suppose we all spoke of others 
 with the same tenderness, the same scrupulous regard 
 
PEACE IN THE LORD. 
 
 363 
 
 for the truth, the same desire to do them no harm, the 
 same desire to help them, with vvhicii we wish others 
 to speak of us ; suppose we were in the constant effort, 
 according to our abihty, to give strength to the weak, 
 courage to the timid, Hght to the ignorant, and in all 
 kind, wise, gentle, and useful ways to help the needy, as 
 we, who are all needy in some respects, desire to be 
 helped by others, would not such societies be heaven 
 upon the earth? The Lord's peace would reign in 
 them. There would be union, harmony, activity, strength, 
 help for each and all, peace and happiness beyond our 
 present conception of the possibility of attainment in this 
 life. 
 
 Another constituent of the peace which the Lord gives 
 us is "spiritual security" from the assaults of all the 
 influences which tend to disturb the harmony of life. 
 This is an essential factor of perfect peace. However 
 deep and full and exquisite might be our peace, it would 
 still be imperfect if its harmonies could be disturbed by 
 any corruption from evil desires or assaults from false 
 principles. The Lord gives us His peace according to 
 the immutable laws of His Divine order. The soul 
 stands in them, is lifted up by their attractions. It is 
 borne onward in the currents of the Divine forces. They 
 environ it on all sides ; they flow into it from within ; 
 they encompass it from without. It takes refuge under 
 the wings of the Almighty. There is no possibility that 
 any disturbing influence can gain access to it. The love 
 of self and the world has become quiescent, and we yield 
 ourselves without any reservation or reluctance to be led 
 by infinite love and guided by infinite wisdom. The 
 
364 PROGRESS ly SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 promise is fulfilled : ' ' Thou wilt keep him in perfect 
 peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trustelh 
 in thee." 
 
 When the Lord gives His peace unto us we come into 
 the clear and steadfast light of Divine truth. The dark- 
 ness of error cannot cast a shadow over us. Darkness 
 cannot approach light. Darkness comes b)' the absence 
 of light. Fill a room with light and you cannot get any 
 darkness into it. Illuminate a mind with genuine truth 
 and error can find no place in it, a falsity cannot approach 
 it. Cold cannot exist in the presence of heat. The 
 most delicate plant is perfectly secure against frost in a 
 warm and genial atmosphere. So the love of self and 
 the world cannot approach the love of the Lord and the 
 neighbor. They are opposites and cannot dwell together. 
 When the heart is full of hea\ enly love there is no room 
 for hatred. The conditions on which we gain heavenly 
 peace secure us against its disturbance and loss. The 
 reason why our peace is so often disturbed and destroyed 
 now is because we live so much in the world, under the 
 influence of selfish and worldly desires. We have not 
 gained the jjeace which the Lord gives to all who will 
 receive it. We ha\ e not yet gained the heavenly man- 
 sions ; we are in the border-land between heaven and 
 hell, and we are the subjects of contention between the 
 heavenly and the infernal hosts. We are troubled, dis- 
 tracted, drawn in opposite directions. But the Lord 
 bids us be of good cheer, because He has overcome the 
 world and has gained a position in which He can help 
 us to overcome it. When by His Divine aid this is 
 accomplished, we shall be where no falsity can find us 
 
PEACE IN THE LORD. 
 
 365 
 
 and no evil disturb the serenity of our peace. We shall 
 gain "spiritual security." 
 
 The third essential of peace is ' ' internal rest. ' ' While 
 we Hve in the world, — that is, in the love of it and in the 
 thought of it, — we shall look to it for peace. This is the 
 condition of the mass of humanity, and we are all more 
 or less in this state. We are looking without for peace, 
 to our external and natural relations for rest. If we can 
 gain sufficient wealth to satisfy our \\ants and gratify our 
 desires, then we vainly think we shall be contented and 
 happy. But we forget that our wants increase with our 
 means of supplying them. Our desires grow faster than 
 our means of gratifying them. Then, too, there is no 
 security against the loss of any possession. It has be- 
 come a maxim of worldly wisdom that it is more difficult 
 to keep wealth than it is to gain it. The consequence is 
 that those who possess it and set their hearts upon it must 
 be disturbed with anxieties and fears for its safety. Those 
 who look for happiness in domestic and social relations 
 and who are the most delightfully situated in these re- 
 spects have no security for the permanence of these 
 possessions. The relation of husband and wife, on which 
 more than on any other depends our happiness in this 
 world, is liable at any time to be severed by death. 
 Parents and children must part ; the most intimate friends 
 must separate ; families are broken up and dispersed ; 
 homes are forsaken and become desolate. There is no 
 worldly, no natural possession that is permanent. There 
 is no place on the earth where we can lay up a treasure 
 of any kind in which it will be secure. There is no 
 natural relation or possession, no knowledge, no affection, 
 
