Let those who disapprove the New-Church representation of heaven, consider whether they prefer to it Mr. Wesley's account of the new earth, which is to be the abode of the resuscitated saints, who, it seems, are not to go to heaven at all.

"Behold I make all things new.' We cannot think that the third heaven will undergo any change, any more than its great inhabitant (God); surely this palace of the most high, was the same from eternity, and will be world without end.

Only the inferior heavens (1st and 2nd) are liable to change, the highest of which we usually call the starry heavens. THIS, St. Peter informs us, is reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and destruction of men.' 'In that day,' being on fire, it shall FIRST, 'shrivel, as a parchment scroll,' THEN, it shall be dissolved, and shall pass away with a great noise,' LASTLY, it shall flee from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and there shall be found no more place for it.' At the SAME TIME, ́the stars shall fall from heaven,' the secret chain being broken which had retained them in their several orbits from the foundation of the world. In the MEAN TIME, while the lower, or sublunary heaven, with 'the elements, (or principles that compose it) shall melt with fervent heat,' WHILE the earth, with the works that are therein, shall be burnt up.' THIS is the introduction to a far nobler state of things, such as it has not yet entered into the heart of man to conceive; the universal restoration which is to succeed the universal destruction; For we look for,' says the apostle, 'new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 2nd Ep. Peter iii. 7. One considerable difference there will undoubtedly be in the starry heaven, when it is created anew; there will be no bluzing stars, no comets there. Whether those HORRID ECCENTRIC ORBS are half-formed planets in a chaotic state, (I speak on the supposition of a plurality of worlds) or such as have undergone their general conflagration, they will CERTAINLY have no place in the new heaven, where all will be exact order and harmony.'

"There may be many other differences between the heaven that now is, and that which will be after the renovation. But they are above our apprehension: we must leave eternity to explain them. We may more easily conceive the changes which will be wrought in the lower heaven, in the region of the air. It will be no more torn by hurricanes, or agitated by furious storms, or destructive tempests. Pernicious or terrifying meteors no place therein. We shall have no more occasion to say

'There, like a trumpet, loud and strong,

Thy thunder shakes our coast,
While the red lightnings wave along
The banners of thy host.'

"No: all will then be light, fair and serene, a lively picture of the eternal day. All the elements (taking that word in the common sense for the

principles of which all natural beings are compounded) will be new indeed; entirely changed as to their qualities, although not as to their nature. Fire is at present the general destroyer of all things under the sun, dissolving all things that come within the sphere of its action, and reduces them to their PRIMITIVE ATOMS; but no sooner will it have performed its last great office of destroying the heavens and the earth (whether you mean thereby one system only or the whole fabric of the universe; the difference between one and millions of worlds being nothing before the Creator) when I say it has done this, the destruction wrought by fire will come to a perpetual end. It will destroy no more; it will consume no more; it will forget its power to burn, which it possesses only during the present state of things, and be as harmless in the new heavens and earth, as it is now in the bodies of men and other animals, and the substance of trees and flowers; in all which (as late experiments shew) large quantities of ethereal fire are lodged; if it be not rather an essential component part of every material being under the sun. But it will probably retain its vivifying power, though divested of its power to destroy. It has already been observed that the calm placid air will be no more disturbed by storms and tempests. There will be no more meteors, with their HORRID GLANS, affrighting the poor children of men. May we not add (though at first it may sound like a paradox) that there will be no more rain.

"It is observable that there was none in Paradise, Gen. ii. 5, 6 ; we have all reason to believe that the same will be the case when Paradise is restored. Consequently there will be no clouds or fogs; but one bright refulgent day.

"Much less will there be any poisonous damps or pestilential blasts. "There will be no Sirocco in Italy, no parching or suffocating winds in Arabia, no keen north-east winds in our country

"Shattering the graceful locks of yon fair trees,

But only pleasing healthful breezes,

Fanning the earth with odoriferous wings.'

"But what a change will the element of water undergo, when all things are made new! It will be in every part of the world, clear and limpid, pure from all unpleasing or unhealthful mixtures, rising here and there in crystal fountains to refresh and adorn the earth with liquid lapse of murmuring streams.” For undoubtedly as there were in Paradise, there will be various rivers, gently gliding along for the use and pleasure of both man and beast.

"But the sea will then retire within its primitive bounds, and appear on the surface of the earth no more.

“Neither indeed will there be any more need of the sea.

"Every part of the earth will naturally produce whatever its inhabitants want; or all mankind will procure what the whole earth affords, by a much easier and readier conveyance.

“For all the inhabitants of the earth, our Lord informs us, will then

be equal to the angels, on a level with them in swiftness as well as strength; so that THEY can, as quick as thought, transport themselves, or whatever they want, from one side of the globe to the other!! And what will the general produce of the earth be? not briars and thorns, or thistles. Not any useless or fetid weed; not any poisonous, hurtful, or unpleasant plant; but every one that can be conducive in any wise, either to our use or pleasure.

"On the new earth no creature will kill or hurt, or give pain to any other. The scorpion will have no poisonous sting, the adder no venomous teeth. The lion will have no claws to tear the lamb; no teeth to grind his flesh and bones; nay, no creature, no beast, bird, or fish will have any inclination to hurt any other. For cruelty will be far away, and savegeness and fierceness be forgotten. So that violence shall be heard no more, neither wasting or destruction seen on the face of the earth, Rev. John Wesley. A. M. See his Sermon on the New Creation in Wesley's Works, vol. 9, p. 248 to 255." [There seem to be some errors in the above quotation, but they are not made by our printer.]

