Father, and the Father in me?" But the time was not yet come when mankind could fully perceive that His assumption of human nature was combined with the divine nature; they would only be able to perceive it when He came anew with great power and glory, which coming is set forth with heavenly images in the revelation of St. John. The Prophets of the Old Testament speak also often thereof. We will here make only a few quotations from one of them, Isaiah, who lived nearly 800 years before our Christian era.

In the 9th chapter of that Prophecy we find the significant and expressive Epistle of the morrow. There is announced in varied images the coming of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and the ultimate victory over spiritual darkness, over all sin and error. For," says the Prophet, "unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Councillor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of (his) government and peace (there shall be) no end," &c. Further, when we have considered how the inspired Seer is tossed to and fro between past and coming times and events, we may look at the 25th chapter. There he says," And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this (is) our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us; this (is) the Jehovah; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation."

In chap. xxxv. 4.-" Behold, your God will come (with) vengeance, (even) God (with) a recompense; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame (man) leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert," &c. Also xl. 9-11.

Chap. xliii. 11.—“ I, (even I,) (am) the Lord; and beside me (there is) no Saviour."

Chap. xliv. 6.-"Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of Hosts: I (am) the first, and I (am) the last; and beside me (there is) no God."

Chap. xliv. 24.- "Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer,-I (am) the Lord that maketh (all things); that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself."

Chap. xlv. 5.-I (am) the Lord, and (there is) none else, (there is) no God beside me; I girded thee though thou hast not known me." Verse 15, "Verily thou (art) a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour." Verses 21, 22.-"(Have) not I, the Lord, (told it)?

and (there is) no God else beside me.

Look unto me, and be ye saved,

all the ends of the earth: for I (am) God, and (there is) none else."

Chap. liv. 5." The Lord of Hosts (is) his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall he be called." These and other plain prophecies were at that time forgotten, and are not yet fully understood. Various as the authority of the Lord our Saviour was, in His state of humiliation, then considered, so it is still; and on account of a different idea of His divinity, mankind are in different degrees of spiritual light. Those who remain in unbelief, are in spiritual darkness and misery, which will be fully manifested when the mantle of time is dropped, and the immortal spirit appears transparent in the light and life of the eternal truth. But all who believe, love, and obey Him, they may here call Him Son or Father, King or Lord, they belong to Him, and shall once be inhabitants of His Kingdom. To all such this Christmas festivity is a sweet memento of His birth, and of their union with Him.

Our Pagan ancestors, who knew no other light than that of nature, celebrated Christmas as a victorious feast of the light, because the days from that time are getting longer. They indulged in eating and drinking, in presenting gifts to one another, and in sportive festivities. There are still many such heathens even among those who profess themselves to be Christians, who derive no other benefit from this festival than sensual and temporary pleasures, which, inconsiderately enjoyed, often cause injury and regret. But that soul, who is constantly being sanctified through an intimate acquaintance with the Saviour, and who regards Him in all things, is by Him preserved from abusing His gifts, not disgracing himself by revelling and wantonness, but enjoying, as a cheerful and obedient child of God, the gifts, whether few or many, which from His abundant father-house flow over the earth and testify His love and wisdom, His grace and mercy. Such a one carries his Saviour in his cheerful, humble, and grateful heart, as well in darkness and loneliness, as in the temple and in the society of men.

May it be our earnest endeavour and warmest desire, by the baptism ordained as members of the Church and kingdom of Jesus Christ, to celebrate this cheerful feast, so that, whether it be in the agreeable society of loving friends or in silent retirement, we may be connected with our Lord, and from Him receive all things, and enjoy all to His praise and glory! Let us for that purpose seek His help in his own prayer," Our Father, which art in heaven," &c. &c.

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MEANS PROVIDED BY THE LORD FOR THE PROMOTION OF HIS TRUTH.

(Extracted from the last Report of the Manchester Printing Society, and printed here by request.)

IT requires but little reflection to teach us that the Press is the great means, under the Lord's Providence, of disseminating the Truths and Doctrines of the New Church amongst men. The enlightened Swedenborg, who was first commissioned to teach and promulgate these Doctrines, availed himself of this as the only means of their promulgation. His voice was comparatively silent, but his pen was wonderfully active in this great and holy cause. He sent forth from the press his wonderful volumes, shewing the true nature of the Word of God, expounding its spiritual sense, and the pure doctrines of Christianity, and left them to the wise disposal of the Lord's Providence, knowing that when men's minds were prepared, they would receive the testimony of their truth, especially as to the one adorable OBJECT of all worship,-the Lord Jesus Christ, and the way of salvation, which is the love of Him, through keeping His Commandments. And since the time of Swedenborg, how widely have the operations of the press been extended! It has gained so great a power that it may now, indeed, be considered as by far the greatest and most efficient means of instructing the human mind. The voice of the living teacher is thus stereotyped, and though dead, his utterances are still living amongst us.

