the other. So in like manner the natural body is an instrument, medium, or organized form, by or through which the objects in nature, otherwise invisible, are distinctly seen by the human spirit. And therefore no one ought to presume, that man's faculty of seeing in reality belongs to the bodily eye; but every intelligent person will, in agreement with the truth, conclude, that it properly and strictly belongs to the spirit, which makes use of it as its instrument or organ of natural vision. In both cases the principal and the instrumental are distinct from each other: yet when the principal, which exists in a higher or more interior order of life, would extend its perception to a lower or more exterior state, it assumes to itself such a medium or instrument from this latter, as is best adapted to accomplish its design; and in such case the superior and the inferior, the principal and the instrumental, the observer and the telescope, the spirit and the body, act as one, or jointly together, in producing the effect. But who, besides an idiot, would ascribe to the instrumental medium and not to the principal agent, to matter and not to mind, to the mere body and not to the spirit, the distinguished prerogative of sight and intelligence? Who, besides the mere groveller in nature, the worm that feeds upon dust and garbage, would ever think of such an absurdity as this? Richard Carlile, he that boasts of his superior wisdom, and treats with contempt the great body of Christians, who venerate a Supreme Being, and can discern in all the works of creation the most manifest proofs of benevolence, wisdom, and omnipotence, in perfect union,-Richard Carlile has proclaimed himself to be that man! Materiality, infinite and eternal, against Spirituality, for whatever stakes you will deposit!' Such is the language--the presumption-the infatuation of an Atheist, or, if he must have a God, of a worshipper either of himself or of Nature!"

This is a luminous elucidation of an abstruse subject; as is also the next section, 66 on the Origin of Ideas," and many other

parts of this work,

In the last paragraph just quoted, and still more in some others, Mr. H., in exposing the insanity and wickedness of Atheism, discharges some very poignant ridicule at the folly of the Atheist. By some of his readers, this is disapproved: but certainly no one can read the language of the attack, without acknowledging that it is most richly deserved: and is the opprobrious railer, who regards none of the decencies of tolerated authorship, either in his matter or in his manner, to be treated with all the courtesy, which, in less flagrant cases, might be expedient? In one or two places, Mr. H. speaks of Carlile as deriving his notions from suggestions from below, and alludes

to "the kind of association into which his spirit has entered." Awful as the idea is, it is most certainly just; and it affords in fact, the only apology that can be offered for him. He denies, in the most shameless terms, the existence of a Divine Being: can any thing be more horrible? To suppose that the idea originates with himself, is to make him a Lucifer in chief. If it is suggested to him from a source extraneous to himself, where is that source? Is it in heaven, or in hell? If in the latter, what impropriety in saying so? Whatever may be thought of the man, none can deny the sentiments he advocates to be purely diabolical; and to impute them to their origin beneath, is to distinguish between the man and his sentiments, and to admit that the latter may be professed by him, without his being himself a very devil. Accordingly, Mr. H., in a pathetic and kindly-affectioned concluding address, exhorts Mr. C., not to make the connexion between himself and his present sentiments eternal, and appeals to him as "a young man, who has it in his power to repair the breach he has unfortunately made." To go farther than this; to treat the sentiments themselves, or the advocating of them, as venial; would partake more of spurious than of genuine charity. If, according to the often quoted sentiment of Sterne, it is allowable "to call a knave a knave; "still more must it be allowable to call knavery knavery, and blasphemy blasphemy. Nor can it be wrong to call folly folly. And when an Atheist, to evade the proofs of the existence of a Supreme Being which all creation offers, denies it to exhibit any marks of design, and goes so far as to say, that "the new-born infant is a blank designed for nothing;" that though it has eyes, ears, and nasal organs, so far from these being designed for any purpose, it is only from the necessit ting influence of surrounding circumstances that they are brought into use; "—it surely must be allowable to treat such a man as past being reasoned with, and to pour upon his sentiments the ridicule of which alone they are worthy. The only excuse that can be made for such sentiments, is, to ascribe them to sheer fatuity, or to an ebullition from the realms of darkness; and if this be censurable, we should almost think the language of divine inspiration to be censurable, when it says, in the words of Mr. Hindmarsh's motto, The fool hath said in his heart No. II.-VOL. I.

66

Y

the other. So in like manner the natural body is an instrument, medium, or organized form, by or through which the objects in nature, otherwise invisible, are distinctly seen by the human spirit. And therefore no one ought to presume, that man's faculty of seeing in reality belongs to the bodily eye; but every intelligent person will, in agreement with the truth, conclude, that it pro-perly and strictly belongs to the spirit, which makes use of it as its instrument or organ of natural vision. In both cases the principal and the instrumental are distinct from each other: yet when the principal, which exists in a higher or more interior order of life, would extend its perception to a lower or more exterior state, it assumes to itself such a medium or instrument from this latter, as is best adapted to accomplish its design; and in such case the superior and the inferior, the principal and the instrumental, the observer and the telescope, the spirit and the body, act as one, or jointly together, in producing the effect. But who, besides an idiot, would ascribe to the instrumental medium and not to the principal agent, to matter and not to mind, to the mere body and not to the spirit, the distinguished prerogative of sight and intelligence? Who, besides the mere groveller in nature, the worm that feeds upon dust and garbage, would ever think of such an absurdity as this? Richard Carlile, he that boasts of his superior wisdom, and treats with contempt the great body of Christians, who venerate a Supreme Being, and can discern in all the works of creation the most manifest proofs of benevolence, wisdom, and omnipotence, in perfect union,-Richard Carlile has proclaimed himself to be that man! Materiality, infinite and eternal, against Spirituality, for whatever stakes you will deposit!' Such is the language-the presumption-the infatuation of an Atheist, or, if he must have a God, of a worshipper either of himself or of Nature!"

