to something spiritual and Divine in the Lord's kingdom and in the Lord Himself, which correspondence no one could possibly know but the Lord alone, and, therefore, no one could dictate the Word but the Lord Himself. The Lord, therefore, has His own language in which He speaks and reveals His Love and Wisdom in His Word, both to angels in heaven and to men upon earth. In this language, which is the language of correspondences, He speaks, nor can He reveal His Truth in any other. The doctrine of correspondences between things natural and things spiritual, is consequently the "Key of Knowledge" of which the Lord speaks in Luke xi. 52, and which alone can unlock and open the Word as to its true meaning, and as to its application both to the church in the aggregate and in particular in the human mind. Sooner or later, it is quite certain, this doctrine of correspondences will engage the attention of thinking minds, when those controversies and dissensions respecting the true interpretation of Scripture will cease which have so long harassed the minds of good men, and engendered so much strife and animosity in the church. Then will those various prophecies be fulfilled in which the Lord says "I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water," (Isa. xli. 18.) which means that by the opening of the Word there will be abundance of truths for the intelligence of the church;-when also "the feast of fat things, full of marrow, and of wines on the lees, well refined," (Isa. xxv. 6.) will, of the Divine mercy, be provided for the sustentation of the church in every thing good and true, or in all the principles of a holy love and of an enlightened faith. Then also will the church of God be of "one language and of one speech," (Gen. xi. 1) and every one will be taught of the Lord. That this enlightened and happy state of the church may speedily approach is the sincere prayer of the members of this Society, whose publications all tend in various ways to the promotion of this most desirable object.

As to the Report of the Society's operations and sales during the past year, we respectfully submit the following statement of facts:

During the year the number of volumes sold has been 856; this is an increase of 316 volumes over last year, and nearly double the number disposed of in the year 1858 and 1859, which was only 475 volumes. The Society has published the new edition of the American work entitled "Sunday Lessons," which was stated in the last Report of this Society to be in the press; the price is one shilling per copy, and there have been 315 copies sold. The Committee would urge upon both parents [Enl. Series.-No. 105, vol. ix.]

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and teachers, the necessity of having this admirable little manual largely used in the education of New Church children. Two thousand copies have been printed, and these, most certainly, if the work was properly understood and appreciated, ought all to be sold out during the next year. If the members of the Church would aid the Committee by purchasing the works issued by this Society, it would enable the Committee to produce them at a less price, because they could then have larger editions published.

The Committee have reprinted during the year, a new edition of the very interesting and instructive work, written by the late Rev. John Clowes, M. A., entitled "Letters on the Human Body, principally designed to prove that the body is a mere effect derived from the soul, as its instrumental cause, and thus from God as its primary cause.' This edition has been thoroughly revised by the Editors, and is now published in cloth boards and cloth limp. The Tracts, entitled "Observations on the Lord's Prayer," "Remarks on Prayer in General," and "Plain Answers to the Question, Why do you receive the Testimony of Swedenborg?" have, at the request of the Committee, been published by the Manchester and Salford Tract Society, in their Tract series, as this Society considered when the Tract Institution was established, that all the Tracts previously published by it should, so soon as the stock of each was sold off, be for the future printed by the Tract Society.

Eight copies have been received of each of the first two volumes of the new edition of the "Apocalypsis Explicata," which has been printed from Swedenborg's own MSS., under the supervision of our esteemed and indefatigable brother, Dr. Tafel, of Tübingen. These the Committee will be happy to supply to those Libraries connected with the Societies of the New Church, in this district, which do not already possess such valuable books of reference and of final appeal. No Society should permit its Library to be without the original editions of the Author's works. The price is ten shillings per volume. Signed on behalf of the Committee,

July 4th, 1862.

JOHN B. KENNERLEY, Hon Sec.

THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS.

No. II.

We are now to consider what is meant, in the genuine sense of the Holy Word, by the prophecies concerning the restoration of Jerusalem, and of the Jews. A slight knowledge of the spiritual sense of Scripture will make the subject plain. As before shown, the Jewish people were raised up that they might become representative of a church. All their

history-their coming out of Egypt, their wanderings in the wilderness, and their arriving at last at the promised land-represented the church, its course and progress in the mind of every regenerating man; his deliverance from his natural state of bondage and subjection to sin; his passing through a long course of spiritual trial and temptation; and his reaching at last the happy land of heaven. So all their rites and ceremonies, even to the most minute particulars, represented the things of the church, its good affections and true principles, and worship from them. Now, on account of this representation, by the terms Jerusalem and Jew, in Scripture, are always signified, in the spiritual sense, the church, its doctrines, principles, and members.