 31* 
 
366 FJ^OGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 no honor, no power, no personal tie that is safe from 
 harm and loss. Consequently every state and condition 
 of the natural mind is subject to doubts and fears and 
 anxieties and disappointments. " In the world ye shall 
 have tribulation." This is a truth to which there are 
 and can be no exceptions. But by the world is not 
 meant the material world, but the world of the natural 
 mind, the world of thought and affection that relates to 
 this life alone. So long as we limit our thoughts and 
 affections to a purely natural life, and in the degree that 
 we do so, our hearts will be troubled with fears and cares 
 and anxieties. We shall be subject to disappointment 
 and sorrow. It lies in the nature of things that it should 
 be so. There is nothing substantial and permanent and 
 fully satisfying in a worldly life or in worldly knowledge, 
 in worldly thoughts and possessions of any amount or 
 kind. They are useful in their time and place ; they are 
 as the husk to the corn, the chaff to the wheat. They 
 are instrumental to a permanent and substantial good, 
 and when they are regarded as instrumental means to 
 the attainment of something better than themselves 
 they are estimated at their true value and do not disap- 
 point us. 
 
 This is a difficult lesson for us to learn. How hard, 
 almost impossible, it was for the disciples to believe that 
 the Lord would be more fully present with them, and in 
 a position to do more for them after His ascension than 
 while He was with them in the material body ! And yet 
 it was so. How difficult it is for us to believe that those 
 to whom we are bound by the most intimate and tender 
 tics, ties which can never be severed, are nearer to us 
 
PEACE IN THE LORD. 
 
 367 
 
 and dearer to us, and we to them, and can render us a 
 more precious service now that they have awakened to 
 the spiritual life than when they dwelt with us in the 
 world ! And yet it is true beyond all possibility of mis- 
 take. How difficult it is to get out of the world in our 
 thoughts and affections and regard ourselves as spiritual 
 beings, as citizens of the spiritual world, and all our per- 
 manent possessions and relations to others as spiritual ! 
 But only in the degree that we do this shall we come 
 into "the peace of God which passeth all understand- 
 ing." 
 
 Internal rest is peace of the soul. It is the harmony 
 and orderly activity of the inmost and purest faculties of 
 our nature. It lies beyond the reach of all the changes 
 of time and space. Its home is in the serene heaven 
 above the clouds and storms, the doubts and fears, the 
 disappointments and sorrows of a natural, worldly life. 
 Internal rest ! Quiet, peaceful, trusting, satisfied affec- 
 tions ! Clear, distinct, tranquil thoughts ! Secure from 
 every disturbing influence ; secure from harm and loss ; 
 every treasure of the heart safe and assured ; no more 
 severed ties ; no more partings. ' ' There the wicked cease 
 from troubling ; and there the weary are at rest." This 
 is what the Lord promises us. 
 
 But this is not all, and consequently it is not enough. 
 There is no assignable limit to the Lord's peace. It is 
 more than rest ; it is more than security from any dis- 
 turbing force ; it is more than possession of any present 
 attainment ; it is more than home and life with loved 
 ones ; it is more than we possess or can ask at any as- 
 signable point in our progress. 
 
368 PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 Peace is not a quiescent, passive state. It is a most 
 active one. It is caused by the inflowing of the Divine 
 love into the inmost affections, vivifying them with hfe 
 and awaking them to harmonious and dehghtful activi- 
 ties. This love comes by means of the Divine truth, the 
 truth of peace, which affects universally all in heaven, 
 and makes heaven to be heaven. For peace contains in 
 it a confidence that the Lord governs all things and pro- 
 vides all things and that He leads to a good end. When 
 a man is in the faith of these things he is in peace, for 
 then he fears nothing, and has no solicitude about things 
 to come to make him unquiet. A man comes into this 
 state in proportion as he comes iniio love to the Lord. 
 "The state of peace which prevails in heaven," says 
 Swedenborg, " is such as cannot be described in any 
 words, neither can it come into the thought and percep- 
 tion of man, so long as he is in the world, by any idea 
 derived from the world ; for it is then above every sense. 
 Tranquillity of mind, content, and gladness on account 
 of success are respectively as nothing, for these affect 
 only externals, whereas peace affects the inmosts of all 
 . . . and thus makes the mind of man a heaven." 
 ("Heavenly Arcana," No. 8455.) 
 
 Such is the peace, so sweet with inmost blessedness, 
 so full of every possible delight from tlie centre to the 
 circumference of our being, which the Lord promises to 
 leave with us and to give unto us. Such is the peace 
 He offers to each one of us to-day. Such is the peace 
 He will gi\ e unto us as fast and in as full measure as we 
 are able to receive it. It is indeed the result of the 
 awakened activities of the deepest and purest affections 
 
PEACE IN THE LORD. 
 
 369 
 
 of our nature going forth to the attainment of their end ; 
 it is the glow and glory of the highest intellectual facul- 
 ties, acting in harmony with our affections, conjoined 
 with them, married to them, and working with them for 
 the attainment of our highest good. It is rest in action ; 
 it is certainty in the attainment of the highest good we 
 can conceive ; it is the fruition of our highest hopes ; it 
 is possession without the possibility of loss. It is more 
 than these ; it is elevation into clearer light and into a 
 finer and larger power ; it is the opening of the doors of 
 every intellectual faculty to be illuminated with the light 
 of Divine truth, and of every affection to be thrilled with 
 the Divine love. 
 
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