This is a luminous elucidation of an abstruse subject; as is also the next section, "on the Origin of Ideas," and many other parts of this work,

In the last paragraph just quoted, and still more in some others, Mr. H., in exposing the insanity and wickedness of Atheism, discharges some very poignant ridicule at the folly of the Atheist. By some of his readers, this is disapproved: but certainly no one can read the language of the attack, without acknowledging that it is most richly deserved: and is the opprobrious railer, who regards none of the decencies of tolerated. authorship, either in his matter or in his manner, to be treated with all the courtesy, which, in less flagrant cases, might be expedient? In one or two places, Mr. H. speaks of Carlile as deriving his notions from suggestions from below, and alludes

to "the kind of association into which his spirit has entered." Awful as the idea is, it is most certainly just; and it affords in fact, the only apology that can be offered for him. He denies, in the most shameless terms, the existence of a Divine Being: can any thing be more horrible? To suppose that the idea originates with himself, is to make him a Lucifer in chief. If it is suggested to him from a source extraneous to himself, where is that source? Is it in heaven, or in hell? If in the latter, what impropriety in saying so? Whatever may be thought of the man, none can deny the sentiments he advocates to be purely diabolical; and to impute them to their origin beneath, is to distinguish between the man and his sentiments, and to admit that the latter may be professed by him, without his being himself a very devil. Accordingly, Mr. H., in a pathetic and kindly-affectioned concluding address, exhorts Mr. C., not to make the connexion between himself and his present sentiments eternal, and appeals to him as "a young man, who has it in his power to repair the breach he has unfortunately made." To go farther than this; to treat the sentiments themselves, or the advocating of them, as venial; would partake more of spurious than of genuine charity. If, according to the often quoted sentiment of Sterne, it is allowable "to call a knave a knave;" still more must it be allowable to call knavery knavery, and blasphemy blasphemy. Nor can it be wrong to call folly folly. And when an Atheist, to evade the proofs of the existence of a Supreme Being which all creation offers, denies it to exhibit any marks of design, and goes so far as to say, that "the new-born infant is a blank designed for nothing;" that though it has eyes, ears, and nasal organs, so far from these being designed for any purpose, it is only from the necessit ting influence of surrounding circumstances that they are brought into use; "—it surely must be allowable to treat such a man as past being reasoned with, and to pour upon his sentiments the ridicule of which alone they are worthy. The only excuse that can be made for such sentiments, is, to ascribe them to sheer fatuity, or to an ebullition from the realms of darkness; and if this be censurable, we should almost think the language of divine inspiration to be censurable, when it says, in the words of Mr. Hindmarsh's motto, "The fool hath said in his heart No. II.-VOL. I.

Y

There is no God." (Read the awfully true picture of the state of such persons in the True Christian Religion, n. 14.)

We are glad that Mr. Hindmarsh has found sufficient encouragement in the sale, to print several editions at a price which makes the work accessible to the poorest mechanic : and also, that the London Missionary and Tract Society of the New Church has purchased three hundred copies, for the purpose of distribution among the Coffee-Shops of the metropolis, whither Carlile's publications often find their way.

MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE.

Visit to England of the Rev. Mr. Carll.-The most pleasing information that we have to lay before our readers;-or rather, of which we have to preserve a record, the fact being. already known to our readers in general;-is, that the Societies of the New Church in England have, during the last three months, been refreshed and edified by the presence and discourses of the Rev. M. M. Carll, Minister of the New Jerusalem Temple at Philadelphia, in the United States of America. Our brethren in America have often afforded us high gratification, by the accounts we have obtained from them, of the efforts they have made for the propagation, in that vast continent, of the sacred principles of the New Church, and of the success with which their efforts have been attended. We have often felt cheered in our labours by knowing that we had such affectionate co-adjutors in the New World; and without any personal acquaintance, we had insensibly contracted for them a high degree of respect and affection. Thus prepared, to be favoured with the presence of one of those, "whom unseen we loved," was a high enjoyment indeed; especially when the individual visiting us proved to be one, who, had we even never heard of him or his brethren in America, would soon have gained our highest esteem by the worth of his own character. The cause of Mr. Carll's visit, was, the hope that it might be the means of restoring his health. He had been held suspended, for months, between life and death, by the attack of a typhus fever; and as he continued to languish without any certain prospect of recovery, his physicians prescribed a sea-voyage, as the most likely means of giving a decided turn to the disorder. Happily, the event was successful. Long before his arrival in England, Mr. Carl had begun to be a convalescent. Though still having the air of a man weakened by sickness, he has also continued to gain strength during his stay in this country; and we