It was, therefore, readily to be supposed that the first receivers of the Doctrines of the New Jerusalem should avail themselves of the press as the effective engine of their operations; and this Printing Society was organized and established for that useful purpose. This is not the place to enter upon the history of this Society and its proceedings, which in former reports have been sufficiently dwelt upon. But we may advert to the progress which the art of reading has made, and the consequent progress with which the art of printing has advanced during the last sixty or seventy years. In the year 1762, Swedenborg announced the important fact, that the cultivation of the intellectual faculty, or the work of education and instruction, would henceforth be the great object of succeeding generations. He saw, from causes operating in the world of mind, or the spiritual world, since the last Judgment in 1757, that a mighty change would be gradually effected as to our rational nature, and that man would, through the process of a superior culture, be raised from the lower sensual to the

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higher rational degree of his life. For we know that the human mind is as ground which assumes a quality according as it is cultivated. Man is what he is, in the scale of rational beings, by virtue of education and instruction. So important is the knowledge of Truth, that as Swedenborg says, "There can be no love of God without this knowledge; no love of the neighbour, no regeneration, no true faith, no true charity, no true worship, and consequently no salvation, without the knowledge of Truths." (A. R. 161.) The same great fact is also declared by the apostles. "Ye are saved," says Paul, "by the love of the Truth." (2 Thess. ii. 10.) "Ye purify your souls," says Peter, "by obeying the Truth through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love of the brethren, loving one another with a pure heart, fervently." (1 Peter, i. 22.) "Ye do err," says the Lord, to the carnal-minded Sadducees, knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God." (Mat. xxii. 29.) Thus ignorance of the Truth is the cause of all error, and as the " "power of God" can only be exercised through, or by means of the Truth, hence there can be no conjunction with God, or salvation, where the Truth is either not known, or perverted. The immense importance, then, of the knowledge of Truth can be scarcely conceived; and the object of this Society is to propagate the Truth, and thereby to secure the greatest blessings to mankind. As another reason why we should continue the good work contemplated by this Society, is what the author further says respecting the importance of Truths, and their reception by the human mind as the means of salvation. Truths," he observes, "are the receptacles of Good, and Good is the receptacle, or habitation of the Lord in man ;" so that without Truths, man can have no residence in his mind for Goodness, and consequently for the Lord, who alone can dwell in His own Goodness with man. Thus the Lord dwells more fully within us in proportion to the number of Truths we know, love and realize in our conduct.

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Now, at the period above stated, when Swedenborg made the declaration that education, after the last Judgment, would become general, and that the intellectual faculties of men would be cultivated for the reception of Truth, we find that very few persons in the entire community could even read; probably not one in a hundred of the aggregate population could read the Bible. But now, how great is the change! It is rare, indeed, except in extreme cases, amongst the very destitute and neglected, to meet with any that cannot read the Scriptures. The cause of this great change we well know; prior to that period, men had similar natural inducements to cultivate the intellectual faculty, as afterwards, but the great impetus was wanting; this impetus was supplied by the N. S. No. 168.-VOL. XIV.

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new power of illustration which began to operate on the mind after the event of the last Judgment; and this operation is still being carried on with accelerated speed to our own time, when it is becoming powerful indeed, so that the voice of the entire nation is raised up in its favour. We consider, then, that this great mental activity, and this wonderful thirst after knowledge, is a luminous evidence of some of the results of the Lord's second coming. But to supply nourishment for this increased mental activity, and that nourishment of the highest and purest character, is the great object of this Institution.

But besides this increased activity of the human mind, it was to be expected that the most glorious result of the Lord's second coming would be the very extensive spread of the Holy Scriptures. The Lord, we know, can only come to man in His Word, and by means of its Truths. He is divinely said to come "in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory;" but we know that the "clouds of heaven” signify the letter of the Word; and when we reflect, that the Word, during the last fifty years, has been translated into upwards of a hundred languages and dialects, and that nearly forty-six millions of copies have been distributed in one hundred and forty-eight languages, amongst nearly every nation, people, and tribe upon the face of the earth, we can indeed behold the fact, that the Lord is coming "in the clouds of heaven,” and we doubt not that the "power and great glory" of the spiritual sense will be gradually discerned and acknowledged by the human mind. We have been led to allude to this wonderful spread of the Holy Scriptures, because this Society, in all its operations, acknowledges itself only as an humble instrument in promoting a true knowledge and a sincere reception of the Word of God. And as this is the Jubilee year of the British and Foreign Bible Society, we cannot but impress upon our brethren who may read this report, the great claims which the Bible Society has upon their attention and their liberality.

Another subject, which cannot but strike the mind of every observer as being delightful in itself, and most beneficial to all, is the strong tendency which men experience to unite themselves into associations, giving rise to institutions for the universal good of mankind. The Bible Society is one great evidence of this; but the innumerable societies established for other and most benevolent purposes, are so many evidences of a new and powerful influence, operating from above. This tendency to union and combined effort for benevolent and useful purposes is one of the most delightful signs of the times, and eminently charac teristic of the results which might be expected at the Lord's second coming.