By even a cursory examination of the Scriptures, we may be satisfied that this must be so, and that these terms cannot be taken literally. Consider, for instance, the passage in Isaiah (xxiv. 23):—“Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients, gloriously." What meaning can be attached to this passage without a knowledge of the spiritual sense? Are we to suppose that the Lord of Hosts-the infinite Jehovah, He "whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain," is literally to have His throne on a small spot of this earth called Mount Zion, and in a walled city called Jerusalem? And why should the moon be confounded, and the sun ashamed, even if He should reign there? Are not those luminaries His own handiwork? Did He not set them in the heavens? and are they not performing His will, as they shine on, and rise and set, and move round in their perpetual circle of uses faithfully? What, then, does the passage mean? A knowledge of the spiritual sense brings, here, light out of darkness. By the Lord's reigning in Mount Zion and Jerusalem, is signified a pure and celestial church established on the earth; and the Lord, through that church, reigning supreme in the hearts of men. By the sun and moon being confounded and ashamed, is signified, that in such a state self-love, and a false and dead faith, will be banished from the church and from the minds of its members; for the terms sun and moon, in Scripture, signify love and faith; but in the opposite or perverted sense, self-love and a false faith. Here, then, we see, that by Jerusalem is signified the church.

Take another passage, Jer. iii. 17:- -"At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart." Here, again, in the letter alone, Scripture is unintelligible. Not only is the Lord's throne called an earthly city, but all the nations of the world are to be

gathered about that city and into it. But can this be so? The nations or Gentiles may, indeed, be all brought into the church, but not into a city; and that this is the meaning, is plain from what is added"Neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart;" that is, being brought into the church, they will be instructed in the truth, and live the life of the church. Here again, then, we see

that by Jerusalem is signified the church. The prophets are full of similar passages, describing the future church under the name of Jerusalem. But by turning to the book of Revelation in the New Testament, we shall have a striking proof that by Jerusalem is signified the church. "And he carried me away, in the spirit, to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God." (Rev. xxi. 10.) Then follows a description of the city, no part of which, plainly, can be understood according to the letter. For instance, the city is described as being 12,000 furlongs high, that is, 1,500 miles, which is about thirty times as high as the atmosphere itself. Besides, John was in the spirit, and therefore it was no natural city that he saw; and moreover, it is described as coming down from heaven, whence no natural city comes, for such are built up from the earth; and above all, it is described as the "Lord's bride," which the church alone is. Thence it is plain, that by that city Jerusalem was represented the church. Yet, that this is the same Jerusalem mentioned so often in the Old Testament, into which the Jews are to be gathered, and where King David is to reign for ever, may be seen by comparing Rev. xxi. 2, and Ezek. xxxvii. 27, where very similar language is used concerning the two cities. Thus, in Revelation :-" And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God." Now in Ezekiel :-"My tabernacle also shall be with them; yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people." By the striking similarity of this language we must conclude, that if Jerusalem, in the one case, signifies the church, it does so in the other. From all these passages, the point seems to be settled beyond question, that by the Jerusalem spoken of in the prophecies of the Old Testament, and which is to be restored, is not meant the natural city Jerusalem, but the church. Let us look now briefly at the other term, Jew, and see whether that also has not a spiritual signification in Scripture. And let us consider, first, the remarkable passage in Zech, viii. 23—“Thus saith the Lord of hosts, In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have

heard that God is with you." This passage has been supposed to refer to the literal restoration of the Jewish people to the land of Canaan, and to show that they are indeed the chosen people of God; and that all others, being their inferiors, will come to them, and beg for a small share of their blessings. But if we believe that God is no respecter of persons, and that He prefers none but the good, we must be sure that this cannot be the true interpretation of the passage. The spiritual sense will make its meaning clear. As by Jerusalem is signified the church, by a Jew is signified a man or member of the church-one instructed in the truths of the church, and living according to them. Now, in this passage is described the accession of the Gentiles to the church;" ten men of all languages of the nations" signifying all of whatever religion, the number "ten" in Scripture signifying all; "taking hold of the skirt (or garment) of a Jew," &c. signifies desiring to be instructed in the truths which the man of the church possesses; for, by a garment, in the spiritual sense, is signified truth; for as a garment clothes the body, so does truth, in the understanding, clothe or invest the principle of love in the will, which is the essence of the man. Truth does not constitute the man, but rather the affections of the heart do; and therefore it is that a man's character is determined by, and his salvation depends on, not his understanding, but his will. The truth that a man knows is but a spiritual garment, which in the next world will be retained or thrown off, according as it does or does not fit and properly belong to the man himself. In that world a bad man will lose all the truth he knew in this. We see, then, that by the term Jew in this passage is signified a man or member of the church. It has a similar spiritual signification everywhere in Scripture; for instance, in Rev. iii. 9, the Lord, addressing the church in Philadelphia, says "I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie. By this is meant that those will be condemned hereafter who call themselves, and perhaps think themselves, true members of the church, merely because they are acquainted with its doctrines, while they do not live according to them-who make profession of religion, but lead evil lives. Here, again, by the term Jew is signified the man of the church. So the apostle Paul shows his understanding of the term in its spiritual sense, when he says that "he is not a Jew who is a Jew outwardly, but who is one inwardly." (Rom. ii. 28.) Such, then, is the signification of the term Jew in its spiritual sense, viz., a true man or member of the church.

And now, having learned the spiritual signification of the terms Jew and Jerusalem, we may easily discover what is meant by their future restoration. But to make all clear, let us first inquire what is me