were present at the opening, friends from Liverpool, London, Northfleet, Gravesend, Chatham, Maidstone, and Tunbridge. The friends from distant places were hospitably entertained by Mr. and Mrs. Hook. On the Monday evening following, Mr. Goyder delivered a lecture on "The Nature of the Life after Death." Our beloved brother delivered these discourses with an energy and an emphasis which, considering his age, surprised most of his audience. In this discourse Dr. Goyder dwelt on the nature of affection, as seeking to join itself with its own similitude; from which are derived all consociations and unions both in the natural and in the spiritual worlds.

The opening service on the Sunday was well attended; in the evening the church was filled; and on Monday night it was crowded.

In its external appearance the church is plain, but neat and substantial. In the interior it is tastefully as well as beautifully fitted-up; no expense having been spared. The altar is railed off from the body of the church; in the centre thereof is the communion table, covered with a rich crimson velvet cloth, on which, embroidered in gold, is the sacred monogram "I.H.S.," surmounted by a cross. Above, in the centre, between two windows, ornamentally bordered with stained glass, the Divine Commandments, as recited by the Lord in Matt. xxii. 37-40, are elegantly written in blue and gold characters. The communion end of the church is raised about a foot above the congregational part, and is covered with a rich carpet. There are two desks, and on each side of the communion table a chair for the ministers. The font for baptism is of stone, and in keeping with the medieval character of the desks, chairs, and seats for the congregation. On each side of the entrance to the church, which is protected by double doors and an entrance lobby, there is a space, on one side for the harmonium and choir, and on the other a curtained recess, to serve as a vestry. The church is lighted by three semicircular trefoil burners, which branch out sufficiently to afford ample light on each range of seats occupied by the congregation, affording also a chastened light to cover the reading-desk and pulpit. The ventilation is complete. Two of the ventilators have the appear

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ance of columns, on which is written in beautifully illuminated letters, in blue and gold colours-"O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand." This is the work of the Misses Hook, who have also very neatly decorated the church,— the Lord's Prayer being tastefully displayed in illuminated letters round the walls. On the whole this is pronounced one of the most elegant little structures to be found in the New Church. It will seat about eighty persons. "May it be a joy and rejoicing to the heart" of the worshippers! "a glory and a lifting of the head" to the village in which it is situated! and may the worthy family by whose liberality it has been raised (the members all having, according to their means, subscribed towards the furnishing and fitting-up of this little temple) long live in the enjoyment of peace and happiness, and see the work of their hands prosper, rendering all the praise, honour, and glory to Jesus Christ our only Lord; to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever!

CHARLES GLADWELL.

THE MEMORIAL TO THE LATE REV. W. MASON.-To the Editor.—Dear Sir,— Permit us, through the columns of the Intellectual Repository, to inform the contributors to the memorial to the late Rev. William Mason, that we have carried out their wishes by the publication of 500 copies of Mr. Mason's valuable work, "Help to Devotion,” which we hope will shortly be sold out, as its great merits and extremely small price eminently deserve. We have also placed a simple monument in the Derby Cemetery, consisting of an effectivelooking upright stone at the head of, and a flat stone upon, the grave where the mortal remains of our dear friend are interred. The inscription on the head-stone is as follows:

Here lie the Mortal Remains of the Rev. WILLIAM MASON, for 38 years a most faithful Minister of the New Church, who departed this life May 19th, 1863, aged 73 years.

He was the author of many valuable works on practical piety, and other theological and moral subjects, illustrative and expository of the Sacred Word of God, as explained in the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg.

"All religion has relation to life, and the life of religion is to do good."-Swedenborg.

*

with us, he delivered a course of highly interesting lectures; and a meeting of the members and friends was held, which was very successful. * * Immediately after this, the Rev. C. Wilkins tendered his resignation, on the ground that he could no longer identify himself with a people called by the name of the New Church. This resignation he was willing to withdraw upon certain conditions, one of which was that we would consent to relinquish the name. This the society unanimously declined to do, and Mr. Wilkins' resignation was accepted. It is needless here to dwell upon this further than may enable us to realise the position in which it has placed us, and to consider the best means of carrying out in future the objects for which the society exists." Since the above report was presented by the Committee, a meeting of the members has been held, at which Mr. Henry Best was appointed leader. Though we have experienced great discouragement, we have faith in our future progress, and in the Lord's New Church. We would not omit to men. tion the very valuable and timely assistance rendered us by our kind friend the Rev. W. Ray, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, who has twice paid us a visit and ministered to our spiritual necessities. Our warmest thanks are due to him for his kindness, and for the encouragement which his presence gave us.