Certainly the prevailing corruptions of Christianity exhibit, in this volume, so much of their inherent deformity, and the doctrines of the New Church appear so lovely by the contrast, that no candid inquirer after truth can be much at a loss where to make his election. But while we admit that error is often strikingly exposed and truth beautifully exhibited, we cannot but consider the work, as it is, rather as a hint for a more perfect one

the kind, than as itself possessing a standard character: for although, doubtless, the author has expended much time and abour upon it, yet the authorities for the various opinions might in some cases have been more important and the arrangement more complete. The quotations are sometimes taken at second hand, which is often unsafe: thus an extract is given (p. 32,) as from Mr. Toplady, of which, though the sentiments are his, the statement of them is Mr. Wesley's, and purposely framed by him to expose the odious nature of the sentiments in the strongest light; wherefore, though perfectly just, it was vehemently pro'tested against by the author to whom it is here ascribed.

Before we close our remarks on Mr. Le Cras's production, we cannot forbear pointing out the mistake into which he has been led, in his Dedication, in supposing "Dr. Hurd," the alleged author, of a "History of all Religions," to have been the late distinguished Bishop of Worcester. The article he alludes to in that work was prepared by a member of the New Church at the desire of the publisher. Nor can we conceive how Mr.

Le Cras could think himself warranted in his conclusion, that Bishop Porteus expressed, on any occasion, his "conviction of the truth of our doctrines:" we apprehend that his favour towards them went no farther than this; that he did not think the holding of them by a clergyman of the Established Church a sufficient ground for ecclesiastical censure: his own religious views are best collected from his own works, and are not distinguishable from those of the Church of England in general. With respect to the "faith in the heavenly doctrines" "openly avowed" by the members of the (so called) Holy Alliance:" (one of whom, according to our author, was "Louis, King of France," who, it is well known, was a devout worshipper of the Virgin Mary,) we are afraid that Mr. Le C.'s readers will give him at the outset, for asserting it, such a degree of credit for credulity or misrepresentation, as will indispose them to a further serious examination of the work to which the "Dedication" containing it, is prefixed: When Mr. Hindmarsh's "Remarks on the Holy League" were published, there was room to hope that the equivocal language of that document might be intended to bear such an interpretation: but it is impossible to cleave to that hope now: still less ought it to be advanced as the avowed meaning of the sovereigns concerned. Divine Truth stands not upon the testimony of man. Any attempt to assume or boast the sanction of “ great names," which has not a fair foundation in truth, cannot prove otherwise than detrimental to the cause so injudiciously sought to be supported. We would therefore earnestly recommend the immediate removal of the "Dedication" from the volume. The sale of it, we think, might be increased by a reduction in its unprecedentedly high price: What will be thought of a publication, considerably inferior in size and typographical execution to Mr. Hindmarsh's Answer to Pike (first edition), for which, nevertheless, more than double the price is demanded?

On the whole, we see in this work much to approve, though there are some things to be improved. It certainly conveys a favourable impression of the talents of the author or editor; but they require cultivation to give them their full share of power. There are various symptoms which indicate that the compiler is young: when his mind is more matured, and enlarged by a greater store both of general knowledge and of a knowledge of the doctrines of the New Church,-the latter also being allowed

to have their due operation upon the heart; we hope to be justified in hailing his well-intentioned efforts with more unqualified commendation.

MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE.

The Meeting of Friends of the Writings of E. S., which used to be annually held at HAWKSTONE, was held, in July last, at WARWICK, and was found as delightful as usual, by those who had the opportunity of being present. The following Resolutions, which they passed, on the subject of the human soul or spirit, are well calculated to elevate to higher views than are usually entertained, all who may peruse them with serious attention. Resolved,

I. That the doctrine concerning the human soul, or spirit, and especially concerning the source of its life and energies, is of vital importance to every human being, since erroneous ideas on the subject have a manifest tendency to plunge him into unspeakable disorders and mischiefs, whilst a correct and scriptural idea cannot fail to conduct the humble and sincere believer to the temple of wisdom, purity, and peace.

II. That on this high ground, the philosophical and theological writings of the late Honourable Emanuel Swedenborg claim the devout attention of every reader, because in those writings we are not only taught what the human soul, or spirit, is not, but also what it is, and thus, whilst we are guarded against all the dangers of mistaken apprehension, we are initiated, at the same time, into all the sublime and edifying mysteries of the most luminous and consolatory psychology.

III. That these beneficial effects, as derived from the above writings, are the results of the following simple, yet most full and satisfactory definition of the human soul, or spirit, viz: that it is not a mere breath, phantom, or vupour, as some imagine it to be, to which is superadded a thinking principle, and which contains in itself an independent life of its own, but that, on the contrary, it is a real spiritual form and substance, distinct from matter, created to receive life continually, in the way of influx, from its GREAT CREATOR, and thus, notwithstanding the necessary appearance that it possesses independent life, yet the real truth is, that it is merely a receptive and re-active form of life, and this momentarily.

IV. That this definition of the human soul, or spirit, is in the most perfect accord both with sound reason and the truth of revelation, since sound reason teaches, that, as the body derives its existence from the soul, or spirit, therefore we are authorised to conclude, that it derives also its form from the same source, and whereas the form of the body is confessedly a human form, therefore the form of the soul, or spirit, also is of the