IPSWICH. On Sunday, July 10th, Mr. James Spilling, of Norwich, paid a missionary visit to this society, and preached morning and evening. At the close of the morning's service, twenty-one friends joined in the celebration of the Lord's Supper, and three adults and one child from Snape were baptised. In the afternoon, Mr. Spilling visited the Sundayschool, and addressed the children. On Monday evening he delivered an effective lecture, a notice of which appeared in the Suffolk Chronicle. He based his arguments upon the saying of our Lord"The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." In illustration of his subject, he said there was the same difference between the Bible and any book of human composition as there was between a living man and a marble statue, or a living flower and a wax model. The Bible

was a spiritual book, and in it was to be found a life history of every regenerating soul. It contained throughout an inner spiritual sense, and might be compared to a casket enclosing brilliant pearls, containing a lucid heavenly meaning, distinct from, but within, the letter. It was also written according to a fixed and immutable law-the law of correspondences. The lecturer also commented upon the works of Bishop Colenso and "Essays and Reviews," remarking that while scepticism was strengthened, and many pious men had their faith in the Bible weakened by them, such attacks fell harmless upon the members of the New Church, their belief in the inspiration of the Sacred Scriptures resting upon a basis far beyond the reach of sceptical clergymen or infidel teachers.

GRATIFYING TESTIMONIAL TO THE REV. WM. ROTHERY, LATE OF WORKINGTON. On the evening of Tuesday last, a deputation consisting of the ex-churchwardens of the Abbey Church, Hexham, waited upon the Rev. William Rothery, at his residence in the Abbey, and presented to him a valuable gold watch, and a full purse of gold, as a spontaneous testimonial of the esteem in which he is held by a very large circle of friends, "for (as Mr. Scott, the senior ex-churchwarden, remarked) the very able, energetic, and conscientious discharge of his pulpit ministrations, the ardent zeal with which he devoted himself to visiting and comforting the afflicted and poor, and for his amiable and consistent walk and conversation." In acknowledging this parting expression of regard for him as a Christian minister, Mr. Rothery said "I value this present especially for what it represents, viz., kindliness to myself, heartfelt and genuine sympathy with me, and appreciation of my humble but earnest endeavours to teach the pure religion of our blessed Lord. My sacred ministrations here, public or private; the happiness which I have had amongst you; and the respect which has been shown me by all parties and grades of society, have linked Hexham firmly to my life. I am glad that this testimonial is from the Abbey Church congregation in general, from Catholics, Presbyterians, Independents, Wesleyans, &c., from rich

and poor, ministers and laymen. This is a rare and remarkable feature of a testimonial to a clergyman; but it exactly reflects the good-will which I have to all sects and parties, because I am convinced they are all instruments of good, and are all adding to the Lord's spiritual church, which comprises the good, the true, and the useful in every external church upon earth. The elegant watch which your goodness has given me will serve daily to put me in pleasing and grateful remembrance of you all." The watch presented to the rev. gentleman, who is the eldest son of Mr. Rothery, Great Clifton, near Workington, bears the following inscription:-"Presented to the Rev. William Rothery, by his friends and the congregation of Abbey Church, in appreciation of his valuable services as a Christian minister. June, 1864."-Abridged from the Whitehaven News.

[Mr. Rothery is to preach in Argylesquare church on Sunday, the 7th of August.]

THE HYMN BOOK.-A correspondent thinks that the words "awful" and "terrible" in hymns 153, 230, 240, 270, and 513, in reference to the Divine presence and operations, should be substituted by terms more in harmony with the doctrine that God is love. The writer's reason for the proposed change is, that "where the Lord's presence is felt a holy and heavenly sphere prevails." This is no doubt true where there is nothing in human minds that conflicts with the Divine attributes. But this is not always the case even with the faith ful-in this life. A well-known instance of a sense of the Divine presence being attended with awe and terror occurs in Genisis xxviii. 16, of which hymn 240 is a paraphrase "And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." Peter also had something of the same experience when he exclaimed-"Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." In regard to Divine judgments, they may strike with awe even those who are not the subject of them. Great public and private calamities, temporal and spiritual, have

often this effect. Yet in them we are to recognise the hand of God-being Divine permissions for wise and good ends, and which are to be regarded as solemn warnings and admonitions. We have, however, stated the objection; and if it has any real weight, it may be attended to in some future revision.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA--The following is an extract from a letter lately received from the Secretary of the New Church Society, Melbourne, Australia:

"Excuse my now saying a word about ourselves. A letter is forwarded per this mail from the Melbourne New Church Society, -as hopeful a one as could be sent, but we are very weak; and how glad we should be of an apostle who would come over to Melbourne to help us. Can anything be done? We have an open field here, but none to reap the harvest. Old World prejudices are cleared away,-inquiry has the freest scope. Truly the fields are white unto the harvest, but the labourers are few. Four of us, members, in turn conduct the worship at our society's meetings, and read the sermons suitable to our state contained in the volumes of various ministers of the New Church; but still the want of a pastor is severely felt by the members, and we, engaged in business all the week, feel our own deficiency to conduct the services in a suitable and profitable manner; and of course all the important duties of pastoral visitation are impossible."

CANADA.-Two numbers of the Montreal Herald of the 25th and 30th June, just received, report the proceedings of the "Association of the New Jerusalem Church in Canada." We extract such parts as contain information interesting to the members of the church in this country:

"The second annual Conference of this Association opened yesterday (June 24th), in the church of the Montreal Society, corner of Hanover and Dorchester-streets. The chair was taken by the president, Mr. Adam Ruby, of Berlin, C. W.; Mr. J. W. Hancock, of Berlin, secretary. The proceedings were opened by the president reading the 25th chapter of Matthew, and with prayer. The committee on credentials, consisting of the Rev. E. Gould, and Messrs. Huber

and Hancock, presented a resolution requiring members of the Association to sign the Constitution and the Articles of Faith, in order to participate in the deliberations. Twenty members accordingly signed the articles required. An address was then delivered by the president; after which, the Rev. Mr. Tuerk, of Berlin, corresponding secretary, read his report for the past year. A number of individual communications were read by him from various parties, together with an address from the General Conference of the New Church in England. It was moved by the Rev. E. Gould, seconded by Mr. Hancock, and resolved, That we have listened with great pleasure and interest to the able and hearty address of the brethren in England, and desire to reciprocate their kindly expression of friendship and brotherly affection, and to express our concurrence in the noble and truthful sentiments therein contained.

"At a later stage of the proceedings, Mr. Gould was appointed to prepare an address to the English Conference. The secretary's report was read. Among the items of information, we find that steps are to be taken by the Association to purchase the Latin edition of the works of Emanuel Swedenborg, published by the late Dr. Tafel, of the University of Tübingen, in Germany, for a New Church Library;-that a sum not exceeding 150 dollars be appropriated for the purchase of books and tracts, and the employment of clergymen or lay lecturers, to disseminate the doctrines of the church in Canada; and that measures are to be taken to incorporate the associations.

"The Rev. I. Gould brought up and read a report of the origin and progress of the society at Montreal, showing the society to be in a generally flourishing condition. On Sunday morning the Association attended divine service in the church of the Montreal society, when a sermon was preached by the Rev. E. Gould; and in the evening they attended the services in the same church, when a discourse was delivered by J. W. Hancock, Esq., of Berlin, C. W., on Everlasting Puhishment. On Monday, after the transaction of the remaining business, the president declared the session closed, when the Benediction was pronounced by the Rev. F. W. Tuerk."

Married.

On the 9th of July, at St. Mary's, Bryanston-square, and afterwards at the New Church, Argyle-square, by the Rev. Dr. Bayley, the Rev. Wm. Rothery, late of Hexham, to Mary Catherine, youngest daughter of the late Joseph Hume, Esq., M.P.

Obituary.

Departed this life on the 15th of June, at 17, Great Cumberland-street, Hyde Park, Charles Clissold Spurgin, aged twenty-two, loving the doctrines of our Lord's New Church for their consistent, their wise, and their heavenly counsels. The deceased was a junior clerk in the Bank of England, and known there, of his own testification, by his superiors and his equals, as ranking among the Swedenborgians. Suffice it that he was much respected and beloved by both classes of that great establishment, and brought to their minds the name of the late Rev. M. Sibly, as one commanding honour, not only for his long and able services, but for his irreproachable character also.

Departed this life, at Chatteris, on the 30th of June, in the 82nd year of his age, Mr. Adam Lyon. Notwithstanding his advanced age, and that he lived some distance from the church, he was for the last three years a constant and, if we may judge from appearance, a devout worshipper of the Lord there. In the beginning of the present year he expressed a wish to unite himself with the society, and in signing the Declaration of Faith, gave his assent to it in a most solemn and impressive manner, as if he felt he was performing an important duty. He was naturally of a kind and charitable disposition. For many years he kept an open house for ministers of all denominations; and those who were in need of advice or assistance, found in him a kind friend. A few days before he died, he expressed thankfulness that he had been led to see the truths of the New Church, and that he had become a member of it. He has left an aged widow to mourn his loss; but she has this consolation, of believing that he whom she loved has gone where he shall rest in peace.

T. K. P.